What’s this? The Champions Online gameplay teaser video streaming direct from DR without the suck of the IGN website. Enjoy.
Archive for February, 2008
February 29th, 2008
February 25th, 2008
Yet another great episode of The Guild, in this show Codex discovers why Zaboo is so weird. It’s genetic..
February 24th, 2008
The Darkfall developers have come out of their hole long enough to release the following video showcasing various test locations in Darkfall such as clan cities and racial outposts.
You can check out our exclusive streaming flash version of the video here.
As a sidenote, one has to wonder what chances Darkfall really has as a hardcore PvP sandbox MMO assuming it ever ships, when stronger IP’s like Age of Conan are nearly ready for release to the same target player base?
While some graphics in the video do look stunning (dragon mount, player armor), but then much else of it is fairly standard and unimpressive looking beyond the DX10 style grass fields. There’s also a lot of questions to be answered about the game and it seems like whatever advantage they had when the title was announced years ago seems to be slipping away the longer they take to refine and polish it.
If there was ever a time for Darkfall to step up the community relations and PR push, it’s now.
February 22nd, 2008
Cryptic released the following trailer as an exclusive to IGN, obviously as a teaser the in-game scenes are shorter than a 25 cent show in.. er well you get the idea.
Overall it does give a great example of the cel-shading at work, the speed and action of combat with various abilities, and the sheer variety of character designs that will be possible.
I’m still not sold on the flat over contrasted cel-shaded terrain and characters, but that probably needs a closer look with the in-game graphics. As a sidenote, my second choice title for this post was “Champions Looking a lot like WoW” but one can only poke Heartless_ so many times. -Scott
February 20th, 2008
Cryptic Studios has just announced their latest MMO in development, Champion’s Online. Before you cry out against yet another Super Hero MMO from the CoH/CoV crew, take note that CO will be bringing an entirely new game to town. Much of whats being implemented goes back 5 years ago to the CoH alpha with features the Cryptic team wanted to do but couldn’t, and others through taking their knocks in developing and running CoH.
LOS GATOS, CA – February 20, 2008 – Cryptic Studios™, one of the leading independent developers of Massively Multiplayer Online Role Playing Games (MMORPGs), announced today Champions Online™, their first ever self-developed and self-published MMORPG. Champions Online, based on the popular pen-and-paper Champions RPG, will give players the power of total customization of their hero experience while they explore a vast universe of richly detailed 3D environments. Champions Online is slated for release in Spring 2009.
Cryptic Studios also announced today that it has acquired the Champions intellectual property (IP) from Hero Games. First published in 1981, the Champions role-playing game is one of the first RPGs to forgo the traditional dice-rolling system of character generation in favor of a point-based system. Cryptic Studios has licensed back to Hero Games the right to produce Champions RPG books, and the sixth edition of HERO System and Champions, set to release in 2009, will include rules on how to recreate Champions Online characters and scenarios.
“We thought carefully about which IP to select for our next game” said Jack Emmert, chief creative officer of Cryptic Studios. “I’ve been playing the Champions RPG since it first came out and I love both the rich history and the wide array of compelling characters which made this an obvious choice for Cryptic Studios.”
“I am very excited to be working on Champions,” said Michael Lewis, president of Cryptic Studios. “We have a powerful development team, a better engine, more resources, and a vision for a new kind of MMO experience. Bringing the operating side of the business in-house enables us to be more efficent, get our developers even closer to the customer, and ultimately make a better game and long-term experience.”
Champions Online is all about total customization – it will offer a near infinte amount of character customization so that all players will have a unique game experience. Gamers will be able to create their hero’s name, back story, costume, powers and abilities as well as design their own personal arch-enemy and his or her back story, which will guarantee a truly unique experience.
“Champions Online brings a lot to the table. Gamers have literally billions of options to create their own fully customized hero,” Emmert said. “Couple that with the unique character generation system and tons of beautiful, expansive environments in which to roam, and Champions Online is going to be unlike anything MMO fans have seen before.”
More information to follow!
February 19th, 2008
A follow-up report by Next-Generation has NCsoft’s response to what they’re characterizing as “sloppy” and “sensational” article. (To be fair with the criticism, some of their own subscribers may characterize Tabula Rasa as “buggy”, “hyped”, and lacking in the end-game too. -Scott)
While Swofford acknowledged that the game “could have done a little better” and that “there’s a possibility that there could be downsizing with the TR team”, he was keen to counter a number of the claims made.
