GameReplays.org - RTS fansite and forums. Replays, strategies and tournaments for Age of Empires 3, BfME, BfME 2, Zero Hour, Generals, Act of War and Empire at War

It's a sad day in the gaming world as the Championship Gaming Series closes due to financial difficulties. The CGS was a worldwide gaming league primarily for Counter Strike Source, backed by large sponsors such as Creative, Mountain Dew, and Alienware.

As always, it is a bad day for the gaming community when a piece of it dies off, especially one that was doing so well. In the official words of the CGS:

Today, BSkyB, STAR, and DIRECTV ended their Championship Gaming Series (CGS).

While the concept was ahead of its time and we're extremely proud of what we've accomplished, it became increasingly clear as this ambitious project evolved, that profitability was too far in the future for us to sustain operations in the interim.

Our goal was to be ahead of the curve in the e-sports space, and we conceived of CGS as a true sports league. We invested wholeheartedly in the venture and presented viewers with a top-notch production, but the economics just didn't add up for us at this time.

Our only regret is that we will lose a team of creative and talented individuals who invested their hearts and souls into Champion Gaming Series. We recognize their achievements and thank them for their hard work and passion.

BSkyB, STAR, and DIRECTV continue to be committed to the video games sector, which is an important part of our customers' lives and a great source of entertainment.

Sincerely,
The CGS Team

To visit the CGS website, perhaps for the last time, head on over to http://thecgs.com and pay your respects to this wonderful organization that offered so much to the community.

SteelSeries and Blizzard Entertainment have designed the very first World of Warcraft gaming mouse. This high-tech mouse has a lot of features, including "advanced macro creation capabilities, 15 programmable buttons, six possible DPI settings and 16 million profile-specific illumination colors."

The mouse is designed to have a look and feel similar to the World of Warcraft interface and features drag-and-drop software so players can easily use their 15 programmable buttons for over 130 in-game commands. All these traits will make it the perfect mouse for one of the most popular games in history. "One of our design philosophies for World of Warcraft has always been to give players a high degree of freedom in customizing their experience," said Paul Sams, COO of Blizzard Entertainment. "The World of Warcraft MMO Gaming Mouse extends that principle by putting a wide range of new control options in players' hands."

SteelSeries has always wanted to provide new concepts to the massively multiplayer online community, especially after their acquisition of Ideazon. "It was a natural next step that we work with Blizzard Entertainment to create new products that help enhance players' World of Warcraft experience," said SteelSeries CEO Bruce Hawver.

This mouse will be available in late Q4 2008 with a price tag of €89,99 and can be pre-ordered now.

Check out the new mouse

[imgf=right]http://www.gamereplays.org/community/uploads/post-16935-1225887945.jpg[/imgf]On November 6th – 9th in Cologne, Germany, gamers from all over the world will convene to compete for pride, and more importantly for a nice pay day, as they do battle in a dozen different games. This is the ninth iteration of the World Cyber Games. It all started in 2000 with four games, 17 countries and $200,000 worth of cash prizes. This year's edition will have players from 80 countries competing for $470,000 worth of cash prizes.
GameReplays.org's own TDA will be in Cologne bringing you all the news and updates. Be sure and check the GameReplays WCG Grand Final page for updates on the 2008 WCG Finals!

Have you ever woken up in the morning, looked for something to wear, but had to go streaking because you didn't have anything that said "GameReplays" on it? Well in the interest of public safety, we've finally decided to open a store!

There are currently a number of different t-shirts and a couple of hoodies available, as well as mouse pads and a couple of wall clocks. We'll be adding more and more products as we design them, but be sure to do a little window shopping (and maybe some actual shopping) to see what we've got available.

Everything is made by CafePress, who will handle all the shipping to anywhere in the world. Note that you may have to pay a small import tax depending on where you live. Orders may take some time to deliver since they are all custom made on demand.

In addition, the store gives you a sneak peak at the new site design that we'll be rolling out in pieces over the next few months. It will be cleaner, faster, lighter, and less drab looking.

If anyone has any ideas for designs, or wants to help us out, then please post your ideas or designs in our store feedback topic. We're always looking for good ideas, particularly clever/funny ideas, such as the tounge-in-cheek "PRO" shirt and hoodie we have.

So be sure to check out the store and buy something!

Two very important events are occurring for the Red Alert 3 Section at this very moment. First, Red Alert 3 has officially shipped and is now headed for store shelves all across the world.

Electronic Arts Los Angeles' newest title, Command & Conquer: Red Alert 3, ships today in North America and many other countries (the official European release date is the 30th). You can either buy a normal edition for $50 USD (price varies per country), or buy the Premier Edition, which comes with the game's soundtrack, a beta key for a future game from EA, a metal case, an exclusive in-game item for the MMORPG Warhammer Online, and more. The Premier Edition is $65 in the United States.

Make sure you read our entire newspost!

Second, Gamereplays.org is now looking for Red Alert 3 staff members to help make content and keep this great site running.

The GameReplays.org Red Alert 3 Staff is currently looking for Strategy Specialists, Gamecasters, and Writers! Joining the Red Alert 3 staff grants you access to staff forums, is a good way to get to know people from all over the world, and most importantly to help give back to the Red Alert 3 community.

If you are interested check out the rest of the newspost including the requirements and who to contact.

