Fully playable, single-player Beta version of Football Manager 2013 is now available through pre-order promotion

October 19^th 2012

With immediate effect, fans who have pre-ordered or pre-purchased Football Manager 2013 from a participating retailer can now get their hands on a Beta version of the game… two weeks ahead of the full release on November 2^nd.

“We had an idea that this pre-order promotion was going to be popular, but nothing prepared us for the wave of enthusiasm that we were hit with when we announced it last month,” says Sports Interactive’s Studio Director Miles Jacobson. “If you’ve already pre-ordered your copy, then you can start playing the Beta version right now – and if you haven’t then there’s still time, as this offer will stay good right up until the day of release.”

The single-player Beta version of Football Manager 13 gives access to most of the forthcoming game’s features, including the all-new Football Manager Classic mode and the short-term Challenges (for more information, go to www.footballmanager.com/features). Details of participating retailers can be found at http://www.footballmanager.com/preorder.

The Beta version will remain fully functional until Monday, November 5^th, after which it will no longer be playable. However, the player will be able to continue their career without interruption, as the Beta version will be fully compatible with the final release, so none of the player’s progress over the pre-release period will be lost.

Football Manager 2013 will be published by SEGA for Windows PC and Mac on November 2^nd 2012. Further information on the game’s new and enhanced features can be found in a series of video blogs on the official website, www.footballmanager.com.

Re-mastered Critically Acclaimed First-Person Shooter Includes Eight Brand-New Levels 

Sydney, Australia – Oct. 19, 2012 – Bethesda Softworks®, a ZeniMax® Media company has announced that the DOOM® 3 BFG Edition is now available at retail stores across Europe, Australia and New Zealand.  The DOOM 3 BFG Edition features enhanced, re-mastered versions of both DOOM® 3 and the Resurrection of Evil® add-on pack, as well as hours of new content, including eight new levels entitled ‘The Lost Mission.’ DOOM 3 BFG Edition is now available in Australia and New Zealand on PC for AUD $39.95 / NZD $59.95 and on Xbox 360® video game and entertainment system from Microsoft and PlayStation® 3 computer entertainment system for AUD $59.95 / NZD $79.95.

In addition to the terrifying horror found in DOOM 3, players will also experience an unreleased single-player story, ‘The Lost Mission,’ featuring eight heart-pounding single-player levels that once again bring players to the edge of their seats. Fully re-mastered for both Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3, DOOM 3 and its expansion pack feature greatly enhanced visuals that will immerse the player in the demonic world of DOOM 3 like never before.

DOOM 3, Resurrection of Evil, and ‘The Lost Mission’ have been optimized in 3D, featuring 5.1 surround sound, Xbox 360 Achievements, PlayStation 3 trophies, improved rendering and lighting, and a new check point save system allowing for smoother progression through the game. id® Software has fine-tuned the controls to bring the intensity of the DOOM single and multiplayer experience to the consoles, and DOOM 3 now features the new armor-mounted flashlight, allowing players to illuminate dark corners and blast enemies at the same time. 

“Today we’re bringing back id Software’s genre-defining shooter, with the release of DOOM 3 BFG Edition” said Vlatko Andonov, President, Bethesda Softworks. “We are excited for new and existing fans to play the newly enhanced and extended DOOM 3 – and for them to have the opportunity to play the classic DOOM and DOOM 2 games.” 

DOOM 3 BFG Edition will also include the classic DOOM® and DOOM® 2 games, making it the definitive collection of the genre-defining games developed by id Software, the pioneers of the first-person shooter genre.

For more information please visit www.facebook.com/Doom.

Bethesda has just released new artwork with developer commentary for Dishonored. Sebastien Mitton, Art Director at Arkane Studios, has selected ten of his favourite artworks and given commentary on each of them. 

Dishonored casts you as a supernatural assassin driven by revenge. Creatively eliminate your targets with the flexible combat system as you combine supernatural abilities with weapons and gadgets at your disposal. Pursue your targets under the cover of darkness or ruthlessly attack them head on with weapons drawn. The outcome of each mission plays out based on the choices you make. 

