There is a short message by the Heroes of Might and Magic V producer in our forums, his first post in more than six months: "I'll summarize again : the announcement will be done. Before it is done, there will be no new info. Is that clearer now ? :)"

Fabrice is trying to clear up some confusion among the fans. Every month, more people are getting impatient and wondering what is going on (especially if they missed our previous coverage). Keep in mind that Fabrice probably can't wait to see his game in the spotlight as well.
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The creator of the Might and Magic Tribute, Sir Felgar, has been missing for several months. That explains the lack of news about the fan-made game. Without administrator access, his team had no other choice than to move its home to Castle Gobs, the Web site of the new project lead, long-time fan Ribannah. It was also announced that the game will be using a new engine, RealmForge GDK. "One of our first concerns after moving was how to proceed with the realization of the game," explains Ribannah. "By collaborating with RealmForge, we think we have found the perfect solution."

Such internal problems would have killed more than one mod project. However, the Tribute team is continuing its work no mater what, and wants to deliver a solid game to the community. Let's hope that this reorganization will bring luck to the dedicated group of fans.

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Xbox 2 News has an interview with the founder of Electronic Arts and 3DO, Trip Hawkins. The article generated some controversy on the Internet because Hawkins got confused about the meaning of HD-DVD and predicted Microsoft would buy Nintendo within five years (!!). Read it all here.
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We’ve received a couple of new maps the past few days.

First of is an interesting map from Blue Camel called Walkabout. It’s a medium sized Homm4 standard-map, suited for multiplayer (2 players).
You will do lots of fighting.. lots of praying too, at the altars.. if you visit an altar, make sure not to go outside the altar's homeland on accident, or you will LOSE what it gave you, and the altar will not give you stuff again until the beginning of next week.
If you like the map, you might want to check out some of Blue Camel’s other maps available here at Celestial Heavens.

The second map, by Black Marauder, is an x-large Homm3 (SoD) map named To Hire a Hero III: Trapped! As you can tell from the title this is part three of Black Marauder’s map series, To Hire A Hero
With the news of the capture of Black Marauder and Zendy, the King has hired a new warrior to head the expedition. Grey Pilgrim has been recruited to help the wife of Black Marauder, Anjelika, find Black Marauder and Zendy. Somehow you know it won't be an easy task!
If you’re interest, you should also check out To Hire a Hero I and To Hire a Hero II.
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Celestial Heavens is launching a new project called Heroespedia. It is an encyclopedic reference about the Might and Magic universe. Initially, it will cover the Heroes of Might and Magic IV game only, but there are plans to expand it further based on the progress we will make. Heroespedia is based on a wiki, which means that all visitors can submit new articles or edit existing content freely.

Why a wiki you might ask? Well, a wiki allows some features that could not be implemented on this site. For instance, readers can easily search the content, submit their own tips for a specific skill or creature, upload an image or insert cross-references. All Celestial Heavens readers are invited to give it a try: edit an existing page to see a sample of the simple wiki code, and use it as a template for a contribution of your own. Editors will review any change, so don't be shy. For more information about wikis, please see the User's Guide. Special Thanks to Terrasque, creator of the Heroes III Wiki, for his valuable assistance.
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Yeah it's a crap company name, but as you might have guessed from my previous EA/Ubisoft reports, I'm not exactly enamoured with the idea of EA (or indeed anyone) conquering the gaming world - least of all Ubisoft. Yet, despite Ubisoft's best efforts to spring themselves free of any potential takeover bid, EA have tenaciously clung to their throat like lioness on a springbok. And according to Reuters, both parties are now in preliminary talks:

"Tentative talks between both companies are on the takeover price EA might be willing to pay and how Ubisoft's management might be reshaped."

Ulp!
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My new Homm4 map Forgotten Realms is ready for testing. It is an XL map and with all six colors playable as human. The map was build for multiplayer use, but can be played as singleplayer as well. Further it’s balanced for different difficulty settings, but the individual colors are not evenly balanced; some are easier to play than others.
War is upon the Realms; Seems that someone or something has sparked up all possible feuds and disputes in the Moonsea region. Neighbors and former allies are set on warfare with all.

The map is based on the Forgotten Realms settings for AD&D, but no specific knowledge of this is required. It also features the 101 reasons the archmage isn't home (or at least 30+ reasons).
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Ubisoft has announced plans to open a university for game development in Montreal, Canada. Classes will cover the skills needed for making games, including programming, animation, modeling, and level design. And yes, this is a real university. Degrees will be accredited by the Quebec Ministry of Education. The program is 45 weeks long, divided into three 15-week terms. Ubisoft has already enrolled 80 students for the first term (beginning this Spring) and they expect over 400 more during the next five years.

For the full story, see eToychest.
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EA denies having any hostile takeover intentions towards Ubisoft... but then, Hitler said he wouldn't invade Poland. And EA are certainly closing on their borders.
According to Reuters, EA is keen on adding to its (almost) 20% share of Ubisoft and seeks representation on the Ubisoft board. Officially, EA are sitting on the fence, stating that it wants to "keep all its options open regarding this investment in Ubisoft and could buy more Ubisoft shares, possibly a controlling stake". Nice of them to let Ubisoft know where they stand.
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  1. Interview with Evil C
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