Still hankering for more multi-perspective World War 2 action after Battlestations: Midway (PC, Xbox 360)?

Things appear to be looking up, as Eidos Interactive has already filed a Battlestations: Pacific trademark. Could this be the official name of the sequel? Find out after the jump!

Eidos Interactive and Valve Software are poised to slap those who claimed "the PC is dead" back to the age of the Commodore 64. With their agreement of a team-up for the online distribution of Eidos titles, the PC games industry just started to give the next-gen consoles a run for their money, using means to avert piracy.

Eidos Interactive, the UK-based world-class publisher for titles such as Tomb Raider, Commandos and Championship Manager, will now be distributing its new line of games and their bestsellers over Steam's online digital distribution network, including Tomb Raider: Anniversary and Championship Manager 2007. Other titles to be distributed include Hitman titles, Battlestations: Midway, Just Cause and the entire Commando series.

Gabe Newell, Valve Software's co-founder and president, was happy to extend their services to a major PC games publisher, toward an online community that is overly loyal to the PC platform. Steam is the premier distribution network for Valve Software, where they have been distributing games such as Rag Doll Kung Fu and Counter-Strike: Source. Tom Marx, development manager at Eidos, replied:

Eidos is delighted to add Steam to our extensive digital distribution network. Steam represents an opportunity to distribute our games electronically to millions of gamers around the world. It also provides us a direct connection to these extremely active PC influencers who frequent Steam as a source for new content and information. As a result of being a spotlight feature on Steam this year, we expect to see sales of Tomb Raider: Anniversary benefit across all channels.

In case you've forgotten, the scheduled Downloadable Content">downloadable content for Battlestations: Midway will finally go live tomorrow, March 1. The download will include two new historical battle maps and five brand new vehicles. It seems that the folks over at Eidos Interactive are really making sure that fans always have something new to look forward to.

Anyway, we've already discussed the last time around the battle maps that will be included in the download. To refresh your memory though, the single player map is called "The Raid on Truk" while the multiplayer map is called "The Battle of Sibuyan Sea." But what are wars without vehicles, right?

The new battles, like what we've mentioned earlier, will feature a new set of air, sea, and undersea vehicles. These will definitely challenge any player's skills and naval strategies. Here are the newest mean machines:

• P-38 Lightning: A fast, powerful and distinctive twin-engine interceptor and one of the most important American fighters of the Second World War. Its long range and twin engines made it well suited for duty in the Pacific.
• Nakijima J1N1 Gekko: The first Japanese aircraft designed and built specifically to intercept and destroy other aircraft at night. It was deadly against Bombers and as a powerful kamikaze plane against ships.
• USS Iowa (BB-61): The lead battleship of its class. Nicknamed ”The Big Stick”, this famous flagship fought in numerous and significant battles in World War II and the Korean War.
• IJN Shimakaze: The IJN Shimakaze ("Island Wind") is considered to be the fastest and most powerful Destroyer of World War II and she was the only one of her class built.
• Type A mini-sub: The Type A mini-sub was a two-man submarine. Difficult to detect, the Type A submarines were used during the attack on Pearl Harbor, Hawaii and throughout the war.

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Update: We've got info from gaming site Pro-G that the downloadable content set to be released March 1 will be delayed because of "technical issues". The content for Battlestations: Midway - both for the PC and for the Xbox 360 - will be released simultaneously later in March.

See more screenshots after the jump!

Buy: [Battlestations: Midway (Xbox 360)]

Buy: [Battlestations: Midway (Windows XP)]

Eidos Interactive and game center organization iGames have something special prepared for the launch of WW II game Battlestations: Midway. According to the latter, it will be hosting special launch events at up to 100 select game centers across North America, Canada, and Mexico.

So if you don't have anything else better to do, find a game center near you. Anyway, the said event will begin with a two-week showcase from February 12 to 25 for both the PC and Xbox 360 platforms. In the said event, fans will have the chance to try the game for free for one whole hour.

After that, between February 24 to 25, Eidos will be hosting a Launch Tournament wherein teams of two will compete in a Saturday pool play tournament. The best teams that will emerge on Saturday will then advance to the Sunday single-elimination final tournament.

Prizes to be won include LCD TVs, MP3 Players, Razer Gaming Products, Corsair Flash Readout USB Drives, the Battlestations: Midway Xbox 360 game, and other gaming accessories.

As mentioned, if you have nothing else planned for those dates, you better find an iGame gaming center near you.

Buy: [Battlestations: Midway (PC)]
Buy: [Battlestations: Midway (Xbox 360)]

Eidos Interactive's World War II game, Battlestations: Midway is gearing up for a US release tomorrow, while the rest of the world will get it on February 9 (Europe) and February 28 (Australia). IGN Australia recently sat down and chatted with the game's producer Klaude Thomas. Basically, he talked about the amount of research they did to replicate real WWII battles and just how hard is it to develop a game like Battlestations.

He divulges that the research was done in the entire development process and they relied on videos, photos, and even original blueprints with permission from the National Maritime Museum. Now that the research part is covered, he was then asked about the challenges they had to face to create this game, he says that:

Creating an interface (including the control system) which fit seamlessly into the game and empowered players to give and set advanced tactical commands quickly and effectively was difficult. To make that work across all the different situations and unit types in a way that probably now seems simple and obvious was hard work.

He also mentions that the coolest gameplay experience that they had during development was to "to play the multiplayer mode first with four players. It was very exciting to see the game moving and alive, and also we had fun shooting at each other and trying to avoid torpedo swarms." Hopefully, future players of the game would also have fun with the multiplayer mode.

