Today's round-up includes information on the WiFi mode for the much-awaited
Animal Crossing for DS, Bethesda's voice acting choices of the upcoming
Elder Scrolls sequel, and a target almost reached for the Entertainment Software Charity's Kilimanjaro jaunt, as well as today's product news and Gamasutra job postings.
- Nintendo has released details of how the wireless connectivity will work in the upcoming
Animal Crossing: Wild World for its DS handheld. Connected players can visit one another's towns and bring with them custom constellations, bottle mail, and townspeople. Players can connect either to other towns using the LAN connection for nearby DSes or the online wi-fi mode, which requires both players to register a passcode and trade it over the Internet in order to get on one another's friends lists, since the game has no proper lobby feature. Both online and LAN modes will feature real-time chat and messaging services.
- Bethesda Game Studios, the creator of the upcoming
Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion, has announced the voice talent signed up for the Xbox 360 RPG. Several well-known British actors, including Patrick Stewart (Star Trek: The Next Generation, X-Men), Sean Bean (Lord of the Rings, GoldenEye), and Terence Stamp (Superman II, The Limey). "We wanted to work with voice talent that really captured the emotion and drama of the game's story," said
Oblivion executive producer Todd Howard. "Quite honestly, we wrote the parts with these individual actors in mind. It's an honor to have them lend their talents to the project."
- The UK-based, video game business-orientated Entertainment Software Charity has announced that it's on track to break last year's fundraising record for the Kilimanjaro climbing challenge. The 22 sponsored climbers for the ESC are aiming to break the 2004 milestone of 120,000 pounds ($211,717 USD) and raise 150,000 pounds ($264,646 USD) in the 2005 challenge. "We have another very enthusiastic crowd this year and we hope to raise well in excess of last year's total, but we should do as there are more climbers!" said organizer Andy Payne. Those wishing to contribute to the total can do so at charity site
justgiving.com, searching for team members by name.
- Also updated today: product news including
Torc's partnering with AMD to demonstrate its Instinct Engine, Activision's
use of DemonWare's networking middleware for the next
Call Of Duty title, and
today's Gamasutra job postings, including positions at Blizzard Entertainment, Crystal Dynamics, Irrational Games, Lindenlab, LucasArts, and Stormfront Studios.
