Total Quake

To help market the upcoming console releases of Enemy Territory: Quake Wars, Activision has released two new commercial parodies. These two videos show off two uses for a new product called Stroyent. You can learn more about Stroyent right here. In the mean time, check out these funny commercials:

The changelog of the upcoming 1.5 patch for Enemy Territory:Quake Wars has been posted over at the Community page. Check it out:

Work on the 1.5 game update for Enemy Territory: QUAKE Wars is steaming ahead at full knots and we're now testing the latest version of it internally to see if there are any glaring issues left to fix. Even more exciting, we've put together the final changelog for the update, which you can find concealed somewhere within this blog update. In a smallish nutshell, 1.5 brings a number of new features and customization options to ETQW and fixes all of the issues left over from 1.4.

Be sure to head over to the page itself and read the whole huge changelog.

The annual LAN event and computer gaming expo in Dallas, TX from July 31 to August 3, 2008, QuakeCon, opens registration at 9:00pm EST today. QuakeCon features a 2000+ slot BYOC and a massive vendor area. Here are some additional details:

QuakeCon is a free convention held every year in the Dallas, TX area. Thousands of computer gamers from all over the world make the pilgrimage to play with their friends on a giant gaming network, see the latest cool technology, and compete in a world-class tournament. Though mostly volunteer run, QuakeCon is sponsored by id Software, makers of the immensely popular Doom, Quake, and Wolfenstein series of games. While the convention celebrates these games in particular, it is really a huge party for fans of computer gaming in general from the hobbyist to the hardcore.

For information on Registration and more general information, please see the official QuakeCon site here.

A new rumor about the team behind the Playstation 3 version of Enemy Territory:Quake Wars being closed down by Activision is posted over several newssites such as Developmag. Read what they say about it:

One of Activision's internal development teams, the California-based Underground Developments, is to be closed according reports emerging today.

Details sent to Develop this morning echo a report by industry gossip blogger Surfer Girl from last night which claimed the studio will be shut down at the end of the month once work on the PS3 version of Enemy Territory: Quake Wars is done.

The studio, formerly called Z-Axis, was formed in 1994 and acquired by Activision in 2002. It was renamed to Underground Developments earlier this year - at which point job postings said that the studio was working on "a soon to be announced project based on a successful Activision owned IP".

You can find the complete news here.

Are you still unsure what games to spend your hard earned cash on in 2008? Then check out our top 10 list of the biggest games to be released in 2008.

Total Gaming Network Big Releases of 08'

Don't agree with our top 10 list? Then post your thoughts and discuss the article here.

Shacknews has posted a new interview with id Software's Kevin Cloud who tells us a bit about the upcoming console version of Enemy Territory:Quake Wars and their new engine id Tech 5. Check it out:

The classes have a real meaningful role to play in the game--they're not just equipment load-outs. When you're playing a medic, you're definitely doing the job of a medic. There are things for players to explore and learn about a class in terms of feeling the class out, but once they know them it really makes a difference in how they approach the game. That doesn't really exist in a lot of the other games where, really, the only difference is in what weapon you're carrying.
[...]
I don't want to step outside of my range and discuss things that some people are better suited to answer, but right now with the type of technology solution we've developed for id Tech 5--for one thing, it's a great cross-platform solution because texture streaming solutions just allows you to create one set of content.

Be sure to read the whole interview here.

IGN has recently posted up a new hands-on preview of the Xbox 360 version of Enemy Territory: Quake Wars. Check it out:

Of course vehicles are plentiful within the world of Quake Wars. There are APCs, little ATV vehicles, tanks, aerial craft, and some sort of jetpack weapon that kept killing me on the Island map that was unlocked for our use (along with a few others). All of the autos maneuvered their way around the battlefield with relative ease. I was in a room with a group of fifteen other journalists so we were all gung-ho about jumping into a vehicle as a gunner while the other drove. Obviously the Xbox Live community won't be quite as cooperative.

Given the fact that Quake Wars originated on the PC, some might be concerned how it will make the transition to the console aside from the identical content and gameplay mechanics. Aiming felt a little too guided in our time. It tracked the enemy a little too well and had a wide and forgiving reticule. Not that we're complaining about the abundance of kills or anything. Then there's the concern of being able to fit all of the commands on the controller. This is where we meet our first piece of contention from Xbox 360 to PS3.

To check out the rest of this new hands-on preview be sure to visit here.

Spalsh Damage has posted a new entry in the community blog about the current status of the Enemy Territory:Quake Wars patch 1.5. Check it out:

First off, 1.5 is not an official Activision release like all the previous updates (this is actually the cause of the license troubles from a few weeks back), but instead something that we here at Splash Damage are funding ourselves and working on alongside our new project. As Activision's QA and localization departments are not available to help us out, we instead opted for an extended public beta phase to iron out any remaining kinks. The result is that things don't always move as quickly as we'd like them to, but we are committed to getting 1.5 finished and out to you.

I can confirm that 1.5 is on our development schedule for this month and we hope to get it all wrapped up and ready for public consumption. We'll still have to test it internally, but we hope to release the game update, the updated SDK, and the final version of the Official Competition Mod in the coming weeks so you guys will have plenty of new material to sink your teeth into.

If you want to read more about what the devs have to say, head over to the community site.

According to IGN the release date of the upcoming console versions of Enemy Territory:Quake Wars has been set to May, 30th. Read what they have to say:

UK, April 15, 2008 - We've known for sometime that it's imminent, but Activision has finally pinned down a solid release date for the console versions of last year's epic shooter Quake Wars: Enemy Territory, due to hit both the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 on May 30.

You can read the whole news about it here.

The team behind the ETQWPro mod has released the new version of its competition mod for Quake Wars. Check it out:

Im very pleased to announce that the ETQWPro version is now live on our update servers and will get installed as soon as you start ETQWPro 0.4 the next time.

No, its not that easy but there is indeed some great change in the whole mod. While I was focusing on the whole GFX stuff to get you guys as much FPS as possible, I had blaze to work on the restrictions and NA / EU compatibility.

Be sure to read the whole changelog of their new work.