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Ten things to do in Star Wars Galaxies before it's gone
When SOE announced that Star Wars Galaxies would be sunsetted by the end of the year, many players despaired. They gave up. They saw their long years (eight years!) of play turn to dust. But others looked on the impending closure as incentive to do all those things they'd been putting off, all the activities they just hadn't gotten around to. There hadn't been time. The game is too big for anyone to do it all. And that's precisely why Star Wars Galaxies is a legend among sandbox fans despite the NGE disaster. It's a living museum of great MMO ideas from the past, of player-driven economies, of open-world housing, of high-end, game-supported roleplay, of roaming in a game that lets you dictate the terms of your play. It's a rare relic you should see in the flesh, today, right now, before it's gone. You can pick up a weapon and fight in any MMO (excepting A Tale in the Desert, that is), but there are so many things you can do in Star Wars Galaxies that you can't do anywhere else with the same level of immersion. And I'm going to tell you which 10 you should do first... before it's too late.
15 Minutes of Fame: The high-agility rogue
15 Minutes of Fame is WoW.com's look at World of Warcraft players of all shapes and sizes -- from the renowned to the relatively anonymous, the remarkable to the player next door. Tip us off to players you'd like to hear more about. Talk about art imitating life: Justin Kenney, aka Ninny the rogue, is a high-agility kind of guy. Those droplets on your screen are back spray from the splash Justin's been making in the dance world, after coming back from a nasty automobile accident this fall. Recovery stunlocked him long enough that he became determined to dive more deeply than ever into his dancing. His no-holds-barred followup has carried him through a trip into the So You Think You Can Dance semi-finals (video after the break), an appearance on The Ellen DeGeneres Show (see his clip, above), and a virtual Fan of Knives of opportunities. Find out why you'll be seeing much more of Justin on both the big and little screens as well as more of Ninny in your Arenas, after the break.
Robot with iPhone 3GS head reminds us of a cuter, more magnanimous Steve Jobs
Who's this little guy? Oh, that's just Robochan -- the Kondo KHR-2HV bot with a fully-functioning iPhone 3GS fused to his head. Not interested? Well, hear us out -- because we, too, have seen many an iPhone mod project in our day, leaving us jaded, easily susceptible to waking in the middle of the night to find ourselves shrieking out "fanboy!" for no reason, and finding that in general at this point -- merely cranking the word iPhone into your DIY project is the easiest way to send us to Snoresville. But we'll admit it: Robochan drew us in within ten -- nay, five -- seconds. His dance moves are killer, and his faces have stolen whatever remnants of a heart we had left. So take our advice: watch the video, which is after the break. [Via Gearfuse]
15 Minutes of Fame: So you think you can nuke
var digg_url = 'http://digg.com/pc_games/WoW_15_Minutes_of_Fame_So_you_think_you_can_nuke'; 15 Minutes of Fame is WoW.com's look at World of Warcraft players of all shapes and sizes -- from the renowned to the relatively anonymous, the remarkable to the player next door. Tip us off to players you'd like to hear more about.Forget the Brothers Karamazov. If you're looking for artistic expression, passion and the bonds of brotherhood -- plus a healthy dash of World of Warcraft -- it's all about the Brothers Kasprzak. Evan Kasprzak, a Top 6 finalist in the reality show So You Think You Can Dance, has gamed his entire life with brothers Ryan (also a top finisher in this year's SYTYCD show) and Ian. There's no denying how tight this trio is. One viewing of Evan and Ryan's journey through the beginning of this season's SYTYCD competition as a team (see video, above) or a glance at photos of the threesome with their matching wrist tattoos ("brother" in Greek) show the obvious depth of their bond. And so while Evan is socked in right now beneath the insane pace of the competition's home stretch, we snuck in a visit with Ian to find out how the family finds a foothold to fit all the pieces together. For the gaming, dancing Kasprzaks, support from family includes the WoW family. "In top 6, you can use all the support you can get," Ian notes, "and I know how amazingly supportive the smaller WoW community on my server has been. I also love how WoW.com highlights the multidimensionality of gamers. I think it helps break down some of those stereotypes that gaming is somehow isolating and anti-social, when it is very much a social medium. ... Sometimes, the person behind that Mage that just Frostbolted you might just be someone climbing up their way to the top as America's next favorite dancer."
