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Call of Duty 5 Announced

Though Tony Hawk may be getting a break, it seems Call of Duty isn’t. Activision’s biggest cash cow, a new entry in the series is being developed and will take place in a “new military theater,” according to company publishing CEO and President Mike Griffith.

Speaking at a conference call, Griffith revealed that the fifth entry in the series, unofficially called Call of Duty 5, will arrive on PC, PS2, PS3, Xbox 360 and DS later this year. He did not offer further details, though his comments suggest that the title may not go back to the World War II setting the series originally debuted with.

While no details were provided, job listings for Treyarch suggest that they might be taking on development duties, while speculation is going around that series creator Infinity Ward is already working on Call of Duty 6. None of this is confirmed though.

Haze Demo Live on PSN

Long in development and oft-delayed shooter Haze has finally had a playable demo released on the PlayStation Network today. Exclusive to the PS3, the demo offers a sample of the single-player campaign in the game, offering the first full level. It also features support for up to four-player, drop-in drop-out co-op play online, via LAN or even two player split-screen combat.

The demo also offers the option to set up private rooms to play with close friends and the like. Worked on by Free Radical, creators of the venerable TimeSplitters series, the game ships May 23 exclusively for the PS3.

id Software Hiring for Doom 4

Doom 4 is not in development, and id software has posted a host of available job positions to verify the fact now on id’s website. Certainly, now would be an excellent time to break into the company seeing on how much ramping up in employment they are doing.

Apart from a short statement from CEO To Hollenshead, very little is known of the project. He merely had this to say “Doom is part of the id Software DNA and demands the greatest talent and brightest minds in the industry to bring the next installment of our flagship franchise to Earth.”

With mass hiring under way, certainly do not expect Doom 4 to make it out for 2008, certainly the project is in its infancy stages.

Based on the three positions listed in the job postings however, it would appear, at least for the moment, Doom will be aimed at the PC, 360 and PS3. Although with changing install bases and money to throw around, it’s hard to predict where the final product will fall.

STALKER Clear Sky Gets NA Publisher

Publisher Deep Silver sends word that it will be publishing STALKER: Clear Sky in North America. The former Europe-only publisher expanded its operations to include North American publishing just a week ago.

The prequel to the open-world shooter will hit retailers and Steam on August 29, as announced by its developer GSC Game World. The game will flesh out the story of one of the main characters of the first game. It will feature a mix of familiar and new territory, with more anomalies and vastly different landscapes. Clear Sky will also feature interface and PDA tweaks, along with enhanced AI.

Killzone 2 Delayed to 2009

Recently announced by Sony, Killzone 2 is no longer slated for release this year as initially planned. Now coming Feburary 2009, the game remains one of PS3’s killer apps, along with Resistance 2, if it ever hits the PS3 that is.

While it’s a bummer that the game is getting delayed, it’s definitely a good thing that we now know when we can actually expect to be playing the game, rather than just going by speculation.

Again, Killzone 2 is now set for a Feburary 2009 release and will be a Playstation 3 exclusive.

Flash Portal Maps Converted to Real Portal Maps

Fans of Portal must have spent hours on the quirky Flash version which was released prior to the Valve title by We Create Stuff, a self-described “group of nerds.”

Stepping up from the Flash version, the group has converted some of the levels into actual Portal maps, which can all be downloaded from the group’s website. The developers estimate that the 40 levels will add up to three and a half hours of fun.

I’m yet to try these maps. Anyone having fun with these?

Exodus from the Earth Announced

Strategy First has announced Exodus from the Earth, an upcoming shooter that has players taking on a corporation to reveal its dark secrets. In development at Parallax Arts Studio, the game is due out this Fall on PC. Here’s the deal:

Mankind assumed it would take five billion years until the earth began to die. In reality, it is 2016, and the planet earth is living its last twenty years. The Sun has begun to grow, burning everything around it and turning Earth into a lifeless nightmare. Mankind must adapt to extraterrestrial conditions or find an Earth-like planet where humans can live.

