titles
Latest
Watch Nintendo's 'Direct Mini: Partner Showcase' at 10AM ET
After holding its first “Direct Mini” event in March, Nintendo has announced that it’s holding another one, albeit on a smaller scale. What’s more, it’s happening very soon — this morning at 10 AM ET, to be exact.
Google Stadia may offer publisher-specific subscriptions
Last week, Google revealed pricing and availability for its much-anticipated game streaming service Stadia. It announced the Founder's Edition and Stadia Pro packages, as well as a targeted November release date. Later, Phil Harrison, a vice president and general manager of Google, seemed to slip a few more details. During YouTube's E3 Live show, Harrison reportedly said Stadia will also offer publisher-specific subscriptions. Those could allow Stadia gamers to subscribe to all titles from individual publishers.
EVE Evolved: Rebuilding EVE's corporation tools
The MMO genre is defined by the online interactions of thousands of players, and nowhere is that more apparent than in the single-shard sandbox of EVE Online. While it's possible to play EVE solo, it's the players who make most of the game's meaningful content, and it's only in your emergent interactions with other players that I think the game truly comes to life. Some time ago, I wrote about the importance of CCP supporting EVE's power players, the corporation owners, fleet commanders, and event organisers who give the rest of us something fun to do. Now it looks like CCP is starting to deliver that support, with developers currently looking at updating EVE's archaic corp management tools. CCP Punkturis recently asked corporation owners for a list of the most annoying "little things" they'd like to see fixed with the corporation management interface and was instead flooded with requests for big features and complete overhauls. Developers later confirmed on The o7 Show that at least one highly requested big feature is definitely on its way: CEOs will soon be able to switch off friendly-fire between corp members. The threat of corporate infiltrators attacking corp members has been a massive barrier preventing corps from recruiting new players, so its removal is good news for everyone (except spies). So now that corporation management is finally back on the drawing board, what other features do corp owners need? In this edition of EVE Evolved, I look at a few ideas for corporation tools and features that would make EVE a better place for everyone.
Blizzard's Overwatch bumps into trademark issues
Remember when no one knew what Overwatch was and we were all speculating it was some sort of expansion based on the fact that the trademark had been filed? Oh, it was a more innocent time. Unfortunately for that trademark, it might be having a little bit of a problem after all, as it has come to light that another company filed an earlier claim for the trademark that would supersede Blizzard's use of the name due to likelihood of confusion. The trademark that has already been filed is for an app that can be used to provide enhanced functionality for paintball matches, laser tag matches, and the like. Both trademark applications are currently suspended pending investigations, so it remains to be seen whether Blizzard will be pushing forward or will change the name of the game to something legally different. Like Oversupervise, for instance.
Trademark filings hint at possible Hearthstone expansions
Gamers love to speculate about expansion titles, and with good cause. If an expansion is titled The Battle for the Southern Ridge, well, you can be pretty sure there will be some fighting and you'll be on the southern ridge. If it's titled Steve Gets a Subpoena, you look for a character named steve. This is why particular attention has been paid to two new trademark filings by Blizzard, both of which seem like perfect titles for an upcoming Hearthstone expansion. The names in question are "Eye of Azshara" and "Overwatch." While the latter could apply to many games, the former seems quite clearly aimed at either World of Warcraft or Hearthstone, and it seems even more unlikely that the company would announce the next expansion for World of Warcraft as players are still waiting for Warlords of Draenor. Is it a red herring or harbinger of things to come? We'll know more when BlizzCon takes place later this week.
Get started collecting titles in WoW
In World of Warcraft's current content lull, you may find yourself wondering what to do once you finally hit level 90. You can, of course, quest, raid, or PvP to your heart's content, but what do you do when you get tired of running the same dungeons and battlegrounds? While you could -- and many do -- wander off to explore other games, a common answer to slow content times in WoW is to pick up collecting. While collecting isn't a primary game element, the game is full of things to collect -- and some of them even have achievements to be earned or special in-game collection interfaces. Sound like an interesting use of your WoW downtime? We're going to start off with some of our favorite time-consuming achievements -- all with cool titles to adorn your character -- that will definitely help you fill up the hours while waiting for Warlords of Draenor. And, of course, you get to customize your character with some awesome titles to boot.
