Sony Online Entertainment (SOE) is one of the companies that many angry MMO players would gladly blame for reasons too numerous to mention. But this time, the fault lies elsewhere. The latest pile of mishaps to hit the Internets this week reveals that Sigil Games Online is going through some rough times, having laid off many - if not most - of its employees. This is certainly troubling news for the subscribers of Vanguard: Saga of Heroes, the prime candidate for "The Most Disappointing MMORPG of 2007" title.

According to F13.net, "at approximately 4:30 PM [yesterday], Sigil employees were told to meet outside. At which point they were terminated. On the spot." The question they ask next is not "How many?" were laid off, but "By whom?". They don't think it was Brad McQuaid - the studio's boss and co-founder, and a former EverQuest developer (also known as a "bullsh*tter extraordinaire" by some). But even if he wasn't the actual "executioner", Brad's lack of interest in his own studio may very well be the main reason for Sigil's impending doom. Here's what Grouchy Gamer revealed, soon after:

"Brad McQuaid has been an absentee manager at Sigil for months. Not only has there been a leadership vacuum at Sigil, with the employees there left twisting in the wind, but I have been able to confirm that Brad hasn't even bothered to be at the office.

(...) I truly hope that all my friends at Sigil will land on their feet. I also sincerely hope that no one ever gives Brad another cent to make a game or to start a company and put other's livelihoods at risk. It's evident that Brad lacks the skills, dedication, or maturity to handle that situation."

So while Vanguard was under a deadline, with a whole lot of problems already evident during the beta, mr. boss apparently had better things to do than to take care of his studio's operation. Is this the beginning of the end for Vanguard? Probably, although SOE claims that "the game will go on". In either case, Sigil is pretty much done for, and while some of the developers may find other jobs with SOE, we sure hope Brad won't be one of them. He's done more than enough already!

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Blizzard Countdown - Guess The Next (StarCraft?) Game

"And in the 7th day, Blizzard made THE announcement"... We still don't know which announcement we're talking about, but May 19 draws near, and with it comes the day we should finally known if Blizzard's next game will indeed be StarCraft 2, or a (World of) StarCraft MMO - we doubt it could be anything other than these two. The latter seems to be getting more and more adepts lately, despite many other StarCraft 2 believers' arguments that a second massively-multiplayer online game is currently out of the question, since Blizzard wouldn't risk losing players from World of Warcraft. Or would they?

Concurrently with another countdown slowly nearing zero on the Fallout 3 website, Blizzard also started one of their own yesterday, when the company's main page was suddenly changed. It now displays a timeline with all their games from the days of Warcraft in 1994, all the way to World of Warcraft a decade later. Diablo, StarCraft, Diablo II and Warcraft III are all there, naturally, and it's probably worth noting that there are no add-ons listed - so the announcement of a second WoW expansion is likely out of the question for May 19, when the countdown will hit that mysterious question mark...

Yesterday, the paged displayed the covers of both Warcraft and Warcraft II, and today it only shows that of Diablo. Normally, StarCraft will take the front page tomorrow, and seeing how this is the only title that has yet to receive a sequel, we have all the more reason to believe that this will all change on Saturday.

This will be one excruciating week for Blizzard fans...

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Well, would you look at that, seems like Activision kissed and made up with the Guitar Hero series' original developers, Harmonix. Just a few months ago, the publisher filed suit against some of the GH devs; and even after Harmonix teamed up with Electronic Arts (a.k.a. the enemy) for a whole new music game called Rock Band, they're still working with Activision on another Guitar Hero game. As previously rumoured some time ago, their new project is indeed focused on the music of the '80s, and it's targeted for an exclusive PlayStation 2 launch this summer.

Guitar Hero: Rocks the 80s, as they call it, will be fully compatible with the SG guitar controller. The game promises to feature visually stunning retro rock venues and hipster characters, unlockable guitars, intense gameplay modes, and 30 new songs to experience "the ultimate rock star fantasy". So far Activision revealed the following seven "finger-melting tracks" included in Rocks the 80s:

- I Wanna Rock (by Twisted Sister)

- I Ran (by Flock of Seagulls)

- Round and Round (as made famous by Ratt)

- I Want Candy (as made famous by Bow Wow Wow)

- Metal Health (as made famous by Quiet Riot)

- Holy Diver (as made famous by Dio)

- Heat Of The Moment (as made famous by Asia)

Dusty Welch, head of publishing at Activision-owned RedOctane also hinted they would continue to "delve deeper into the history of rock, (...) to offer a fresh experience and even more explosive tracks with the Guitar Hero franchise". So there's still hope for a Guitar Hero rocking the '70s.

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Halo 2 PC Delayed For One More Week, It Seems // UPDATE

As if it weren't bad enough that the PC port of Halo 2 is two and a half years old by now, compared to the original Xbox version, word on the British streets is that Bungie's multiplayer shooter is being delayed for yet another week! Instead of the previously announced May 18 launch, some major UK retailers are now listing May 25 as the game's new release date, reports CVG. "GAME, Virgin Megastore and HMV are all listing the game as a May 25 release", they say, and considering that GAME took over Gamestation last week, the same probably holds true for the latter as well.