It took a while, but we've finally released a basic search engine for the GameReplays Replaysystem.

The search features the ability to perform a quick search on each list of replays, or go to a centralized "Advanced Search" page which will search all replays with the given specifications.

IPB Image

Replay search is here, please visit your respective replay section and click on "Search" in the replay navigation bar

The advanced search gives you the ability to search by any single parameter. You don't need to specify any search text if you don't want to, allowing you to search just 1v1, 2v2, or specific matchups, or any combination of the options.

Update - 23 October, 2008
- Added a reset button to the search form to make it easy to clear your results
- Search results will now be cleared when navigating away from the index you're on, unless it's moving between the popular and member replay tabs.
- "Any event" is now the default, making it more convenient to get accurate results

Remaining bugs/limitations
- If you search for, say, GDI vs Nod and then Nod vs GDI, you will get different results. May not happen with every game section.

- Faction/matchup search only works with the 1v1 matchup type. It will work if 2v2, 3v3, or 4v4 is selected, but it will of course only search for one faction per team, rather than given the option to specify a faction for every team slot.

If you see any other bugs, please report them in our replay system feedback and bug reports forum.

This year’s E3 Media and Business Summit was a disappointingly subdued affair by all accounts. Its ‘invite-only’ policy rendered it a significant departure from the packed-to-the-rafters fan-fest that it was in years past. Gone were the pungent odors of fanboy perspiration and the invigorating sights of scantily clad booth babes, leaving only a small group of officials and journalists to gawk at the industry’s finest.

Overwhelmed with criticism from a wide array of sources, the Entertainment Software Association (the show’s host) has been tasked with the revitalization of E3. Most have called for a healthy compromise between the lawn bowls tournament of 2008 and the frenzied mosh-pit of 2005, with critics also demanding a show-date that is friendlier to publisher announcement schedules.

The ESA’s silence on the matter was broken yesterday by an exclusive scoop from enthusiast website GoNintendo, which claims that an upcoming episode of the popular show X-Play has revealed a slew of juicy details regarding 2009’s E3:

E3 will now be ‘technically’ open to the public, via ticket sales
Attendance will be capped at 40,000
A “broader range of industry guests” will be present
The show has been dated for June 2-4
It will be held at the LA Convention Center (LACC)

Whilst information pertaining to booth babes was notably absent, this news does seem to indicate that the ESA’s baby is making a return to form. We can only hope that X-Play is able to confirm the above as truth. Stay tuned for further details.

Hardened gamers that you are, I’m sure that the notion of a 24-hour bout-of-button-mashing is not so much a feat as it is a frequent indulgence to you. That being the case, Sarcastic Gamer’s ‘Extra Life’ charity event seems the perfect opportunity for you to aid in the struggle against pediatric cancer, as all it demands of you is a solid day’s engagement in your favorite activity – gaming.

“On Saturday October 18th, 2008 gamers from around the world will come together for 24 hours to raise money and awareness for the cause of pediatric cancer. Cancer is the number one cause of non-accidental death in children. Together, we’re going to stand with the families from around the world who come to Texas Children’s Cancer Center in Houston, Texas for lifesaving treatment. Texas Children’s Cancer Center serves kids worldwide regardless of their family’s ability to pay. This generous philosophy means that your support is crucial to ensuring not only the development of new cutting edge cures, but also to provide care to kids from all corners of the globe.” [Sarcastic Gamer]

So rally your sponsors, controllers and plentiful supplies of snack food as you prepare to sally forth into the depths of your chosen game for the good of those who are in grave need.

Blizzard Entertainment is known for being particularly tight-lipped when it comes to release dates, touting their famed ‘when it’s ready’ response to all queries regarding the launch of their highly anticipated products.

In that light, it would appear that Wrath of the Lich King is ready (or very close to it), as Blizzard has just announced that this second expansion to their thriving World of Warcraft franchise will hit shelves on the 13th of November in North America and Europe and the 14th in Australia and New Zealand.

Wrath of the Lich King will grant players access to the ice-covered continent of Northrend and all of the exciting content therein. Additional features include an extended level cap, an Xbox-style achievement system as well as the very first ‘hero-class’- the ‘Death-Knight’. Moreover, devout fans will be able to get their hands on the collector's edition of the game for exclusive access to the following goodies:

The Art of World of Warcraft: Wrath of the Lich King, a 208-page book featuring never-before-seen images from the game.
An exclusive in-game pet: Frosty, the baby frost wyrm.
A behind-the-scenes DVD containing over an hour of developer interviews, the Wrath of the Lich King intro cinematic with director’s commentary, and more.
The official soundtrack CD, containing 21 epic tracks from the game, along with exclusive bonus tracks.
A mouse pad featuring a map of the newly opened continent of Northrend.
Two World of Warcraft Trading Card Game March of the Legion™ starter decks, along with two exclusive cards available only in the Collector’s Edition.

This game aroused your deepest fears. It showed you what it is to truly play a horror shooting. With Alma's hatred fueling her to destroy everyone in her reach, no one could destroy the monster that had been created into a child girl. After losing her mind to hatred, she was hidden in a vault all alone and asleep physically. Her psychological powers were still alive, the powers she used to control Fettel, the commander of an elite force of super soldiers. After havoc was wreaked, he was finally cut off from Alma and saved. Now...she is back and worse than ever. With her hatred increasing over the years, she now threatens to destroy reality as a whole and change it into her own. She is back, the monster is finally back.