Leaderboard: Achievements vs. titles
I've never been much of an achievement fan when it comes to video games. To me, achievements are a cheap and easy way for devs to pretend like they've added content to an MMO, all the while exploiting the completist gene that seems present in a pretty high percentage of the gamer population. Oddly, though, I love character titles. It doesn't matter if it's a crafting title, an adventuring title, or some sort of fluffy fishing-related title like the Lord of the Rings Online honorific in the screenshot above. I typically go after every title available to a given avatar in a given game, even though more often than not the mechanics are the same sort that underlie most achievement systems! What about you, Massively readers? Achievements or titles? Or both? Or neither? Vote after the cut! Ever wish that you could put to rest a long-standing MMO debate once and for all? Then welcome to the battle royal of Massively's Leaderboard, where two sides enter the pit o' judgment -- and only one leaves. Vote to make your opinion known, and see whether your choice tops the Leaderboard!
New collection tracking feature on Wowhead
Our friends at Wowhead hav just announced the launch of a new site feature that should make many players very happy indeed: a collection tracker! You can now use Wowhead to track your characters' possession of pets, mounts, titles, achievements, and recipes. The new feature was green lit thanks to the popularity of their recently-implemented quest-tracking feature, which has been a big hit. The new collection tracking feature includes options to exclude items that fall into certain categories -- the example used by Wowhead is that of pets only available from WoW's Collector's Editions. In this way you can hide any items you may not be interested in pursuing, either by blanking out entire categories of items (i.e. exclude anything Horde-exclusive), or you can manually select individual items to exclude as well. Hop on over to Wowhead's announcement page to check it out!
The Daily Grind: What's the niftiest MMO character title you've ever earned?
I don't usually bother with the achievement metagame in MMOs or anywhere else. Checking off a bragging-rights checklist generated by a studio whose entire goal is to waste as much of my time as possible is just not my idea of fun. But I make exceptions, chief among them being character titles. If a game is going to give me an awesome title for doing something bizarre like eating 36 Eggs and Onions, Delicious Crispy Bacon, Hobbiton Omelets, and Complete Hobbit Breakfasts, then by golly, I'm going to do it just for the giggles and wear that silly title with pride. Besides, it sounds delicious. What about you readerly types? Do you also collect titles rather than minipets and scouting badges? And more importantly, what's the niftiest title you've ever earned? Every morning, the Massively bloggers probe the minds of their readers with deep, thought-provoking questions about that most serious of topics: massively online gaming. We crave your opinions, so grab your caffeinated beverage of choice and chime in on today's Daily Grind!
Heroes of the Storm hits yet another naming conflict
The game currently known as Heroes of the Storm has been through more names than most high school garage bands, having cycled through titles like Blizzard Dota, Blizzard All-Stars, and for a brief period of time, Blizzard Entertainment Presents A Bunch Of Guys Hitting Each Other. (It was an early idea.) Now the game seems to be hitting another snag with its title because of a Finnish tabletop game with the same title. Except in Finnish, obviously. According to WoW Insider, the author of the tabletop game, Mike Pohjola, has made comments implying that Blizzard might want to change the name again to avoid naming conflicts in his home country. How relevant the two games are to one another and how concerned Blizzard actually will be over such a conflict remains to be seen; the application for a trademark came from Blizzard first, but the tabletop game was published before the trademark application. Nothing might come of this, but if the game is renamed again to Blizzard's Steve and Ed Fun-time Game Hour, you'll know why.
SWTOR subscribers to receive Rise of the Hutt Cartel free
If you're an active Star Wars: The Old Republic subscriber and haven't yet picked up the Rise of the Hutt Cartel expansion, BioWare has good news for you. The studio today announced that you will receive it free of charge on September 12th. The expansion, formerly priced at $9.99 for subscribers, includes the new planet of Makeb, a level cap increase to 55, and new story-driven missions. Subscribers who have already purchased the expansion will receive a new title, The Risen, as long as their subscriptions are active as of September 12th at 7:00 a.m. EDT (4:00 a.m. PDT). Additionally, those who purchased the expansion between August 11th and September 12th will earn 1050 bonus Cartel Coins. For more coverage on Rise of the Hutt Cartel, check out Eliot's impressions of the new content. And don't forget to check in on Larry's weekly Hyperspace Beacon column concerning all things SWTOR.
