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MMO Burnout: State of Decay
With an all-star dev team steering the ship, Undead Labs' State of Decay is topping sales charts and impressing fans, but it's certainly not done yet. The single-player zombie survival game for the Xbox 360 was created by several ArenaNet alumni (including ANet co-founder Jeff Strain) and aims to one day release an MMO version titled Class4. But in the meantime, it's breaking XBL sales records and showing us all how a decaying game premise like zombie survival can gain new life. I grabbed the game at launch to give me an idea of what to eventually expect from Class4, but I was quite surprised at what I found. A console game with a living world? A single-player action RPG with purpose and incentive? That's just what you get when you interrupt traditional console game development with a few designers from this crazy new genre known as MMORPG.
Massively Exclusive: Check out these sweet Blacklight: Retribution screenshots
Blacklight: Retribution is getting its "largest update ever" soon. What better way to whet your appetite than with some tantalizing screenshots of two upcoming maps? Welcome to Safehold and Metro, agents! The Metro map is set underneath the ruined cityscape, bringing players into the old subway system to go mano-a-mano with the enemy. Above ground, the Safehold features an open plaza and its surrounding buildings. Get a taste of the new maps in the gallery below. %Gallery-178151% [Source: Perfect World press release]
British scientist becomes first human 'infected' with a computer virus
Sure, a cybernetic-filled, dystopian future may sound nice and cheery, but what happens when all your snazzy implants get infected with a computer virus? That's what one brave researcher at the University of Reading is attempting to find out, and he's now actually gone so far as to willingly "infect" himself in the name of science. As you might expect, however, this is all this very much a proof of concept, but Dr. Mark Gasson says that the infected RFID chip in his hand was indeed able to pass on the virus to an external control device in his trials, and he warns that the eventual real world implications could be far more dire. Gasson is particularly concerned when it comes to medical implants, which he says could potentially become infected by other implants in the body, and even pass on the "infection" to other people. Head on past the break for the BBC's report, and try not to be too startled by the Dalek in the room. [Thanks, Mark S]
Fallen Earth announces Halloween event and trial key giveaway
Let's see a show of hands for those of you who love zombies. They might come in all shapes and sizes, but we all have our favorites. Are you more a fan of the slow-moving George Romero zombies, or the leaping-over-cars infected zombies? Perhaps you're more of a vampire-zombie aficionado. Regardless of your preference, it's still fun to smash a few in the head, am I right?There are already several types of Infected in Fallen Earth, but starting next week, there's about to be a whole lot more. The folks at Fallen Earth have announced their Halloween event -- aptly named Days of the Dead -- where you will have a chance to kill throngs of Infected as they pour from the Lifenet pods into the wasteland. Of course you'll need some back-up for this, so we'll also have 2,000 15-day trial keys to give away to your zombie-hunter buddies. In addition to this, we'll have our own in-game events in association with Post Apoc Radio to be held during Days of the Dead. The giveaway and our in-game events won't start until next week, but we're getting you prepared for the onslaught now. Follow along after the jump for complete information on the Days of the Dead event.
New computer shipped with malware that targeted WoW
Here's a big oops -- a company named M&A Technology accidentally shipped out a unit of their Companion Touch PC that contained some malware on it, including a password stealer that targeted World of Warcraft. It was an accident -- apparently someone at the factory decided to upgrade the computer's drivers and software before shipping it out, but they used a USB stick that had been infected with the bad apps, and thus in the process infected the brand new computer. Fortunately, the person who received the computer apparently scanned and caught the bad code before any damage was done -- I guess if you buy a computer from a brand you've never heard of, it's worth giving it an antivirus and malware scan at least once before you use it.And/or you can just use an authenticator -- even if someone nabs your password, the Blizzard Authenticator makes sure that they can't log in without a current code. So there's not too much to worry about here -- while computers do occasionally get shipped with software that could jeopardize your security, as long as you're vigilant about what's on your hard drive, and take caution before using apps and hardware that you've never used before, you generally won't have any problems.[via WoW LJ]
Behind the Curtain: More apocalypse please
So let's be clear here – I loves me some zombies. A childhood brush with Ray Harryhausen means that I still get chills when I think abut armoured skeletons eviscerating hapless Argonauts. Later encounters, first with ridiculously over-wrought Victorian Gothic Horror literature, and later with the genius of one Mr. Romero sealed my fate. Regardless of the source, my love affair with the Undead has been long-standing. And no, I don't mean that kind of love affair. Freak. After I finished reading The Zombie Survival Guide for the first time, I carried it in my bag for a month afterwards. Not because I thought Zombie might be real, but because the book was awesome. And don't get me started on World War Z – Massively is not the place for a 3000-word Max Brooks love-fest.