F.E.A.R. Project Origin is the name given to the sequel, a perfect fit seeing it was the name given to the project of the horrific experiment on Hale's daughter led by Hale himself. Now, the world will face the consequences. Monolith Productions, who were first making the game an unofficial sequel called Project Origin, now have the right to use the name F.E.A.R. So it is now called F.E.A.R 2: Project Origin. The story continues on from right where they dropped off. It is meant to be F.E.A.R. brought up ten notches. Revolutionary graphics and more...released on February 10th, 2009

The game is an excellent sequel, and won't disappoint. Everyone should stay updated and ready to buy it when it comes out. An excellent horror game and something great to play! The game people wait years for is here, so don't miss it!

Activision has now acquired another gaming developer. FreeStyleGames, which is best known for its dancing game B-Boy released on the PSP and PS2. The developer is now a part of Activision as an Independent Studio, meaning it's allowed to keep its name and identity while also having the resources of the colossal and successful company of Activision Blizzard. As of now, the small and budding company of FreeStyleGaming has started working on some local downloadable content for Guitar Hero. Not to mention, they are working on their own new music game.

With this new addition, Activision is working on its title as the “Leader of Music Based Gaming”. The company itself has announced its views on its new goals and aspirations here, “Activision Publishing is the undisputed leader in the music-based games, and we see tremendous opportunity for continued growth, particularly in Europe," Activision Publishing president and CEO Mike Griffith said in a statement. "An important part of our European growth strategy is to work with local developers and provide music content that resonates with the market."

There's the United States, Europe and then the great Australia. All of them like their own types of games, and info has been let out on what games the Aussies love to buy. They have fallen in love with their Wii. The Wii Fit has been able to take down all other competition. Spore came in second, but even with all the hype it could not topple the forever withstanding Wii Fit. The virtual way to excersise your body, and one of the most entertaining features of the Wii.

As mentioned before, Spore came in second. Being one of the only PC games that came into the top ten most bought games in Australia. It has been shown as a very unique and fairly fun game to play. It is something you don't play every day, so it has fought itself to the top two of Australia dropping the Wii Bundle to third place. With the Wii dominating the ladder. Next came The Sims 2: Apartment Life, one of the rare games on this list that are not owned by Nintendo. Finally, the last two on this list continue the trend of Nintendo games. Coming in 9th and 10th, Dr. Kawashima's Brain Training: How Old Is Your Brain, and Guitar Hero 3 to finish this excellent list.

This chart has been fairly decent, with a very good source from which this came from.

Australia Gaming Chart for the week September 1st to September 7th.

There's the United States, Europe and then the great Australia. All of them like their own types of games, and info has been let out on what games the Aussies love to buy. They have fallen in love with their Wii. The Wii Fit has been able to take down all other competition. Spore came in second, but even with all the hype it could not topple the forever withstanding Wii Fit. The virtual way to excersise your body, and one of the most entertaining features of the Wii.

As mentioned before, Spore came in second. Being one of the only PC games that came into the top ten most bought games in Australia. It has been shown as a very unique and fairly fun game to play. It is something you don't play every day, so it has fought itself to the top two of Australia dropping the Wii Bundle to third place. With the Wii dominating the ladder. Next came The Sims 2: Apartment Life, one of the rare games on this list that are not owned by Nintendo. Finally, the last two on this list continue the trend of Nintendo games. Coming in 9th and 10th, Dr. Kawashima's Brain Training: How Old Is Your Brain, and Guitar Hero 3 to finish this excellent list.

This chart has been fairly decent, with a very good source from which this came from. Australia Gaming Chart for the week September 1st to September 7th.

Acclaimed developer of the long-running Age of Empires Franchise, Ensemble Studios, will be dissolved following the release of its up-coming RTS project: Halo Wars. Microsoft has officially stated that their decision to disband Ensemble was financially motivated and that the team’s members will continue development under the banner of its wholly owned subsidiary brand, Microsoft Game Studios.

“The team at Ensemble has made invaluable contributions to the games industry with their Age of Empires and Age of Mythology games and with the highly anticipated release of Halo Wars. This decision does not reflect at all on Ensemble's talent or the quality of Halo Wars. in fact, many people who have had a chance to test drive Halo Wars agree that it is on track to being a fantastic game”, said a Microsoft representative.

Fans of the Age of Empires series needn’t lose too much sleep tonight, as Microsoft’s VP of interactive entertainment, Shane Kim, has confirmed that the venerable franchise will continue to be built upon in the foreseeable future. “Microsoft continues to own Age of Empires. It is not losing Age of Empires itself. We’re still super excited for the potential for the franchise. The Windows gaming world continues to evolve, and we believe in the future of that property”, explained Kim, in an interview with Edge.

Halo Wars, a spin-off of the popular Xbox-based Halo franchise is currently slated for an early 2009 release, giving Ensemble at least 3 months before its closure is enacted.

Those with a penchant for classic FPS gaming will undoubtedly be pleased to hear that every title in the iconic id Software's portfolio is currently available for download on Steam for half price.

If the above didn't quite leap off the page at you as ferocious bargains are wont to do, perhaps the following will: Customers are now able to purchase every title developed by id Software for the insanely low price of $34.99!