After learning the dreadful news, the powerful A.X. Corporation produced a vaccine which allows humans to survive in any environment, and now plans to inject everyone on Earth. The alleged discovery of a “Second Earth” threatens the financial future of A.X., and C.I.A. officials become suspicious of the corporation, their motives, and the mysterious vaccine. Secret Agent Francis Rixon is commissioned to infiltrate the A.X. headquarters and discover the truth.

The game is based on the advanced Riposte game engine, provided by Tools Media Corporation. It will include environments from two planets, unique attacks for each weapon and more.

Crytek Says No More PC Exclusives

Piracy is the bane of almost every entertainment industry. I don’t see too many black market novels floating around, but when it comes to music, films and video games all of them must wage an ongoing battle to combat the loss of revenue. Hit hardest by this is the PC gaming market. Sure, you can get pirated games for the consoles, but generally that involves some mod chipping which can void warranties and prevent owners from gaming online. Want a free copy of the newest PC game? Hop on your favorite bit torrent site and chances are you can find it.

This unfortunate trend has caused Crytek, the company behind the Far Cry games and recent PC FPS Crysis to announce that they’re no longer going to create PC exclusives. They cite the superior sales of similar games on consoles as a big factor in this decision. They will still continue to bring their games to the PC, but they’ll be diversifying in order to boost their market and thus their sales. This means that the next two Crysis installments will have to be changed if they do in fact happen, since Crytek president Cervat Yerli reitereated the fact that it’d be impossible to bring Crysis as-is to consoles, so the sequels would likely be a step back in some ways.

Is piracy really the cause of Crysis’ relatively lackluster sales performance? Could it be that gamers are feeling saturated by FPS games that feature burly soldiers in ability-enhancing gear? It might simply be that the first game in a brand new IP can’t be compared to a third or fourth game in a series.

Portal Denied Xbox Live Release

Valve has revealed that it planned to release Portal on Xbox Live Arcade, which was shot down by Microsoft due to various restrictions.

“We’d love to do that. Right now it’s something we’d love to do. I’d love to sell Portal on Xbox Live,” said company marketing director Doug Lombardi. “[But] the platform holders aren’t doing that right now. There’s a size limit and all kinds of other things.”

He noted that despite the rejection, a downloadable Portal on consoles may still be possible.

“I think it’s a trade-off, we’ll see it one day,” the developer said. “It always happens once it’s been proven and I think it’s been proven now on Steam, so I’m sure it’ll migrate back to the consoles just like everything else does.”

Portal is currently available as part of The Orange Box and also as standalone PC title through retail and on Steam.

BioShock PS3 Rumored for September; Sequel to be Unveiled at the Same Time, Too

If words printed in the June issue of EGM are correct, a PS3 version of BioShock is slated to arrive this September. According to the magazine, the PS3 port will feature improved visuals over the previous PC and Xbox 360 editions along with the previously-released free downloadable content.

Publisher 2K Games, as expected, does not have any comment on the rumor, though the possibility of a PS3 port was denied by creator Ken Levine last August, though his words may have indicated that the studio was not pursuing development on the console at the time.

EGM further writes that the upcoming sequel will also be unveiled around September, though it is still a rumor.

New Halo job listings for Peter Jackson’s project

We learned of Peter Jackson’s Halo project back at X06, and we haven’t really heard much since. Fortunately, a new job listing has been posted by Microsoft seeking a Creative Director, Producer, Game Engineers and others for a “new experience in the Halo universe.” Microsoft has since confirmed that the new employees will indeed be working along side Peter Jackson on his new venture.

Read (MTV Multiplayer)

CoD 4 Variety Map Pack on PS3 Tomorrow

Patient PS3 gamers will finally be able to get their hands on the first downloadable map pack for Call of Duty 4 this Thursday. The record breaking Variety Map Pack will be priced at $9.99 on the PlayStation Store; it offers four maps – Creek, Broadcast, Killhouse and Chinatown.

The Variety Map pack was released on the Xbox 360 earlier this month, going on to set a new record for the Xbox Live Marketplace, exceeding one million downloads in the first nine days of availability. A PC edition is said to be in the works, though no release period was offered.

To commemorate the news, a company representative sent over the loldog that you can see in this post.

