Electronic Arts issued a puzzling press release today, proclaiming that “music from ALL EA games is now on iTunes.” This is a lie, much to my chagrin. In truth, EA has released some music from a handful of games over the popular digital download service, including Madden NFL, NASCAR, and event the upcoming Burnout Dominator.
The company also notes that today marks the world debut of the version of The Doors’ Riders on the Storm that Snoop Dogg remixed exclusively for Need for Speed Underground. The songs are live in North America today and will be available soon throughout Europe.
Visit the [url=http://www.ea.com/eatrax/]EA Trax website[/url] to see if there is something there that interests you. Me, I’m sticking my classic era MIDI collection.
Sure we might have wanted the game in early summer, but Irrational has now revealed the upcoming highly anticipated BioShock will head to retail outlets just as summer is winding to a close.
According to a post on the game’s official site:
[quote]The headline says it all: BioShock’s street date is August 21st. That’s a Tuesday, for all you who might be planning your “sick” days in advance.
Let the countdown begin![/quote]
Consider your discord silenced.
Publisher Codemasters has announced Heatseeker, a new arcade style aerial combat game for the Wii in development by IRGurus Interactive (Heroes of the Pacific). According to Codemasters, Heatseeker will feature two different control methods using the Wii remote and nunchuck, offering “fine-tuned control” for mid-air heroics.
“It’s vital that your plane reacts instantly to your control inputs,” commented the game’s senior producer Andrew Wensley. “Even a hundredth of a second delay can prove fatal in air to air combat, and although we’ve provided the perfect control system, only the player can provide the nerves of steel necessary for victory.”
“Heatseeker for the Wii is a big step forward for action gamers,” states Ben Palmer, executive producer for Heatseeker developer IR Gurus. “We’ve taken the superior processing power of the Wii and have used it to raise the bar even higher for Heatseeker’s distinctive and already spectacular gameplay and visual style.”
Norwegian-headquartered developer Funcom has announced that the company has been awarded a grant from the Norwegian Film Fund, which officials note will “partially finance” Funcom’s research and initial development efforts towards Dreamfall Chapters, an episodic sequel to the Dreamfall adventure game series.
In addition, Funcom note that the money will also assist in pulling together a technology team for the project, the aim of which will be to research digital delivery methods for the game’s episodic content, as well as lay the foundation for a later pre-production phase of Dreamfall Chapters. Each new installment of Dreamfall Chapters will initially be delivered as online-only content, but there may be retail releases with combined chapters, both for console and PC, at a later stage. For now, the company is keeping a tight lid on the project.
The grant is part of the Norwegian government’s active endorsement of the Norwegian game development industry. Since the inception of the program in 2004 the government has supported a wide range of games, including Dreamfall: The Longest Journey.
Research is also planned to discover new ways to expand the brand value of The Longest Journey, while reducing the chance of piracy. Finally, the company also hints at a possible The Longest Journey MMO in the future, though it remains unclear how far off such a project would be.
“We will be researching an online-only continuation of the epic Longest Journey saga, and we very much look forward to develop new chapters to the Dreamfall gaming community,” said Trond Arne Aas, CEO of Funcom. “To see the Norwegian government take such an active role in nurturing the local game development industry is impressive. In return for their trust we aim to deliver a modern adventure game with unique qualities.”
