This sounds more like a practicle joke than anything. Got it off of Infobeat.
Newhart to star with Sisqo in pilot
LOS ANGELES (Launch) – Comic icon Bob Newhart has signed onto play, well, a comic icon in the new NBC pilot project starring hip-hop giant Sisqo. The network announced Wednesday that the still-untitled show will feature Sisqo as a rising star who brings all of his neighborhood friends to Hollywood with him. While there, he hooks up with Newhart’s character, a showbiz veteran who imparts his advice about fame and the like to the young up-and-comer.
EidosInteractive has announced the Game Of The Year Edition of Deus Ex, the game that caught everyone by storm last year. This game had the same effect that Half Life and Unreal Tournament has had in years past. I haven’t played it yet (due to my addition to Unreal Fortress 
), but I have it purchased and plan on playing it once I can get over the UnF shakes.
I have spent a little time with the title and can tell you that it isn’t a run and gun type of game. Explosions happen accuratly. Throw a bomb in a hallway, and the explosion travels the lenght of the hallway. Kill someone early in the game and the game will change. Act a certain way to a NPC (Non-Player Character) and they will remember it. Check it out if you haven’t already.
If you’ve never heard of Planetside, it’s a squad based sci-fi game that bares a striking similarity to Bungie’s Halo. Planetside is being created by Verant Interactive, a little company known for the mildy popular game called Everquest. This game is near the top of my “Must Watch” list and I’m anxiously waiting for some video of this one in motion.
GameSpot has a few new pics of this looker or you can head to the official site on Sony’s offical Planetside site here. They even have some fancy 3D screenshots.
Daily Radar has an interview with Jim Dos?, programmer for id software. Jim discusses “Doom 3″ and it’s progress. Here’s a taste:
DR: Not much is known about Doom 3 except that it’s a work in progress. Is it comparable to the previous installments from so long ago, or is it a whole new, perhaps unexpected experience with a familiar title?
JD: While the premise is similar, the gameplay and the story will be quite different from the original. Also, we haven’t decided on a name yet, so right now we just refer to it as “Doom,” or “the new Doom.”
DR: Is it safe to assume that the emphasis will be on the single-player game? By that, I mean is there anything beyond basic CTF and DM planned for multiplayer?
JD: Right now the focus is on making a great single-player experience. Plans for multiplayer are pretty much up in the air right now.
DR: We know nothing is carved in stone and that release dates are rarely divulged. If you had to guess, would you say this game will release in 2001, 2002 or beyond? Is the release of Doom 3 dependent on the release of the new Wolfenstein game?
JD: I can’t say anything about Doom’s release date, but don’t expect it this year. In general, each id game has taken a bit longer than the previous one, and I think we can expect the trend to continue on this one.
Wolfenstein’s release date won’t affect the release of Doom.
DR: Is there anything we didn’t ask that you can tell us?
JD: Heh, I’m just hoping I didn’t say anything that I’ll lose my tongue for.
Head over to Daily Radar for the rest of the interview.
Reuters admitted to making a mistake yesterday concerning the “up-ing” of the Gamecube launch date. FGN reports that the systems is still planned for an October lauch, but the 2002 delay is still in effect for Europe.
George Broussard, President of 3D Realms, seems to think that Rare has got quite a game in Conker’s Bad Fur day. George had the following to say about the nasty little rodent in his latest GameFinger Plan update:
What can I say? IMO, it’s one of the greatest video games
ever made. It once again solidifies Rare as one of the
top game developers in the world. The game is amazing.
It’s funny, raunchy and a breath of fresh air in the
gaming industry.
Seems that Conk may not just be all about shock factor like everyone is betting on.
One of THE greatest games is making a come back on the GBA.Dodge Ball Advance, a remake of a NES classic that I used to play the snot out of, it going to be a launch title for the Nintendo handheld.
You want niche titles that are a little on the quirky side? Check this one out.
The Gamecube will be released in September in the US according to Nintendo of Japan’s Executive VP Atsuo Asada. This is up a month from the preivous expected date.
Maybe the big N will get this box out on time after all.
Source : FGN
Nintendo announced the details concerning the Game Boy Advance. The system will be released on June 11th with a MSRP of $99.95. Games will run at about $29.95 thru $39.95. The list of launch titles was also released.
Launch titles are:
- Super Mario Advance (Nintendo)
- F-Zero: Maximum Velocity (Nintendo)
- Army Men Advance (3DO)
- High Heat Major League Baseball 2002 (3DO)
- Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 2 (Activision)
- Dodge Ball Advance (Atlus)
- Fire Pro Wrestling (BAM)
- Top Gear GT Championship (Kemco)
- Tweety and the Magic Jewel (Kemco)
- Fortress (Majesco)
- Iridion 3-D (Majesco)
- Pitfall: The Mayan Adventure (Majesco)
- ChuChu Rocket! (Sega)
- Ready 2 Rumble Boxing: Round 2 (Midway)
- Rayman (Ubi Soft)
60+ titles are due before Christmas.