“The Korea Times English edition story is full of inaccuracies,” he said. “No one at NCsoft said the product is a financial disaster. That came from the writer and is his opinion.
“The TR development did not cost $100 million. I don’t know where that came from. The price tag for the product was much less…a fraction of that cost. Tabula Rasa was not restarted more than twice. It had one overhaul and that came after 2-3 years of development.
“The article made it sound like the TR launch led to some sort of falling out with Robert Garriott. That is so far from the truth. In fact Robert has been promoted to work more with CEO TJ Kim on business development. Yes Robert is out of the day-to-day operations, but he’s still in the office and now travels much more for the company than he did before.
“Yes there’s a possibility that there could be downsizing with the TR team. Some of that is due to the cyclical nature of game development (product is out and the team downsizes). Some is due to the fact that the product could have done a little better. But there is a lot going on with the TR team. They are working on more updates. We are planning a Japan launch later in the year. And the company is planning on investing millions into the product, so it’s not going away and in fact we have plans to grow it.
“The Korea Times story was very inflammatory. The writer is notorious for writing sloppy and sensational articles about NCsoft. Also the Korea Times English edition is not the same as the Korea Times printed in Korean. It’s (the English edition) very low on the totem pole and is not any sort of high standard for journalism in Korea.”
Source: Next-Gen
A very suspect report from the Korean Times by Cho Jin-seo cites the NCsoft company’s chief financial officer Lee Jae-ho as saying their will be layoffs at the Austin Texas Studio, along with the characterization of the project as a financial disaster after disclosing an estimated 105 million dollars lost on approximately 5.29 million US dollars in revenue for 2007.
Needless to say given the lack of popularity and credibility for the failing MMO this report is making its rounds among gaming sites, blogs, and forums quoting the article verbatim. Some of the numbers appear inflated, the reporter is also hardly credible due to past reports, but many of the claims in the article smack of enough truth to be plausible but seem cobbled together from multiple undocumented sources.
Here’s a breakdown on the claims made by Cho Jin-seo’s report:
- Tabula Rasa took six years in development before being launched. The project was restarted at least twice, and before the game was was released to retail with numerous bugs and an unfinished end-game. (If I recall correctly, TR was only restarted ONCE 2 years into development. -Scott)
- There will be downsizing of the Tabula Rasa team, Project Managers will stay, additional staff at the studio may be let go. Richard Garriots brother was already replaced by COO Chris Chung.
- Future development is to be done at the corporate level, not locally at the Austin studio.
- Only 5.39 million US dollars in revenue has been realized from Tabula Rasa to date, with only 15 million USD projected for 2008.
- 105 million dollars (estimated) was spent in it’s development, with a claimed 300 person dev team working on the project at one time. (Keep in mind that World of Warcraft’s initial development costs were only estimated at up to 60 million by Vivendi according to their first filed SEC report, saying TR cost more than that.. a bit unrealistic -Scott)
- The Garriott brothers each recieved stock worth nearly 15 million US dollars for signing on.
- NCsoft stock is at an all time low of 38,600 Won or 40.8 US dollars.
Source: The Korea Times
Follow Up: A Tabula Rasa Community Coordinator replied on PlanetTR.com saying “Take the report with a grain of salt.”
What’s your Mythbusters style verdict? True, False, or Plausible?
Spacetime Studios has released the following teaser video for their Blackstar video as they demo their work to press and publishers at the GDC ‘08 Conference.
The space battles are reminiscent of a certain sci-fi spaceship game on the X-Box 360 with the same frantic action, and unique graphic style (just can’t remember the name, anyone?).
Game Features:
- Fly your spaceship to exotic locations, blasting through cunning enemies and dreadful space creatures.
- Leave your ship and take up the quest, exploring mysterious planets, derelict space stations, and force your way onto enemy ships.
- Live as one of four races, ranging from heroic humans and beautiful aliens to warrior robots and undead horrors in an epic science-fantasy universe where advanced technology clashes with ancient demonic power.
- A new breed of massively multiplayer game, Blackstar resurrects the dream of online space combat with real-time spaceflight featuring fast and nimble fighter-craft loaded with devastating sci-fi weapons.
