kotaku
Latest
‘Harry Potter: Wizards Unite’ gathered location data while users slept
It's no secret that games like Harry Potter: Wizards Unite and Pokémon Go track their users' locations. But it can be alarming to see just how much data companies like Niantic have. As part of an extensive report on how tech companies are mapping the world, Kotaku revealed that Niantic's Wizards Unite, in particular, gathered a surprising amount of data.
GamerGate’s subreddit temporarily shuts down because toxicity
GamerGate was a huge deal, mostly because the internet becomes incredibly volatile at perceived slights against white men. But, it turns out, that even the founder of one of the movement's most potent social channels has had enough. Business Insider reported on Friday that one of the primary subreddits temporarily shut off access to the page after its head moderator called it a "cancerous growth."
Using 'Dark Souls 2' mods on PC? That's a dealbreaker
The Dark Souls series' relationship with PC gamers has been contentious at best. The vanilla versions of the first two games weren't unplayable per se, but if it weren't for the enterprising community of modders around the franchise it'd look and run kind of, well, crappy. This apparently extends to the recently released Scholar of the First Sin as well. But there's a twist this time: Players installing the popular "DS2fix" softmod that addresses weapons durability glitches and save corruptions have found that they aren't able to easily summon other players into their game for help or adversarial combat. As Kotaku reports, the players aren't hacking in a nefarious way, they're just using a patch that makes the game work better on their platform of choice. Instead of pulling "undead" (how the series refers to its protagonists) from a general population, it's grabbing them from a comparatively smaller pool of other players that've been deemed cheaters for using DS2fix.
Kotaku launches "An idiot in Azeroth"
Yesterday a new series of articles began on Kotaku: "An idiot in Azeroth," written by Mark Serrels as he chronicles is very first time playing through World of Warcraft. Poor Mark may be in over his head--he is only vaguely aware of what WoW is or how it works. It took him 15 minutes to figure out how to turn the tutorials on so he would know how to play. He got eaten by a wolf and squished by a murloc. Sound familiar? The most delightful part of reading about Mark's first exploits into Azeroth is the knowing grin it brings to my face. Ah, yes -- those days! I remember that. I remember wandering aimlessly through the starting zone, trying to figure out where to find that quest item I needed, getting turned around in the woods, and getting eaten by wolves. Each of us only gets to discover Azeroth once, and reading about Mark's first forays into that world are the closest any of us will ever be to reliving the experience. I can't wait to see where it takes him. if we're lucky, perhaps it will make him one of us.
Man steals thousands of dollars, spends them on Evony
A Hawaiian man is expected to plead guilty to charges that he stole thousands of dollars to spend on the browser-based game Evony. David Buchanan, 47, is charged with wire fraud after he convinced one woman to give him $40,000 for an investment that would see a promised 650% turnaround. "As a middle-aged, admittedly square, FBI Special Agent who doesn't play video games," Agent Tom Simon said during the investigation, "I was understandably perplexed when, during the 'follow the money' analysis, I kept seeing payments being made to something I'd never heard of called Evony. A bit of Googling properly identified Evony as an online video game of sorts, but I was still puzzled how anyone could possibly spend thousands of dollars on a video game. I wasn't being judgmental about the societal value of gaming. I was just dumbfounded that any video game could possibly cost that much." You may remember Evony as that game best known for its boobtastic advertising campaigns a few years back, and, surprisingly enough, it's still around. Buchanan's trial is expected to take place on May 8th with sentencing expected later in the year.
Todd McFarlane talks about Project Copernicus
Spawn creator Todd McFarlane spoke with Kotaku recently and had some things to say about Project Copernicus, 38 Studios' would-have-been Kingdoms of Amalur MMO. He was the project's art director and says he really thought that it "was going to raise the bar." He remains hopeful that, in time, somebody will "be smart enough" to come in, sweep up the pieces of the unfinished MMO, and make something of it. The way McFarlane described it, Project Copernicus was very nearly a finished thing. "It's only ten yards away from the goal line," he explained. "If I had the extra cash I'd do it myself, because it's that cool." Skip below the cut to check out the full interview. (Project Copernicus talk begins at about the 5:20 mark.)
