Overlord II Gets a Fancy Writer, New Screenshots

Codemasters’s upcoming devilish title has gotten a celebrity writer in the form of Rhianna Pratchett. Pratchett has been previously nominated for Writer’s Guild Awards. Which is apparently a big thing, though most people don’t care and will buy the game just so they cause destruction with their hell-spawned Minions. Anyway, more info and 2 screenshots after the jump. Read more

Diablo III - Not Till 2010

In an interview with Wired, Blizzard’s Executive Vice President of Game Design, Rob Pardo has unveiled that Blizzard is taking their sweet time with Diablo III. The highly anticipated RPG will get a release after StarCraft II - with StarCraft II shooting for 2009, it’s logical to assume that we’ll get to play Diablo III in 2010. A bit unnerving, but not unexpected.

Wired: Exactly. That’s key.

I have no idea if you guys are even remotely close to knowing this, but when — broad, ballpark estimate — can we expect to see Diablo III on retail shelves?

Pardo: When it’s ready.

Wired: Ok … alright …

Pardo: [Laughter]

Wired: Is that like 2 years from now? A decade from now?

Pardo: I don’t … I don’t know how far out it is, but it’s still fairly early in development. I think when people see it, it feels so polished and so finished, but the reality is we have a very small portion of the game done right now.

A lot of the way we develop is: We wanna make sure the game is really fun and the visual fidelity we want … we wanna make sure we have a small area that feels really done so we know what to build. So even though it looks really complete a lot of the content is just not there. We have a long ways to go to build each of the different acts in the game and put in all the quests and all the different monsters. We have a lot of development ahead of us before it will be something … It will definitely be out after StarCraft II.

Pre-Order Demigod to Play the BETA

Feel like being a god, but can’t wait till Demigod finally hit retail? Fret not, If you pre-order the title, Gas Powered Games will give you an exclusive entry to the BETA, coming Summer 2008.

Limited Beta Test
Pre-order Demigod by Gas Powered Games and gain access to the exclusive limited beta program, scheduled to begin Summer, 2008. This beta program is only open to those who pre-order the game directly through Stardock/Impulse.

StarCraft II - Not Till 2009

Blizzard’s hugely anticipated strategy title won’t be making an appearance this year. StarCraftWire has the word that SC2 has been pushed back to 2009 and will appear in Activist-Lizard’s 2009 line-up:

Next year’s offerings from Activision Blizzard should include highly anticipated PC strategy title StarCraft II, the sequel to one of the world’s most enduringly popular games.

Don’t take it as the final word as Blizzard is known to zig-zag release dates.

AMD Announces DirectX10.1 Capable Titles

AMD, touting it’s support for DirectX 10.1 API, has announced 3 titles that will support DX 10.1 when they’re released on PC. Namely;

BattleForge (EA)
Stormrise (SEGA)
Cloud 9 (NHN)

The most interesting thing, perhaps, is that Stormrise was announced as an RTS especially designed for consoles and not the PC. You can bet SEGA isn’t too happy about the surprise platform getting leaked before they could announce it themselves. Read more

Command and Conquer: Red Alert 3 - Spanking New Screenshots

EA has released some brand new screenshots for Command and Conquer :  Red Alert 3. Check ‘em out below:

More C&C Goodness here.

Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War 2 - E3 Screenshots

THQ has released a bucket of ultra high-res screenshots for upcoming RTS; Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War 2. Check them out below:

Note that these screens are extremely large (5120×2880 pixels) and weight over 6MB each.

Theatre of War - New Screenshots

Since the gallery is up and running, look forward to regular media updates.

CDV has released new screenshots of their recently announced War RTS; Theatre of War. Check them out here.

Command & Conquer: Red Alert 3 Preview

CVG was allowed to get up close and personal with EA’s upcoming RTS Command & Conquer: Red Alert 3 (sequel to 2000’s Red Alert 2) Red Alert 3 takes place in aparallel universe in which the Soviet Union still exists and World War III is ongoing between the Soviets, Allies and a third faction known as the Empire of the Rising Sun, which is derived from Imperial Japan. Interestingly, most of the original people behind Red Alert 2 have left EA to work on other projects. snippet from the preview:

Over the next couple of hours, I’m talked through the features of the game, shown concept art plastering numerous walls throughout the offices and given a personal demo of a Red Alert 3 Allied mission.

Full preview and 3 high resolution screenshots after the break. Read more

Empire: Total War Screenshots

We’ve got new screenshots of SEGA’s upcoming RTS, Empire: Total War. Empire: Total War is being developed by Creative Assemblies (the people behind Rome: Total War) and uses 18th-19th centuries as a timeframe and will include more than fifty factions. Empire: Total War will also have a more refined A.I and graphics engine. 10 high resolutions screens after the jump. Read more