Today Bethesda announced that there will be two upcoming novels, published by Del Rey Books, based on the popular fantasy RPG series The Elder Scrolls. This award winning series is widely known for its immersive story and gameplay, and it only seems like a natural progression for the franchise to branch out into a more detailed storytelling medium. The books, to be written by New York Times bestselling author Greg Keyes, will be brand new original storylines based on The Elder Scrolls universe and will take place shortly after the events of The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion. The first novel entitled, The Infernal City, is set to be published in Fall of 2009.
Keyes, who is best known for his work writing three books within the Star Wars universe in The New Jedi Order series, have apparently been under Bethesda’s radar for quite some time. Pete Hines, vice president of public relations and marketing for Bethesda Softworks stated that, “We’ve been big fans of Greg’s work for a long time, and we’re thrilled he agreed to bring his talents to The Elder Scrolls,” and, “We see these books as a natural extension of the franchise and think fans will love the stories and characters Greg has created.”
The Infernal City finds the citizens of Tamriel once again facing an uncertain future. Floating high above the land is a strange and mysterious city that is casting a horrifying shadow – wherever it falls, people die and rise again as undead. It is up to an unlikely duo – a seventeen-year-old girl named Annaig and the Emperor’s young son, Prince Attrebus – to rescue the kingdom from doom.
hopefully The Infernal City will have a better narrative than this...
The newly released trailer for Batman: Arkham Asylum showcases the Joker, voiced by none other than Mark Hamill, being his crazy self while being led deep within the catacombs of the Arkham Asylum. The dark mood and atmosphere set a grim tone while slowly revealing tidbits of plot line and gameplay mechanics for this new, and very slick looking, next-gen Batman. It’s hard to have high hopes for this release though, seeing as how many movie and tv titles that eventually become games typically end up being something very subpar. But on the other hand, this isn’t a game which is being rushed out to conincide with a movie release date either. I guess we can only hope that the game will play as good as it looks, and damn, it looks pretty good.
Rockstar released a new trailer for Grand Theft Auto IV’s episodic content “The Lost And Damned” focusing primarily on the persona of who is believed to be the main character Johnny Klebitz. If this trailer is any indicator on what the action sequences may be like, then you can probably assume there may be a decent amount of chase scenes and some ruthless beatings in this upcoming DLC.
If this trailer isn’t enough to scratch your GTA itch, you can check out some new screenshots for the content as well in the Videos & Screenshots section
According to a recent job posting by 2K Boston on GamaSutra, it seems apparent that they are in the market for a Lead Multiplayer Designer in the FPS department.
Lead Multiplayer Designer (First-Person Shooter)
2K Boston, the team that brought you BioShock, is looking for a talented, experienced game designer to lead a multiplayer design team on our next big project.
You will be responsible for creating, documenting and communicating multiplayer design concepts and mechanics. Additionally, you will be required to work with our design tools to implement game mechanics or parameters and test and tune those. You will probably be required to do a certain amount of level building or design as well, though this is not the major focus of the role.
BioShock had no multi-player mode. We don’t believe in throwing in something that can’t go head to head with the big boys. No applicants will be considered who aren’t able to demonstrate they’ve got the skills to build an industry-changing multiplayer design.
Responsibilities:
You must be familiar with the current state of the art in multiplayer game design across a wide range of genres on both PC and console. You must be capable of analyzing and critiquing game designs and using that analysis to inform your own design sensibilities. We expect you to be familiar with BioShock and other 2K Boston/Irrational products and be able to speak critically about them.
Finally, there are a wide variety of miscellaneous other tasks associated with this position such as speaking at conferences, working on game documentation and manuals and occasional PR duties.
Required Experience and Skills:
This position requires a high degree of creativity. You will be required to work with the single player team to form a “vision” of the multiplayer experience and use that vision to inform your design decisions. From there, you will help build a multiplayer design team and be responsible to guide your team through the entire production cycle.
An important part of the role is then communicating that vision clearly and concisely to the rest of the team and ensuring that they have a clear and specific mandate for their work. You must also provide a receptive ear so that other team members can provide input on the game design and feel that it is paid attention to.
Prior experience designing first person shooter games is an absolute must. Understanding of online persistence is preferred but not required. MMO design or production experience also preferred.
Above all we are looking for somebody with enthusiasm, passion and the desire to create a multiplayer experience that is on par with the industry-leading single player experiences created at 2K Boston.
So does this mean BioShock 2: Sea of Dreams will be getting multiplayer? There have definitely Read more…
Today kicks off the COD:WaW Doube XP weekend event. This rank boosting extravaganza will be available for all multiplayer modes, as well as introduce two new game types into their regular playlist of modes; Team Tactical and Mercenary Team Death Match. Team Tactical is a 4 on 4 that puts two teams up against each other in a random slurry of all team based game modes, while the Mercenary TDM will not allow parties, but rather focus on random team match ups. So if you’ve been itching to rank up from the lowly state of Private, now’s your chance. Just try not to die so much.
If you’re one of the many Fallout 3 fans out there who’s looking for even more to add to the experience (as if there isn’t enough already…) you can go download the Operation: Anchorage expansion (800 MS points aka $9.99), available now wherever your local DLC is sold!
This campaign is set in a virtual reality simulation of the battle that takes place in Anchorage, Alaska to liberate itself from Chinese Communist invaders during the years 2066-2067. The content itself Read more…
Japanese RPG monster Square Enix revealed one hell of a trailer for the upcoming Final Fantasy XIII title, due out in 2010. Not only is the trailer worth watching just to get a glimpse of the much anticipated release, but this jaw-dropping optic experience will leave you weak in the knees and wanting more. The stunning CG visuals are second to none, which is pretty much standard coming from this franchise, and the gameplay looks to be equally impressive for their turn-based styled mechanics.
This series has always been a favourite of mine, and to see it finally getting a noteworthy release on the Xbox 360 makes my heart fill with joy. I encourage all to visit www.finalfantasy13game.com and see the wonder that is Final Fantasy XIII.
In an interview with IGN.com’s Hilary Goldstein, Ubisoft has announced an upcoming expansion for the stunningly visual masterpiece that is Prince of Persia. Associate Producer for the new content, Jamal Rguigui, has said that “the DLC will develop the relationship between the Prince and Elika following the end of the game and will give additional narrative elements” as well as reveal a brand new location entitled the “Underground Palace” and a new level of difficulty to the game.
But this new addition does not stop there. The new expansion will also add a brand new “Energize” power to Elika’s repertoire as well as grant the beloved Prince an intense new “Sprinting Clash” attack to stun his foes and help defeat a brand new boss, The Shapeshifter. Read more…
