Genesis
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Get a behind-the-scenes look at Perfect World International's upcoming expansion
Just when you thought it was safe to wander back into Perfect World International, the time foretold by elders is coming. In the game's upcoming expansion, Genesis, the land will be torn asunder, leaving all in darkness and confusion. Along with this world-shattering event, two new classes will emerge, ready to help lead denizens of this fantasy game back into the light. Of course, before that can happen next month, there's tons of work to be completed on the back-end. Creation of new art, music, quests, animations, armor, and more. That's why the team at Perfect World Entertainment have offered an interesting teaser trailer for Perfect World International's upcoming Genesis expansion. Rather than reiterating specifics of the storyline which are easily readable on the main site, the team has instead opted to give players a behind-the-scenes look at all the hard work the team is putting in. From character modeling and rendering to music, motion-capture, and more, it offers a refreshing look at the operations of the studio. You can check out the video behind the break or head over to the Perfect World International site if you want to see the Perfect World one last time before things change.
Video: Mass Effect 2's interactive Genesis comic on PS3
After watching the initial cut scene and playing through the first bit of gameplay in Mass Effect 2 on PS3, those who have a Cerberus Network code will experience the interactive comic, Genesis.
Perfect World shows off new dance moves plus Forsaken World class video
The devs at Perfect World Entertainment are busy little bees, and today they've brought us a pair of videos to show off what's new in two of the company's flagship free-to-play titles. First up is Forsaken World's second dev diary video, and in it, PWE marketing director Jon Belliss shows off the fantasy epic's eight playable classes as well as the 14 secondary occupations that make up the job system. Not to be outdone is Perfect World International, and its upcoming Genesis expansion will be featuring the usual expansion suspects such as a new race, new classes, new zones, and more. In addition to all the new content, PWE is throwing some fluff into the mix via a slew of new character dance emotes that amp up the style and complexity of the game's existing moves. All of the game's original races will be able to perform the maneuvers, and many of them will be activated via special clothing sets. Check out the Forsaken World dev diary video and a sneak peek at a new Perfect World International dance after the cut.
Origin PC takes Genesis and Big O gaming desktops to 5GHz with overclocked Core i7 2600k
Who says you need a vat of liquid nitrogen and a voided warranty to push your gaming rig to 5GHz? Here at CES, Origin PC has just announced one killer upgrade for its Genesis and Big O desktop range: an overclocked Core i7 2600k processor that's pushed to 5GHz from the factory. Naturally, the release coincides with Intel's new Sandy Bridge rollout, with this particular chip touting Turbo Boost 2.0 and an integrated memory controller. You'll also get three-way SLI, a customized liquid cooling setup (phew!) and a refreshed EFI BIOS from ASUS that features "convenient mouse controls and an entirely new user interface." If you're looking for something a wee bit more portable (but not exact bantam), you'll be thrilled to know that its Eon 15 and 17 gaming laptops will also start shipping soon with Intel's second-generation Core i5 / i7 CPUs; pair that with a GeForce GTX 485M, an optional TV tuner and four slots of DDR3 memory, and you'll have yourself a sufficient little LAN party rig. There's no mention of dollars and cents, but we're confident the build sheets will be updated soon on Origin's order pages.
World of Goo coming to iPad, Gunstar Heroes out now
Here are two good pieces of news for iOS gamers. First up, World of Goo, the practically classic indie game that has you building little structures out of blobs of goo, is headed to the App Store just as soon as Apple approves the app for iPad. The app will feature one-screen multiplayer, with up to 11 fingers building up and drawing goo paths out on the screen. There's no iPhone version yet, but it's not outside the range of reason, as long as 2D Boy can make it run "buttery smooth." And Sega's classic side-scroller Gunstar Heroes is now out on the iPhone as a US$2.99 app. Early word on the game is that it's an excellent port of the much-loved Genesis title. As with most ports, the controls simply consist of on-screen buttons, which can sometimes get in the way of the action. But if you're a Gunstar Heroes fan, you've probably headed over to the App Store to download the game anyway -- it's got quite a rabid following. And finally, if you are an iOS gamer, stay tuned later on this week. I'm expecting to see some gigantic sales on the App Store for Black Friday, and we'll be covering and collecting as many of them as possible. Be sure to follow us over on Twitter as well -- sometimes we'll fit in even more quick sales over there.