Senior Artist for Blizzard's next MMO sure likes dieselpunk
It's always a good thing to know the sort of hands in which the art of an upcoming MMO rests. One of Blizzard's senior artists, Nick Carver, has got quite the excellent collection of personal works. As a senior artist, Carver is busy with Blizzard's tremendously mysterious Project Titan, the company's MMO-in-the-making. While personal works may not be indicative of which way an MMO's art team is leaning, these are still well-worth an appreciative gander.There are occasional speed paintings and one-offs, but many of the pieces belong to the world of the dieselpunk or Decopunk city of Dustrum, Carver's personal project. Head over to Kotaku to check out a fine sampling of Carver's work, or hit up his blog to wade hip-deep in the original source.
Watch a live stream of Joystiq's PAX panel with Erik Wolpaw, Tim Schafer, Kotaku [Update: It's over!]
Joystiq's Ben Gilbert is sitting down with Valve's Erik Wolpaw (writer on the Portal series), Double Fine's Tim Schafer (company president and fundraising maven) and Kotaku's Jason Shreier at PAX Prime today, to talk "Plot vs. Play."This ragtag group will dissect the importance of narrative over gameplay, vice versa, inside-out and inverted, and it's all captured live for you to watch below via Twitch TV. The panel begins at 3 p.m. ET, or as the indoctrinated few call it, right now.Update: The panel and live stream are now finished. If you missed the action, keep an eye on the PAX Prime 2012 page on Twitch TV, which should update with the day's recording.
WoW Moviewatch: Beautiful Azeroth
We've seen a lot of landscape tours of Azeroth; it's a favorite subject for fans and machinimists alike. Beautiful Azeroth caught tipster Simon's eye when it appeared over at Kotaku Australia. With such a gorgeous video making the rounds, there's no way we could ignore it. Beautiful Azeroth is intended to be a series. This first episode offers a sterling view of Kalimdor, soaring over the wreckage and growing copses with a reverent eye. The background music by Clannad doesn't hurt, either. I suppose if any single artist really captures the heart of Kalimdor, it'd be Clannad or Enya. Interested in the wide world of machinima? We have new movies every weekday here on WoW Moviewatch! Have suggestions for machinima we ought to feature? Toss us an email at moviewatch@wowinsider.com.
Fan-made My Little Pony MMO gathers a following
Yesterday bronies across the world rejoiced as Kotaku reported on the production of not just one but two upcoming My Little Pony MMOs. Both My Little Pony Online and Equestria Online are set in the fictional world of the popular series My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, and use graphics and characters from that setting. On further investigation, both of the startup MMOs appear to be fan projects being developed without the official backing of copyright holder Hasbro Studios. As such, the projects may run into legal difficulties as they continue development using characters, artwork and names from the My Little Pony series. The cartoon series that inspired these fan projects was originally aimed at a young female audience, but its popularity among an adult male crowd grew when it became a huge internet meme. There may even be enough fans of the series to make an official MMO commercially viable, as developers on My Little Pony Online have noted a clear interest in the development of their game.
Former LEGO Universe dev: 'I have decided to get out of the MMO game'
We're all familiar with that guy who gets burned out on his game and makes a very public and lengthy rant as to why he's quitting on the official forums. But what happens when a developer does the same thing to a larger audience? Today we found out, as former LEGO Universe dev Ryan Seabury wrote an open letter saying why he left NetDevil -- and why he'll never work on MMOs again. Seabury cites four reasons: that the "MMO" label has lost its meaning, it takes too long and is too stressful to develop new games, it's difficult to play around with creative concepts, and the market is trending toward indie titles anyway. He left to start up END Games Entertainment so that he and others of a similar mind could indulge in "a ridiculous variety of game ideas" instead of treading the waters of the status quo. His letter is largely upbeat as he focuses on the joys of game development and play, and he thinks that it's high past time studios break out of old mindsets to embrace the new: "We have come to a point where the game concept trumps such insignificant bullet points, and global social connectivity is a given. From a creative standpoint, this is fantastic. Ideas are king once again; the industry feels as vibrant to me as the golden nostalgia years I experienced as a kid growing up through the coin-op and early console eras, except we've finally ditched the nerd-in-basement stigma." You can read Seabury's full letter over at Kotaku.