Steam's 'id Super Pack' includes the following titles:

Commander Keen
DOOM 3
DOOM 3 Resurrection of Evil
DOOM II
Final DOOM
HeXen
HeXen II
HeXen: Deathkings of the Dark Citadel
Heretic: Shadow of the Serpent Riders
Master Levels for Doom II
QUAKE
QUAKE II
QUAKE II Mission Pack: Ground Zero
QUAKE II Mission Pack: The Reckoning
QUAKE III: Team Arena
QUAKE Mission Pack 1: Scourge of Armagon
QUAKE Mission Pack 2: Dissolution of Eternity
Quake III Arena
Return to Castle Wolfenstein
Spear of Destiny
Ultimate DOOM
Wolfenstein 3D

If this deal tickles your fancy then you'd be wise to hasten to Steam's checkout, as the discount only applies this weekend, after which the package will revert to its standard price of $69.99.

Gamereplays.org is currently recruiting writing staff for all sections!

Writers are responsible for finding news related to the game they work for, posting them up for revision, and then posting them on the portals, by way of what we call a newspost, a 100-300 word summary/overview of a piece of news. Becoming a Writer is a great way to improve your reporting and writing skills. You may even get the opportunity to interview video game developers or the player who keeps ahead of everyone on the ladder!

You can improve your English and writing abilities while having a fun, pleasant, and rewarding experience on one of the rising RTS community/media sites of today. Please only apply if you want to actually contribute to Gamereplays and have the time to do so! Any questions about the position may be sent to the application link.

If you've got the time, skill, and motivation, please send a PM with a newspost/article containing 300 words so we can determine if you've got what you need to be on staff.

We hope to see you on staff!

Applications can be sent here

American search engine pioneer Google, Inc. has announced plans to launch an open source web browser by the name of ‘Google Chrome’, following the premature release of a webcomic detailing the company’s intentions.

“We realized that the web had evolved from mainly simple text pages to rich, interactive applications and that we needed to completely rethink the browser. What we really needed was not just a browser, but also a modern platform for web pages and applications, and that's what we set out to build” said Google’s Vice President of Product Management, Sundar Pichai.

On the surface, Chrome will purportedly be a relatively simple application, however, Pichai promises that ‘under the hood’, Google’s new browser will boast the capacity to run modern web applications with a great deal of efficiency. Specifically, Google has endured great pains to ensure that each browser tab is isolated from the others, thereby decreasing the chance of multi-tab crashes. Moreover, the product supports a new JavaScript engine to “power the next generation of web applications that aren’t even possible in today’s browsers.”

Whilst Chrome will inevitably come into competition with the giants of contemporary web browsing, Firefox and Internet Explorer, Google’s webcomic rather sportingly acknowledges their debt to “other open source browser projects - - Especially, Mozilla and Webkit". To that end, Google will be making their code completely open source, in a bid to "collaberate with the entire community to help drive the web forward"

The Google Chrome beta is expected to release in over 100 countries tomorrow. Be sure to check out Pichai's blog for updates regarding Chrome and the beta.

Ubisoft Montreal’s Patrick Redding has publicly confirmed the existence of a third installment in the Far Cry franchise, revealing that the title is currently in the ‘preliminary stages’ of development. Redding also hinted that future iterations in the series would more than likely be set in the same environment as the upcoming Far Cry 2, when he told VG247 that his team had developed a “commitment to the African setting”.

“There are still things we want to do with the African setting, and I think it’s safe to say we’ll continue to explore it...” Redding explained. He did stress, however, that this doesn’t necessarily indicate that Ubisoft is intentionally stifling the environmental diversity of the franchise, claiming that the game could very well be set in the forests of South America or upon the ice plains of Antarctica.“But honestly, we’re still at the preliminary stages...” he said.

Far Cry 2 was unveiled in early 2007 and is set to release in fall this year. Players can expect to traipse around a fictional African nation embroiled in civil-war, as they hunt for and attempt to assassinate an elusive arms-dealer known as ‘The Jackal’. A key selling point for the title has been its lack of linearity, with players afforded complete control over the game’s direction and progression.

Far Cry 2 at its hottest

Online retailer Amazon.com has announced plans to enable enthusiastic customers to have their games delivered to them on the date of release. Previously, gamers who opted to purchase titles online were often forced to endure several torturous days of waiting, as their bubble-wrapped packages winged their way to the appropriate doorstep.

Now, one merely has to upgrade their shipping deal to ‘release-date-delivery’ at Amazon’s checkout and pay a fee of $5.98, to ensure that they are playing the latest games at the same time as all of those brave-souls who dare to journey beyond the front door and into the depths of the closest retail outlet. Amazon Prime customers will be additionally pleased to learn that this new service will be made available to them for no additional cost whatsoever.

The convenience boasted by Amazon’s new service is somewhat offset by the fact that it doesn’t cover the releases of all upcoming video games. Currently, users are only able to take advantage of the offer with Fable 2, Gears of War 2, Star Wars: The Force Unleashed and Tiger Woods PGA Tour 09. If Amazon hopes to sell subscriptions with this initiative, they should seriously consider broadening the portfolio of supported titles.

Reputed developer of computer processing technologies, Advanced Micro Devices (AMD), today announced that it is currently working with both Electronic Arts and SEGA in an effort to enhance the visual quality of upcoming games via the power of DirectX 10.1. EA Phenomic’s upcoming card-based RTS Battleforge will benefit from this collaboration, as will SEGA’s post-apocalyptic strategy title Stormrise.

