How many Game.Ars introductions can one game editor come up with in a lifetime? Not many. Well, not many that remain fresh and original. I don't want to try too hard to be funny, nor do I want to repeat myself with stuff like "It's that time of year again", or "It's a beautiful day in the neighborhood", or the over-used, "Look, there's a scorpion in your Jello!" That just gets old.
I guess I could disguise my writer's block with a contest. Dangle a prize in front of the herd and they won't see the stun gun in front of them... ha ha ha! Problem is, I don't have a prize to offer. I guess I could drop in a huge screenshot that takes up so much space that I don't have to write much of anything. Nah, been there, done that. I suppose I could... hey, wait! Look, I have inadvertently created an introduction simply by babbling on about how I can't come up with one. Cool. See ya next week! (Man, I'm good. Hannibal, pass me one of those Krispy Kremes!).
Last week, Sigil Games Online, a developer formed by ex-Everquest personnel, announced that yet another team member from EQ has been recruited. Steve Clover, a lead programmer from Sony Online Entertainment, joined Sigil, making him the fourth EQ team member to do so. The actual details of what is going on at Sigil remain a mystery. All we know is that they are in cahoots with Microsoft to bring us something "really big." (Cool, I got to use the word cahoots).
So now we've got the lead programmer, co-designer, team manager, and character designer from EQ together on a new team. If we're lucky, maybe they'll make another MMORPG! Woo-hoo, we could use another half-dozen of those!
Land Ho!
For all you scurvy pirates out there who would love to sail the seven seas, looting treasure galleons and raiding port towns for wine, gold, and booty (if you know what I mean), check this out. ToTheGame.com has an interview with the guys over at Akella, and they asked a lot of good questions regarding the upcoming Sea Dogs 2.
If you played the original Sea Dogs, you might be wondering what the big differences are between that and the upcoming sequel. Well, here's one regarding economics and trading:
"Now there will be more profitable routes, and they could be changed by some game events. Also now player can trade 26 types of goods and sail a trade squadron of four ships � this will greatly increase the importance of trading in Sea Dogs II." - ToTheGame.com
I just stumbled onto this interview the other day. I think it's been up for a few weeks but it answered a lot of questions I had about the game so I am passing it on to you. Interested in a life on the waves? Then check out the whole interview here.
This link was sent in by someone I don't know. The e-mail heading just said from jens boss. Anyway, I haven't seen this report anywhere else and I don't like to start rumors (well, maybe a little) but here it is. According to cube-europe.com, 3DO is in financial straights. In fact, it says that Trip Hawkins has offered his own money to help the company stay afloat. Read the story here.
3DO have been facing problems for a while, almost being delisted by Nasdaq earlier in the year.
I hate to think that the company behind Might and Magic and Heroes of Might and Magic could have terminal financial woes.
Check out Santa's balls
With the holiday season quick approaching, we knew that Kewl Box would be dropping some crazy Santa- or elf-themed game on our laps. And they have. With the release of Santa's Balls 2, you are invited to head to the North Pole for some real ball-busting action. The game itself is really just a hex-based version of the MSN game Bejeweled, but with the ever-lovin' Kewl personality attached. Here's the company line:
The original game of Santa Balls is an old elf tradition up in the North Pole. But like most things, they evolve - or get supersized! In Santa Balls 2, we've taken ball busting action to a whole new level.
The most recent patch for Neverwinter Nights has some all-new content. A pair of new monsters, including kobolds and malar-panthers, will be visiting your favorite modules soon. Along with these new visitors will be an interface to help install user-made content.
The Neverwinter Nights Content Installer Creator (NWNCIC) was developed to make distributing and installing user-created content for Neverwinter as easy as possible for both the content maker and the person who wants to use the new content.
You can learn more at the official Web site (links below). The patch will bring the game to version 1.25 and can be installed via the game's updater.
Game.Ars reader P. Hatlevick wrote last week in response to the news that Chessmaster 9000 defeated Larry Christiansen. This story actually made the front page of Ars and I believe it was discussed in the forum but I thought it was worth a mention here. Mr. Hatlevick said this:
"You reported on some recent chess matches ("Who's your master?") but you missed one that is going on right now: the match between Kramnik and Deep Fritz." - P. Hatlevick
The match might be over by the time this issue of Game.Ars goes live, so for the final (or current) results, check out Brains in Bahrain right here.