John Blakely leaves SOE for Zynga
These days fans are hungry for any word from Sony Online Entertainment, which has been mostly quiet following the hacking intrusion that required Sony to take down its MMOs on May 2nd. While we have received some news out of the company, unfortunately today's word is a sad one: John Blakely, SOE's vice president of development, has left the company to join Zynga. Kotaku reports that Blakely's LinkedIn resumé mentioned that he left SOE in April to become a general manager at Zynga in Austin. SOE has confirmed his departure, thanking Blakely for his "passion and leadership" and stating that he has been replaced by Lorin Jameson. Jameson was the executive director of development at SOE's Austin studio. In addition to being SOE's VP of development, Blakely filled the role of executive producer for DC Universe Online and senior producer for EverQuest II during his stay at the company.
ArenaNet interview gives new details on the Guild Wars 2 Thief
ArenaNet unveiled new information on the Guild Wars 2 Thief early this morning via an interview and skill video on Kotaku, giving eager fans more insight into the demo videos released last week at GDC. The interview with Eric Flannum, Jon Peters, and Isaiah Cartwright builds on much of what we already know: dual pistols, stealth skills, stealing, and so on. The skill video reinforces much of what the developers have to say as well, but what's new? Follow along after the jump for the latest scoop on the Thief!
"WoW in space": Bungie's MMOFPS named Destiny
A couple of years ago, fans of the Halo franchise were crushed to find out that their favorite first-person shooter probably wasn't going to make the leap to MMO space. However, the company behind the Halo phenomenon has been diligently at work on another highly speculated-about project -- and it looks as though this project could go a long way to giving the fans what they want. According to Kotaku, Bungie has been developing a massively multiplayer first-person shooter named Destiny. Previously code-named "Tiger," Destiny is described by Kotaku's unnamed source as being "World of Warcraft in space" and will run on all-new technology developed by the studio, including unique online connectivity and matchmaking software. Bungie is currently in a 10-year publishing agreement with Activision Blizzard, so presumably Destiny will be published by the company. Last year, Blizzard's Rob Pardo applauded the idea of a Bungie MMO, although he refused to comment on a collaboration between the two studios.
EA abandoning offline game development
Kotaku points out a grim omen for the future of offline gaming in the form of some comments from Electronic Arts executive Frank Gibeau. In an interview at Develop, Gibeau minces few words about the future of the firm's business model. "They're [EA studio heads] very comfortable moving the discussion towards how we make connected gameplay -- be it co-operative or multiplayer or online services -- as opposed to fire-and-forget, packaged goods only, single-player, 25-hours-and you're out. I think that model is finished. Online is where the innovation, and the action, is at," he says. While it's clear why publishers are desperate to move everything online (hello monetization and DRM), the benefits to the consumer are decidedly less apparent. Whether the larger gaming industry adopts an MMO-style access model remains to be seen, but EA is clearly moving in that direction.
SOE's The Agency delayed until late 2011
Whatever happened to The Agency? Inquiring minds want to know, and since Sony Online Entertainment's internal memos haven't been given the WikiLeaks treatment, we'll have to take company president John Smedley at his word. "There was a moment in time in our company where we looked at our own stuff with a clear eye and saw we have to do better," Smedley told Kotaku in a recent interview. Translation: it ain't ready 'til it's ready. While the spy MMO's launch would seem to be quite a ways off, fans should be glad to hear that it hasn't been shelved entirely. We haven't seen hide nor hair of the title since E3 2010, but hopefully the extra time will serve to boost the game's stock in the same vein as SOE's other upcoming MMO. DC Universe, originally scheduled to launch last November, has apparently benefited from the extra test cycles if the scuttlebutt surrounding yesterday's NDA-drop is to be believed.
