Here’s a look at eight new levels for Quake Arena Arcade. The Arena Gate map, which came with Quake 3, is included in the 40 original maps from Arena and Team Arena will be included in the bundle. The latest generation of the classic first-person shooter is headed to the Xbox 360.

According to GamerBytes, Pi Studios is getting busy with a dedicated site for Quake Arena Arcade coming online soon. Unlike certain other titles that have turned out to be big teases, it looks like you and up to 15 of your friends will actually be able to duke it out to see who has the mad skilz.

Channel Flip is hosting a video mini series on Mac gaming. Your video host Katharine is kicking off Mac Gaming 101 with native gaming options for the Mac.

Now, much as we all love our various Mac computers here at ChannelFlip, we’re ready to admit that the issue of gaming has long been a thorn in the side of Apple fans.

But the perception that you have to have a high powered Windows PC for gaming on a computer, combined with a lack of publicity for the growing Mac gaming industry, means that a surprising number of people aren’t aware of what you can achieve gaming wise on a Mac.

Some of the games that can be played on the Mac include Unreal Tournament 3, Neverwinter Nights 2, Guitar Hero 3, The Sims 2: Castaway Stories, Fable: The Lost Chapters and World of Warcraft.

via ChannelFlip

At a recent event, Intel demonstrated Enemy Territory: Quake Wars with ray-tracing. ETQW reportedly ran at 14-29 frames per second in 1280×720 on a 16-core (4 socket, 4 core) Tigerton system running at 2.93 GHz on a 64-bit Linux operating system.

Trendwatch reports seeing physically-correct refractions of water as well as incredibly detailed glass reflections. Intel supports ray-tracing on 32-bit and 64-bit versions of Linux and Windows operating systems.

Check out TGDaily for a gallery of exclusive screenshots from ET: Quake Wars.

Finally, we get a chance to check out the new Enemy Territory: Quake Wars on the Xbox 360. Um, if you missed the retail release the other week, that is…or the PS3 version…or the PC version that came out eight months ago. But that’s not important. The point is: free stuff. Everyone loves free stuff, even if it’s late free stuff that probably should have been released a long time ago. Anyway, the demo for Enemy Territory: Quake Wars is available on Xbox Live for the four of you that haven’t seen the game yet. Enjoy.

Via Major Nelson

Not a bad week for the release of games especially if you are a PC user and have been awaiting the arrival of Mass Effect or the new Lost Planet: Extreme Condition Colonies expansion. Also, whether you are a console or handheld gamer there is something for everyone this week, so without further ado, here is what you can expect to see on shelves this week.

PC

• Lost Planet: Extreme Condition Colonies Edition – May 27
• Mass Effect – May 27
• Bus Driver – May 27
• Stronghold Crusader Extreme – May 28

PS3

• ET: Quake Wars – May 27

Xbox 360

• ET: Quake Wars – May 27
• Lost Plane: Extreme Condition Colonies Edition

Nintendo Wii

• Death Jr: Root of Evil – May 27
• Emergency Heroes – May 27
• Kawasaki Snowmobiles -May 27
• Monkey King: The Legend Beings – May 27

Nintendo DS

• The Metallic Rose Nintendo DS is available on May 27
• Super Dodgeball Brawlers – May 27
• USA Today Crosswords Challenge (GameStop Exclusive) – May 29

PSP

• World Championship Cards – May 28

All release dates are subject to availability, so some may be in stores on the day listed, the day before, or the day after so check with wherever you purchase your games because shipping times vary.

Two major developers, Bethesda Softworks and Splash Damage, have announced today that they’ve agreed to a long-term development partnership. This certainly comes as an unexpected surprise, especially due to Bethesda being located here in the U.S. and traditionally focusing on action and RPG games, while Splash Damage is in the U.K. and is best known for multiplayer development. Then again, that seems like a perfect pairing, as the two seem to compliment each other very nicely.

“Bethesda Softworks has repeatedly been responsible for outstanding games as both publisher and developer.” said Splash Damage creative director and owner Paul Wedgwood. “Both of our studios share a passion for creating great games, and we’re confident that this partnership will result in even greater experiences for gamers. We’re really looking forward to working with Bethesda.”

“This could not be a more perfect fit,” said Bethesda president Vlatko Andonov. “We are extremely impressed with Splash Damage and the quality titles they produce. They are highly creative and innovative, and have demonstrated a high level of dedication to their projects. We are confident that gamers everywhere will be thrilled with the offerings from this collaboration.”

Anything they might have in store for gamers is currently under wraps, although a press release states that details on Splash Damages’s “brand-new project” will be revealed in the coming months. We’ll certainly be keeping an eye out for that and any other further developments on this story.

It’s always a little strange to see a new trailer for a game released long after the game as hit store shelves. So it looks like whoever was given this task at id decided to spice things up a bit. Thus, there are three new trailers for Enemy Territory: Quake Wars, delivered in an infomercial style format. The one above addresses the dangers of “projectile dysfunction,” while the other two advertise a “human juicer” and the game itself as if it were a monster truck rally. You can check out the other two trailers after the break.

Read the full article »

Activision has confirmed that rumors of its Underground Development studio’s imminent demise are true. The Foster City studio, formerly Z-Axis will be closing by the end of May.

“Activision is closing its Foster City development studio which had less than 45 employees,” an Activision spokesperson told GamesIndustry.biz.

“We are currently making efforts to find opportunities for all employees at other Activision studios.”

The studio that developed the Dave Mirra Freestyle BMX and Aggressive Inline series has most recently worked on Quake Wars for the PS3. Ironically the studio’s close may coincide with the release of its last project. Quake Wars for the PS3 will hit the shelves May 27 in North America and on May 30 in Europe and Australia.

via GamesIndustry.biz

The developers of Quake Live (formerly known as “Quake Zero”) are now accepting sign ups for the game’s beta test. The game will pretty much be a port of Quake III, but completely free and playable via a web browser. Players will also be able to access friends lists, stat tracking, tournaments, and communication directly through a web browser. We’ll have to wait and see if all that can actually bring in a vibrant community. I have to admit, the prospect of being able to play a quality FPS on any computer is an enticing prospect.

To sign for the Quake Live beta, you just have to head over to the official website and submit your e-mail address.

We have known that ET: Quake Wars would be coming to consoles eventually, but Activision has kind of danced around the subject of when and where for quite some time. Today, word on the street is that it will be bitting the PS3 and Xbox 360 on May 30th.

No word still on when the demos for both systems will hit, but stick around because I am sure something will be announced soon.

Thanks: Videogaming247