May 11, 2006-

Some of the big news of wednesday came from Konami and the Metal Gear Solid franchise. It appears the new trailer was a show stopper and really a big highlight of the day.

On the tails of that, another game related movie based on MGS has been announced . Will we see more detail on the Halo movie anytime soon?

Spore galore as Will Wright gives a presentation at E3. Also Robin Williams gives some funny one-liners and talks briefly about what games he is looking forward to playing . I think it is pretty cool he plays WoW with his son.

The price of the Wii console (and lots more specific info) was stated, or at least rumored, to be around $250. That makes it much more appealing than a P$3 in my mind. Also a new Super Smash Brothers with Solid Snake is on the horizon.

And finally for all of you who love the rumors, a first look at the Xbox handheld . I am not real big into handhelds, but it looks pretty cool.

Talk about this and more in the forum.

- Seth

May 10, 2006-

There is no way I am going to try and cram all the news and links from yesterday into this post. However, I am going to touch on a few things that I found interesting besides the announcement of Halo 3 and GTA 4 .

Golden Axe has been announced for the next gen consoles. For those of you that never played this game it is essentially a classic. I still remember playing it back on the Sega Genisis. I wonder what the new one will be like (hopefully it will come with the retro version).

The other thing I would like to mention, that will most likely go unnoticed, is the other Zelda game showing at E3. The Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass is for the DS and looks to be a must have. While not much is really available it looks like the control is all through the stylus, which will make things interesting. So if you can't get your fill from Twilight Princess look for this little guy.

Other than that you can search around and see all the hype for the Xbox handheld and the latest about Resident Evil on the Wii.

Oh yeah, there is a new Spore Trailer as well. And for those of you unsure, the new World of Warcraft Alliance race is going to be the Draenei.

Talk about this and more in the forum.

- Seth

May 9, 2006-

You can easily check out the dozens of other sites that have E3 news. I am not going to sit here and link them all to you like I did pre-E3. I am just going to touch on a few things I found interesting and worth commenting on.

I used my xbox 360 to watch some trailers last night (I got home from the airport at 7, I was away all weekend and monday) and they took forever to finish downloading.

Dead Rising looks like it is going to be a great game. Not in an epic sense, or a story line sense or even an emotional sense. It just looks like it is going to be fun. If you have not had a chance to check it out yet, you should. The new trailer has a lot of the same gameplay as the one released before, but it has some new stuff too (like vehicle combat!).

The other game that looks pretty good is Brothers in Arms: Hell's Highway . The squad based combat looks like it could be a lot of fun. However, while watching the trailer I was questioning the AI that seemed to just stand there and not really shoot back. Although it was gameplay footage, it all looked a little too staged to me.

Lastly, I watched the trailer for Rain or Vampire's Rain depending on who you talk too. It looked like Splinter Cell meets Random Zombie Game. Im not impressed.

On to the news from yesterday: Warcraft is going to be made into a movie. Just like the article from ShackNews states, I am disappointed that they are choosing to do the movie live action. Blizzard has always had amazing CGI movies and seeing a full length one would have been amazing.

The final bit of news I want to bring up is the announcement (kinda) of the new Turok game for the next gen consoles. I am a huge fan of Turok and I have been since the N64 days. I just hope they produce a quality game to go under the well known license.

There will certainly be much more tomorrow.

- Seth

May 4, 2006-

Been a bit busy lately and I have not had time to do much on the site.  I would like to point out that I have added a bunch of new stuff to the store.  I hope to keep adding things and if you have an suggestions or ideas feel free to email me (GLIMatGameTruthdotOrg).

There has been a surprising amount of news this week, especially since E3 is so close.  The first story up to bat is that Alone in the Dark is going to be delivered episodically. I have talked about episodic content before on the site and shown my interest in another episodic game coming out soon called SiN: Episodes.  I am looking forward to more info on both at E3.

The next bit of news is about the MMO Project Entropia.  I have written about Project Entropia before on the site and explained why it is a fairly unique game and business model.  The news is that now gamers can recieve a card that will tap their virtual money when used at ATM and other locations.  Meaning they can pay for real world things with the capital they have made inside the virtual world.  Makes you wonder how far this is going to go...