QuakeCon 2008 Dates

QuakeCon, a LAN event celebrating the first person shooter Quake that has been going on since 1996, is still going strong to this very day. However, instead of being only for a single game, the convention has expanded to many different areas, including announcements for new software titles. id Software has announced that this year’s festival will be at the Hilton Anatole Hotel in Dallas, Texas from July 31 to August 3. Registration opens up April 30th at the official website.

Read (QuakeCon Forums)

PS3 Quake Wars Developer Closes

According to this Gamesindustry report, Activision’s Foster City, California-based Underground Development studio will be closed by the end of May. The studio, which employed about 45 people, most recently worked on the PS3 port of Enemy Territory: Quake Wars.

Formerly known as Z-Axis, UD was acquired by Activision in May 2002 and renamed Underground Development in February of this year. Activision noted that it is looking to find opportunities for all of its employees at other studios owned by the company.

Call of Duty Real-Time Card Game

Upper Deck has announced that they will be making a card game based on the first person shooter title Call of Duty. The object of the game is to frag as much enemy infantry as possible within a time limit. There is also no turn-based waiting, it’s all “real-time”, so you can just interrupt your opponent’s game plan at any time. The game is based on the World War eras instead of what we have seen in the fourth game of the series. There was also a mention of Call of Duty 5, which is hinted at that the new installment will be taking a step back to the era that the card game is based on.

This isn’t the first video game to trading card game adaptation. Upper Deck has also made a World of Warcraft trading card game. A player even won $100,000 for winning a tournament, so it’s not like these cards are for nothing. Times have changed since I’ve traded my Blastoise for a Charizard.

Read (OXM)

Unreal Tournament 3 on X360 Has Exclusive Content, Lacks Mod Support

Epic Games has confirmed that the Xbox 360 version of Unreal Tournament 3 will be released this Summer and will feature exclusive content, though it will lack support for user-created mods found in the PS3 and PC versions of the game.

“Quite simply, we aren’t doing [mods] for the Xbox 360 version,” said associate producer Tanya Jessen. “Xbox is a closed platform. That’s the big reason we’re not doing it on 360.”

The aforementioned exclusive content includes five new maps and two new charcters, with Jessen stating that there are currently no plans to release that content for the PC and PS3 versions of the game. Other additions to the Xbox 360 version includes split-screen co-op play and downloadable maps that are already available on the other versions.

CoD 4 Variety Pack Breaks Records

Setting and breaking records, publisher Activision sent out word that the Variety Map Pack for Call of Duty 4 has exceeded one million downloads in the first nine days of its release. This has set a new record for paid downloads on the Xbox Live Marketplace.

Released on Xbox Live on April 10, the DLC is priced at 800 Microsoft points; it is scheduled to hit the PlayStation Store on April 24. No plans for a PC release are known yet.

Call of Duty 4 Map Pack Coming to PS3 Next Week

As announced by Infinity Ward, the Call of Duty 4 Variety Map Pack will be released for the PS3 on April 24 in North America, with Europeans getting it a week later. The pack will be available as part of next Thursday’s update of the PlayStation Store; it will sell for $9.99.

The new content, which is already available on the Xbox 360 since earlier this month, includes four multiplayer maps – Creek, Broadcast, Killhouse and Chinatown (a remake of the classic ‘Carentan’ map from the original). No plans for a PC release are known yet.

Haze 4-player Coop Demo Early Next Month

The oft-delayed, but now confirmed for a May release, Haze will be getting a playable demo that will be exclusively available through the PlayStation Network. The demo will be released early next month, offering gamers a taste of the single-player portion of the game, and will also feature up to four-player, drop-in drop-out co-op play online.

Developed by TimeSplitters creator Free Radical, Haze is set for release exclusively on the PS3 on May 23.

Quake Wars Console Versions Get Release Date

The console versions of Enemy Territory: Quake Wars, the class-based multiplayer shooter from id Software and Splash Damage, will hit Europe on May 30, according to a report by IGN. Both are based on the PC version that was released late last year.

While no North American date was revealed, several online retailers such as EB Games and Amazon are listing a May 27 release date for the region. Though retailer release dates often serve as placeholders, the close proximity to the European date lends some credibility.

Activision is yet to confirm the abovementioned dates.

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