Latest ESO AMA talks titles, Shadowscales, and sieges
It's time again for ZeniMax Online to field community questions about The Elder Scrolls Online, and this week's Ask Us Anything post covers a wide range of topics from lore to PvP to raw game mechanics. Included in the entry are details regarding three-faction warfare, access to guild stores, the details of becoming an emperor, and plans to balance between factions. ESO players will be able to participate in open sieges on controlled keeps, with the option for two competing factions to team up against the controlling faction or to battle the whole thing out in open warfare. Fans of smaller-scale PvP will be happy to hear that ESO will offer "lots of chance encounters" for open world combat and big-picture strategists will likely welcome the news that factions disadvantaged by numbers will receive special bonuses to help keep resource capturing fair. Smaller details are also discussed; titles are still in consideration, achievements will exist for large quest chains and other feats, and Shadowscales will show their reptilian faces in various ESO locations.
Microsoft announces 50-game Xbox One lineup, with more titles to come
Microsoft listed off a list of titles coming to Xbox One back at E3, but it's Gamescom time, folks, and that means we get to find out about quite a few more games coming to the console. As of August 19th, the number of Xbox One games has grown to 50, with titles that should appeal to almost any kind of gamer. Battlefield 4, Call of Duty: Ghosts, and FIFA 14 will be coming with exclusive Xbox content, joined by 19 other titles that are exclusive to Xbox or will be arriving first exclusively to Microsoft's console. Joining exclusives we already knew about like Killer Instinct and Forza Motorsport 5, are Powerstar Golf, Sunset Overdrive and D4, among others. Naturally, there's a whole host of other games coming to the One as well, but we'll let you peruse the full list over at the source link, so head on down to see what gaming goodness awaits in your next-gen future.
BioWare talks KOTOR tenth anniversary, influence on SWTOR
If you haven't felt old yet this week, here's your punch in the gut: Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic, BioWare's beloved RPG, turns 10 today. The studio is celebrating KOTOR's birthday in a number of small ways, one of which being a loving blog post from studio creative director James Ohlen that talks about how KOTOR influenced the development of Star Wars: The Old Republic. According to Ohlen, BioWare put a premium on bringing several core components of KOTOR into SWTOR. He mentions epic narratives set in the Old Republic era, cinematic storytelling, being a Jedi, owning a starship, traveling to different worlds, an internal conflict between good and evil, and hanging out with companion characters that actually matter. Here's a clip from the post: All of these were key elements that we knew we wanted included from the very start of development. The good news is that all of these elements are featured prominently in SWTOR. These features also make SWTOR unique amongst MMORPGs, and helped forge what has become one of the strongest game communities in the history of online RPGs. Players of SWTOR can join in the celebration of KOTOR's birthday by purchasing the Revan's Heir title from the Cartel Market for 10 Cartel Coins. The title will be available only until 3 a.m. EDT, July 16th. So, tonight. Additionally, you can read through some of the memories offered by people who worked on KOTOR and score yourself a handful of wallpapers on this official BioWare post.
Patch 5.4 PTR: Crazy Cat Lady/Man title added
When the Crazy for Cats achievement was discovered on the PTR, the first thing players asked for was a title to go along with it. Namely, something to do with being a Crazy Cat Person. Good news! We got what we asked for: The Crazy Cat Lady and the Crazy Cat Man were both added as titles in the latest patch 5.4 PTR build. Keep in mind that you need 20 out of the 24 cats listed under the achievement. Overall, the achievement doesn't seem too difficult for a battle pet collector to earn, especially since one-third of the cats on the list are purchasable via NPCs. A few felines on the list are harder to come by, including the Nightsaber Cub and Spectral Tiger Cub from the TCG, and the Spectral Cub awarded to players participating in the Shanghai 2012 Battle.net World Championship. I'm crossing my fingers for the title off the bat when the patch drops!
Disney's Mittens, Dream Chaser and more now available
Today saw a number of big releases on the App Store worth trying out. Here's a quick roundup of some of the biggest new app releases. Disney has released a game called Mittens, which looks impressive. It was put together by a company called Metrogames, so it's not a fully internal product. But most of Disney's work lately has been putting their own brands on titles like Temple Run, so it's good to see something with an original spin. It's available for US$0.99. Dream Chaser is Chillingo's latest title, a very flashy endless-running game, also for 99 cents. Lie Swatter is a new trivia game by Jellyvision, the makers of You Don't Know Jack. It's free to play. Wraithborne is an impressive new free-to-play action RPG from Crescent Moon Games. As mentioned yesterday, there's a new app based on Injustice: Gods Among Us, the upcoming console game featuring DC superheroes battling each other. It's also a free-to-play game. Some excellent titles in there for sure. We'll have closer looks at a few of these coming up later on TUAW, but they're all available to go pick up right now if you're interested already.