Lastly, just a brief link to a story I saw on Slashdot.  Apparently the Library of Congress is considering the possibilty of archiving games.  There is not much available from the story, but the idea is interesting enough.  I wonder if they are going to include some of the gems of video game history like VirtualBoy and the PowerGlove.  Lets hope so.

- Seth

April 27 , 2006-

Now that the Arcade Recreation Entertainment System (ARES) project has the main woodworking completed and has been moved to a place where we can now focus on the wiring of the table. We have finished a wiring diagram, it was difficult to come up with a system for writing that was both neat and intuitive while also being easily accessible if something needs to be fixed or replaced. Also we need to finish setting up MAME on the computer and getting all the ROMs needed for the games.

Once all that is complete and we have a working 2 player system we will resume design on the side controllers. Since we have done so many redesigns on them they have been pushed back until after the main system is working. So when we have the main system up keep an eye out for new designs and more updates as well as more pictures.

- Mark

April 26 , 2006-

For starters, I updated Alcatraz 's tutorial in the forum with some pictures. It should be easier to follow now. It creates a really cool effect. I encourage anyone to post a tutorial because they are fun and will help out.

I was reading today that there are two startup companies, NeuroSky and CyberLearning Technology, are attempting to create games that use brainwaves as controllers. These devices are aiming to cost around $100 and hook into most consoles. The companies realize that gaming is just a stepping stone to what the technology can really do.

I wonder how well I can drive a Warthog when I am angry?

Also in the news today I saw a cool little post about organic plant life in the game Second Life. Second Life lets the players create content and two people came together and made a plant that starts as a seed but grows into a massive plant. Good read.

- Seth

April 21 , 2006-

This round up is pretty brief. The days are ticking away as E3 rapidly approaches. I have already made an E3 thread in the forum and I have started posting news there. As we inch closer to May 9th expect more and more info packed in there.

In the news this week Gamasutra announced that it will be launching a new game industry podcast . I just wanted to mention this because I happen to like listening to podcasts and I am looking forward to this one.

A new game based on Eragon has been announced by VUGames. This game is going to come out across all platforms including mobile ones like the PSP. This game will most likely be coming on the coat tails of the Eragon Movie coming this year.

One of the most interesting steps in episodic gaming, SiN Episodes , has an update on their website. They have released some new footage and new screenshots. I have been waiting for this download for a long time and I can't wait for the realease of this game. It will really be a good test on the theory of episodic content.

And lastly in some offbeat news; an anonymous UK company has put themselves up for auction on EBay. This was reported on Kotaku and you can follow up there for more info. The ebay auction is listed here . I think this is pretty cool, if I only had 200 grand....

Talk about this and more on the forums.

- Seth

April 13 , 2006-

A quick update for you on some interesting news. There is going to be a new big name MMO coming out soon based on Pirates of the Caribbean. I am interested in this because it is being created by Disney. I wonder if it is going to be for children, like the popular Toontown is, or targeted more towards the older crowd.

In other news, Blizzard has come forward and explained that they have banned a large amount of accounts for cheating. This is great news for the population of Azeroth, and I hope Blizzard remains vigilant. Now if they can only fix all the bugs that patch 1.10 brought and 1.10.1 failed to fix.

I do not read many gaming magazines. I find that the reviews they offer are extremely weak and that it is more like reading an 80 page advertisement than it is an actual periodical. However, Beckett has stated that they are going to offer a new MMO magazine starting in a few months. Hopefully I can score a free subscription, I will keep you all posted.

On a final note, it seems that Duke Nukem Forever will actually materialize this decade. This infamous title was essentially locked in the vaporware hall of fame for some 9 years. To be honest, I will probably play it.

- Seth

April 6 , 2006-

Boot Camp is in the wild. For those of you living in a cave this program allows you to boot Windows XP on an Intel Mac. The first impressions of this comes from PC World and they look very positive. Especially for gamers.

