SpawnPoint

Take-Two has confirmed that the recently-founded 2K Marin is currently developing Bioshock 2. The sequel to 2007's hit title Bioshock, developed by 2K Boston and 2K Australia, will be arriving in fourth quarter 2009 and it is rumoured to be a prequel to the original. The first Bioshock has sold 2 million units to date. Why the sequel has been taken away from it's original developers is not clear but it is thought that 2K Boston and 2K Australia are working on an entirely new project. Take Two have said as much but also intimated that 2K Boston and 2K Australia will also work on the BioShock sequel but their focus is elsewhere at the moment.

Ahhh, the good old days of gaming, when you would look at a screen and move your fingers on a joystick.  What, you still do that?  Well, as of the gaming trend at the moment, you won't be doing that  for much longer.  We use to play the happy, pixelated Nintendo and Super Nintendo games, and we would be totally content.  But then, the need for more came, and the 3d genre was created with the N64.  But that has even became lame in today's opinion.  The graphics and game play of Playstation 2, Xbox, and Game Cube, hang in the balance of becoming futile, in today's market.  With today's amazing, stimulating games, what is there to look forward to now?. Well, that is what this article is about!

I would like to begin by saying, these are personal opinions and ideas based on the current gaming market.  There's no guarantees, and with today, who knows what these super companies will create?  But with us buyers today, there's some things that the companies cannot resist.  Even though companies can think of these great ideas, the market is what counts.  When you buy your games, consoles, and accessories, think of what it can hold in the future for the world of gaming. 

First, a personal opinion, I think we will be saying goodbye the two dimensional television screens in a very short time.  At the moment, companies are working on a 3 dimensional television screen, if you could imagine what that would look like! Just imagine watching the Super Bowl and almost feel like you're there.  You can reach out your arm and almost touch the game winning pass.  This innovative technology would be award winning for all our gaming needs. Though I doubt they will be creating a way to “feel” what is going on in this 3d world, this 3 dimensional view is very close at hand.  But what does this have to do with the future of gaming?  Well, one of the current gaming trends is “immersion.”  The companies want to make it so you feel as if you were in the game, and when you have a three dimensional screen encompassing you, it's pretty hard not to feel immersed.

Next, I think we will be seeing freehanded game play within two generations of gaming consoles. How would you play your favorite games with that?  Well, it would be became so much easier, as well as keeping gamers in shape while playing games.  More than likely the controller would much like a glove.  This glove would contain sensors in all the major parts of the hand (each finger would have 2 and 2 on the wrist), with a sensor built in the console to receive signals.  There would also be shoes to put on your feet, much like the glove.  Then, using the television I discussed above, you would entirely immerse yourself into the game.  Now, you might be asking yourself how you perform combos and stunts that you can't really do in real life.  Well, that's where body combos would be used, where you would almost go through the motion of the stunt, but not actually go through with it.  For instance, to do a back flip, you would throw your hands up and back, while jumping.  This would in turn, make your character do a back flip in midair. 

Finally, for all you computer gamers, you could be getting an amazing gift within the next few years.  When you are playing online games over LAN or the Internet, you need to be connected over a server, which is currently done with a cable.  But, within 2 years I would say, we will soon be seeing fiber optic cords on the shelves.  What's so great about fiber optics for gamers though?  Well, on a cable, the signals travels along a straight path, and sometimes get jammed (also known as a lag).  But with fiber optics (which is almost like Plexiglas), the signals will bounce along the line, finding the fastest possible route.  This new ability could improve almost all of our connections at least time ten.  This would almost make your online gaming lag free, making your experience much more fun and enjoyable.
 

Now that you've taken the time to read this article, take time to think of what you want for your future gaming experiences.  The markets can think of and create invigorating games and systems, but it's nothing without your approval. Find things you like, and be ready for the future of gaming.  The gaming world is making some large changes very soon, will you be ready?

