TBS” GameTap to start in fall with 1,000 licenses
Pop quiz: What do headline news, professional wrestling and video games have in common?
Starting this fall, they’re all going to be available from the house that Ted Turner built.
Turner Broadcasting System – now part of the Time Warner empire – is launching GameTap, a service that will allow gamers to download PC games and videos about the games using a fast Internet connection.
Similar services already exist (including Yahoo! Games on Demand), but GameTap will start with 1,000 game licenses, of which 300 will be available immediately. Specific titles and how much the service will cost have not been announced. It appears that the games will most likely be best-sellers that have been on the market for a while.
A basic subscription to the service will cover all the games you want to play on up to two computers. For information, check out www.gametap.com.
‘Warcraft’ rules the shelves
Headlines around the gaming world last week:
“World of Warcraft” rose to the top of the PC best-sellers list again for the week of April 10-16, after being pushed down briefly by Electronic Arts’ “The Sims 2: University” expansion pack and accompanying games. The rest of the list continues to be a who’s who of shooters: “Doom 3: Resurrection,” “Half-Life 2” and “Halo” all made the top 10.
In portables, “Twisted Metal: Head On” took the prize for the PlayStation Portable (PSP), selling 127,000 copies in March for the PSP’s U.S. launch. Evil clown ice-cream trucks with homing missiles galore!
Speaking of the PSP, there’s a hot head-to-head shooter coming to keep an eye on. “Battlefield 2: Modern Combat” will make the leap to the small screen, thrilling people who like nothing more than blowing up their neighbor with a bazooka (virtually, of course).
More ‘Star Wars’ is coming
You’re going to see “Episode III – Revenge of the Sith” in the theater. You couldn’t get enough of “Knights of the Old Republic” (versions 1 and 2) for Xbox and PC. You were thrilled and amazed that “Battlefront” for consoles and PC was actually good.
Well, “Star Wars” fans, rejoice. LucasArts recognized that they had finally put out another title worthy of carrying the “Star Wars” name when “Battlefront” got good reviews and sold well. So expect to see “Star Wars Battlefront II” coming out later this year, the company says.
That’s a blistering pace for a new installment of the game, so don’t expect to see massive changes in gameplay. But even if it’s exactly like the first version of the game with a few enhancements and a few new places to play, it’ll be worth checking out.
Pirates could take over
‘Tis the time of year when game companies’ minds turn to thoughts of E3, the Electronic Entertainment Expo, the big annual convention where the new titles coming later this year get their time in the spotlight.
One of the titles I’m looking forward to seeing is a world game from Disney Online based on “Pirates of the Caribbean,” allowing players to become pirates and compete with other evildoers. Yes, it’s difficult to do an online world game well out of the gate, so realistically it may not play well. But like NCSoft’s drive-and-gun game “Auto Assault,” just the premise sounds like fun.
Also, in the “we love it, why don’t you play it?” department, UbiSoft has announced that it is making “Prince of Persia 3,” continuing the fabulous, groundbreaking series of coordination/action games that we repeatedly give four stars to and you repeatedly leave on store shelves. What’s the deal? Get out there and see what you’re missing!