BT Gold

We have made a few changes to the RuneScape front page, making it more accessible and easier to get around, while also highlighting some areas you may not have looked at before.

The first change is to the ‘Recent News’ scroll. Instead of five news items, we have made room for six. The oldest three have been made into ‘More News’ links, while the three newest updates are on their own at the top, making it easier to tell if something has been added to the game or website.

You might also notice two new sections of the scroll. ‘Article of the Week’ focuses on a Knowledge Base page that might be useful or interesting to you, whether you are playing through the newest piece of content or simply exploring RuneScape. ‘Recently added articles’ focuses on those Knowledge Base pages that have just been released, often giving information on the newest releases. Who knows – you might just find out a hint or trick that will help you master that new piece of content!

There has been a slight reshuffle to the left of the scroll, too. Here you will find a search box, so that you can find your desired Knowledge Base information quickly.

You will also find that the Lores and Histories and Development Diaries get their very own links, while Players’ Gallery, Postbag from the Hedge and the God Letters have a new home in ‘Player Submissions’. Additionally, the ‘Manual’ link now takes you directly to the articles and guides of the Knowledge Base, where before you had to click through an extra screen.

Please take some time to get to grips with this new design and its differences. We hope it won’t take you long to realise that it makes more sense and is much more accessible!

written by BTGold.com

Electronic Arts announces that the newest iteration of the street football arcade series FIFA Street will return with a new look that turns the game’s global football icons into stylized action heroes and a simplified control system that enables you to easily perform over-the-top trick moves. Scheduled for release in spring 2008 under the EA Sports BIG brand, FIFA Street 3 is in development in Vancouver, B.C. by EA Canada, and the studio that is also home to the FIFA 08 videogame.

The third chapter in the FIFA Street series creates a fast-paced and larger-than-life arcade football experience for the Xbox 360 video game and entertainment system and PlayStation 3 computer entertainment system. FIFA Street 3 creates a hyper-real world that merges the game’s biggest stars with environments that pulsate to the music in exotic locales around the world.

Featuring over 250 of the world’s best players representing 18 of the top international teams, each player has been rendered into a stylized caricature with heroic qualities. Decked out in authentic training kits, every player boasts their own, distinctive style of play with unique abilities to match. Whether you’re after brawn, brains, silky skills or crunching tackles to complete your team, the perfect street player is out there. Choose from Tricksters, Enforcers, Playmakers and Finishers to give you different options on the ball and make your mark on the street.

Using the same engine as the critically acclaimed NBA Street Homecourt basketball arcade game, combined with the market-leading AI from FIFA 08, FIFA Street 3 delivers animations and ball control that enables you to take complete control of your players with a responsive and intuitive control system that makes it easier than ever to pull off sensational moves. Use the simple button configuration and analog stick to seamlessly combine moves ¨C providing you with hundreds of different ways to show off your street skills. Fill up your all-new Game Breaker to power your ultimate abilities and express yourself like never before. Maneuver your players to leap past defenders, flip off walls, or perform gravity-defying one-timers to score spectacular goals.

From the urban playgrounds of South America to the rooftops in Asia to the streets of Europe, your players perform to an eclectic selection of music seamlessly infused into the surroundings, where the game’s environments pulsate, and explode to life with every well-timed tackle, outrageous trick move or unstoppable shot on goal.

Take your football heroes to the streets and experience the revolution in street football. FIFA Street 3 is scheduled for worldwide release this spring on the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3. FIFA Street 3 has not yet been rated.

written by BTGold.com \\ tags: Xbox 360

Autumn leaves aren’t the only reason your October is about to get a lot more colorful. The latest additions to the Wii Shop Channel deliver a brisk, eye-pleasing mix of classic gameplay for fall. Dive into this pile of vibrant titles for a timeless dose of fun and fantasy.

This week’s new games are:

Lunar Pool (NES, 1-2 players, Rated E for Everyone, 500 Wii Points): Lunar Pool takes the historical game of billiards and reinvents it with a unique and futuristic flair. The rules are simple: All you need to do is use your cue stick to hit the white cue ball, causing it to hit the other numbered balls and make them go into the pockets. You can enjoy nearly unlimited game play with 30 tables, two different ball arrangements, and the ability to change the degree of friction on the table. You can play against a computer or another human player, so try challenging someone once you’ve got the hang of the game.