For those of you who have known me for a while, you probably know one of my more popular alts named GumbyEnder.  Welp - Ender was the character in one of my top 10 books.  Young child genius who is yanked away from his parents at a very young age and put into a military school for geniuses, based out in space. He is later duped causing the genocide of an alien race that is hostile to humans.

Awesome serious of books. Orscon Scott Card's, "Enders Game".

"Last June, David of Gaming Today interviewed Orson Scott Card and discovered many interesting facts. Our article was picked up by many media outlets and really put the gaming spotlight on the possibility that Orson Scott Card’s books were worthy of becoming video games. A little more than 6 months later, Chair Entertainment has announced a partnership with Orson Scott Card to start working on a game. They have purchased the rights to use the Ender’s Game series of books to create a gaming series based on the writings of Orson Scott Card. I’m not sure how much our articles had to do with this decision, but we certainly were the catalyst for the idea receiving plenty of attention in the video game world. We look forward to seeing what direction Chair takes with this."

Post your looniest pro-SPAWNPOINT pictures!!

Who is this guy?


The official SPAWNPOINT Mascot!



Killing the Mascot!



.. Random SPAWNPOINT Weaver images..

Been getting some complaints about lack of updates on file downloads! We are working on that! New resources coming online soon to help with this. 

Please hold on! Help coming for the download hungry!

So.. The soon to be ex-wife has a friend of a friend who accidently bought a Wii while her husband bought a Wii for Christmas.  Now they have two Wii's. We got lucky, and got our hands on the otherwise impossible to snag device.

But damn it - it comes with ONE CONTROLLER!  What lame brain marketing guy came up with THAT idea?

I went to no less then - 14 - stores today to find a additional controller. Everyone was out of stock.  I finally got to a Target in the boon-docks that had - 2- left over.  Thank the lord and pass the hand grenade!

Wii - Nintendo is evil - MAKE MORE!

I have never played WOW.. why is it so unloved? People who used to play it are full of hate.. but the people who play it love to love it..

I had the pleasure of being invited to NCSoft's US Headquarters located in Austin, TX for a PR event announcing the launch of the latest and greatest update for Lineage II.  While we were there, we had a great demo for Dungeon Runners.  More to follow, since I happen to be in an Airport in TX at 5:23 AM heading home this Saturday morning, but I can say this...

For fans of Lineage -- they have some cool stuff coming out.  I'll put up a report and new content for this by Monday.

For people who are not yet fans of Dungeon Runner but will be soon...  hold on to your hats.  This game is - perfect - for us twitch finger, short attention span, FPS players.  I am aching to play it right now before I get on the airplane! Funny.. original.. MMO.. Gauntlet style. Lots to love with this game!

Have a great day -

Shane - traveling and tired!

I love Dinosaurs. So do my kids.  And I love Turok.. so..

The dinosaur hunter is back in what hopefully is the game that restarts the series! If this already sounds familiar to you, it should be. The previous Turok game, Turok: Evolution, was meant to bring the series onto what was then the next-generation consoles (PS2, Xbox, and Gamecube). Well it failed miserably.

Disney now has the rights to the game so it will be interesting to see what the mouse house will be able to do with the game. Thankfully we won’t have to wait that long as the PC version of Turok will be released on February 5, 2008.

“First person shooters have a rich history on the Windows PC platform and are known for having enthusiastic, dedicated fans,” said Josh Holmes, vice president and general manager, Propaganda Games. “Turok will be an unforgettable experience ideal for the Windows PC platform when it becomes available in 2008.”

Street Fighter 4 has been announced. Capcom did so at a Gamer's Day event in London, and already (as one can see) everyone is buzzing about the news. Committed fighting game sites such as SDtekken.com have already carried the news, and the appropriately named Shoryuken.com has dedicated a subforum to speculation on and anticipation for the game.

