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PC version of Wolfenstein gets crash-fixing patch

by Griffin McElroy { Oct 21st 2009 at 1:00AM }

Though the PC version of Wolfenstein has been out for nearly two months now, the game's been persistently affected by a number of minor bugs. Nothing really huge, mind you -- just a handful of game-crashing, save file-corrupting, SecuROM-breaking errors which are capable of completely crippling your enjoyment of the title. Like we said, no biggie.

Fortunately, id Software recently released patch 1.11 for the title, which is designed to fix all of the above bugs, effectively restoring your Nazi-massacring experience. Sadly, the patch doesn't include a fix for the glitch which prevents Robo-Hitler from spawning at any point in the game. What gives, guys?

[Thanks, Merrick.]

Wolfenstein demo marches onto Xbox Live

by Richard Mitchell { Sep 23rd 2009 at 4:15PM }

If you've been itching to give Wolfenstein a try but aren't willing to plunk down any cash -- a likely possibility at this point -- you'll be happy to know that a Wolfenstein demo is now available on Xbox Live Marketplace in Australia, Canada, France, Hong Kong, Ireland, Italy, Korea, New Zealand, Singapore, Spain, Taiwan, United Kingdom and United States.

If you are somehow unfamiliar with the game allow us to sum up. There are Nazis. They are doing evil, occult-y things. You, the good guy, must stop them. With guns. And magic. If your experience varies significantly from this description, please check the game title. You're probably playing something else.

Add the Wolfenstein demo to you 360 download queue

[Via Major Nelson]

Storm the castle against Wolfenstein devs tonight

by Xav de Matos { Sep 11th 2009 at 6:00PM }

Those of you looking to throw down in a challenging series of class-based WWII shootouts should be on the look out on Wolfenstein multiplayer tonight. From 6PM (that's now!) to 8PM EDT developers from Raven Software -- the ones that are left, we assume -- and id Software will be on hand to battle for glory against Xbox Live Gold members in another rousing session of Game with Developers.

Unlike the last GwD event, gamers don't have to pre-purchase content in order to play with the game's development team! Well, unless you count the game itself. Which, technically, we guess you have to.

Continued →

Raven Software confirms layoffs, new size 'reflects' upcoming work load

by Griffin McElroy { Aug 27th 2009 at 10:01AM }

It seems the unfortunate rumors we've been hearing to this effect for some time are true -- Raven Software has confirmed that a round of layoffs recently hit the developer (reports range from 30 to 56 folks cut from the studio's 180-man staff). Raven and Activision issued a statement explaining that after releasing X-Men Origins: Wolverine and Wolfenstein so close together, the Raven is "slightly reducing its workforce to better reflect the studio's upcoming slate," which only includes the development of Singularity.

Of course, other reports include unconfirmed, cause-and-effect-esque reasons for the layoffs. Kotaku reports that sources have attributed the firings to the over-budget (and underselling) Wolfenstein, as well as the holiday-to-Q1 delay of Singularity. Regardless of the reason for the downsizing, we hope the affected parties can get back on their feet with a quickness.

New Singularity trailer pours one out for Mother Russia

by Ben Gilbert { Aug 19th 2009 at 2:15PM }

Interested in returning Mother Russia to its once great stature ... and crushing the imperialist dogs that toppled the former empire? Raven Software's Singularity promises just that. Oh, also, you can turn enemies into dust. Sold!

We're a bit worried that the game has been pushed back into the surprisingly crowded early-2010 time frame -- considering we'll be playing Dark Void, Splinter Cell Conviction, BioShock 2, and, ahem, a million other games. That being said, Singularity looks to bring some originality to a season already overloaded with FPS games. Let's just hope we have time to check it out!

Gallery: Singularity

QuakeCon 2009: The Wolfenstein launch trailer

by Christopher Grant { Aug 13th 2009 at 9:20PM }

Before sharing the very first video footage of Rage with the crowd at QuakeCon today, id Software CEO Todd Hollenshead shared the final piece of video marketing material for another title: the launch trailer for the Raven Software-developed Wolfenstein. Despite being in development for what seems to be an eternity (we first heard about this one-time Xbox 360 exclusive in 2005!) the game hits retail next week. Let us know if this launch trailer makes your wallet itchy.

Download in HD (124MB)

Raven dev to reimburse your Wolfenstein purchase ... if

by David Hinkle { Aug 12th 2009 at 6:40PM }

And folks, it's a BIG if. Raven Software designer Manveer Heir tweets that if the upcoming Wolfenstein manages to surpass sales of Madden 10 this month, he'll happily pay you back for the money you spent on his game. Of course, there are a few stipulations:

Offer only applies to sales in August
NPD figures will be used to calculate the totals
You have to follow Manveer Heir on Twitter
Limit one copy per person -- with receipt!

Obviously, there isn't a snowball's chance in hell of this happening, but we'd be lying if we said we weren't crossing our fingers for the little nazi-killing-sim-that-could to tackle the gridiron giant.

[Thanks, "Sammy Davis Jr."; via Destructoid]

Wolfenstein pre-order goodies revealed

by David Hinkle { Aug 7th 2009 at 6:00PM }

If you're a diehard B.J. Blazkowicz fan looking to pre-order id's recently delayed WWII FPS, Wolfenstein, then know a few outlets are offering exclusive pre-order bonuses. According to the game's official site, four different retailers will provide extra incentive to pre-purchase:

GameStop: 2,000 in-game gold pieces for multiplayer (also listed for PC)
Best Buy: Early access to the Flammenwerfer weapon
Game Crazy: Limited edition collector's medal
Amazon: Free copy of Wolfenstein 3D for PSN or Xbox Live

Personally, we think Amazon has the best bonus, but we know full well the appeal of limited edition collector's medals.