Replay episodes or make your own with STO's Season Three
It's fitting that Star Trek Online's third major update is entitled "Genesis," because in several ways, it feels like a new beginning for the game. In a preview of December's Season Three, Cryptic reveals a trio of significant re-dos: a revamp of the visually lackluster sector space, the ability to replay your favorite episodes, and the beta of STO's player-created mission feature, The Foundry. While Cryptic is uncertain whether The Foundry will go live by Season Three, the studio does promise that players will at least be able to tinker with it on the test servers by then. The Foundry is one of Cryptic's answers to STO's perceived lack of playable -- and original -- content, allowing gamers to construct their own stories and episodes using STO's robust editor. "Using The Foundry, you can construct Episodes and share them with your friends. If you're not interested in designing missions, you'll still benefit from The Foundry: Player-created missions will be available to you to play and enjoy, right alongside the Episodes you know and love today." Cryptic has a number of other features on deck for the game following Season Three, including customizing Gorn characters, new uniforms and ships in the C-Store, ground combat improvements, and Klingon-specific updates.
Lexmark intros Genesis all-in-one printer with camera-based scanning, we go eyes-on
You've probably seen quite a few flatbed scanner bars in your lifetime, but the $400 Lexmark Genesis printer doesn't have one of those -- it's got a 10 megapixel digital camera with a fish-eye lens that produces nigh-instant images. 750 milliseconds after you close its front-facing scan bay, the CMOS sensor generates a preview on the 4.3-inch color touchscreen, and 2.2 seconds after that, it's got a full 300 dpi image saved on your USB-connected computer or winging its way across 802.11n WiFi. The company's calling the system FlashScan, and the raw speed was definitely impressive when we saw it in San Francisco this week, even though other parts of the print system left something to be desired. The printer uses special algorithms to translate the fish-eye image back into a flat sheet and reproduces text quite well, but the twin RGB flashes it fires to reproduce color didn't always do an accurate job, and we were disappointed to find a number of features (including some obvious oversights like image rotation for copies) weren't accessible via the touchscreen. It does have a number of neat web apps for completely untethered use, however, including the ability to scan right to Evernote and Photobucket and Box.net, and Lexmark told us it's working with a number major photo hosting services, Twitter and Facebook to let Genesis users directly upload. See it in action on video after the break, along with the full press release. %Gallery-105119%
The 11th Commandment: Thou shalt play The Bible Online
Tweet Blasphemy or Bible-tastic? The creators of The Bible Online hope that potential players will see their game as the latter. Announced last week, this MMORTS seeks to capitalize on both the world's most prolific IP and this up-and-coming online game fad. Currently in beta, The Bible Online is starting with the literal beginning -- Genesis -- for the first chapter of this possible epic. Players will follow the path of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob as they travel the Middle East with their nomadic tribe. Standard RTS gameplay follows, as you'll collect resources, construct buildings and get into tussles with other tribes. FIAA certainly hopes to appeal to Bible believers, as the game is peppered with plenty of verses and quotes from Genesis. While the melding of the Word of God and MMOs may appear strange, the devs say that they have a lot more in common than you might expect: "There are also quests for users to experience Genesis according to the history of the Bible. For example, as it is written in Genesis 14:13-14, there is a quest for Abraham to lead 318 men to rescue his nephew Lot." You can check out the beta at The Bible Online.
Notion Ink Adam priced at $498, lives up to promise of being below $499
Notion Ink, the plucky Indian startup intent on shaking up the tablet industry, was most recently spotted turning over the sofa cushions looking for spare change, but that isn't stopping the company from announcing pricing for its mythical first product. The Adam, it has now been revealed, will be available for $498 with WiFi, 3G, GPS, and a Tegra 2 system-on-chip powering things, with prices dipping down to $449 if you exclude either the 3G or Pixel Qi display option, and $399 if you drop both and make do with a WiFi-only LCD-based tablet. That certainly adheres to the promise of aggressive pricing, but the Q3 launch -- which in itself was a slip from a Q2 pledge -- has now also been definitively scratched off the board of possibilities, as the device won't be submitted to the FCC for certification until November. Notion Ink claims that from there on it'll be just a matter of waiting on the FCC to clear the Adam for its US launch, which could happen in late 2010 or CES 2011 at the latest. Or, you know, never.