It's been eight years since the last SF game, Street Fighter 3: Third Strike, came out and roughly six since Capcom's last original game, Capcom vs SNK 2, arrived which leaves me wondering who is going to be developing this one. Capcom of Japan supposedly disbanded their coin-op division a couple years ago, so unless they're looking to rebuild that empire I can't imagine this will be done in-house, and I don't think they'd farm this out to Capcom USA (although USA is responsible for Super Turbo HD). My guess is that this will be done like Devil Kings, with an outside designer, and then published by Capcom. However, I would love to be wrong.

The other option is to do a console-only release, which I hope they don't do. Street Fighter defined arcades in the 90s, and to do a console-only follow-up in a series arcade-goers have been waiting nine years to play again doesn't make a lot of sense.

Team Fortress 2 Guide

Each game of TF2 pits two sides against one another. The two teams are identical aside from their colour schemes. Discerning the colour of your team, and thus deciding who to shoot can be confusing at first, but it’s actually very simple. Your HUD is painted in the colour of your team so keep that in mind and you can steer clear of embarrassing friendly fire incidents.


Team Fortress 2 Guide  - Character Classes

While TF2’s sides don’t differ from each other, each player can select from one of nine different types of character. These nine classes are designed to fulfil a basic purpose, either functioning as swift attackers, stalwart defenders, or as support units for the other players.

Each class excels in at least one area, at the expense of one major weakness. The most obvious examples of this are the Scout and Heavy. The Scout has incredible speed, but his weapons are tricky and he has a low amount of health. The Heavy is well armed and armoured, but inaccurate and slow moving. A successful team requires a good mix of classes and players who can work together to amplify their strengths and offset each other’s weaknesses. Countering an enemy rush takes a different mix of classes than it does to disable enemy defences and gain ground, for example.

When you select your class, the screen will tell you how many of each class are already playing on your team. Use this information to pick your class to work well with both the mix of other classes, and the role your team has on the map.


Team Fortress 2 Guide - Game Play and Game Style

There are two types of TF2 game: one in which the sides battle for control of the map, via control points, and a 'Capture the Flag' mode, where victory is grasped by taking the 'Intelligence Briefcase' from the enemy's base.


Team Fortress 2 Guide -  Control Points

Control points are designated areas on the maps which your team must capture or defend. As in other games such as Battlefield 2, the more members of your team standing on a control point, the faster you'll capture it. If an enemy player makes his way onto a control point, the capture will stall until the enemy is killed or retreats. Some maps lock control points from play, focusing both teams to concentrate on specific areas on the map.


Team Fortress 2 Guide - Intelligence Briefcase

The intelligence briefcase serves as a ‘flag’ in the game’s Capture The Flag (CTF) mode. At the moment, the only CTF map is ctf_2fort. In this level, both teams must fight their way through their enemy’s base, access the control room, grab the intelligence briefcase and return it to their own control room.

The player who carries the briefcase leaves a trail of paper, which remains visible for a few seconds after they pass. If the carrier is killed or enters his team’s resupply room, the briefcase is dropped to the floor. Although a team can’t recapture their own briefcase, it will return to their control room if it’s allowed to stay on the floor for 60 seconds.

If your team’s briefcase is dropped, it’s a good idea to take an assault team, supported by a medic, to guard it until the 60 seconds is up. To make the intelligence easy to find it has a large timer roundel, which will remain above it until it’s returned or picked up.

The position of the briefcase is always shown in your Heads Up Display (HUD). A compass shows the direction of the case, and an icon displays its current status: a house for when it’s safe, an exclamation mark when it’s being carried, and an inverted arrow when it’s lying on the floor.


Team Fortress 2 Guide - Resupply rooms

Each map in TF2 contains at least one resupply room per team. These rooms are inaccessible to the opposing team, and if no medics are available or you’ve run out of metal to upgrade a turret, then a trip to the nearest resupply room can save your life. Inside each of these safe havens is a cabinet, which instantly refills your health, ammo, and metal supplies. You can also use resupply rooms to change class without needing to commit suicide. These perks are restricted when the game enters the sudden death round...