Ninja JaJaMaru-kun (NES, 1-2 players, Rated E for Everyone, 600 Wii Points): Take on the role of a ninja called JaJaMaru and rescue the captured Princess Sakura from the evil Namazu Dayuu in this action-packed game, previously unreleased outside of Japan. JaJaMaru must use his throwing stars to defeat the monsters lurking in each of Dayuu’s many hideouts. JaJaMaru has to be careful though, as each monster has its own unique weapon and method of attacking. The only way for him to advance is to break the floor bricks above him and move up and down between the levels of each round, defeating monsters as he goes. To help him, broken bricks sometimes reveal items that JaJaMaru can use to his advantage, possibly leading to the ultimate power-up: a ride on Gamapakun, the giant frog. Throw in some bonus stages and you’ve got a game with a style all its own.

Golden Axe III (Sega Genesis, 1-2 players, Rated E10+ for Fantasy Violence, 800 Wii Points): The once-peaceful kingdom so familiar to fans of the original Golden Axe is under threat once again. The Prince of Darkness has stolen the invaluable Golden Axe, taken over the kingdom and rendered its warriors harmless with an evil curse. One warrior breaks free from the curse and must defeat the prince and regain the Golden Axe to save the kingdom. In this one- or two-player action game, play as a giant, a panther or a sword-wielding human and fight your way to victory once again.

written by BTGold.com \\ tags: Classic Games

Hands-On Mobile announces the launch of Pro Bowling 2, the sequel to Pro Bowling. Pro Bowling 2, which has received a string of excellent reviews and accolades, features a raft of new improvements including more gameplay modes, improved graphics and physics and a host of new and updated features.

Pro Bowling 2 allows players to choose from and customize 18 diverse characters as they compete in tournaments of various difficulties and 12 special missions. The game is intended to cater for every level of experience by offering intuitive controls, an unrivalled tutorial mode, play guide and help options. Novice and experienced players alike also have the ability to create unique characters by allocating points to key abilities such as ’spin’ and ‘power’, choosing which ball they use and even setting the conditions of the lane they bowl on. More experienced players can raise their game through a deep tournament system, increasingly challenging opponents and the new ability to practice customised play scenarios through multiple training modes.

Pro Bowling 2 can be played in various modes, including quick play, training, tournament and special mode; players can also take on friends in the game’s multi-player passback mode. In addition to the vastly upgraded gameplay features, the incredibly smooth and realistic graphics in Pro Bowling 2 brings the game closer to the challenges of real life bowling.

written by BTGold.com \\ tags: Pro Bowling 2

Activision has revealed the release date of its Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock game. Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock will be hitting all European territories on November 23rd 2007. The game will be available for the Xbox 360 video game and entertainment system from Microsoft, PlayStation 3 computer entertainment system, Wii home video game system from Nintendo and PlayStation 2, and will feature the brand-new wireless Gibson Les Paul guitar controllers.

Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock is the third instalment of the worldwide smash series of Guitar Hero games, taking the franchise to a new level. Featuring a staggering selection of global smash hit master tracks from the likes of Sex Pistols, Muse, Kaiser Chiefs, Killers, Guns N Roses, Iron Maiden and Red Hot Chili Peppers, among many, many others, it is the game which will redefine music-based videogames.

In addition, the game features original compositions from legendary guitarists Slash and Tom Morello, both of whom are featured as boss characters in the game. An all-new multiplayer battle mode allows spectacular duelling alongside the game’s established co-operative and face-off scenarios.

Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock comes complete with all-new replica Gibson Les Paul guitar controllers (Kramer Pacer for PlayStation 2), complete with redesigned fret buttons and a removable, customisable faceplate. Most importantly, these guitars are now wireless, freeing players from the restrictions of trailing leads. Now, the living room really is a stage. Additionally, previous Guitar Hero controllers will still work with their respective consoles.

Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock, published by RedOctane and developed by Neversoft, will be available on November 23rd, 2007.

written by BTGold.com \\ tags: Guitar Hero III

Earlier this month, Tale of Tales submitted The Path to the Independent Games Festival. The upcoming horror title is far from finished. But designers Auriea Harvey and Michaël Samyn feel that the current demo represents their ideas well enough to merit attention.

This second “Alpha Demo” constitutes a crucial step in the development of The Path. Designers Auriea Harvey and Michaël Samyn have made some decisions on gameplay that may surprise the average gamer. But they are confident that they are well en route to developing a new form of play, and a new form of storytelling.