Sega brings more Genesis classics to PC
Thanks to the success of Sega's first wave of Genesis games on PC, the company has announced that it's bringing more classics to digital distribution channels. Sold for $3 each, the new batch of games includes several favorites such as Kid Chameleon, Sonic Spinball, Columns and Dr. Robotnik's Mean Bean Machine (a re-skinned version of Puyo Puyo). All the titles are available now from Sega.com. The games are also set to hit Steam, GamersGate, GameStreamer and other sellers in time for the weekend. Find a full list of titles after the break. %Gallery-98010%
Sega Genesis Classics rising from their graves, hitting Steam and other PC platforms [update]
POWER UP in our gallerySega is bringing a Virtual Console-like experience to PC digital distribution platforms. Sega Genesis Classics is a series of individual Genesis games available for download via Steam and additional, unspecified download services. On June 1, PC users will be able to download Golden Axe, Ecco the Dolphin, Comix Zone, and Vectorman, "from $2.99." We don't yet know how the prices will vary per game, but even if just one is that cheap, it's quite a savings over the $8 Virtual Console price. The screenshots sent out by Sega also include images of Gain Ground, Altered Beast, Space Harrier, Crack Down, Sonic 3D Blast, and Shadow Dancer, so we can expect to see those games from the distant past on PC in the near future. Update: Sega's blog post about the collection clears up the launch lineup: all of these games will actually be available June 1. %Gallery-93483%
Rumor: Sonic 2 spin-dashing to iPhone
[VGMuseum] Those of you who bought Sonic the Hedgehog on iPhone and liked it will be pleased to hear that, according to Appolicious, Sega will release an iPhone port of Sonic 2 next week. The site reports that the port of the sequel is at least marginally improved over the first iPhone Sonic in terms of control responsiveness, though it still relies on a virtual D-pad and button. Despite the multiplayer capability of Sonic 2 on Genesis, however, this iPhone port is strictly a solo game. Tails follows behind Sonic as an AI-controlled character, but can't be operated by a second player. If Sonic 2 does make it onto the App Store next week, it means enough of us bought the first game to make continued iPhone emulation worthwhile for Sega, which in turn means the porting is really cheap or the first one sold really well. Update: Sega has confirmed the existence of the game, now slated for "late April." [Via Destructoid]
Goozex now accepts SNES, Genesis and other retro game trades
The increasingly popular game-trading service Goozex is expanding its capabilities to encompass the game platforms of yesteryear. New to the site is an option to trade NES, SNES, Nintendo 64, Game Boy, Game Boy Color, Genesis, Sega CD, and Atari 2600 amongst the site's growing user base. Sadly, there's still no support for our precious Virtual Boy. Now we'll never be able to get our hands on that copy of Teleroboxer we've always dreamed of owning. There's already a ton of games from each platform up for trading on Goozex right now. Like, good games. Not the nine pathetic copies of WCW Mayhem which comprise your local used games store's N64 selection.
Origin PC stuffs 4.4GHz Core i7-980X, Fermi-based GTX 470 and 480 into Genesis desktop
Hope you didn't just pull the trigger on a new Origin PC Genesis, else you'll be forced to know that your rig was made obsolete in record time. Okay, maybe not obsolete, but there's precisely no doubt that you'd rather be rocking a new Fermi card than whatever you've got now. Right on cue, NVIDIA has launched its latest pair of powerhouse graphics cards, and as of right now, prospective Origin PC buyers can opt for either the GTX 470 or GTX 480 on the Genesis desktop. Better still, you can buy 'em in single, dual or triple SLI configurations, and in case you're down for paying the premium, a 4.4GHz overclocked Core i7-980X Extreme Edition CPU can sit alongside of it (or them).
Origin PC offers overclocked 4.3GHz Core i7-980X Extreme Edition on Genesis desktop
You know what's better than a stock 3.33GHz Core i7-980X Extreme Edition CPU? Not much, but we're guessing that a 4.3GHz overclocked version of the same chip just might be. If you're thinking the same, and you've got $1,044 to spare in order to find out, upstart gaming rig maker Origin PC has the means to get it to you. The outfit's Genesis desktop can now be ordered with Intel's freshest slab of silicon for $895, or you can snag an extra gigahertz for another $149. We know you'll make the right call.