Team Fortress 2 Guide - Sudden Death

At the end of an unsuccessful round - where no team has won outright - TF2 enters Sudden Death mode. As the name implies, there’s no respawning, no health pickups and the lockers in the resupply rooms will not resupply you.

At the start of the round you may change class, while you remain in the resupply room, so it makes sense to choose a robust class. A heavy, soldier, or medic are strong survivor classes for the task.

While your chance of getting kills, or capturing Control Points is higher as a fighting class, Engineers are extremely useful in Sudden Death. As long as the Engineer constructs structures away from the front line, preferably choosing to hold a rear Control Point, surviving isn’t too hard, and if you play the role of repairman, and stay wary of spies, you can create an invaluable safe haven for players. There’s only one important thing to remember as an engineer in Sudden Death – build a dispenser first. If you forget, finding metal to build structures, or to upgrade and repair your sentry can be highly problematic.

Team Fortress 2 Guide - Item Pickups

Ammo

Ammo Containers hold (wait for it...) ammunition, rather unsurprisingly, but they also have metal in them, which engineers need to build structures. They come in three different sizes. Small boxes contain a couple of clips and a little metal, the mid sized packs contain enough to replenish around half your ammo and half your metal, while large crates contain enough booty to fully restock you. Dropped weapons will also yield ammo and metal. It doesn’t matter what the weapon on the ground is. Run over it and refuel. Engineers can also collect metal by running over the debris from a destroyed structure.

First Aid

First Aid pickups are scattered around the map, and come in various sizes. How effective they are varies according to the class of character you’re playing, but the general rule of thumb is that the small box restores a quarter of your health bar, the mid-sized pack about half of it while the big hampers reward you with a full health bar. When there’s no medic, or they’re busy healing someone else, health kits can be the key to slowing an enemy rush or just staying alive a quarter of a second longer. If you’ve just come face-to-face with a Pyro and you’re heading towards a crispy death, a First Aid kit of any size will extinguish the flames allowing you time to find a medic or trudge to the nearest resupply room.

The Orange Box is a video game compilation created by Valve, which contains Half-Life 2, Half-Life 2: Episode One, Half-Life 2: Episode Two, Portal, and Team Fortress 2. The Windows version was released on October 10, 2007 as both retail boxed copy, and as a download available through Valve's Steam service. The package retails for $49.95. The Xbox 360 version was also released on October 10, 2007 and retails for $59.95. A PlayStation 3 version is slated to be released in November or December 2007.

The Orange Box comes packed with the latest version of the company's smash-hit Half-Life 2, Half-Life 2: Episode One, Half-Life 2: Episode Two, Team Fortress 2 and Portal. Players who want a discount on the super compilation pack can pre-order the game directly through Steam or at retailers nationwide.

With news that the developer had banned playing BioShock until the game was completed, we had to ask if the company also banned Halo 3. "We might need to cut folks off of The Orange Box," was the only reply.

A new Update for Team Fortress 2 Has been released. This update is all about bug fixes, and one little addition.

Team Fortress 2:

Bug Fixes:

    * Fixed certain crashes with paged pool memory
    * Fixed some prediction errors with player avoidance
    * Fixed columns and row bunching up in server browser
    * Fixed a rare bug where the wrong launcher.dll was being used to launch the game
    * Fixed teleporter/spawn doorway exploit

Changes/Additions:

    * Added a warning for when paged pool memory is low

The Orange Box is almost released, these must be some of the final Touches.

One of our beloved staffers Atrus just wrote a lengthy and well written piece on the Future of Gaming and the relationships to my.. or your wallet in regards to the cost of maintaining all this glittering new hardware!!

Check it out- 

http://atrus.spawnpoint.com/post/850/The_Future_of_Gaming

You don't have to be a computer, math, or biology geek to appreciate this simple little 'game'.  In reality, more of a learning tool and excercise - but vastly playable and addicting. 