“We’re working hard to deliver a new fantasy RTS experience never seen before. Using DirectX 10.1 and AMD’s graphics technology will enable Battleforge to look its absolute best” said Dirk Ringe, Vice President of EA Phenomic.

Likewise, SEGA appeared quite pleased with the partnership, with European representative Chris Southall stating that “SEGA is delighted to team up with AMD on one of our forthcoming games. AMD’s firm commitment to cutting-edge technology makes them a natural partner for us on Stormrise.”.

Since its release, AMD has held somewhat of a monopoly on DirectX 10.1 technology, with its ATI Radeon HD 3000 & 4000 series being the only GPUs that take advantage of all of the features boasted by the incremental upgrade. Recently, the company released a tech demo to showcase the advantages 10.1 proffered over older versions of the software which can be viewed here.

Despite common belief, the PC gaming is still going strong. According to the NPD, the PC is the leading platform among gamers. The report gives several categories in which to place certain types of gamers, from extreme to casual and everything in between.

Using information gathered back in January and February, the report separated the North American game-playing populace into the following seven categories, totaling 174 million gamers:
Young Heavy Gamers: 22%
Seconday Gamers: 20%
Console Games: 17%
Offline PC Gamers: 15%
Online PC Gamers: 14%
Avid PC Gamers: 9%
Extreme Gamers: 3%
The segments are categorized by usage, ownership and frequency numbers, though the specifics definitions were not provided.

The NPD wanted to make it clear that “Console Gamers, Young Heavy Gamers and Extreme Gamers” generally chose the console as their platform of choice.

Other facts from the report:

PS3 owners most likely to have multiple consoles
Only 10% of PS2 owners have a PS3
45% of PSP owners have a DS but only 21% of DS owners have a PSP
14% of games purchased between November 2007 and January 2008 were digital downloads.

Details on the methodology of the study:

The data was collected from more than 20,000 members of NPD's online consumer panel, ages two to 65+. Responses for consumers ages six to 12 were captured by instructing a parent to take his or her child in this age range to the computer to answer the questions, either with or without the parent's assistance. Qualified respondents reported they personally play video games on a PC, on a console or portable system, or on another device such as a mobile phone. The following four key variables were used to create the gamer segments: ownership; usage; frequency; and purchased/received video games. Final survey data was weighted to represent the U.S. population of individuals ages 2 and older. Fieldwork was conducted from January 11-February 5, 2008.

Note: This study was conducted in January, meaning that questions that refer to consumer behavior in the past three months include the Christmas/Hanukkah holidays.

Read the full article.

When Crysis Warhead was first announced by Crytek developers in early June as the first sequel in the Crysis series, there was some speculation as to whether it was truly a 'sequel' or 'expansion'. Planned to be included in the package is Crysis Wars, which is the multiplayer component of the game. It will have 21 maps, bringing 7 new ones and all the original Crysis ones, multiple multiplayer gameplay improvements, a new game mode, and, according to EA, a dedicated support team to meet the needs of the community.

Furthermore, the Warhead campaign is seemingly not an actual continuation of the Crysis story, but rather a parallel plot on the other side of the island. Sergeant “Psycho” Sykes' secret mission will "take him to the other side of the island on a ruthless pursuit of a North Korean general hell-bent on obtaining powerful technology."

Nonetheless, EA has just stated that Warhead will ship on September 16 to United States retailers and on September 12 in European nations.

Crytek CEO Cevat Yerli explains, "We designed Warhead to be more accessible for gamers new to the Crysis franchise. It is a game with a story that can stand on its own, it has been optimized to run better on a wider range of PCs, and we are introducing Crysis Wars, a tailor-made experience for multiplayer gamers within the Crysis universe--all at a great value." Certainly--the standalone game is set to be priced at $29.95.

Visit the new crysiswarhead.com

Recently an article was published titled " EA Games: Blessing, or curse? A look at a possible EA buyout of VALVE" and is available in the main portal under features.

It is no secret that Electronic Arts (EA) is one of the world’s largest third party publishers, ranking 8th on the list of largest software companies in the world with a net annual revenue of US $4.02 billion in the fiscal year 2008.

However it was not all success for EA Games, which had its fair share of failure both with its closing down of acquired developer studios and with the gaming community’s general loss of confidence in EA’s ability to develop quality games.

If you have not read the article, be sure you do and if you have an opinion or comment be sure to join the mess hall discussion topic.

The minimum, high and recommended system requirements for Far Cry 2's PC edition are now out. Issued by publisher Ubisoft, the open-world shooter will also be available on PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 this fall.

High Requirements:

CPU: E6600 Core 2 Duo
Graphics: Nvidia 8800GTS
RAM: 2GB
Hard Drive Space: 6-8GB
Optical Drive: DVD Drive

Minimum Requirements:

CPU: Athlon 64 3000+/Intel 2.8ghz
Graphics: Nvidia 6600 or ATI X1600 - Shader Model 2.0
RAM: 1GB
Hard Drive Space: 6-8GB
Optical Drive: DVD Drive

Recommended Requirements:

CPU: Dual-Core CPU (Athlon X2 / Pentium D / Core 2 Duo)
Graphics: Nvidia 7800GT or ATI X1800XL Pro (SM 3.0)
RAM: 2GB+
Hard Drive Space: 6-8GB
Optical Drive: DVD Drive

Read More:

FarCry Files

Blizzard Entertainment has confirmed that Diablo III art director Brian Morrisroe has resigned to establish his own company “outside the game industry”, following the confusion incited by the developer’s recently posted job advert for the position.