Cnet has a very interesting article that goes into why gamers would switch to a Mac and what it would take. To be honest, I am tempted to check it out but I just don't have the money for a Mac. Also, the major downfall for me is the inability to upgrade with more memory or a new videocard.

However, this does give hope that one day we may be able to purchase OSX for our PCs. I would certainly be up for that.

On a side note, Microsoft bought out Lionhead Studio. Really all that means is that they want Peter Molyneux. I would guess that we will see a new Fable for the Xbox360 coming out. This is good news because I have yet to see enough quality games to make me believe it is worth the money (Oblivion has me on the fence right now, I hear good things).

- Seth

April 2 , 2006-

These last few days have been pretty quiet around here, however there was some interesting news that came out on thursday. IGN released a story about Halo 3, explaining that it will be released in March 2007.

I had thought that Microsoft would wait and try to release Halo 3 on the launch date of the PS3 in the US. All of this is purely speculative, but it is still interesting.

Another article which is worth reading if you can get over the poorly setup website and mounds of ads is this GameApex article on cheating. Cheating in online games is a topic of importance for any studio that produces an onlice game. If a player can cheat, they will.

- Seth

March 26 , 2006-

My favorite periodical, Wired Magazine, is all about video games this month. Special guest editor Will Wright helps provide a number of interesting articles covering everything from MMO games to the creation of Disney World.

One article in particular, You Play World of Warcraft? You're Hired!, caught my attention. I think it is very far fetched and I doubt I will ever put my video game credentials on my resume. However, it brings up the important point that skills you learn and use in video games are applicable to the outside world.

The idea that video games can teach or perfect skills that are useful in the "real world" is very hard for non-gamers to understand. It is one of the main reasons I think everyone should try games like Civilizations or any MMO. It will prove that these games have value beyond entertainment.

Of course like anything in life, the game will only be what you make of it. You want just entertainment that is what you get, if you want something more, and you can get that too.

Another interesting story that most MMO gamers will particularly enjoy is about a griefer in an MMO being crucified in game during his seven day suspension. I like this approach as opposed to the normal view of not discussing bans or player penalties.

The idea of public humiliation is very powerful in MMO games because your reputation is vitally important. Typically public forums are full of people reporting ninja looters and poor team members so that others on the shard or server will know who to look out for. I hope that more games consider this option to help combat the rampant griefing seen in some games.

Have opinions about this? Post in the forum.

- Seth

March 22 , 2006-

Just a quick note, our loyal forum user SeRg posted a great tutorial in the forum. I helped him edit it to make it easier to understand, I hope you all enjoy it.

There will be more updates coming soon. Be sure to check out the tutorials page for the latest stuff.

- Seth

March 22 , 2006-

So I got let into the beta for Auto Assault a few weeks ago and got a chance to download and try the game for a few hours. At character selection you can choose between 3 races, each with its own history and pros/cons. It seems that each race has the same classes but they all have different names, while this will lead to good game balance it may take out some uniqueness that other MMO races and classes have.

Once race and class are chosen the options of how your character and car will look are next. Most of this stuff was pretty standard MMO character creation options. Height, build, eye/skin color, outfit and other attributes could be randomized or carefully manipulated. The option of changing the color and look of the vehicle I found very nice so players can have much different looking cars from the beginning.

Once in the game I found that Auto Assault does not break from any of the norms of other MMO tutorials. Some easy missions and tips that boost the players confidence while giving them a wide range of activates, it was very well put together.

The combat in the game does take some practice as staying mobile while keeping a line of sight on your target and avoiding obstacles. The controls are responsive and the car's movement is smooth. However, I found that even with my experience I had trouble maneuvering around the game world.

All in all Auto Assault is looking to be a great option for those that are burned out with the fantasy setting of MMO's but not the game play. This was just the beta and I am sure more changes are yet to come.

- Mark

March 16 , 2006-

There was a couple of quick news things of interest today. Over at Xboxic there is a story about Halo 3 that was torn from the pages of Game Informer. This article covers things like the working title of Halo 3, which is Forerunner, and also goes into some gameplay information. It is totally rumor quality, so be careful how far you take it.