Life - Cellular Automata - is a game I have been playing with since the early 1980's.  An early version I played with on my PET2c GreenScreen-Tape-Drive-only PC back in 1982.  Other variations I have played with include on for my Commodore Plus 4 and Commodore 64/128.  More versions became available for my Amiga.. my Trash 80.. My Tandy.. and eventually Windows 3.11!!   To this date, you will find versions of this game on all of my PC's.

Check out some of the versions we are hosting here

he earliest results in the Game of Life were obtained without the use of computers. The simplest still-lifes and oscillators were discovered while tracking the fates of various small starting configurations using graph paper, blackboards, physical game boards and the like. During this early research, Conway discovered that the F-Pentomino
failed to stabilize in a small number of generations.  

What are you talking about? Check it out - Try it out!!!
Check out some of the versions we are hosting here

Valve have a pretty unique development process and not relying on publishers means that they can pretty much do whatever they want. I don’t play many pc games, and I play even fewer online games - but Orange Box is looking better by the minute. I think I may have to pick this one up!

Check out this wacky little game - fun to play!

http://www.copy-and-paste-it.info/2007/09/game-reaction-time.html

I have been a long time watcher of Microsoft.  I generally support most of their business activities though some times they do some lame brain things.

DX 10 and Vista for one.  Vista has not been a killer hit.  Sure, I run it.. but I 'm always installing stupid crap on my PC environment just to 'check it out'.  However, its clearly not ready for my clients or for others I have to support (MOM).   That being said, XP is going to be around for a while yet.  Even if SP 1 and SP 2 for Vista is killer and it forces many people to make the plunge into Vista.. still.. a LOT of PCs will never get upgraded. Too many people wait for the NEXT PC before they go to the NEXT OS.

Gape Newell from Valve agrees apparently. Making DX 10 supported by Vista only means that game developers have no choice but to build in avid support for DX9.x and DX 10.

"Valve's President Gabe Newell is calling Microsoft's choice to make DirectX 10 Vista-only a 'terrible mistake' that has harmed gaming. His company's latest hardware study shows the strategy has not moved gamers onto Vista. The result is that almost no one is using the newest version of DirectX, and companies are shying away from creating new input devices that support it. Nine months after release, after Christmas, after graduation, and with school mostly back in session, still only 8% of gamers are using it."

Full article found at http://www.heise.de/english/newsticker/news/94869

I really can't afford this... another version of Desktop Tower Defense is coming out.  Seriously - it's cost me money.  Between that and reading 6 Harry Potter books in 7 days.... well.. I am not doing any work.

See below as to - why -

New Edge, a leading Russian publisher and developer of java-games for mobile phones is announcing the worldwide launch of Tower Defense: Wrath of Gods, the first tower defense game for the mobile market. Now millions of people can enjoy their favorite “easy to play but hard to master” game on their mobile phones.

Tower Defense: Wrath of Gods is made in the best tower defense games tradition and brings gamers absolutely addictive gameplay combined with unique features. Besides superior graphics and exciting storyline the game features different tower and trap types, new kinds of air and land monsters and a number of bosses, which make it diverse and catching. With 50 increasingly challenging levels of non-stop action players are to figure out their own strategy and test their worth, which gets even more exciting due to the RPG element.

“Defying the genre of Tower Defense: Wrath of Gods could be a tough task as besides being a strategy the game also features action and RPG elements, that make it unusual and truly addictive” says Sergej Polovnikov, Chief Editor for Content-review.com

After Tower Defense: Wrath of Gods release in Russia in June 2007 it got immediately to the top positions and is still holding it. “When the game was released in Russia we did expect some generous response from users, but we never expected it to be so great” says Olga Znamenskaja, New Edge’s Commercial Director. “There were a lot of discussions in different forums, where users were sharing their impressions, discussing their strategies and boasting about their achievements in survival mode”.

The English version of Tower Defense: Wrath of Gods is now available for distribution and is expected to find great response from the game fans and other mobile customers searching for exciting content.