- You aren’t limited to the canopy: get out of your ship and hit the deck for fast paced ground combat on the surface of alien worlds and aboard enemy ships.
- Combine spell-casting with real time shooting as you blast through enemies, collect loot, and gain levels in a variety of unique alien environments.
- Join up with your friends in maneuverable fleet formations to take on capital ships and enemy starbases in epic large scale battles.
- Play as a member of one of two galaxy-spanning factions: the hopeful and technologically advanced United Colonies or the dangerous, prophecy-guided Scorn Empire.
- Choose your role in the fight from a variety of powerful classes: From deadly Assassins operating behind the enemy lines, to powerful Crusaders who shrug off damage and unleash volleys of blistering fire, pick the role that matches your style of play.
- Participate in a rich story as the forces of futuristic technology and mind-twisting magic clash in a battle to decide the fate of the galaxy.
- Declare war against other players and destroy them in action packed player-vs-player combat that serves all levels of skill from the freshest cadet to the deadliest ace.
February 14th, 2008
I’m a Sinner… Yes Sir.. After buying Sins of a Solar Empire sight unseen I’ve been playing it non-stop through my evenings over the last four days.
If there’s one thing wrong with this 4X strategy game, it’s that you get completely sucked in and completely lose track of time. Before you know it, a quick glance at your clock will show it’s 1am and you still haven’t conquered the game after a marathon 3-4 hour session. In fact most small random games often take as long as 5 hours total to complete. Or you can attempt to do a frigate ship rush which can cut that in half, however it’s nowhere near as satisfying.
Now how does the admission of sin come into play? I haven’t even touched my World of Warcraft account, nor my EvE account, not even an inkling of desire to log into those since installing SoaSE.
This game is turning out to be the indy hit of the year, and I won’t hesitate to recommend it to fans of any type of PC strategy game. There’s something here that will appeal to everyone.
February 11th, 2008
Like a second bit sidekick tossed aside and forgotten the Marvel Universe MMO has been cancelled by Microsoft.
After months of rumors it simply came down to Microsoft not wanting to pursue investment in the MMO without subscriber and revenue projections on par with the only MMO they qualify as a success, Blizzard’s World of Warcraft.
“I’ll confirm. Marvel and we have agreed to end development on the MMO,” Microsoft Game Studios VP Shane Kim told MTV Multiplayer at last week’s DICE Summit in Las Vegas.
“It was an amicable decision…. It’s just something that we felt that, for us and for them, it would be better if we ended development. Which is disappointing, because that had a lot of promise. But sometimes you have to make these decisions.”
Rumors that Marvel Universe had been canned first emerged on 1Up. Shortly after, an industry insider told Next-Gen that plans to release the Marvel superhero-themed MMO had been terminated.
Microsoft had been strangely evasive about the fate of the MMO until now. The rumors originated in November 2007, and in the weeks following, the software maker either insisted that the game was still in development or wouldn’t comment at all.
Kim was hesitant to tell Multiplayer’s Stephen Totilo that something “went wrong” with the development of the game. But Kim did say that Microsoft began development of Marvel Universe with plans to make it a subscription-based MMO. Microsoft eventually found the venture too risky.
“…If you really look at the data there’s basically one [MMO] that’s successful and everything else wouldn’t meet our level or definition of commercial success,” he said. “And then you have to look [and say]: ‘Can we change the business model for that? Is that really viable given how far we are in development? And so forth. Does Marvel want to do that?’ There’s a whole bunch of factors [in canceling the game].”
This is certainly disappointing news to see yet another MMO project aborted early, but a typical decision by a large mega-corporation that doesn’t want to invest resources in a project that’s not guaranteed a very large obscene lottery sized return on investment. If only they could have saved many of us the agony and realize the same thing before releasing Asheron’s Call 2 - years ago before shutting it down.
I’m not the only ones left saying WTF at this decision either.
In any case, yet another super hero MMO that didn’t even appear to have a strong or firm grasp on its gameplay by its developers is probably better off being canned.
So on behalf of MMO gamers, thank you Microsoft for not recognizing that there are MANY successful MMO’s already in this market, you’d probably try to force subscribers to use XBox Live for PC’s to sign-in and play anyway.