“That change won't impact the game...we're really pleased with the look and feel that Brian helped create for Diablo III, and the new person we bring aboard will work with other artists on the team to maintain the art style moving forward..” said a Blizzard representative in response to an inquiry made by video game blog Kotaku.

The reasons alleged for Brian’s resignation in concert with Blizzard’s admission of satisfaction with the ‘look and feel that Brian helped create’ for the game, suggests that the former director’s departure has absolutely no correlation with the post-announcement turbulence that permeated the fanbase regarding the title’s art-style.

Diablo III was unveiled in late June at Blizzard’s ‘Worldwide Invitational’ event in Paris, only to be decried by a slew of indignant fans who believed that the new art direction was uncharacteristic of the dark world that the game’s predecessors had established. This angry-mob proceeded to create an online petition demanding a ‘renewed artistic direction for Diablo III’, which has accrued the signatures of over 50,000 advocates to date. Specifically, the petition calls for ‘slightly less colorful and less vivid outside scenarios’, to which the game’s lead designer Jay Wilson responds:

“When you pull all the color out of the environment and you make it too homogeneous across the game, essentially what you’re doing is you’re pulling away the player’s reward of feeling like they’ve progressed because the area they’re in now looks like the area they were in 30 to 45 minutes ago. So that’s one of the reasons why we really felt we had to do this. We had to move to an art style that had a lot more variety in it and was capable of a lot more.” [Link]

The Colourful and Fruity World of Diablo III

With Morrisroe having moved onto other endeavours, Blizzard is currently on the look-out for a “a talented, motivated, and experienced art director to lead the Diablo III art team”. Given the prestige inherent with holding a senior position on the Blizzard development team, one can only wonder what sort of talent the company’s job advertisement will attract.

Rockstar has officially confirmed their plans to port the incredibly successful Grand Theft Auto IV to the PC platform this November, with the game releasing in North America and Europe/Australia on the 18th and 21st respectively.

Speculations regarding the game’s much sought PC-debut escalated recently, following a slip-up by the ESRB in which GTAIV was listed under the ‘Windows PC’ category, betraying the game’s impending release.

This latest iteration in a series of open-world action games casts you in the role of the immigrant Niko Belic, whose apparent goal is to establish himself in 'Liberty City' through participation in an array of felonious activities.

The console version hit shelves earlier this year and has been the recipient of many a glowing review, not to mention the enormous sales figures its release produced, with 3.6 million copies purchased on the game’s first day of availability.

WeGame is a new social video sharing site that caters specifically to gamers. Today, the site added support for Red Alert 3, and dramatically increased their limit on video length to 20 minutes, up from 10 minutes prior to today. By comparison, YouTube only allows for 10 minute videos.

In addition to offering easy video uploading, they provide their own video recording software which is compatible with a number of games (including CoD4, DoW, C&C 3, and SupCom), with support for new ones being added all the time. The software is totally free (that's right people, no need to shell out dinero for a legit copy of FRAPS or other video recording software), and allows you to instantly upload the videos from the recording client, to your account on the website.

If you've ever been interested in recording your own videos of games, or amazing moments in replays, WeGame's free recording client and new 20 minute limit is the best bet for doing so.

Also, be sure to join the GameReplays WeGame group and add your videos to it!

Blizzard’s newly announced achievement system is going further than World of Warcraft: Wrath of the Lich King. The company plans to add achievements to Starcraft 2 and Diablo 3 with an account based system much like Xbox Live to make the achievements viewable to other players.

Jeff Kaplan, World of Warcraft’s lead designer, revealed much of how the system will work and explained the “Blizzard level” that each account will have.

“When the new Blizzard Accounts are active, a player’s ‘WoW’ points can be added to an overall score dubbed an account holder’s ‘Blizzard Level.’ ‘It’s basically a gamerscore’ ... ‘For now the points are just a ‘WoW’ character score. As we graduate to that Blizzard Account system, which is right on the horizon, it will switch over to a Blizzard Level.”

Kaplan also stated the point system in World of Warcraft will be just one factor that will affect a player’s Blizzard Level. Blizzard wants the player to be able to view another player’s skill level in Starcraft 2, Diablo 3, or World of Warcraft.

“You’ll have this Blizzard identity, and you’ll be able to see things like ‘Oh, this guy was great at Diablo III, but he never played Starcraft and he was mediocre in WoW.”

Presently the achievements are character specific, but Kaplan hopes to add account-level achievements as well. One he mentioned, for example, is having a character of maximum level on both the Horde and Alliance side. Also, the account-level achievements will included ones dealing with professions and classes.

The new achievement system will be implemented upon the launch of the latest World of Warcraft expansion, Wrath of the Lich King.

No game series has received as much controversial reviews as the Grand Theft Auto series; it has been celebrated and loved by gamers across the globe while on the other hand being despised and demonized by public officials around the world. Politicians deem the game as horrendous while highly respected professors find redeeming value in the game in its open-ended nature and how the game explores the “notion of choice and consequence”.