Behind the Curtain: More apocalypse please pt. 2
This was the point where things got interesting for me. One lasting memory of the event I have is a one-line message I saw in the Trade channel while in Ironforge. It read simply, "Stay out of Stormwind, it's infected." I did the only thing a sane person would do in that situation and hopped on the first Gryphon to Stormwind. It was like a dream come true. Zombies were thronging the streets, attacking anyone they could get their hands on, vomiting on those they couldn't, and blowing themselves up when all else failed. Nowhere was safe. I could barely see the floor of the Auction House for all the skeletons there; the Bank was similarly decorated and my FPS dropped sharply from the shimmery green glow the infection gave off.
Left 4 Dead 'Infected' gameplay featured on GameTrailers TV
After years of reading literature and watching films concerning the subject, we consider ourselves fairly knowledgeable when it comes to surviving the inevitable Zombocalypse. That's why we've never been too intrigued by what we've seen of Valve's co-op horror title, Left 4 Dead -- we've hypothetically been there, and we've hypothetically done that. However, a spot on last night's episode of GameTrailers TV featured gameplay footage from the "Infected" (see: Zombie) point of view, giving us our first look at how the other half lives. (Un-lives?)It looks like they've done a great job of balancing the highly armed survivors with the shambling brain-eaters, giving pulseless players enhanced zomb-o-vision as well as a myriad of interesting abilities. Check out Chapter 3 of the online episode if you want to see the reanimated carnage -- just don't forget whose side you're on when the world goes all Thriller on us.
Halo 3 ranked play 'infected' for Halloween
As a treat for Halloween, Bungie has announced that for 27 hours they will be offering zombified playlists for online Halo 3 matches. "It is infection and it is the playlist of the Living Dead," said content manager Frank O'Connor. Infected gametypes pit human players against one or more "zombies," and although the humans start out advantaged, every fallen soldier comes back as a zombie. There are two main infected styles: Save One Bullet, which gives humans limited ammunition to expedite the failure process, and Creeping Death, which slows down the zombies but also makes them invisible. (A third variant, Creeping Rockets, was noted by Frankie where humans are more armed but zombies are more powerful.) The playlist is ranked, meaning you are more than welcome to use the time and rack up achievements. All other questions should be directed at this F.A.Q. set up by Frankie (and protected by a demented guard dog, pictured). The playlist of the Living Dead kicks off tonight at 12:01 a.m. PDT (that's 3:01 a.m. ET) and remains in rotation until 3:00 a.m. PDT on November 1.
Planet Moon's After Burner is lookin' good
Planet Moon Studios, developers of MDK, Giants, and the PSP-exclusive Infected, have been working hard at reviving a old Sega classic. After Burner: Black Falcon is yet another PSP-exclusive endeavor from this respected developer, and 1UP has the exclusive scoop on the game. They talked to Bob Stevenson on the game, and he explains: "We were interested in taking a classic arcade game like After Burner and adding a bit of artistic license, Planet Moon-style. We were careful not to go too crazy as the game has its own essence that we didn't want to mess with."The classic game will be getting some unique story and character development, something the team at Planet Moon has always been good at. With 30+ single player missions and extensive multiplayer modes planned, you may want to keep your eye on this one on its journey to a Spring 2007 release.
Deal of the day: Infected for $10 at Circuit City
Call me what you will, but I'm a huge Majesco freak. The company released some amazing games on the Xbox, namely Advent Rising and Phantom Dust. Well, the company has recently fallen on hard times and has shifted focus to publishing value and handheld software.And now you can get one of Majesco's first PSP games, Infected, for only $10 at Circuit City. The game has scored a 75 at Metacritic, which ain't too shabby.Hurry up because this game will most likely sell out quick!(Via Cheapassgamer - Registration required)
Sega enlists Infected developer to revive classic IP on PSP
Sega has announced that Planet Moon Studios (Infected, Armed & Dangerous) is developing a PSP title based on a classic Sega franchise, which has yet to be revealed. The partnership is part of Sega's new strategic plan to recycle its renowned brands of yesteryear.At least two other studios are currently working to re-imagine several vintage Sega IPs, namely Totally Games and Seret Level, which is developing a Golden Axe update for PS3 and Xbox 360. There are plenty of Sega franchises deserving of comebacks, but which do you think is best suited for Planet Moon's talents and more importantly, the PSP? (Considering all the fun we've had with the homebrew knockoff, Beats of Rage, our pick is easy to make; and pictured right.)