15 Minutes of Fame: So you think you can nuke Part 2
"I never thought of playing WoW like that!" - neither did we, until we talked with these players
A video and screenshot tour of FFXI's Wings of the Goddess expansion
Late last week we had the opportunity to get a hands-on look at the most recent expansion to the venerable MMO title Final Fantasy XI. Wings of the Goddess was released to excited Taru Tarus and enthusiastic Galkas in November of last year, but the new content is still being explored by the several hundred-thousand strong playerbase. Featuring two new jobs and an intriguing story arc that ties the present of Vana'diel to its war-torn past, Wings is easily the most ambitious project the Square/Enix development team has delivered to the online space. While it hasn't been as well received as some previous expansions, it's nonetheless a watershed moment in the game's history.The reason? The FFXI developers are reaching out to the community, both inside and out of the game. Don't play Final Fantasy XI? Don't worry – we haven't in a while either. That's why we went on this tour, to experience the newest and greatest the gameworld had to offer. While talking to the developers was great, nothing can compare with seeing the sights and trying out the two new classes firsthand ... and did we ever come back with spoils! We have descriptions of playstyles for both of the new classes, details on the newest Campaign-style collaborative combat gameplay, dozens of screenshots, half a dozen videos, and one very special cinema featuring a certain cat that might be very familiar indeed ...%Gallery-19113%
Final Fantasy XI Fan Fest live: devs speak out on Wings of the Goddess
It's odd to think that any one game could inspire players from all walks of life to set aside two days and flock to one location in celebration, but MMORPGs are unique in that they are as much instruments for social networking as they are video games. Because of this, perhaps it isn't all that surprising to see such fantastic devotion as we've seen here at Final Fantasy Fan Festival (say that five times fast), Square Enix's annual party celebrating all things Final Fantasy XI. The event, limited to just 1500 attendees, also doubles as a launch party of sorts for the MMO's latest expansion, Wings of the Goddess, which ships on November 20. Goddess adds a number of interesting changes to the existing formula, including two new jobs – Dancer and Scholar – as well as takes the setting back in time to let players take part in, and possibly change the events that helped shape the history of Vana'diel. To find out more about this game, as well as the other changes Square Enix has in store for the MMO, we went straight to the horse's mouth, and joined a handful of other journalists in a private interview session with the game's development team, including Hiromichi Tanaka, Akihiko Matsui, Mitsutoshi Gondai, Kouichi Ogawa, Kenichi Iwao, and Sage Sundi.%Gallery-10466%
Quartet Project showcases robotic dance partner
Why bother Dancing with the Stars when you can bust a move with your very own trained robot? Sure, we've seen robots teaching humans and even robotic ballroom partners before, but the Quartet Project seeks to integrate robots into dance by using sensors to create a fairly intelligent and dynamic counterpart. Dubbed an "investigation into the kineasthetics of music," the live stage show melds dance, music, and a load of sensors into a new form of entertainment where the human dancer grooves to the music, only to be followed and "danced with" by a robot that senses its surroundings. Finally assembled after years of collaboration from experts in art, music, biomedicine, computational science, 3D animation, and motion control, the "mechanical and live elements" came together for a series of recent shows in the Great Hall at St. Bartholomew's Hospital. Unfortunately, we weren't there to witness the next metallic superstar showing its stuff, but we're fairly confident seeing a man-made terpsichorean breakin' a leg was a tad more exciting than listening to the Bacterial Orchestra.[Via MAKE]
iPod shadow dancer can't afford iPod
Mandy Coulton (not pictured) is one of the dancers in Apple's very successful dancing silhouette advertisements for the ubiquitous iPod. This in and of itself isn't newsworthy, however, what if I told you that Mandy can't afford to buy herself an iPod?Ok, still not that newsworthy but it is kinda fun to read about. It seems that Apple paid Ms. Coulton a mere $1500 to dance her fanny off in the commercial but what with rent and car payments Ms. Coulton couldn't afford the $400 for an iPod (I wonder if she knew about the Shuffle or the mini). Now before you start mocking her (though I may have started already) she had this to say for herself, "At the time, $1,500 seemed a lot of money - but now my picture is absolutely everywhere. But I'm not bitter or anything."Found via Asymptomatic.
