| Most recent blog entries
|
|
|
Frank Lloyd Wright's Falling Water in Half Life 2 |
|
The Hardcore Gamer Video Game News
|
By host on
8/31/2006 12:28 PM
|
|
|
There isn't much to be said about this other than its amazing. I can't believe more people haven't modeled real-world environments like this yet using the Half Life 2 Source engine. Where is the Statue of Liberty level? Maybe a WACO compound for Counter-Strike Source? In a genre where most of the level designs have begun to center around "monster closets" or dungeon crawls, its nice to see a breath of fresh air.
This one comes from our source who wants to go by the name of Louis The Turk, so thanks Louis.
|
 |
|
|
|
|
|
Microsoft's XNA Game Studio Express Beta Now Available |
|
The Hardcore Gamer Video Game News
|
By host on
8/31/2006 7:07 AM
|
|
|
If you have any interest in making games, either as a hobbyist or as a student, you owe it to yourself to download and try Microsoft's XNA Game Studio Express. XNA is a great idea from start to finish and will impact video games as a medium in the same way that digital video editing revitalized the independent film industry. Hopefully this type of open system will spread to Sony and Nintendo as well.
Here's the Official Microsoft Press Release:
XNA Game Studio Express Beta Now Available
Microsoft
has released the public beta of XNA Game Studio Express, the pioneering
technology designed to open up game development to new audiences,
including hobbyists, students, and independent developers, with the
hopes of injecting a shot of creativity into the electronic
entertainment industry. Novice game creators can download the tool today at no charge from http://msdn.microsoft.com/xna
to develop games for Windows XP and Windows Vista. The games built on
Windows can be migrated to the Xbox 360™ console system starting this
holiday season as part of the XNA Creators Club subscription for $99 a
year, or a four-month trial cost of $49, opening up retail console game
development to anyone for the first time.
Since the announcement of XNA Game Studio Express' upcoming
availability on August 14, the public response has been
overwhelming—more than 100 schools have requested information on how
they can incorporate XNA Game Studio Express into their curricula and
the breakthrough news has ge ...
|
|
|
|
|
More...
|
|
|
Final Call for Entries for the PGR3 Photomode Competition |
|
The Hardcore Gamer Video Game News
|
By host on
8/31/2006 6:19 AM
|
|
|
How this slipped by everyone, we'll never know. But Bizarre Creations is hosting a competition for the best in-game photos from their Xbox 360 racing title, Project Gotham Racing 3. The photos are seperated into different categories and feature an awesome prize pack for the winning photos in each category. Those categories are as follows: Best Car Photo, Best City Photo, Speed, Style.
The prize pack is loaded with good stuff for the hardcore gamer, such as:- A Limited Edition PGR3 faceplate for their Xbox 360.
- A Bizarre Creations T-Shirt, only previously presented to Bizarre staff!
- A framed professional print of their photo, signed by the Bizarre Creations team.
Now I know you are asking yourself, "How do I get the photos out of the Xbox 360?" Well apparently you need to dust off your copy of PGR3 and update it via Xbox Live. Because PGR3 now has this awesome new feature called: Photo Mode. Photo Mode allows you to upload any photos taken in-game upto their servers and from their you can do with them as you please. You can read more about the new PGR3 Photo Mode on Bizarre's site.
Now if only every developer ...
|
|
|
|
|
More...
|
|
|
Austin, TX is Home to the Best College for Hardcore Gamers! |
|
The Hardcore Gamer Video Game News
|
By host on
8/30/2006 7:57 PM
|
|
|
GGL, (AKA: Global Gaming League) ranked the top colleges in the GGL's
First Annual Top Gaming Colleges Survey. All colleges were ranked on a
number of
criteria, including:
- Population
- Geographical Location
- Student Organizations
- Tournaments and LANs
- Tech-friendliness
- Internet Connection N/A (no dorms)
- Curriculum
The University of Texas, Austin takes the crown this year
for it's blistering latency of 30 milliseconds, high ratio of gamers,
multiple game events, and the proximity to the biggest LAN parties and
tournaments in the country. The full list is featured in the GGL article. So take the time to read up on something that I'm sure will be a staple in
the gaming community for years to come.
Only time will tell in those coming years if the colleges themselves
are actually proud to be on the list or embarassed to be on the list...