Anyone who watches Spin City knows that when Rags is on, he steals the show. Rags is a pet dog of one of the characters on the show. The running gag is that Rags wants to die. The dog is so ugly, that he’s cute. He doesn’t do a lot, but the other characters play off of him well. I received this from Infobeat and had to post it:
‘Spin City’ pooch gets flack
NEW YORK (AP) – When it comes to New York real estate, being a TV celebrity is no advantage. Rags, the 9-pound pooch on the ABC sitcom “Spin City,” faces eviction from his Fifth Avenue digs because other tenants say he’s wetting the hall. On the show, Rags is an inert, suicidal canine owned by mayoral aide Carter Heywood, played by actor Michael Boatman. In real New York life, he’s Wesley, a 10-year-old smooth-coated Brussels griffon whose owner lives near Greenwich Village. Some neighbors claim Wesley is making a mess outside his 14th-floor apartment. His owner, Ruth Powell, who also faces eviction, acknowledges her pet has been caught in the act once, but insists he’s not the primary culprit. Powell says she has letters from 14 residents attesting to Wesley’s innocence, while three neighbors complained.
Sounds like Rags is accomplishing more off of the show than on. He’s just lucky he doesn’t have Jack Nicholson as a neighbor.
The Onion has a very interesting, satirical look at blaming violence on video games. Here’s a snippet:
Parents Against Robot-On-Robot Violence (PARORV) is calling for a ban on the giant-robot-themed PlayStation 2 game “Armored Core 2,” which the group claims inspired a 17-year-old giant robot’s Feb. 22 slaying of 13 giant robots and himself.
According to Martian authorities, the young assailant was obsessed with the violent game.
“From what we’ve seen, this appears to be a case of a giant robot who, through excessive exposure to giant-robot-battle video-game scenarios, lost the ability to distinguish fantasy from reality,” PARORV spokeswoman Marianna Cutchek said.
“You can’t blame something like this on a game,” Sony spokesman Mitsuko Yamaguchi said. “Sure, it’s easy to point the finger at a convenient scapegoat, but what about the real questions: Where did this robot acquire enough credits to outfit his AC with such heavy hardware in the first place? Why didn’t the AC’s high-AP head unit’s onboard computer facilities receive counseling before it was too late? And, of course, any time a robot goes berserk, it has to be asked: Where were the manufacturers?”
The tragedy has prompted many within the giant-robot community to call for increased regulation of fighting-robot-themed video games. It is the latest in a string of controversies for the embattled entertainment industry, which is reeling from charges that the popular TV show BattleBots, in which remote-controlled robot fighters battle “to the death” in an arena-like setting, glamorizes robot-on-robot violence.
I’ve found that the Onion always seems to put it in perspective.
Received this via Infobeat I was originally concerned, but I think that the Farrelly Brothers know these guys are legends and will probably make the movie the best it can be…
Farrelly bros. to make Three Stooges film
LOS ANGELES (AP) – Peter and Bobby Farrelly think there’s something about the Three Stooges. The sibling writer-directors behind “There’s Something About Mary” and “Dumb and Dumber,” said Friday they plan to make a movie based on the slapstick characters of Larry, Moe and Curly. The film won’t be a remake of any particular Stooges story, but will be an original idea cooked up by the brothers, Warner Bros. Studios said. Shaggy-haired Larry Fine, belligerent Moe Howard and his skinhead brother, Jerome “Curly” Howard, are the best known performers of the Three Stooges comedy act, which went from vaudeville stages to Hollywood in the 1930s.
For those who don’t know, the Stooges special that was broadcast on TV and focused on the Stooges offstage life was Executive Produced by Mel Gibson, a well known Stooges fan.
Dark Horizons has a bit of an exclusive. If you’re looking for a nice way to cover the wall, I’d recommed this…
Can’t wait for this one….
A few former Sega.com employees have launched a new company focusing on high speed communications for gaming. FGN says that the service will cover a majority of the consoles and will be available in the US and Canada.
“New Millennium is the antidote to generic Internet connections plagued with network lags that make online gaming nearly impossible,” said Brad Huang, chief executive officer. “We will provide ## online and in real time ## gaming at the speed of light, giving gamers the bandwidth necessary for an uninterrupted competitive experience that maximizes what gaming is about – intensive graphics, non-stop fast action and real-time command response.”
It’ll be interesting to see how New Millennium Entertainment will compete with Sony, Nintendo, and SegaNet.
Icognito is working on a fifth chapter in the PSOne based Twisted Metal series. How about a super-deformed remote-control game.
Details are scarce, but the game will feature familiar characters from the series, albeit super deformed and with big heads. Each will be piloting a miniature remote-controlled version of their respective vehicle.
Info from Daily Radar.
Amazon.com bagged a “Unnamed game designer” from Rare for an interview on Conker. It’s an interesting read. If you think what you see know is a little risque, then let’s just say Rare tamed things down quite a bit.
On a related note, Cube.IGN has a history of Rare on it’s site. It covers the company’s rise to fame from Jetpac to Battletoads up through current developements.
Nintendo Nation has confirmation that the Main Processor, code named Gekko, that “the Gekko processor is currently being manufactured in their Burlington, Vermont facility and is using their state-of-the-art copper technology.” A number was not given, but enough are being produced to meet “Nintendo’s demand.
The processor is based on IBM’s copper technology and it’s small size won’t require a fan on the console.
Cube.IGN reports that Namco is putting their eggs in Nintendo’s basket for the next round of consoles.
No details were given about what software to expect, but IGNcube has been able to confirm through sources that at least two titles are in development ## versions of Ridge Racer V and Tekken Tag Tournament. No word on if these titles will be enhanced over their PlayStation 2 counterparts. Both games are expected at system launch in Japan.
It seems that Namco is losing serious cash over the floundering PS2. With a console shortage that seems never to end, Namco has decided to give Nintendo a shot. No mention was made of Microsoft’s XBox.
