Today's round-up includes a new primary game for the Cyberathlete Professional League, welcome news for
Sam & Max fans, and a sentence handed down for the Pandora's Cube owner, as well as the latest product news and Gamasutra job postings.
- The Cyberathlete Professional League (CPL), one of the largest professional gaming sports leagues, has announced that
Quake 4 will be its primary title in the 2006 World Series. The move returns to traditions set by the use of the first
Quake as the primary title in the first CPL event, and heavy use of
Quake II and
III in the years since. The organization will host a qualifying tournament at its Winter Event 2005 in December using
Quake 4 in preparation for next year's series, provided that the game's current October release date holds.
- Telltale Games, developers of the just-released
Bone adventure game for PC, has announced that its next project will be a
Sam & Max adventure game. Though not related to LucasArts' canceled
Sam & Max project, the game will still feature participation from series creator Steve Purcell. Telltale's
Sam & Max project will be released in an episodic format, similar to the one currently being used for
Bone, though no release date has yet been given for a planned first installment.
- Another sentence in the Pandora's Cube case, an investigation into Xbox game piracy by both state and federal officials, has been handed down. After
employee Hitesh Patel's sentencing in July, owner Biren Amin has received five months in prison and five months of home confinement as part of his three years of supervised release. Amin was also fined $247,237.05 and ordered to serve 80 hours of community service. "We are grateful for the work done by U.S. law enforcement agents and prosecutors in bringing these defendants to justice," said ESA president Douglas Lowenstein. "Sentences of this magnitude send a clear message to game retailers that selling pirate products has serious consequences, including prosecution to the fullest extent of the law."
