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Making things massive: worlds we crave
As the holiday season approaches and our favorite videogame genre bulges with new titles, it seems like many of them are intellectual properties (IP) that have been made massive: that is, an IP that somebody, somewhere thought would be cool (or profitable) to turn into an online experience. Past MMOGs based on well-known IPs have had mixed success. Star Wars Galaxies, for instance, converted arguably the world's best known IP into an MMOG but fizzled. The Matrix Online tried to take advantage of a pop-culture phenomenon but that didn't work out either. City of Heroes/Villains cashed in on our love of comic books – not an IP exactly, but close. Lord of the Rings Online has had some success, as well, but not overwhelmingly so. In the near future, Games Workshop's Warhammer IP will be making its MMO debut as Warhammer Online (developed by EA-Mythic), along with Age of Conan (Funcom's ambitious interpretation of Robert E. Howard's barbarous world). Even MMOGs based on other videogames could fit into this 'make-massive' trend: Blizzard Entertainment turned its own real-time strategy Warcraft franchise into an online world, as did Square-Enix with Final Fantasy.That got me thinking: if I had the power to make an MMOG, what would it be? A series of books, or a movie? Personally, I think that Perpetual Entertainment's Star Trek Online has great potential, but that could be due to the fact that I always thought I would look really good in a red and black uniform commanding a starship. Maybe Harry Potter? Though who knows how that one would work. As Matt points out, fans don't always make the best game developers, and it's certainly true that converting a big, complex IP into an MMOG can have its pitfalls. But ideally, in your most secret heart of hearts, which world would you love to see be made massive? Where would your dream MMOG be set?
Star Trek Online devlogs explore strange new world-building techniques
If you've been following Star Trek Online, then you know we get the sweetest little tastes of information in Perpetual's monthly devlogs. This month's devlog is about game art -- specifically, putting together different building-block pieces of it to form a variety of locales. This is appropriately demonstrated with pieces of a Vulcan town -- "Infinite Diversity in Infinite Combinations," get it?While that's (Vulcan voice) fascinating, the highlights of the devlog are arguably the little bits of concept art. Most if it is Vulcan stuff, but devlogger Mike Stemmle did toss in the above-pictured TOS Doomsday Machine. If you're a real Trekkie, that bit alone should make the wait unbearable. We're trying our best to be patient and to not let Perpetual's Gods & Heroes self-destruction get to us. To quote Spock, "you must have faith that the universe will unfold as it should."[Via Warcry]
Gods & Heroes slain, refunds announced
As we say goodbye to our dreams of being inducted into the Greek pantheon, the developers of Gods & Heroes are kind enough to let us know where we can get our money back on our pre-orders. As it turns out, simply return with your receipt to the retailer where you bought the pre-order, and you will get a full refund. Well duh, actually. In their final announcement to the gaming community, the devs let us know it was a tough decision to kill the immortal game once and for all: The Perpetual team is faced with a unique challenge of simultaneously developing both Gods & Heroes and Star Trek Online in addition to growing our Online Game Platform business. After assessing all of Perpetual's opportunities, we have made the decision to put the development of Gods & Heroes on indefinite hold. Well, I for one am sad to see the project go, but it's also nice to see a company that knows when they bit off more than they can chew.
Gods and Heroes MMO on 'indefinite hold' as developer restructures
Following last month's news of delays and downsizing at Perpetual Entertainment, Warcry Network reports that the company has put development of their mythologically-themed MMO Gods and Heroes: Rome Rising on "indefinite hold," as the team reorganizes and seeks out new investors.Perpetual co-founder Chris McKibbin has posted an open letter on the Gods and Heroes community page, stating that the team was overly ambitious in terms of the game's development, and that shelving the title gives the team opportunity to focus attention elsewhere. Despite the significant amount of time invested in Rome Rising, placing the game on "indefinite hold" means it will likely never see the light of day in any finished form.McKibbin states in his letter that the team has shifted all of their focus to their IP-driven MMO Star Trek Online, and their Perpetual Platform Services division, which develops middleware for MMO development.
Perpetual delays Gods and Heroes, cuts jobs
Clash of the Titans fans take heed, as Perpetual Entertainment has once again postponed the release of its upcoming Roman mythology MMO Gods & Heroes: Rome Rising, laying off 30-40 employees as the project transitions from development to playtesting. The announcement marks the second such delay the game has suffered, the first coming in late 2006 when budget concerns resulted in 35 of the San Francisco-based MMO developer's employees losing their jobs. Explaining the rational behind the layoffs in a recent interview, Perpetual CEO Chris McKibbin cited a need for "a much smaller, more focused and agile team," rather than the larger team required for the game's actual development. In a positive spin, the executive notes that Perpetual plans to help those impacted by the layoffs in finding new positions with other developers, or working on the studio's other MMO Star Trek Online.In addition, while Gods & Heroes was originally planned for release this fall, McKibbin downplayed the delay, noting that "we have been targeting a fall launch and we are extending the time in beta to focus on quality and polish ... from our standpoint we want to give our game more time to get to [that level] of polish, rather than rush to a ship date."
Don't move! Hacked Mario World levels play themselves
When we first saw the video of a hacked Super Mario World level that could be completed without touching the controller, we figured it was a fluke -- the fevered creation of a singular obsessed mind, never to be duplicated.We were wrong.A bit of digging has turned up at least ten more examples of inevitable Mario movement, collected together below. Like the best Rube Goldberg devices, these videos stand as a mesmerizing testament to careful design and meticulous planning. We sit in awe.
