Daily News Spin — July 13, 2001 (Friday)

Beef or turkey? See for yourself

Hey, there's finally a playable demo of Conquest: Frontier Wars available. This is the game that Microsoft decided not to publish. We saw it several times at various press events and could never work up any enthusiasm for it as well. Download it, play it, and tell us we're all wet. It's a 40 meg download here.

Multiplayer Battletech 3025 site launches

This one seemingly was lost but now is found. It's going to be part of EA's Platinum service plan, which means that for your monthly fee you get Battletech thrown in (as well as Motor City Online and other EA.com games). Right now it appears you can play for free in a pre-beta release by visiting the webpage.

It's Lara by a breast — er, nose

Inmates in the UK prefer Tomb Raider to all other videogames, according to a poll conducted by Software First. You can read the story at Computer and Video Games here. Seems Lara beat out Syphon Filter and Resident Evil.

Stone walls do not a prison make, nor iron bars a cage as long as we have videogames starring well-endowed women, we suppose. How do they punish inmates now for bad behavior? Thirty days in the hole with only Daikatana to play?

Future Publishing cuts jobs in UK

The parent company Imagine Media (PC Gamer and the late Daily Radar) has cut 140 jobs in its UK operations, according to this Eurogamer story.

Centralised support staff and workers in Future's Internet division and magazine titles have been hardest hit in the cull, although no specific details have emerged yet. A spokeswoman for the company said none of the company's titles would shut as a result of today's action.

Things are tough all over, as the saying goes, but obviously tougher in some places than others.

Mechcommander 2 impressions

CGO has some first impressions of Mechcommander 2.

Though the improvements over the original MechCommander are legion, once you get into the game gameplay is rather similar, which isn't a bad thing. The use of real 3D terrain and woods you can tromp through (hey, you're in huge metal machines weighing in at dozens of tons�you think a pine tree is going to stop you?), plus the more realistic line of sight system in this game makes real tactics feasible, and the flexible support system gives you a lot of options. In many missions you have the choice of scouring the map for resources and goodies, or of simply powering ahead to the objectives. If you gather the available resources, you'll be able to use more air and artillery support, or bring in a minelayer, expanding your tactical options. What remains to be seen is how well the computer opponent handles the inevitable variety of player strategies. The original game used a lot of scripting, and it seems the sequel does as well, though hopefully with more flexibility and intelligence.

We played a recent beta and concur with this observation. Strangely, as good as the beta seemed, overall the game wasn't as interesting and exciting as it should have been, given the list of improvements Microsoft has made. The real-time battles are over almost as soon as they start and the player's a bit disconnected from it all once the shooting starts.

3am

It's Friday the 13th. Better stay inside and play games.

This one apparently got lost in the mail. Lucasarts has a new patch for Outlaws, a veritable 1890's game in computer years, considering it was released four years ago. You can download the patch that makes the game compatible with D3D here. Pretty cool game, too.

Speaking of patches, the Black and White patch is now official. Check it out here.

Fatbabies has a couple of new rumors. They're saying Star Wars Battleground won't make a Christmas release and also that EA is going to use a full orchestra for the score of Medal of Honor.

We haven't quoted Woody Allen lately, so here's a small dose taken from his nightclub act from the '60's. It's a routine called The Moose.

I was hunting up-state New York and I shot a moose. I strap him on to the fender of my car and I'm driving home along the West Side highway. What I didn't realize was that the bullet did not penetrate the moose. It just creased his scalp, knocking him unconscious. So I'm driving through the Holland Tunnel, and the moose woke up. Now I'm driving with a live moose on my fender ... and the moose is signalling a turn. And there's a law in New York State against driving with a conscious moose on your fender Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays. I'm very panicky ... and then it hits me. Some friends of mine are having a costume party. I'll go, I'll take the moose. I'll ditch him at the party. It won't be my responsibility. So I drive up to the party. I knock on the door. The moose is next to me. My host comes to the door. I say, "Hello ... you know the Solomons?" We enter. The moose mingles ... did very well ... scored. Some guy was trying to sell him insurance for an hour and a half. Twelve o'clock comes, they give out prizes for the best costume of the night. First prize goes ... to the Berkowitzes, a married couple dressed as a moose. The moose comes in second. The moose is furious! He and the Berkowitzes lock antlers in the living room. They knock each other unconscious. Now I figure here's my chance. I grab the moose, strap him to my fender and shoot back to the woods. But I got the Berkowitzes. I'm driving along with two Jewish people on my fender ... and there's a law in New York State ... Tuesdays, Thursdays and especially Saturdays. The following morning, the Berkowitzes wake up in the woods in a moose-suit. Mr Berkowitz is shot, stuffed, and mounted at the New York Athletic Club - and the joke is on them, `cause it's restricted.

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