The franchise first shot to success in 1997/1998 with the release of Grand Theft Auto, the first title in the GTA series initially on Windows PC then on the Sony Play Station. The series was then followed by GTA II, GTAIII, and GTA: Vice City followed by GTA San Andreas. The sequels after the first started to be released on the Playstation and other game consoles, subsequently being followed by a Windows PC release. With that knowledge in mind it makes sense for Rockstar to soon release GTA IV on PC. However they have been very discrete and confidential about the speculated release, having neither approved nor denied the notion of a PC release.

Lately, speculations have become heightened on the possible release of GTA IV on PC, with the rumors initially being sparked by the PC Gamer magazine out of Malaysia which has confirmed a PC version of Grand Theft Auto IV. However they released no specific details and there are doubts of the authenticity of the magazine cover itself.

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Moreover, a Swiss website presented the Grand Theft Auto IV PC version DVD case, together with a price and release date. According to the website, the PC version of Rockstar's title will be made available starting the 30th of November this year. What should normally be further proof of a PC version is in the works is the fact that a pre-order is available, however Rockstar have made no official response.

The console versions of the game, however, received great reviews from game critiques around the world with Gamespot giving the game a 10/10; a one of a kind occurrence and achievment for a console game. A confirmation of release of GTAIV on the PC wont be the end of it, as the game comes with heavy luggage, specifically its need for super-high requirements on the PC for its graphics and gameplay to be able to match the already existing one on the PS3 and Xbox 360.

One thing is for sure, though: the moment we have a definite confirmation from Rockstar Games on a PC release, you will first read of it here on Gamereplays.org. For more information on GTA IV on the PS3 and Xbox 360 visit our forums and join the discussion.

Games are in the news again! As we've all come to understand over the years, if a game appears on anything other than the entertainment channels, it's usually a bad thing. The words 'report' and 'government-backed' rarely promise much beyond a lot of angry people shouting about bad influences and shaking copies of Manhunt. Various UK news channels gave reports on the rise of violent crime, particularly among younger groups, and made a connection to the popularity and influence of violent games. Regardless of who agrees or disagrees with these sentiments, it cannot be argued that such coverage is very, very predictable. What was a surprise, however, was that in this report, which was compiled by Dr. Tanya Byron, it was not suggested that such games be banned or prohibited. Instead, it is the responsibility of the government and gaming industry to ensure that games are rated properly, and clearly convey the intended age groups. In order to do this, she has recommended that games be classified using the BBFC (British Board of Film Classification) which is the same system used to rate films (seen below):

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Such a system is already seen on certain games, particularly those with an '18' certificate, but it's the lack of it being adopted industry-wide that is apparently causing confusion. This, coupled with greater authority given to vendors is intended to keep unsuitable games away from its unintended audience. How effective this would be is questionable. It assumes the parent buying the game is responsible and that the clearer ratings would satisfy aggressive opponents of mature games; two very big assumptions. Nevertheless, it is interesting to see that game-related controversy has been answered by targeting ratings and the environment in which games are sold, rather than the games themselves.

Read the full report on the Byron Review here.

Read the full report on the Byron Review here.

Read the full report on the Byron Review here.

If you haven't heard of Savage 2, you're not alone. This RTS/FPS hybrid has gone largely unnoticed by the gamer population. Despite this, S2 Games is hosting a $6500 tournament series and is continuing to update the game with new features, graphical enhancements and, of course, balance patches. In addition, this weekend only, S2 games is selling Savage 2 on Steam for $9.99 ($20 cheaper than its normal price of $29.99).

Note that the screenshots in this newspost are showing off the new engine features which are scheduled to be patched in next week.

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A builder protects his allies with a shield generator.

Savage 2 melds the gameplay of RTS and FPS games, with a slight touch of RPG. The units and classes mesh in such a way that teamwork is essential. Sounds like a great clan game, right? S2 apparently thinks so, and has put down $6500 for a clan based tournament series. The first two tournaments in this series kick off September 13th, with a signup deadline of August 30th. For more details on these cash tournaments, and the others that lead up to the grand finals, visit http://tournaments.savage2clans.com for more information.

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A maliken unit starts up an electrical storm, slaying many enemy Hunters

The savage 2 engine is also being maintained and improved by a full time staff. S2 games has proven that they are serious about the post-release support of Savage 2 with the release of two "Free Content Patches" so far that added new units, maps, and community requested features. Along with these improvements, Savage 2 is scheduled to receive a graphical upgrade next week with bloom and refraction support being added to the engine.

If your taste buds for Savage 2 have been wet, you can check out the free time-sensitive trial at http://www.s2games.com. If the e-sports appeal and promising post-release support interest you, be sure to check out the promotion this weekend on Steam. This is a great time to get Savage 2 at a really low price.

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The Real-Time Strategy genre has changed very little in several years. Relic Entertainment, the developer of the Dawn of War series, is wanting to raise the stakes for strategy games and set Dawn of War 2 apart from the crowd. No developer has ever taken a successful leap of faith when it comes to innovating beyond the typical format of base building and base destroying. The long awaited Warhammer 40k sequel hopes to change that stagnant mindset.