Smedley says EQII players aren't WoW players, but may see their own Cataclysm
It's absolutely no surprise to anyone that MMO companies pay attention to what the others are doing. Turbine looked at free-to-play models and took a chance that has paid off. Cryptic is now testing the waters. Even Sony Online Entertainment has done this with Free Realms and EverQuest II. And of course, everyone watches what Blizzard is doing. After all, with 12 million subscribers, there are things to be learned from the champion MMO company. Now, with World of Warcraft's new expansion on the horizon, SOE's president, John Smedley, offered up some of his opinions to Kotaku -- opinions on Cataclysm and on how Blizzard's decisions relate to SOE's own future plans for EverQuest II. According to the posted statements, not only have the heads at SOE been considering a worldwide reboot like Cataclysm, but the news is that it is something they've considered for "many years." Beyond this surprise (after all, there was already a cataclysmic event in Norrath's lore -- players just didn't get to play that part as it fell between EverQuest and EverQuest II) was the even larger surprise that came with Smedley's assertion that EverQuest II players are not World of Warcraft players. "We have five years of World of Warcraft experience behind us to know that people that play EverQuest II don't play World of Warcraft. We don't see big dips in concurrency. We see a tiny drop for awhile." For the rest of the interview, head over to Kotaku and check it out in its entirety. It's definitely interesting reading.
The pain and suffering of MMO shutdowns
Like life itself, the MMO industry doesn't often seem fair -- promising games can die premature deaths while creaky antiques continue to chug along just fine. When an MMO like APB or Tabula Rasa announces that it's closing its doors after only a couple years (or months), the first reaction is usually to ask, "What in Sam Hill happened and why are they doing this to me?" Yet what isn't always considered is the emotional fallout on behalf of the devs. Over at Kotaku, Michael Fahey examined the fallout when MMOs are shuttered prematurely, using the examples of Auto Assault and The Matrix Online as case studies. NetDevil spent four years developing the former, which lasted a mere fraction of that time -- 16 months -- as a live game. Ryan Seabury testifies to the pain that this causes for a dev team: "I won't lie, it hurts like hell still over four years later... Naturally, if a universe like Auto Assault that you sort of mentally attach to over multiple years suddenly ceases to exist, it's like a part of you dies." He personally points to NCsoft as the reason for Auto Assault's closure, stating that the game might still be in operation if it wasn't for the publisher's lack of faith. On the flip side, The Matrix Online had a longer run and plenty of time to prepare for the end once word was passed down. Then-Community Manager Daniel Myers says that the decision was a matter of dollars and sense. Still, Myers admits that it continues to affect him: "There are still days that I wish I could log in and see the Megacity again. I don't know [if] that will ever completely stop. I kind of hope it doesn't."
Net Dragon announces development of Transformers MMO
It's certainly not a new idea -- the concept of a Transformers MMO is one that's attractive to a lot of fans. It looks like those fans will be getting their wish -- Chinese game developer Net Dragon has entered a licensing agreement with Hasbro to produce that very thing. The news is very recent, of course, but we have a few important details. The game is scheduled to launch in 2011, and will be available in "China and Asia, including Russia, the CIS member states, the Middle East and North Africa region." There's no word on release in other areas, but we'll keep our eyes open for more news. For the time being, you can check out the press release on the Net Dragon site (English translation). [via Kotaku]
APB's lead designer discusses pricing model
Kotaku has an interesting article regarding the recently announced pricing options for Realtime Worlds' All Points Bulletin. The urban crime MMORPG made waves late last month with their unique access model that allows gamers the ability to purchase time blocks in certain sections of the game world in addition to the traditional all-encompassing monthly access fee. E.J. Moreland, APB's lead designer, draws a distinction between players that are likely to prefer the game's gunplay versus those that will be more interested in the socialization options in the game, which are considerable. "With the social district there is a compelling investigation to be made into making the social district entirely free to play, building that out to be a stand alone. There is going to be two kinds of audiences in APB: People who want to play the action game and think it's cool and then people for whom customization is the driver," he says. Moreland goes on to state that the Realtime Worlds team is planning on adding to the social game in short order, beginning with player housing. Check out the full article over at Kotaku.