Just for fun
I got an e-mail that I just couldn't ignore. It came from Paul B., and it went like this:
"Since you have the power to tell the world about important game related info available on the web, I had to send you this link. It has nothing to do with games, but it is the funniest page I've seen in about 100 years. If you go to this page, milk will shoot out of your nose, even if you aren't drinking any." P. Brown
The threat of milk shooting through my nose was more than I could resist. I went to the site and am not afraid to admit that the totally offensive and controversial material cracked me up. I will warn you, if you do not have the sensibilities to find humor in just about anything and everything, you may take offense to this person's humor. Dare you check it out? Click here.
Oh yeah, and Paul, what web pages were you checking out 100 years ago???
10/08/2002 - Everquest in Europe; Chessmaster 9000 vs. Christiansen 09/29/2002 - Doom movie; Games on Demand 09/24/2002 - Ultima Online turns five; Morrowind expansion 09/15/2002 - A.I. in games; Warcraft III cheaters banned 09/09/2002 - Dungeon Siege tools; Morrowind expansion 09/02/2002 - Screenshot results; Civ 3 trying to recover? 08/25/2002 - Screenshot contest; PC vs. the console 08/18/2002 - Release dates; RollerCoaster Tycoon 2 08/12/2002 - Grendel's Revenge; Vivendi possibly selling gaming division 08/05/2002 - Four Horsemen; Divine Divinity 07/28/2002 - Strong Bad; return of M.U.L.E. 07/22/2002 - Nightfire preview; The Sims Online 07/14/2002 - Hostile gamers; Warcraft III codes 07/01/2002 - Son of Price of Gaming; Return to the Midway 06/23/2002 - Price of gaming; Cthulhu horror story 06/19/2002 - nVidia's Cg; Playing it Kewl; online soccer 06/09/2002 - QuakeCon 2002; Jagged Alliance returns; Star Wars: Galaxies 06/02/2002 - E3 comes and goes; Civilization III goes worldwide 04/28/2002 - What are people playing?; Never say Neverwinter Nights 04/21/2002 - Age of Wonders 2 demo; Roller Coaster Tycoon defeated 04/14/2002 - AvP2 expansion; Lara Croft outfit in charity auction 04/07/2002 - Jedi Knight II mini-review; gaming considered addictive? 03/31/2002 - Games of the Year; Novalogic goes to Afghanistan; the new Counterstrike 03/24/2002 - Age of Wonders II; Tomb Raider gets a graphics upgrade 03/19/2002 - EQ to become P&P?; Kewl freebie 03/10/2002 - Warcraft III updates; C&C: Generals 03/03/2002 - Meridian 59 back from the dead; 'Copters for C&C 02/25/2002 - Unexplored RTS genres; Flashy Flash games 02/17/2002 - Carl's movie favs; Awards galore; Carmack on GeForce 4MX 02/10/2002 - AIAS Game of the Year; StatBuilder 02/03/2002 - EQ Premium; the ever hegemonic Sims 01/27/2002 - More Viking games; Neverwinter Nights to be published 01/20/2002 - Magic is for real; Bargain bin time 01/13/2002 - More UT on the way! 01/06/2002 - The great GUGOYA returns! 12/31/2001 - New Year's Eve best wishes! 12/22/2001 - Wizardry 8's labor; aliens and pirates oh my! 12/16/2001 - Wolfenstein challenger; Warez gets hit hard 12/09/2001 - Intellivision returns; EQ expansion 12/03/2001 - British is coming; Nocturne gets silver 11/24/2001 - Game balancing; NOLF 2 news 11/11/2001 - Getting Serious, very Serious; EA cancels stuff 11/05/2001 - Contest winner; Half-Life, the Movie?
How many Game.Ars introductions can one game editor come up with in a lifetime? Not many. Well, not many that remain fresh and original. I don't want to try too hard to be funny, nor do I want to repeat myself with stuff like "It's that time of year again", or "It's a beautiful day in the neighborhood", or the over-used, "Look, there's a scorpion in your Jello!" That just gets old. 