When you sum this up with the fact that Halo 2 will only run on Windows Vista, and that PC gamers will not be able to play against Xbox 360 gamers, you might get a substantiated feeling that the PC version will be far from the massive commercial success that was the Xbox version. At the same time, this delay also means that Microsoft will now launch their Games for Windows Live service in Europe (on May 18) without their main attraction; or, dare we say, without any real attraction!

The regionally good news is that Microsoft still plans to launch both Halo 2 and the Games for Windows Live service on May 8 (that's right, tomorrow!) in North America, and so far we saw no reports claiming otherwise.

As you might remember from the story back in March, the PC port of Halo 2 will include a Map Editor, which will allow for new content and greater game customization. And also, Halo 2 will be playable with mouse and keyboard or the Xbox 360 controller for Windows.

UPDATE: Sorry guys, it's not happening, not yet. The latest fact-sheet issued by Microsoft reveals a serious delay, all the way to June 2007 in Europe, and apparently the end of May in the US. [11.05.2007, 01:24]

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Spidey Returns This Year In Spider-Man: Friend or Foe

Friend of foe? Hell if I know what Spidey will be in his next game, but whatever it is, it's coming, and it's coming fast! Barely did Activision kick the Spider-Man 3 game out the door last week, and they are already revealing the next iteration in their ironically well-selling franchise. So well-selling, in fact, that Spider-Man 3 has already leaped to the very top of the UK All Formats charts as of yesterday, according to GI.biz. As for the irony, the same report states that the PC version of Spider-Man 3 only accounted for 1% of the game's total sales over all the platforms (no wonder it only scored a lousy 5.9 in our review).

Anyway, you're probably waiting to hear what we know about the upcoming game Spider-Man: Friend or Foe, so I'll just spit it out: absolutely nothing. Well, almost. We know it has an official website, and we know it's coming from Activion in autumn 2007, but that's about it. Nothing solid on the game itself, nor even the target platforms - but we're starting to have our doubts regarding any future PC versions, seeing how horrible they sell these days...

Until Activision releases the "full site" - and the "full announcement", no doubt - all we have to go by are the few renders shown during the website's intro (you can also see them in our local gallery), and this vague tagline:

"A new twist on the legend. A new take on the movies..."

"..." indeed...

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There were previously talks of a Simpsons game for the Nintendo Wii, but now Electronic Arts sends word that the project in question is actually target at way more than one single platform (as expected of them, after all). Several years after The Simpsons: Hit & Run left us with a rather good impression, the TV animation's whacky characters will return once more on everyone's favorite platform (bar the PC) this autumn, thanks to Electronic Arts' partnership with Gracie Films and Twentieth Century Fox.

They don't have a final title for it yet - simply calling it The Simpsons Game - but EA did already announce the platforms on which they plan to release it: PlayStation 3, PlayStation 2, PSP, Xbox 360, Nintendo Wii and Nintendo DS. Under development by EA's Redwood Shores Studio, this upcoming Simpsons action-comedy game promises to feature a hilarious, sprawling, and mind-busting storyline, and naturally the full cast of voice actors from the TV show who will reprise their roles for the game.

The devs' plans for the game are nothing short of ambitious, accodring to their own claims:

"Our goal in developing The Simpsons Game is to create the most original game ever, which is a lofty goal and only possible given the close collaboration with 'The Simpsons' creative team," said Scot Amos, Executive Producer of the project. "We're also especially proud of the game's warm visual feel, which captures - for the first time ever in a game - the look of the TV show." Added Amos, "As Comic Book Guy says, 'Best. Simpsons Game. Ever!'"

In The Simpsons Game, Homer, Marge, Bart, and Lisa will use exciting, all-new powers to save the world from rising chaos. To help them, gamers must journey through all of Springfield (as well as vast worlds beyond), vanquish an amazing array of villains, and fight their way through parodies of multiple popular games. Oh-oh... Place your bets on the "victims".

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Although the "Oblivion countdown" was a lot more exciting, when they unveiled The Elder Scrolls IV a few years ago, Bethesda is still doing a pretty good job nowdays, keeping us in suspense. As we said last week, they recently started another countdown, this time for the first Fallout 3 teaser trailer that will go live in 26 days. The game's website first displayed an artwork of an arid wasteland, and one week later, a new post-apocaliptic picture is here to whet our appetite. And uhh... Washington, we have a problem!

As you can see, this new concept art shows a superbly devastated Washington Capitol, which would be quite a sight to show up in the actual game world as well. It might not look so impressive, but at least we now have a better idea of where Bethesda is going with Fallout 3. And we sure wouldn't want to stop them!

Also this week, the developer announced that Liam Neeson will voice the player's father and will appear prominently throughout the game. And if you don't know who Liam Neeson is, think Schindler's List, Darkman, or more recently Jedi Master Qui-Gon Jinn - Obi-Wan Kenobi's mentor from Star Wars Episode I.