Source: Next-Gen
February 10th, 2008
Less than a week after Blizzards successful settlement barring Peons4hire permanently from conducting their business we’ve received the following email from a competing RMT company offering the Dungeonrun.com staff a killer deal on cheap WoW gold!
wow gold wrote:
Peons4hire company statementDear User, as the Blizzard litigation, we will have to temporarily close their
peons4hire websites, please go to [URL Removed] buy wow gold! Very cheap wow gold!Thank you for your peons4hire support!
It’s reassuring to know there’s still industrious little entrepreneurs out there not detoured by the American courts in their quest to provide lazy gamers with all their MMO gold needs.
February 6th, 2008
Funcom has corrected some previous information that led to unseen levels of nerd rage on their AoC forums as nipples were initially said to have been nixed in the US version due to the ESRB ratings board and legal reasons.
But Crom be praised, it was merely a slight communication mixup internally!
It has come to our attention that the North American edition of the game was submitted (by Eidos) to the ESRB without any server-side censorship:
-full blood
-full fatalities
-breasts with nipples
-not full nudity
The ESRB reviewed our application and gave us a rating of Mature 17+. The full rating with descriptors has not yet been publicly announced but will be
posted on the ESRB web site on 13 February 2008.Funcom apologizes for this small error (or maybe two small errors.)
No full nudity though, guess you can’t have it all can you?
February 4th, 2008
The latest Warhammer Online video from the January newsletter has been released.
First impression is a striking resemblance to the WoW, and a very scripted and boring PvP scene.
Update:
Apparently some of the blogosphere’s and my own comments on this video riled up Heartless a tad as seen below, and on his blog. Some back and forth discussion has been taking place there and over at the Random Battle blog where Cameron also got called out for the same reason of taking issue with the craptastic nature of the video.
What’s the issue here according to Heartless?
Heartless is says, Point numero uno, Warhammer’s look was here first, not Warcraft’s. Therefore, Warhammer Online has every right in the world to look the way it does without a copycat tag being applied.
A MMO clone to me has very little do with taking inspiration or stealing the general art style or look and feel of a competitor, but it does has everything to do with copying gameplay and mechanics. Do I think Warhammer Online is a clone from what I’ve seen? No.
Do I think Warhammer has borrowed just as heavily from WoW for gameplay and mechanics as WoW may have borrowed from Warhammer’s style? Yes.
Really, I’m not one to nit pick who came first, I could care less as a 10 year MMO gamer it’s all about who offers the best gaming experience. I think both Blizzard and Games Workshop and have shared similar art design in all their properties. That’s not even at issue for me, its the overall impression of Warhammer looking and moving like more of the same, it most definitely is not a cry of “wow clone”. Does it feel like WoW as well? That’s the big question at hand giving cause for some concern.
2nd point by Heartless, the game-play in the video sucks and looks staged. Well, that is correct, as stated by Paul Barnett in the video!
But apparently its OK to put out a godawful video of PvP in Warhammer because.. Paul Barnett said it was crappy and not realistic. Totally understandable.. that out of 30 minutes of footage put together for the suits at EA, this was the best they could come up with to show off to the public and fans?
Helloooo Mythic Marketing? Community Manager? Anybody home?
February 2nd, 2008
Blizzard’s lawsuit against virtual item and power-leveling company Peons4Hire has been settled, resulting in a permanent injunction that shuts down Peons4Hire’s entire World of Warcraft operation. Though no monetary damages are specified, the injunction represents a complete victory for Blizzard.
Peons4hire aka In Game Dollar is prevented from:
Making any use of the World of Warcraft® in-game communication or chat system to advertise any website, business, or commercial endeavor, including any business associated with In Game Dollar, LLC or www.peons4hire.com.
Sending messages to the World of Warcraft® servers, the World of Warcraft® in-game communication or chat system or any other computer used by Blizzard in connection with the World of Warcraft® game, if such messages mention or advertise the website www.peons4hire.com, In Game Dollar LLC or any other commercial endeavor.
Making any unauthorized use, or obtaining any unauthorized access to Blizzard’s computer systems or network.
Source: VirtuallyBlind.com
February 1st, 2008
What’s a girl to do? Inbetween playing a bit of WoW, and doing a Cheeto’s commercial as herself, Felecia has managed to crank out another episode of The Guild with her team. This episode was also 100% funded by donations! Grats Felecia, and hurry up with that next episode.. dang cliffhangers…
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