The game is based on micromanaging a small amount of squads with tactical precision as opposed to brute force. Base building has been removed to quicken the action, RPG elements with armor, weapon, and accessories have been implemented, and it will be presented on a revamped version of the Essence engine from the highly acclaimed RTS Company of Heroes. You may want to read AgmLauncher's 'World in Conflict is not an RTS', some of the points can be rationally applied to Dawn of War from the amount that we know.

" Imagine a game that takes Dawn of War, mixes it with Company of Heroes, removes base building altogether and adds RPG elements. If you can paint that puzzling picture in your mind, you'll have Dawn of War 2."

Read the full article at Shacknews.

More game info at the Dawn of War 2 Portal.

Dawn of War 2's developer blog.

Offical website for Dawn of War 2.

IGN recently (well yesterday) got in touch with the lead world designer of Blizzard's upcoming hack 'n' slash title, Leonard Boyarsky. The short discussion consisted of topics such as how important lore would be in Diablo III, as well as giving the game more polish and feel with voice acting for character classes.

One question that interested me was how Leonard would handle 'hardcore vs average players' in this world:

IGN: How much do you have to consider making sure that the world works and it's coherent for the hardcore versus the average player? Are they even going to care about this? How do you factor that in to how you build the world, and introduce the player to the world?

Leonard Boyarsky: I think that's what's really great about – I feel like such a cheerleader – working at Blizzard, because they could have easily put out another Diablo game and very lightly skimmed the surface of these kind of things, and it would have sold very well, but Chris Metzen – he's the creative director of the whole company - is a very big champion of the lore and the story and that stuff, and that is what the really hardcore players care about. [While] a lot of other people don't – and it can't be allowed to impede on the fun of the game… but if we take it into account when we're developing the game, I think it comes across in the feel and the mood.

The full article consisting of the interview, a video and images.

Electronic Arts has recently announced a partnership with the large Hollywood literary and talent agency UTA, placing the company in an excellent position to expand its penetration of the entertainment industry into the film sector.

This newly established synergy between EA and UTA will allow for the game-to-film adaptation of a variety of the developer's intellectual properties, a venture that will "bring the richness and storytelling nuance of [their] popular games into other forms of media that give consumers more ways to experience these creative concepts" says Patrick O'brien, EA Entertainment vice president.

As yet, EA has not publicized their intent to adapt any specific franchise, however the press release does quite openly refer to several IPs such as Dead Space, Mirror's Edge, Army of Two and Need for Speed to the exclusion of all others, suggesting the publisher's prioritization of these titles for emergence on the big screen.

This development will additionally serve to add momentum to EA's pre-existing film and television endeavors, which include a film version of their acclaimed Sims franchise, a series centered around the Nintendo exclusive MySims and an animated DVD feature film of the upcoming survival horror game Dead Space, a trailer of which can be viewed below:

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Dead Space Animated Feature Trailer

Conversely, Universal Pictures has made clear their intentions to advance into the video game industry following their E3 announcement of Wanted, a game adaption of the film of the same name. This news in tandem with the above seems to indicate that the future of the entertainment industry will be characterised by an increased level of collaberation between film and game developers. However, given the less than illustrious track record of game-to-film adaptations and vice verse, it is apparent that those who decide to lead the charge may not have an easy time assuaging the concerns of wary consumers.

Read the official press release

Microsoft has announced that its Games for Windows Live multiplayer services will now be free to all users. Previously, players could access some of these features via a "Silver" membership, which limited them to a single gamer tag, achievements for singleplayer only, private text and voice chat, and more. However, to buy the full gaming experience meant a $7.99-per month, $49.99-per year "Gold" package. This made all of the Silver features available along with multiplayer achievements, TrueSkill matchmaking and most importantly, cross-platform gameplay.

It was expensive, and rightly so. Many gamers criticized the idea with the same multiplayer elements having used to cost nothing. But have a look at the (needless to say, updated) "About LIVE" page, and things are looking up this side of the fence. It will be interesting to see whether Microsoft's decision will be extended to XBox Live as well, which is still under the annual $50 rule.

Also in the announcement, the PC platform will be receiving a revamped marketplace function identical to XBox Live but with a more "PC-like" interface. Earlier, it was just a copied hand-me-down from the console marketplace version, which was missing some features important to a PC user and felt awkward. Now gamers will be given access to free downloadable content like demos and trailers and the like. PC World spoke with Microsoft Senior Global Director of GFW, Kevin Unangst, in an interview yesterday.

Read on to see what moved Microsoft to make GFW free, whether full downloadable games can be purchased through the new marketplace, and more.

Operating System king Microsoft recently unveiled a few pieces of information regarding DirectX 11, the newest in the line of the graphics application programming interface series, DirectX. By far the most used API in the multimedia field.

According to the computer technology giant, a feature known as 'tessellation' will be available to developers. Tessellation, basically blurs the line defining the barrier between in-game rendered scenes (ie tanks) and pre-rendered scenes (ie mountains). This is said to make models more clear, smooth and attractive when significantly zoomed in.

Multi-thread support will also be improved, allowing developers to use multi-core machines more efficiently. It has also been said that 'new computer shadow technology' will be utilised to give the GPU the role of a parallel processor too.

Keeping with the pattern, the API will only be available for people using Vista, and future Windows releases. All DirectX 10 and above hardware will be compatible too. Maybe it's time gamers will have to move up from Windows XP for beautiful graphics? No release date has been officially set or guesstimated.