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Unicorn poop, beer cans, and housing dungeons: WildStar's Jeremy Gaffney preps us for closed beta 2
"This is going to be the best game most of us have built in our lives," Carbine Studios Executive Producer Jeremy Gaffney said bluntly. The game in question, of course, is WildStar, and it represents Gaffney's 10th or so trip through the beta development chute on the way to release. There's an undeniable note of pride and calm confidence in his voice as he talks about the baby that's growing inside Carbine's womb right now, and he was definitely not shy in opening up about all of the decisions and work the team's made as WildStar heads into its second trimester... er, closed beta test. Before that, however, Gaffney provided a recap of the first closed beta test. He said that it was pretty limited, with only 2,000 players testing out the lowbie Exile zones. The team moved some of the elder game content down in level so that people could test it out, and developers spent some time doing impromptu Q&A sessions with players in the field. As a result, Carbine is ready to shift over to the Dominion side and greatly expand the beta in size and content. Read on for the full scoop on what the next step will entail.
Aika's end of CB2 siege event video
As part of its closed beta 2 ending, Aika -- developed by HanbitSoft and JoyImpact and published via the gPotato portal -- recently held a big PvP event that turned out to be a smash hit with the community. There's a short video showcasing some of the action, which you can find after the break. It's short, but there's a lot going on so a second or third viewing may be a worthwhile idea. The large PvP battles and city siege features of Akia help it to stand out amongst the ever growing crowd of free-to-play titles, but don't take our word for it because open beta is right around the corner. We'll be interested to see what the wider MMO community thinks of the game.
Aika dates second stage of closed beta testing
There's been some buzz surrounding the upcoming free-to-play title Aika, a large-scale PvP game with some interesting features (which turn normally mature bloggers into immature children due to pronunciation, but that's not the point.) The game's first closed beta went fairly well, and as a result a second phase is planned, running from February 24th through March 2nd. It's not a long test phase, but it's going to bring several elements into the game that weren't available during the first phase. Full-scale castle sieges are one of the major additions to this part of testing, allowing players to take control of the heart of the game's five nations. Similar to the setup of Lineage II's sieges, the leader of the victorious guild will attain the title of Lord Marshal and be responsible for coordinating further attacks for dominance. The PvP isn't all that's being stirred up, however -- more solo areas and content will be added throughout the world, ranging from the crags of Mt. Hessian to the snake-filled Tabazra desert to the city of Cirrugor nestled high among the clouds. The game certainly seems on-track for its projected "official" launch in the spring. Aika fans will want to keep a close eye on the game as it prepares for the full opening, and definitely should get ready to register for their entry into the second closed beta test.
CB2 "Child Robot" returns: smarter, creepier than ever
All caught up on your sleep? Good. 'Cause our old friend the "Child-robot with Biomimetic Body," or CB2, has now returned to haunt your nightmares. As you might expect, the bot hasn't simply spent its past two years of existence terrifying the staff at Osaka University, it's actually been learning, and it's now apparently able to make use of its 51 air-powered motors to move itself through a room "quite smoothly" -- with a helping hand, of course. What's more, the researchers behind CB2 are now also starting to talk about some of their future projects, including a new "robo species" that they say will have learning abilities "somewhere between those of a human and other primate species such as the chimpanzee." Yeah, we can't wait to see what that looks like either.
CB2 Child Robot is possibly the most disturbing machine ever built
Imagine if someone, somewhere managed to find the exact formula for producing the most perfectly awful example of the uncanny valley (say, for a horror movie or something). Now, accept the fact that this organization is the Japanese Science and Technology Agency, and that they managed to produce the most disturbing machine you've ever seen, without even realizing it. The 33 kilogram CB2 is literally beyond words in its freakiness, not only in its nailing of the uncanny valley, but in its description. Apparently it emulates "the physical ability of a 1- or 2-year-old toddler, can turn over and stand up with assistance," has 51 compressed air-powered actuators, and has 200 tactile sensors in its "skin." It sends so many shivers up our spine to think of the CB2's lifeless putty coating as "skin" that it's a wonder we're even able to continue typing. Seriously, just so that we can stop and move onto something else a little more human (heck, even a motherboard feels homely next to this), go check out the video after the break of the horrifying little thing writhing about on the floor.[Via Tokyo Times; thanks Dave]
