Creed IS good!





Patrice says the team spent the two first years building a "brand new engine" for
Assassin's Creed and then the last two designing the game.

"The mandate we received back in January 2004 was to redefine the action adventure genre on the next-gen platforms," says Patrice.

"But you have to remember back in 2004 we didn't have any next-gen platform whatsoever, it was only numbers on a sheet of paper. So right from the start we had to come up with not only technology-driven ideas but also game design because we wanted to really...

GameCity 07; Haze is not 'gold' but still glitters





The controls are fluid, the graphics are gorgeous...

Pressure piles on pre-owned

333w ago - Free Radical and Frontier slam 'jumble sale' second-hand games market LEADING developers have spoken out against pre-owned games at retail - warning that studios could turn their back on the 'traditional' publishing model if the trend continues.

TimeSplitters and Haze developer Free Radical Design and Frontier Developments' David Braben have both told MCV that the current system is flawed - as, while retailers rake in profits on a title every time it goes through the trade-in system, developers are left with nothing.

"Of course it isn't fair that retailers are claiming all of the profits from the sale of second-hand titles, and it is bizarre that our industry tolerates it," said director at Free Radical Design Steve Ellis.

"I can't imagine going into PC World and buying a pre-owned copy of MS Office. It just wouldn't happen. The logical conclusion of this - the retailers' ultimate goal - is that they only ever sell one original copy of any game and then they pass it around between everyone who wants to play it, keeping all of the profit for themselves except for that initial sale. How can that possibly be fair?"

The brains behind Frontier Developments David Braben agrees:

"Clearly from the developer and publisher point of view, the second-hand...

BioWare & Pandemic: The Fatted Calves?

333w ago - With BioWare's Mass Effect a few weeks from release, the recent purchase of BioWare and Pandemic by Electronic Arts seems brazenly timed. The reactions from all corners defy classification, and in their most common form equally defy serious analysis and unbiased discussion. Electronic Arts, burdened by a tumultuous and controversial history, has become an entity which many people criticize and condemn by default, its dealings automatically perceived as some extension of corporate evil defined by nefarious misdeeds and malicious motives.

Vilifying Electronic Arts is virtually a pastime for most bloggers and forum posters, and so common as to be nearly cliché. How the BioWare/Pandemic deal might affect future products and franchises is a debate of pessimistic one-upmanship, and the consensus is this will be a bad thing for gamers. However, these conclusions often lack any compelling evidence beyond "if EA is involved, it must be bad."

What has not been discussed is how this deal came to pass, who benefits and why EA dumped more than three-quarters of a billion dollars on a premier developer.

This deal's story pretty much begins and ends with John Riccitiello and a three-and-a-half year game of executive musical chairs. From late 1997 until 2004, Riccitiello was President and Chief Operating...

Secret Halo 3 vehicle revealed!

333w ago - Everyone loves the replay feature in Halo 3. Everyone, except probably Bungie -- especially in cases like this video. This "new vehicle" can be found on the level with the first boss battle with the Scarab. Get two people into the dumpster, tip it over, then both players need to jump at the same time and watch as the dumpster becomes airborne. You can even steer the dumpster!

Awesome glitch, now my only question: How does someone stumble upon such a crazy glitch? This does gives a whole new meaning to dumpster diving! Am I right?!

Video can be seen here.