"This role was written with Liam in mind, and provides the dramatic tone for the entire game", said Todd Howard, Executive Producer of Fallout 3. "Liam is absolutely amazing to work with."

"No other details on Fallout 3 have yet been revealed by Bethesda", they painfully remind us, so we'll just have to be patient for a little while longer. Expect more updates of the Fallout 3 website in the coming weeks, and don't forget about the Van Buren (ex-Fallout 3) tech demo that was set loose earlier this month.

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Now, I know it's not nice to complain when you get something for nothing, so... I won't; this time. Instead, let's all hold hands and joyously welcome the full - and best of all free - release of CellFactor: Revolution! It's been a long way from that tech demo, "Combat Training", to the full game, but the folks from Artificial Studios, together with the South-Americans from Immersion Games and the Egyptians from Timeline Interactive have finally pulled it off. Like they said they would one month ago, they released the full version of CellFactor: Revolution as a free download, for everyone to enjoy... more or less.

"Less", that is, for the vast majority of gamers who don't have one of AGEIA's PhysX processors stuck in their computer, and who are only allowed to play against the A.I., and only in two levels. The more well equipped players will get to fight it off in multiplayer against humans as well, not to mention getting access to the full single-player campaign that includes three "extreme PhysX" levels, designed to spotlight "physics gameplay with a purpose".

Anyway, you can download CellFactor: Revolution from FileFront or from several other mirrors listed on the official website. Just make sure you have 860 MB for the download, plus whatever it takes for the install.

And while we're on the subject of freebies...

"Battlefront.com and 1C are thrilled to announce the upcoming Theatre of War: Battle for Moscow add-on, featuring a whole new campaign (Battle for Moscow, 1941) as well as a powerful Map Editor! Better yet, the add-on will be released for download to Theatre of War players completely for free! (You have to own Theatre of War full international version however to play it). The add-on will be made available for download later this month from www.battlefront.com."

Yep, I think that about sums it up.

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Dissidia: Final Fantasy On PSP And FF4 DS Remake Revealed

Like we said in the previous story about The Last Remnant, the fast-approaching Square Enix Party 2007 from May 12-13 brings along all sorts of interesting reports. The revelation of a brand new RPG series is certainly reason enough to get excited, but the great news don't stop here. Fans of the Final Fantasy series who don't mind a "milking" or two should be thrilled to hear that Square Enix is planning yet another couple of portable FF titles - one for the PSP, and one for the Nintendo DS.

According to Japanese website FF13 Vids (via FFWorld), the team that made the Final Fantasy III 3D remake for the DS (Matrix Software) is currently working on bringing back Final Fantasy IV, also in 3D, and also on Nintendo's handheld console. The game world will be completely remade and they say that new chapters will be added as well. Things are still pretty unofficial, but they should get straightened up during this weekend's event.

The other portable Final Fantasy project, on the other hand, is as official as it gets! As teased by the game's newly opened website, Square Enix Party 2007 will mark the announcement of a new FF title for Sony's PlayStation Portable, called Dissidia: Final Fantasy. There's only a brief Flash intro and a logo available there right now, but that's more than enough to get us started.

The only other thing revealed by said website is that character design for Dissidia will be done by Tetsuya Nomura, a name that should be more than familiar to fans of the series. If not, just look it up on Wiki.

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The Last Remnant, Square Enix' First Unreal Engine 3 RPG

With just a few days left until the big Square Enix Party 2007 from May 12-13, over in Japan, we're starting to see some interesting reports regarding the new game announcements that are likely to be made at the event. One of them is The Last Remnant - a completely new IP created by Square Enix with a more global audience in mind. The first hints about it emerged several days ago, when it became apparent that Square Enix had registered the name "The Last Remnant" for an upcoming project.

We only had to wait a few more days for the story to start making some sense, and by now we know that The Last Remnant will be a next-gen fantasy RPG built on the Unreal Engine 3 technology, targeted both at Japanese and Western gamers. How's that? Well, imagine having two main characters to choose from: one is Rush Sykes, your usual Oriental hero, and the other one is a darker, "Western" kind of hero, generically called The Conqueror (pictured above). Furthermore, Square Enix intends to launch the game simultaneously in Japan and in North America, which should be a welcome change from the oh-so-late release of Final Fantasy XII outside of Japan.

As for the game's title, those "Remnants" are said to be a key part of practically every element of the game's world, that humans came in contact with about 1000 years ago. Remnants vary in shape and size, and they can take various forms, such as machines, beasts or weapons. It's still a bit confusing how they will "work" in the game, and even what kind of... things (or beings?) they are, but Games Wank Game Swank has a couple of examples that you might want to look at.

They also say that The Last Remnant will include 4 races - Mitra (humans), Yama (large fish-like beings), Qsiti (small humanoid lizards), and Sovanni (four armed cat like creatures) - and more importantly, they have the first scans from a magazine preview of The Last Remnant, giving us a much better - albeit blurry - image of how the game will look and play like.

We still don't know what platforms The Last Remnant will be released on, but the general consensus is that it will be a PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 title. And apparently it's coming as soon as 2008.

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