Read more about the game at: http://www.newedge.ru/en/ourgames/td.html

Scheduled to release in October, Fury will cash in on the adrenaline-pumping fast paced action of PvP. Players will log on for short periods of time, perhaps during a lunch break, and successfully move up the ranks on the leader boards. I'll wait and see if Fury has what it takes to keep people interested once the initial power rush wears off.

Now that E3 is gone.. who won and who lost in this industry shake-up event? This was a newly crafted E3 which had a very different take than previous years. Not a gigantic sensory orgy in the way of years past, but rather a big huge level industry event with a laundry list of games on display. Of course, as all things - we have upsides and a downsides. The upside was it was much more focused on promoting games than in years past. In the press conferences there were only a handful of games that were not ostensibly 2007 games. Of course, the show had a handful of big winners who improved themselves considerably and some that were not as impressive.

In case you haven't heard before, film critic Roger Ebert does not now and claims he never will see video games as an art form. He reiterated this point at the Hollywood & Games Summit, after Clive Barker called his view of the matter 'prejudiced.' From Eurogamer: "The word 'prejudiced' often translates as 'disagrees with me'," retorted Ebert, columnist for the Chicago Sun-Times. "I might suggest that gamers have a prejudiced view of their medium, and particularly what it can be." [ ... ] "Games may not be Shakespeare quite yet, but I have the prejudice that they never will be, and some gamers are prejudiced that they will." I've never cared about the debate, but just looking online it becomes obvious that some gamers take Ebert's comments as a personal attack. My only thought on the matter has always been that these comments come from a guy who reviews film, a medium that was also not considered art when it became popular entertainment. Perhaps the irony is simply lost on him.

CVG has the disappointing news, originally reported in the pages of EGM, that online co-op play will not be available when Halo 3 launches this September. In the game the second player would play the part of the Arbiter character, but fans will only be able to complete the campaign cooperatively via LAN or split-screen. Bungie stated the possibility still exists online co-op could be patched in at a later date, but significant hurdles stand in the way of the feature:

"'We're not dumb,' says Bungie's Frank O'Conner. 'We know that people want it and we're trying to make it happen. I think the biggest problem for us for online co-op is that we have a situation where you can be in a Warthog with five troops, almost a mile away from the other player. That's a significant challenge. And there's lots of design things you could do to prevent that from happening, but they would make it not feel like Halo anymore. If we can make it happen in a way that works well, we will - and if it works badly, we won't.'"

I'm hating life... absolutely.  I have a NEW new addiction.  Its an evil little flash game called Tower Defense.  Easy to play. Easy to learn. Play for 5 minutes.. or 5 days straight.  Hell, I'm playing right now and not being productive.

http://www.handdrawngames.com/DesktopTD/Game.asp

Is there a Doctor in the house? We need help reviving Weaver...

Read below - courtesy news.com

We found out back in March that the Commodore name had been scooped up by a Netherlands-based company looking to reinvent the brand as a modern gaming PC. Now we get wind of the new lineup of PCs coming soon (this quarter) to the States, first via online sales, with an unnamed big-box retail presence following afterward. Commodore's new PC case looks plain, but its sturdy all metal design is nice and solid.(Credit: Commodore) Commodore will re-emerge with four basic systems, each with a little bit of wiggle room in terms of its configuration, at least when you order online. Prices start around the $1,700 mark for the most basic Commodore Cg, and they climb progressively to the highest-end Cxx, although Commodore is still working out the baseline costs of the pricier models. All will come with Intel quad-core processors, Nvidia 8000-series graphics cards, Corsair RAM, and Asus-made NForce motherboards. And while Commodore won't be overclocking out of the box, it will be providing all of its systems with a proprietary Peltier-cooling heat sink, that it claims will give gamers room to ramp up their parts themselves. In addition to the hardware, each Commodore system also comes with one of a selection of Ckins (pronounced "see-kins," and pictured above), essentially customer-selected paint jobs, that grace the front and two side panels. All three panels are also designed to pop off easily, and Commodore will offer replacement panels with new art for roughly $300, which includes sound dampening and other features.