As for what's next in the series, this is what Klaude revealed:

We'd love to add more content and historical detail in the sequels, for example experimental (but real) craft, early jets and rockets, submarine-launched aircraft (and Cruiser launched FBs), interesting and forgotten battles, and of course we would like to introduce new theatres of operation...We also wanted to see the biggest US warship, the Iowa, match-up against Yamato…

For the word-per-word account of the interview, click on our read link below.

 

Reading through IGN's tips section on Eidos Interactive's Battlestations: Midway, not to mention spending a couple of hours in the demo, we've come to understand why the game's definitely not for everyone. It is as much a team-oriented game like the more high-profile Halo and Gears of War, but it demands a different, strategic mindset as well as a trigger finger.

Some of you may have already tried the demo out and decided it's not your thing. But for those who liked it, for those who can waste an entire day playing the Axis and Allies board game, you should find the rest of this stuff useful.

Unfortunately the demo did not ship with a single-player tutorial, so unless you're a veteran of countless World War II strategy games, it's too easy to get lost in the middle of battle (handy guides are provided via the Pause menu, nonetheless). Hence, IGN decided to condense a bit of battle experience into a short field manual of sorts.

Here are the important stuff to remember before going to war (and since there's a PC version of the game, we're putting this up in the Games for Windows section, too):

• Rock-scissors-paper. Destroyer pwn Sub, Sub pwn Cruisers and Battleships, and Battleships pretty much pwn everything else on the water or on land - except subs. The aircraft should be easy: fighters pwn other fighters and attack planes, and attack planes pwn ships.
• In the demo's case, IGN advices concentrating on battleships and subs. Cruisers don't enjoy the battlewagon's firepower, and dive bombers can be used to take out subs. We take that with a grain of salt, however - nothing beats a dedicated destroyer escort, and sometimes you need to use the bombers elsewhere.
• Important controls to remember: the LB is your friend, slowly repairing damage to the ship. In a sub, since you can only fire torpedoes at periscope depth, Y raises the periscope, and the D-pad controls depth. (Obviously this applies to the 360 game; PC owners will have their own keyboard assignments to remember.)
  
• Learn how to multitask, jumping between units to take control and swing the fight in your favor. Don't forget your teammates, either.
• When your attack planes have dropped their load (bombs or torpedos), use them to strafe ground positions (dive bombers) or tangle with other fighters (torpedo bombers). As an alternative to IGN's suggestion, you could just probably swarm them over an enemy fleet or installation, draw fire, and make life heck for antiaircraft artillery there.

With Battlestations freshly put up on the XBL, Eidos sure is wasting no time in dropping some more bombs from this game to get you more familiar with it. And why not? After all, they should be firing up by January 30th in the U. S., February 9th in Europe, and February 28th for Australia. That sure is a lot of action for the Xbox 360 for the price of US$ 59.99.

Anyhow, the "more bombs" we're referring to here in this post is the arrival of a new trailer for this intense third-person game. This one draws more on the "Discover who you really are" theme. As to what that means exactly, you're gonna have to find out by yourself. To do so, just download the file right here.

Oh, and here are some more pin-ups for you. Keep the collection growing.

Battlestations: Midway will also be available on the PC on the following dates: U.S. - January 30, Europe - February 9, Australia: February 7. Tagged at US$ 41.99.

Download: [Battlestations trailer]

  

Eidos Interactive will release Battlestations: Midway in Europe on February 9, 2007 for the Xbox 360 and for the PC. So they sent out a press release, and we'll give you the highlights.

The game promises a blend of action and real-time strategy (RTS) gameplay: you can switch instantly between every vehicle under your command throughout the course of any battle. That's the biggest convincer to try this title (never mind all the press hype about how it's "highly anticipated" and all that other advertising lingo).

Battlestations: Midway is all about the epic Pacific naval battles of World War II (from Pearl Harbor to Midway). The single player mode has 11 huge campaigns and 12 bonus challenge missions. The online multiplayer allows head-to-head combat and cooperative gameplay with over 100 units (that's a lot of ships and planes).

By the way, 2007 is the 65th anniversary of the Battle of Midway. So get this for your history teacher so you can get an A+.

   

Buy: [Battlestations: Midway (Xbox 360)]

Buy: [Battlestations: Midway (Windows XP)]

With the release looming ever so near, Eidos' Battlestations: Midway is looking good as a sim. It mixes action, strategy, and history in all the right proportions and gives players a chance to take part in the most important sea battles during WWII. It features 11 campaigns in Single Player mode with a bonus of 12 challenges. Online play has head-to-head and co-op battles.

Can't wait? Here are some screens to tide you over until January of next year.

With your children tucked away in bed waiting for Santa to arrive, you need to take some time to relax. After thinking about it for a while, we at QJ decided a good bit of airborne shooting in the form of an aircraft dogfight for Battlestations: Midway (for Xbox 360 and PC) would just do the trick.

We may have only just found out that Battlestations: Midway will ship to North American retailers on January 30, 2007, but we're already excited and this supplement to the tactical air strikes trailer released earlier this month just adds fuel to the fire of anticipation for the release of this game.

In this game, you are the one in the pilot seat, the one expected to fight for your country when the skies are full of danger. Judging by this footage, there is no better way to experience the thrill of being a hero (other than being one in real life!) than with Battlestations: Midway. The roar of your propeller-driven aircraft, the bang of your machine gun fire hurtling towards enemy aircraft and the wind passing by at 200Mph are all put through to you in this game. You have split seconds to make your decision in a dogfight - a decision which could mean the difference between life and death. How will you react?