Tale of Tales embrace a “punk aesthetic” without shying away from contemporary technologies. They are determined to develop a style that is not based on faithful reproduction of nature but on artistic interpretation and expression. It doesn’t need to look real. It should feel real.

The Path is a short horror game loosely based on the fairy tale of Little Red Ridinghood but set in modern times. It’s especially the earlier versions of the tale that inspire us. Combined with a more contemporary psychological interpretation.

In essence, The Path is a very sad and cruel game. It’s about growing up. But it’s far less optimistic than most such stories. It’s about making choices. Choices that are unfair. Choices that inevitably lead to (self-)destruction.

written by BTGold.com \\ tags: The Path

This must be the sort of thing that gets Google on all those “best places to work at” lists. For a decorate-your-cube contest, the Developer Ops team decided to go with a Super Mario Bros. theme, with pretty awesome results.

“I think we all remember the 8-bit awesome that was classic Super Mario Brothers,” writes Google Data team member Stephanie Liu in a Google Code Blog post, where all the pics can be found. “Most of us in Developer Ops have spent many hours immersed in the pixelated world of question marks, mushrooms, coins, and Koopas. So, when the cube decorating contest (the theme was ‘Games’) was announced, the course of action seemed obvious.”

Apparently the setup took “a few afterwork hours/weekends” to make, which was clearly time well spent. And yet, they still lost the competition to the Analytics department’s Jumanji themed design. The judges were obviously paid off.

written by BTGold.com \\ tags: Makeover

Ratchet & Clank Future: Tools of Destruction originally picked up an October 23 release date near the end of summer, but along with the recent announcement the game has gone gold, Sony Computer Entertainment America confirmed it had slipped back a week to October 30.

Let’s strike that last bit from the record. Well, sort of.

Sony updated its PlayStation.Blog last night with news that Ratchet & Clank Future shipped out a bit early due to “unexpected quickness at the factory,” and that “a vast majority of retailers” already have the game in stock. As such, Sony has given them the green light to start selling it next week, though the official release date remains October 30th.

There’s no indication which retailers are expected to sell Insomniac’s PlayStation 3 epic early, but broken street dates (intentional or otherwise) tend to create a domino effect.

written by BTGold.com \\ tags: Back Up

At its Gamers Day event in London this week, Capcom announced Dark Void, an original IP developed by Airtight Games for undisclosed platforms. Airtight Games was founded in 2004 by many of the key developers behind Crimson Skies: High Road to Revenge for Xbox, and also boasts Ed Fries, former VP of game publishing at Microsoft, as a co-founder.

As indicated by the leaked information on Wednesday, the brief trailer shown for Dark Void at the event depicted both sci-fi combat flight sequences and third-person action/shooter scenes, often with the main character utilizing a jetpack to navigate gravity-challenged environments.

While much of the story remains shrouded in darkness (the trailer mostly prompted confusion), Capcom’s press release details a struggle between the powerful “Watchers” and the formerly subservient “Adepts” — humans that have developed special powers. The Watchers were banished from Earth by the Adepts, but they’re no longer just observers — they’re invading; an event that presumably sets the stage for the game.

“Capcom has consistently been at the forefront of innovative game development,” said Jim Deal, president of Airtight, “and when the opportunity arose to work with them, we jumped at the chance and are all looking forward to a successful relationship.”

written by BTGold.com \\ tags: Dark Void

Atari announces that The Witcher has gone gold and is on schedule for European launch on October 26. Developed by CD Projekt RED, The Witcher will be available exclusively for Windows PCs.

The Witcher transcends traditional fantasy role-playing by throwing players into a unique fantasy world rife with modern social issues where the line between good and evil is blurred and every decision can have profound consequences. Based on the fictional world created by best-selling Polish author Andrzej Sapkowski, The Witcher casts the player as Geralt, a legendary monster slayer and master swordfighter with supernatural abilities and reflexes.

The Witcher presents a fresh approach to traditional role-playing, blending an expansive, twisting plotline ¨C in which the impact of individual decisions can drastically alter the later outcome of the game ¨C and fast-paced, spectacular combat combining swordplay and magic against a myriad of foes, human and otherwise. With highly detailed graphics, countless motion-capture animations and spectacular visual effects, The Witcher delivers brutal action, deep role-playing options and an intriguing story which will enthrall any player who dares to take on the formidable role of Geralt.

written by BTGold.com \\ tags: Goes Gold