If a Genesis and a Wii had a baby, it would be Sega Zone
You're traveling through another dimension -- a dimension not only of sight and sound but of retro games. A journey into a wondrous console containing a bunch of old Genesis games and some generic motion-controlled games. That's the signpost up ahead. Your next stop: the Sega Zone. Pocket Lint has images of a new licensed Sega console called the Sega Zone (or the Zone Sega, according to the box), out in the UK this summer, that contains 20 Genesis classics and 30 new games, 16 of which can be played with the device's two wireless motion controllers. Essentially a Firecore Classic Console crossed with the "Zone 40," an existing knockoff Wii console, the Sega Zone also features a cartridge slot so you can play your copy of McDonalds' Treasure Land Adventure. It'll sell for £39.95 (about $60) in the UK. [Via GoNintendo]
Shifting Perspectives: Restoration 101
Every week, Shifting Perspectives explores issues affecting druids and those who group with them. This week, a quick and dirty guide to raising one's tree from a young sapling to a mighty oak, or other suitably impressive arboreal species. Whenever other columnists here write really good columns, I sit at my computer and swear a blue streak, for I am a jealous god. Sacco, damn him, turned out a great article on the basics of elemental shamans, and for a while I've been kicking around bits and pieces of 101-esque columns for all four druid specs. This was the last shove I needed to get that done. While I expect our new balance blogger (a.k.a. Murmurs, the person I will be forcing to do all my number-crunching in the future with bribes or, when necessary, threats) will address moonkin, I'll cover bears, cats, and today, trees. A quick note on what I want to accomplish here: I'm addressing this to people with no prior knowledge of the spec who want the tools to become reasonably competent healers quickly. By necessity, that means we're going to gloss over a few finer points; this is a cheat sheet, not an encyclopedia. When I say (for example) that Improved Tranquility needs to be dragged out behind a barn and killed with an axe, I'm not going to spend paragraphs explaining why that is, or examining situations where you could actually get some use from it. If you think I've glossed over something truly important, please drop a comment and I'll direct readers to anything they really need to know.
Origin's Genesis gaming desktop gets reviewed: blisteringly fast, but oh-so-pricey
The latest high-fashion gaming outfit (known as Origin 'round these parts) has just started shipping its beastly Genesis out, and if you've ever wondered what five large could get you in the land of desktops, wonder no more. The crew over at Hot Hardware managed to procure a darn-near-loaded machine, complete with a Core i7-920 CPU (overclocked from the factory to 3.8GHz), 6GB of Corsair DDR3 RAM, twin ATI Radeon HD 5970 GPUs, a liquid cooling system, 80GB SSD boot drive and pretty much every other top-of-the-line component you could imagine. How'd it stand up to testing? Well. Really well. It crushed every benchmark that dared get in its way, and we're told that when pressed, the company's explanation of its warranty was truly best in class. What's interesting is that the MSRP of the test unit can be halved by simply opting for a few marginally weaker pieces, and we're guessing that the overall performance wouldn't suffer a huge deal. Hit the source link for all the bars, charts and in-depth analysis you can handle.
GTA tops the list, and other game news
For some reason there's a flood of gaming news coming from the App Store this afternoon. So we've rounded it up for you to take in all in one read: Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars [iTunes link] has reached the top-grossing spot on the store in just two days, which means it's probably taken over the previous record holder. Good news for full-scale gamers: we can expect to see more direct ports from other handheld platforms like the DS and the PSP. Still not sure if GTA is worth the $10? Stay tuned for our review later tonight. Sega is releasing an Ultimate Genesis Collection on the App Store, which is more or less an official emulator. You get Space Harrier II with the free download, and then in-game purchases allow you to pick up other Sega games: Sonic for $6, Ecco the Dolphin for $3, and so on. They've released these games separately before, but this will give them a one-stop hub for official versions of older classics. Assassin's Creed II Discovery, the iPhone version of the Ubisoft hit, will reappear on the App Store in February at $9.99. In this interview with Appmodo, producer Ben Mattes talks about the iPhone and what Ubisoft plans to do with it. Finally, Magnacarta II is an RPG for the Xbox 360 that now has a character guide iPhone app. We've seen PC titles release complimentary apps before, but this is the first instance (I know of) where a console game has supplemented their release with an iPhone guide. Something to keep an eye on. Exciting news all around! Looks like some major developers are finally starting to figure out some interesting and profitable ways to take advantage of Apple's handheld platform.
Sega releasing iPhone storefront for Genesis games
Sega has already put a few of its Genesis classics, like Golden Axe and Sonic the Hedgehog, up on the iPhone App Store as standalone downloads, but now, according to Gizmodo, it's going one step further and releasing an official Genesis emulator app for the iPhone, with individual games available as in-app purchases. Sort of. As the service will be at its February launch, the free Ultimate Genesis app just allows you to buy the existing Genesis games through a different interface, as well as new releases like Shining Force and Ecco the Dolphin for $3 each. It's essentially a united storefront for the kind of releases Sega is already doing (and has already done). But it'll also come with a free copy of Space Harrier II, which is as positive as any news regarding iPhone ports of console games can be.
