Battlezone Forums

Posted: **Wed Apr 01, 2015 12:01 am**

I've been maintaining for months now that while Rebellion owns Battlezone, they don't own our Battlezone. And I'm truly sorry for that; I was wrong.

I found an article on Kotaku this evening entitled "Welcome Back to the Battlezone", which is basically a love letter to the series; the big kicker was the link to a steam page about half-way down.

http://kotaku.com/welcome-back-to-battlezone-3459742156

The article reads as follows:

As soon as I first played Battlezone, I was hooked.

From flying a floating tank around the moon to piloting massive mechs with laser cannons, Battlezone offered experiences that even today have never been beaten. It has a special place in my heart.

Two expansions were released within months, providing new battle grounds and the awesome gameplay I had come to love Battlezone for. They were followed by a sequel barely two years later, which was lackluster to say the least, but whilst not as addictive it was still Battlezone. Then a Nintendo 64 port was released the next year and I was addicted all over again.

In 2014, when Atari Interactive went bankrupt, it was British company Rebellion Developments who purchased the rights to Battlezone. Rebellion, known for the Sniper Elite series, Alien vs Predator and 2000AD, kept quiet about it for a long time. All indications were that they had purchased the rights to the original Atari game for licensing.

Imagine my surprise when I start work this morning only to find that, front-and-centre on my Steam homepage, is the love of my gaming life.

Yes Ladies and Gentlemen, that is entirely correct. Rebellion has remastered and re-released the entire Battlezone series on Steam!

Readers who have been following the Battlezone games will know that they're notoriously difficult to leave - to the point that Ken Miller and Nathan Mates, two of the games' original developers, have been making patches for them almost constantly since their release. Those readers will also be aware that Miller and Mates have been quiet of late - and now they know why.

The Battlezone Complete Collection contains the original Battlezone, its expansions Battle Grounds and The Red Odyssey, the sequel Battlezone II and a brand new PC version of the otherwise Nintendo-exclusive Battlezone: Rise of the Black Dogs. Battlezone is updated to version 1.5.3 and Battlezone II to version 1.3.7; amongst the changes included in these patches are support for modern systems and HD resolutions, and improved textures. All five run on matchmaking servers operated by Rebellion, so there's no need to worry about that pesky Gamespy connection any more.

I know what I'll be doing for the rest of the week.

To contact the author of this post, write to tomdeaconharryATkotaku.com or find him on Twitter @Tom_Deacon-Harry.

Right above the link is the following screenshot...

http://store.steampowered.com/app/5438

It looks like Rebellion do own Battlezone... and more than that, they're releasing it! The article seems to say there are also going to be re-releases of both expansion packs, Battlezone II and a PC version of Rise of the Black Dogs, but I couldn't find Steam pages for them. I'm guessing they'll be coming shortly.

Posted: **Wed Apr 01, 2015 12:10 am**

Link is dead. Is this an early April's Fools joke?

Posted: **Wed Apr 01, 2015 12:18 am**

They work for me. Could be region-related?

Posted: **Wed Apr 01, 2015 1:32 am**

I just bought my copy. You should too!

The Red Odyssey remaster is amazing!

Posted: **Wed Apr 01, 2015 2:08 am**

Oh, the links work in Aus too? I couldn't find TRO when I looked, guess I'll have to try again in the morning.

Posted: **Wed Apr 01, 2015 3:05 am**

Damn brits, It's only 10pm here..

Posted: **Wed Apr 01, 2015 3:07 am**

It was 6:00 P.M. when I saw it.

Posted: **Wed Apr 01, 2015 4:18 am**

This is great. I can think of a few people likely sweating this right now.

This literally changes everything. Yes... yes... more yes. This goes perfectly with what I'm working on right now, dream come true.

Go Ken, go Nathan, go Rebellion. Do a hat trick!

Posted: **Wed Apr 01, 2015 4:34 am**

I just finished the 3rd TRO mission.

Wow.

It's so familiar, but just so much improved.

I love the targeting system!

The world feels bigger and more alive with all those new graphics.

Posted: **Wed Apr 01, 2015 5:01 am**

It doesn't work on my Windows 98 comp.

I demand refund.

Posted: **Wed Apr 01, 2015 5:22 am**

Or not. I'm looking at this, and there's corner cutting. Let's take a closer look in a casual debunking process...

1. http://kotaku.com/
Look at the latest articles. You will find nothing falling under the supposed dates/times. Referencing the video, the compositing job via Sporkinator in this case was convincing, but he never reached the bottom of the page and what's seen is easily faked in AE.

2. https://twitter.com/Tom_Deacon-Harry
Doesn't exist. Don't list something that doesn't exist to remain afloat longer. I currently have 2 conspiracies of my own that still survive - there is a method, this breaks form. It's a play on words: Tom, Dick and Harry.

3. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7g_3NIr-kn8
Sporkinator's video compositing is shotty on the Steam Page. There's a gap in the playback at the top of the video, and Steams Time Marker is invisible right off; normally it has the autoplay option + video controls which vanish after a few moments. Lazy, lazy. Next time call me, I'll be less likely to debunk and do it right quickly.

Along with #3, Sporkinator doesn't scroll in the video when he's on the Steam page. Maybe because there was more corner cutting and the design simply didn't exist. It's a still image. NOT TO MENTION Sporkinator would be connected to Battlezone players in this thread who claimed to have purchased it -- and in his video, 0 of his friends purchased the game. Super-Uber-Fail - how hard is it to fake that number? Lazy, lazy.

4. The number of reviews doesn't line up with a recently released game.
126 Physical Reviews is rather Insane, I would have believed 35-45 in less than 24 hours for Battlezone. That was the dead giveaway for me.

5. If Rebellion Re-Releases, the imagery would be updated as well. Don't rip off the old stuff -- design new stuff. Lazy, lazy.

6. Ken Miller and Nathan Mates haven't "been quiet" lately. Not sure how that's relevant to the article, it's a giveaway to being fake in trying to relate to the community.

7. The the biggest giveaway -- new Steam games have 6 digit Store numbers, not 4. Super-Ultra-Uber-Fail!

It's fake, and everyone is in on it. Now if you'll excuse me, I'm going to go use and abuse Sporkinators video for shameless self promotion - he wants views and so do I!

Posted: **Wed Apr 01, 2015 5:23 am**

What's really sad is the fact I debunked this before it was the 1st of April for me.

Posted: **Wed Apr 01, 2015 5:42 am**

That is sad, I hope you can find better uses for your time in the future.

Posted: **Wed Apr 01, 2015 5:49 am**

Likewise.

Posted: **Wed Apr 01, 2015 6:23 am**

I like to think of it as inspiration. Imagine what it would really be like if this or something similar happened.

We'd be utterly ecstatic.

Who knows? Maybe *someone* (me

) will one day be in the 1% and buy the rights to Battlezone, hire you all as developers and remake every single iteration of the Battlezone series.

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