I know I usually keep these news updates to games, but the announcement that there will be a Star Wars TV Show is worth breaking the mold. This show will cover over 100 hours and has some people very excited. I personally want some more information, but I think any form of Star Wars is better than Star Wars Galaxies.

Also, I got in on the Auto Assault Beta. I will post my impressions soon.

- Seth

March 12 , 2006-

I have a new photoshop tutorial: TrueFlame Text Effect. I hope to have a new tutorial about every other week, so look for another one in two weeks.

I downloaded EVE Online and I have been playing the 14 day free trial. It is quite different from any of the other MMOs that I have played. It is extremely laid back and you can basically just cruise through the first few hours while watching a movie.

To be honest it has not really piqued my interest. I doubt I will continue playing when the 14 days are up. It just does not seem very compelling, the stories were pretty dry and the combat is painfully boring.

Things may turn around because a number of my friends just downloaded it. Check back for more updates on our pirate gang.

- Seth

March 8 , 2006-

In the news today I found a story about a start up company hoping to produce a lag reducing hardware PC card. This company, Bigfoot Networks, doesn't really seem to have any clue as to how this technology is going to work. Regardless it is still an interesting idea and worth the read.

Is there a hardware solution to lagforge?

- Seth

Febuary 26 , 2006-

I have not had a chance to finish the updates for this week. It will be available shortly. On another note there has been some interesting things happening lately.

I seem to have the same affliction that Tycho wrote about recently. I seem to be hooked on RTS games even though I always said I wasn't a fan. I am currently playing both Dragonshard and Dungeon Siege 2 on and off with a little Civilizations 4 thrown in the mix. It is an interesting combination.

After Warcraft 3 I promised myself I wouldn't waste my gaming time on 3-4 hour long levels. I needed the instant gratification of a FPS for a few months. Anyway to make a long story short I am literally dying to get my copy of Empire at War after reading reviews and playing the demo.

It somehow got mixed up when it was shipped and I have not been able to get to the distribution center. Trust me you pathetic rebel scum, when I do get that game I will crush all you with an iron fist.

Bonus: little news on the Origami for those not enlightened. Enjoy.

- Seth

Febuary 22 , 2006-

Just a quick update for everyone, we will be adding new content this weekend.

Also some quick gaming news from the east; it appears that MMO developer NCSoft is trying its hand in the typical Tolkien fantasy world. NCSoft is working on a new title called Dungeon Runners that looks exactly like WoW and Guild Wars. I am getting pretty sick of this type of theme and I hope to see some new ideas surface.

- Seth

Febuary 14 , 2005-

First of all, Happy Valentines Day. If you have been in and around Azeroth these past few days you have seen the new Valentines Day content. It can be quiet funny and I honestly think that the Peddlefeet pet is the second coolest pet in the game (the first being the Yeti of course).

When I went to login I saw that there was a new channel for guild recruitment, which was clearly put into place because of the recent events involving a GLBT friendly guild recruiting publicly.

For those not paying attention Blizzard is being criticized for trying to silence this group of people and also as being tyrants of the virtual world they run.

To be honest, I think Blizzard was trying to help. MMORPG customer service reps (GMs) are not known for their brains. One made the mistake of taking a few lines in the EULA a little to seriously. In my opinion Blizzard was right to try and get this sort of thing out of the main stream, because Blizzard wanted to try and keep the fantasy pure.

Guilds should be made up of like-minded people, however, I do not want to hear about real world politics and problems while I am escaping to Azeroth. In my guild it is taboo to talk about politics and to carry on serious conversations in the public vent channels. I have had these sort of discussions but it is usually in a more private atmosphere.

I think this situation was made much worse than it actually should have been. I know that this will not be the last time we see this sort of clash between the real world and the synthetic.

- Seth

January 22 , 2005-

The new changes to GameTruth are not yet finished. I would like to direct your attention to a great website that has taken a few of the tutorials featured here and made videos out of them: Photoshop Video Help.

- Seth