Dishonored is out now on Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, and PC. For more information on Dishonored visit www.Dishonored.com.

It’s rare that you get a glance inside an art director’s sketchbook, which makes the concept art that Bethesda sent over a bit of a treat. Each of the ten images comes with a few words from Dishonored art director, Sebastien Mitton, offering a bit of insight into the lengthy pre-production phase that locked down Dunwall’s grimy aesthetic. There’s even mention of a cut level set in an insane asylum. Let’s take a look.

Sebastien Mitton: This is the very first pencil drawing we did when the game was set in London, in 1666. I’m a bit nostalgic when it comes to this one, but in a positive way. This is the piece of art that triggered lots of excellent work in terms of architecture – all the landmarks…there were more than 80 cathedrals in the skyline by that time. There is this very specific skeleton aspect to the facades, there is a canyon feeling in the streets, there are strong shadows.

Sebastien Mitton: The plague plays an important role in our game. After many hours of research exploring narratives from the Black Plague period, we used some testimonies as a starting point for visual expression. The purpose of this exploration was to give the player a great visual impact by increasing this dystopia feeling in the city. The inspiration from this specific example (cut for gameplay consistency) came from the work of Christo and Jeanne-Claude, who mixed with the lime wash used in mass graves.

Sebastien Mitton: As a visual designer, it is a fun experience and a great challenge to align visual appeal, engineering and functionality, nice animations, and a sense of power with a handcrafted weapon that you can upgrade in different ways!

Sebastien Mitton: I really love this ship, with its moving nose that can trap whales when harpooned. The story of its inception started one day when I was visiting our office in Austin.

I noticed a guy on stilts cleaning the building façade and told Harvey (co-creative director) we could put stilts on our town crier (loud speakers replaced this guy). He agreed, and the guy instantly became a Tallboy. Then slowly, game designers modified his original purpose, and the Tallboy became a guard, armed with its bow.

I then proposed to place a canister on his back, full of phosphorus, to get nice visual effects when he shoots arrows. Harvey preferred to use whale oil. Ok, but now we need Whales right? Hard to see Whales if you don’t swim in the middle of the ocean, so it was time to design a whaling ship. Here’s the result!

I then realized that the game universe was autonomous, no need to add anything from our real world. This world had its own needs and its own solutions as its own universe.

Sebastien Mitton: This one is a close-up. It’s the “Regent” painting done by the artist Sergey Kolesov, who is one of the most talented painter/illustrators worldwide in my opinion. This painting won the 2012 into the pixel at E3. It has everything I love in paintings. It has that second layer of visual storytelling when you look at the bodyguard. It’s not in your face at first sight, but it’s there when you take the time to really look at it. It is the role of a bodyguard to stay discreet, you’d say!

Sebastien Mitton: It is always sad when you have to cut features, ideas, concepts. But that’s the nature of our role in this industry. As an artist you have to stay really agile and react positively for the sake of the project.

In this case, we had to cut a mental institution which was haunted by some locals called Lunatics. I really liked the mechanics of those non-fighting guys who are really sensitive to sounds, and who drive the player into a corner, hooting when they’ve detected you.

Sebastien Mitton: After a long phase of gathering really good references from museums and libraries, it’s time to throw ideas on paper, and align them with the bullet points and visual filters we’ve decided upon.

I like this board because it shows how crazy we go sometimes during our concept session. Jean-Luc, my assistant, not only takes notes during our brainstorms, he draws pages and pages.

Sebastien Mitton: One of my main goals during the creation of Dishonored was to bring iconic characters to life. This girl is the result of intense research during photo trips to London and Edinburgh, analysis of mug-shots and studies of typical English traits we found in books and pulp illustration. By drawing on those known characteristics, your characters convey emotion before they talk or move. This is visual storytelling.

Sebastien Mitton: This screenshot shows, if not the first, at least one of the early integrations of one of our characters in game. This is a moment of joy, when you feel everything is in place. You’re heading in the right direction, and you suddenly don’t care about the hard days ahead.

Sebastien Mitton: I talked previously about visual storytelling. Here’s a perfect example of what we love at Arkane: creating a dense and visceral universe!