Sci-Fi Storm

Could a game resurrect a franchise? That could possibly happen with Ghostbusters. A long-in-development game is set to release on Tuesday (Formats: Standard Edition Windows, PS3, XBox 360, Wii, PS2, DS, Amazon Exclusive Slimer Edition: XBox 360, PS3, Wii), and it has renewed the interest in another film, not only from the producers but the actors as well.

D&D co-creator Dave Arneson, who along with Gary Gygax (who passed away 13 months ago) created Dungeons and Dragons, passed away Tuesday peacefully. Another d20 roll in his honor.

Want to take the world on with a phaser, but don’t have one? Got an iPhone (or iPod Touch) instead? Problem solved with the Star Trek Phaser app, available in the iTunes store. It has both 1-player and 2-player (via Wi-Fi) modes, along with trailers and images from the upcoming movie. And its free. Now I just need a free iPod Touch…

Wizards of the Coast have announced the 4th Edition of the venerable Dungeons and Dragons role-playing game. Alas, the load on the D&D web site was too much for them – but the forums are still up. I still like my First Edition Advanced Dungeons & Dragons core rulebook set…

Remember Wing Commander, the series of space flight combat simulator games with the interesting storyline that went on to add live action video with real actors, like Mark Hamill, and even a feature movie? Well, Wing Commander Arena is coming out Xbox Live Arcade, and to celebrate EA is having a contest where you can win every version of the game (that they could find at least). What? Don’t have the hardware? Well, you get that too – a Pentium computer, Playstation, SegaCD, etc. Even an XBox 360 Elite and Live points for the new game! I just wish they’d remake some of the old games to use modern 3D hardware…I still have a joystick somewhere around here…

Arbor Productions writes “Arbor Productions, a division of multimedia entertainment company Beauman Enterprises, Inc., is preparing to release its first supplement for the award winning Mutants & Masterminds superhero roleplaying game, under the M&M Superlink license. Autumn Arbor Campaign Setting, a full color hardcover with a suggested retail price of $34.95, is a complete sourcebook detailing the City of Legends setting. Complete with over 60 locations across 10 city districts, mystic artifacts, historical overview, over 100 fully detailed characters, and maps, the Autumn Arbor Campaign Setting is the first book in a fully supported product line that will include additional sourcebooks and a tie-in novel line debuting summer 2007.

With a Gamemasters Appendix detailing various plots and adventure hook ideas for Autumn Arbor, there are various ways to use the Autumn Arbor Campaign Setting in any M&M campaign; either as the primary focus or as a pick-and-choose template for adding facets of Autumn Arbor to any setting. Distributed globally by Studio-2 Publishing, the Autumn Arbor Campaign Setting is scheduled for a May 21, 2007 release.”

Margaret Weis Productions, owned by the NYT best-selling author and publisher of the Serenity role-playing game, has reached an agreement to bring Battlestar Galactica to the role-playing universe.

Wired is reporting that Multiverse, which makes a free MMO creation platform, will announce a licensing agreement with FOX to produce a MMORPG based on Firefly. I wonder how they’ll deal with the debate as to whether Firefly takes place in one planetary system or several…Update: the announcement is now on their web site, which is now working as well…

Have you always wanted to conquer a planet? Now you can get your chance – but so will hundreds of other would-be emperors who would rather end your existence. Boundless Planet, a new massively-multiplayer online real time strategy (MMORTS) game went gold today. Check out the trailer. Subscription price is $8.95 – fairly cheap for MMO games.

Anonymous Coward writes “Hi,

Just to let you know that the below Sci-fi/fantasy games are available to vote for in this years Golden Joystick Awards ?Ultimate Game Of The Year? category.

Star Wars Battlefront II
Star Wars Galaxies: Trials of Obi-Wan
Star Wars: Empire at War
LEGO Star Wars: The Video Game
X-Men: The Official Game
Fantastic Four: Flame On
Spider-Man 2
The Incredible Hulk: Ultimate Destruction
X-Men Legends II: Rise of Apocalypse
Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire

The Golden Joystick Awards are officially the world’s favourite video games ceremony and are the only awards voted for by those who matter -gamers.

For more information and to vote, go to – www.goldenjoystick.co.uk“