[Via VG247]

News flash: Wolfenstein has a castle

by Richard Mitchell { Aug 6th 2009 at 5:00AM }

You'd better be sitting down, gaming enthusiasts. Activision has released a new video of Wolfenstein that will blow your mind and, this time, it won't be done by filling your eyeballs with cheese. Above, you will find a brief video look at Wolfenstein's "Castle" environment. That's right. A castle ... in a Wolfenstein game.

All kidding aside, the video basically encapsulates everything that typifies the series: Castles, Nazis, the occult and blowin' stuff up. Give it a watch.

Here's your order of two Wolfenstein motion comics with extra cheese

by David Hinkle { Jul 29th 2009 at 6:00AM }

If you've been keeping up with these motion comics for Wolfenstein, then you've likely come into this post prepared. There's plenty of cheese to be had here, as we've got not one new comic, but two. We'll just say this: These comics make any Command & Conquer FMV scene look like Citizen Kane.

You can find the other video ... *dramatic pause* ... past the break.

Gallery: Wolfenstein

Continued →

New Wolfenstein 'featurette' features more stuff you already know

by Ben Gilbert { Jul 22nd 2009 at 5:00AM }

Alright, look, Activision -- we've seen quite enough of Wolfenstein already. What with the recent comic strips and the constant stream of trailers since last July, it feels like we're writing something about BJ Blazkowicz every day. For the most part, the trailers have become fairly repetitive at this point -- lucky you, this one's a "featurette."

We were wondering to ourselves -- after watching the four minutes of torturous explanation in the video above -- what does "featurette" mean, exactly? Dictionary.com calls it a "short movie." Though we wouldn't exactly classify the video above as a "short movie," it is short and there are moving things in it, so we guess it'll have to do while we wait for the game to release a week later than expected.

Gallery: Wolfenstein

Activision confirms delay of Wolfenstein to 'week beginning August 17'

by Ben Gilbert { Jul 14th 2009 at 6:00PM }

(click to mecha-Hitler size)

Joystiq received official word from Activision this afternoon that, corroborating recent retailer listings, the upcoming Raven Software-developed Wolfenstein reboot is being pushed back to "the week beginning August 17." Earlier today, Shacknews discovered listings on GameStop and Amazon's websites proposing a two week delay, with the game presumably arriving on store shelves August 18. According to Activision, the new release date is "to facilitate a simultaneous global release window" -- we're hoping that's all a ruse and Raven's actually sneaking in Wolfenstein 3D's amazing final boss.

The good news? The game still features a horde of Nazis, lining up to meet their fate at the business end of your peacemaker. The bad news? It's also still a fairly generic shooter set in World War II (albeit an alternate reality version). With any luck, a demo for the game will be hitting Xbox Live and PlayStation Network just before the game's release and you can find out for yourself just how much (or how little) you need to get your feet into B.J. Blazkowicz's shoes.

Gallery: Wolfenstein

Cheese stick: second Wolfenstein motion comic recounts 'Spear of Destiny'

by Randy Nelson { Jul 14th 2009 at 12:30AM }

On the one hand, we think it's kind of cool that Activision is producing a series of short "video graphic novels" retelling the events of past Wolfenstein games leading up to the series' latest installment. On the other, we have to say that they're ~~simply awful~~ OK, they're sort of funny.

Released today, the second cheese-tastic chapter brings Spear of Destiny: A Wolfenstein Adventure to life through the magic of red & black Flash animation. For the uninitiated -- or, more likely, those who watch the comic and can't figure out what's happening -- this game actually served as a prequel to the first Wolfenstein and had players on a mission to steal the (drum roll, please) Spear of Destiny (a.k.a. the Holy Lance) from the Nazis before they could use it ... for evil!

The comic ends with series protagonist William "B.J." Blazkowicz using the fancy stick to slay a demon, an act that somehow manages to come off more hokey than heroic. That had to be what they were going for, right?

Singularity sucked into Q1 2010

by Ludwig Kietzmann { Jul 8th 2009 at 7:59PM }

First-person time manipulation news now, with a brief note from Activision alerting us to a delay in the release of Raven Software's Singularity, which was previously slated for a late 2009 arrival. It seems the publisher has wisely decided to push the sci-fi adventure back into March 2010 -- and well out of the way of Modern Warfare 2's commercially crushing tank treads.

"The level of excitement for Infinity Ward's Modern Warfare 2 coming out of E3 well exceeded our expectations and therefore we have decided to move Raven's upcoming sci-fi first person action title, Singularity, from 2009 to Q1 2010," an Activision spokesperson declared. "We believe that the March quarter will provide a better opportunity to establish the new cutting-edge action IP as a "must-have" title and clears the way for Modern Warfare 2 to dominate this holiday season."

Thanks for taking one for the team, Singularity! Now, if you Assassin's Creeds and Splinter Cells and BioShocks could just skooch over a tad ...

Gallery: Singularity

Wolfenstein includes comprehensive Nazi death stat tracker

by Richard Mitchell { Jun 25th 2009 at 11:59PM }

Stat tracking is nothing new for FPS games, but we have to hand it to Raven for being thorough. According to MTV Multiplayer, the upcoming Wolfenstein keeps track of not only how many Nazis you kill, but the manner in which they died. Multiplayer asserts that it saw a stat screen at 36 percent completion, which noted that 639 kills had been made. Using some simple math, the blog calculated that a total of 1638.4 Nazis will meet their doom by the end of the game.

Now, we hate to criticize, but that's assuming the rate of Nazi influx is constant, which it almost assuredly is not. Still, regardless of exactly how many have fallen by the end, we take comfort in the fact that we'll know exactly how many were dissolved, dismembered, burned and electrocuted. Strangely, the game doesn't appear to keep track of the number that have killed the old fashioned way: with a bullet.