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
EA’S BURNOUT 5 CRASHES ONTO PLAYSTATION 3 AND XBOX 360 |
|
The Hardcore Gamer Video Game News
|
By host on
8/29/2006 7:50 AM
|
|
|
EA announced today, to the suprise of no one, that Criterion will continue their blockbuster Burnout series on next-generation consoles in 2007. Here's the entire press release:
EA’S BURNOUT 5 CRASHES ONTO PLAYSTATION 3 AND XBOX 360
Criterion Reinvents Seamless Open World Gameplay With Reckless Speed and Destruction Guildford,
UK – August 29, 2006 – Buckle up and prepare to unleash automotive anarchy in the ultimate burner’s paradise. Electronic Arts (NASDAQ: ERTS) today announced that Burnout™ 5 is in development for the PlayStation®3 computer entertainment system and Xbox 360™ video game system from Microsoft®. Burnout 5 gives players license to wreak havoc in Paradise City, the ultimate seamless racing battleground, with a massive infrastructure of traffic-heavy roads to abuse. Gone is the need to jump in and out of menus and aimlessly search for fun like many open world games; in Burnout 5, every inch of the world is built to deliver heart-stopping Burnout-style gameplay. Every intersection is a potential crash junction and every alleyway is an opportunity to rack up moving violations.
Of course, rules are made to be broken, and when gamers enter Paradise City, they’re assigned a Drivers License that quickly begins to amass a record of player’s most aggressive, reckless and destructive exploits behind the wheel. But it’s not the law that’s eyeing player’s progress … when gamers push things too hard they’ll be squaring off against the city’s most infamous burners, and these legends aren’t interested in who crosses the finish line first.
“Burnout 5 is a complete reinvention of the series, built from the ground up for the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360,” ...
|
|
|
|
|
More...
|
|
|
Jeff Minter is Bringing a Tempest Sequel to Xbox Live Arcade! |
|
The Hardcore Gamer Video Game News
|
By host on
8/28/2006 8:34 AM
|
|
|
Even though you don't think you know who Jeff Minter is, you do. He not only graced the hardcore arcade players of the world with the original Tempest (Thanks, edge10 for the correction. Apologies to Dave Theurer), Tempest 2000, Tempest 3000 and the NEON Engine. (Yes, Tempest 2000 on the Jaguar, don't knock it just because it was on the Jaguar, the Aliens Vs Predator game on the Jaguar was and is still one of the best Alien games ever made.)
If you aren't familiar with Tempest, you should be. The Atari Collection on the DS has a near spot-on version that is worth the price of admission alone. However, if you have a 360 you may also know him as the man who created NEON, which is what the Xbox Music Visualizer is built on.
Take a look at the screenshots of the new Tempest on his site and you'll see it is really a combination of Tempest and the visualizer, which is a good thing. Let's hope there is some interactivity between the background and the music player for great game play and a good trip. |
|
|
More...
|
|
|
The Halo Film Director, Neill Blomkamp's Short Film "Alive in Joburg" |
|
The Hardcore Gamer Video Game News
|
By host on
8/24/2006 6:53 AM
|
|
|
When they announced that Neill Blomkamp would direct the Halo film, hardcore gamers collectively said "Who???" So we dug around and found Neill's short-film "Alive in Joburg". Alive in Joburg is directly responsible for landing Neill the gig as director for the Halo film which is being produced by none-other than "Mr. Fanboy", Peter Jackson.
If Peter Jackson's stamp of approval isn't good enough for you, you need to watch this short to understand why Peter decided on Neill. Going with an unknown is really ballsy, but if this short film is any indicator to Neill's skillset as a filmmaker, we here at the hardcore gamer now have hope that Neill may just pull off a decent Halo film. Besides, I'm sure that way back in 1974 when David Brown and Richard Zanuck suggested that a relative unknown Steven Speilberg direct the movie adaptation of the biggest novel of the year, no one thought Jaws would come out the way it did. So, sit back, take 6 minutes and watch Alive in Joburgin. The movie that landed an unknown director the most important video game to film adaptation ever. Just maybe, you'll come away thinking, "Wow, he could pull this off..." Or at the very least you'll say, "Oh well, it could've been worse. It could've been Uwe Boll."
|
|
|
More...
|
|
|
|
|
| New Wallpapers
|
|
| Newest Additions to the Hardcore Gamer's Repository of Free Video Game Wallpapers |
|
| Hot List
|
|
| All the hot topics now here at the Hardcore Gamer: |
|
| HCG Links
|
|
| Every hardcore gamer has their own stable of gaming sites they visit, here's a few of our favorite gaming sites. |
|
|