The OverAchiever: The game's 13 vanished titles
Every Thursday, The Overachiever shows you how to work toward those sweet achievement points. This week, we rue the lack of High Poobah among the game's honorifics. An interesting question in the Tanking forum about a month back spurred an article for readers here about which title they find most reassuring on a fellow player. The discussion that ensued was a reminder that you can't get some of the more popular picks anymore, and just why they meant -- and continue to mean -- something in the first place. Sad to say, these titles are no longer accessible, unless you manage to find some far-flung server at the end of the universe where no one's bothered to kill Sartharion at all.
The most reassuring title to see on a player
Whether we like to admit it or not, we tend to give other players the once-over whenever we zone into a Raid Finder or dungeon PUG, particularly if you've had a run of bad experiences while getting valor-capped for the week. A recent thread on the Tanking forums about the best title for a tank to sport is both a sideways acknowledgment of this and a question as to which title best suits your role in the game. For healers, one could argue that Undying or Immortal means you probably had job security for the length of Wrath, but that kind of ignores everyone else's responsibility to not screw up in Naxx. Possibly Herald of the Titans/Conqueror of Ulduar would have been the equivalent for DPS players, although a raid had to fire on all cylinders for those achievements too. Before achievements were account-wide, and leaving aside obvious ringers like Light of Dawn/Bane of the Fallen King before Mists, I would have nominated Loremaster or Seeker as the most reassuring titles to see on a player regardless of gear quality. I can't say exactly what link exists between the persistence needed to get these titles and overall competence, but I have yet to see a Loremaster or Seeker player do something screw-the-pooch crazy in a PUG. These days, it's tougher to guarantee that a player sporting a title is doing so on the character that originally got it, so maybe The Undaunted is probably the single best outward indicator of competence. Having written all this, I've also had the pleasure of knowing a world-class hunter who never bothered using titles, and we have to acknowledge that a generic, funny (e.g., "Chef Boyardee"), or absent title means nothing at all. But if you had to pick one that said, "I will not get you killed in this PUG," which would it be?
Animationist creates dynamic titles for your video or printed projects
Animationist is a clever and useful OS X app that lets you create animated titles, logos and images for use in iMovie, YouTube or Final Cut. It's currently available in the Mac App Store for a half-off introductory price of US$24.99. The results look professional, and the default titles are so good you might not want to create you own designs, although you certainly can. Animationist displays your edits in real time and animations can be done using keyframes, which should please video pros and semi-pros alike. Even light sources and font kerning can be animated. Of course you get borders, blur, shadows, color control, reflectivity and control of all the other parameters you would expect in an app like this (final effects must be rendered for full quality). %Gallery-172792% Animated files can be exported as a movie file, an image file, a PDF or even a layered Photoshop file. There is a lot of power here for those who want to go beyond the simple effects provided in iMovie. While the app is not inexpensive enough to elicit an impulse purchase, the 50 percent launch sale discount does make it appealing to a wider audience. I tried some animations and thought the output was excellent, and learning the app is easy and straightforward. Both text and video tutorials are built in. Also, final rendering was acceptably quick in my testing. Animationist requires OS X 10.6 or later, and can be set up for English or German users. It's a 76 MB download. If you'd like to try before you buy you can get a preview at this link and additional details here.
Next round of Steam Greenlight titles drop November 30
Valve has revealed it is targeting to announce the next set of Steam titles to earn "greenlit" status from its community-powered submission program on November 30. Since it was first announced, Steam Greenlight has navigated a bumpy road, most recently leading to the addition of a "concepts" category to help developers generate a following for their titles.The next wave for Greenlight will bring with it at least ten new offerings, the company says.At least five of those ten will also include the program's first Software (meaning non-game) graduates, a category that Valve added to Greenlight earlier this month. Valve says all of the titles chosen will be offered worldwide distribution agreements, so presuming everyone agrees, you'll be able to buy them right off of Steam no matter where you lay your head.
