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Perfect Ten: My mobile MMO experiment, part 1
I'm often mystified that we haven't seen or heard much about MMOs on mobile devices. You'd think that with such a massive potential audience that studios would be racing to bust this market wide open, but whether it's the limitations of such devices (size, lack of input) or some stigma against developing "serious" games for app stores, we've seen remarkably few of them over the past few years. I've grown increasingly curious what MMOs, if any, might be out there for my tablet and smartphone. Practically every list I've read begins with both Order & Chaos Online and the Spacetime Studio games (both strong entries) and then quickly peters out with titles that nobody writing those lists have ever played. Search engine inquiries are helpful with that, I assume. So I decided that I'd undertake an experiment. I would scour the internet and app store for 10 MMOs that have come at least slightly recommended by some list maker, sample them, and see if they compelled me to play more. Will any of these 10 prove to be interesting enough to stay on my phone after this series is done? Find out as I start with the first five of the bunch...
NCsoft snaps up more mobile studios
Does NCsoft see mobile gaming as the wave of the future? If its business acquisitions are any indication, it definitely has a strong interest in that field. The mega-publisher recently picked up two indie studios, NOVN and Dotomchi Games, for $740,500. It is looking at a third mobile studio as well. Last year, NCsoft announced that it is working on mobile versions of Aion, Blade & Soul, and Lineage Eternal, among other titles. We've got trailers for those titles after the break to refresh your memory.
The Daily Grind: Where are all the mobile MMOs?
So here we are in 2015, several years after the mobile rush that was going to lay waste to all genres everywhere. Everyone's going to mobile! they all said. Desktops are doomed! Angry Birds is the future! Flee your traditional gaming studios; all the money is on phones and tablets! Some of us bemoaned a future in which our favorite MMORPG platform might be supplanted by tiny screens that fit into our jeans' butt pockets. Others embraced the idea of being able to escape to an MMORPG paradise while stuck on grimy public transport. And then... Well, nothing. Pocket Legends and its spinoffs were a thing, true. There was Vendetta Online and Chaos Heroes and Order and Chaos Online, the last of which even had a subscription for a while. A lot of MMORPGs promised mobile integration, at the very least, though most of them haven't yet delivered. But most of the MMORPGs that actually work on mobile are small in either population or scope. They're not really what MMORPG fans would call a core or AAA MMORPG. We're mostly offered online ARPG, TCG, MOBA, ARG, and RTS titles. All of this led our former mobile columnist to declare a year ago that mobile MMOs were at a standstill in the West. So what happened? Is it technically impossible or financial infeasible to run a "real" MMORPG on mobile? Is PC elitism partly to blame? Is the revolution yet to come? Where are all the mobile MMOs? Because I kinda want one. 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!
Phantasy Star Online 2 will be free-to-play on the Vita in Japan
Japanese audiences will not be hurting for ways to play Phantasy Star Online 2 when it releases next year. Forget consoles or PCs; if you have a PlayStation Vita, you can jump right into the game for free. A fan translation of information presented at this year's Tokyo Game Show confirms that the game will be free-to-play on the Vita. Of course, there are restrictions to using the free version. Vita players will be limited to only certain shared areas with PC players and will also be unable to play the game in any sort of offline mode. Players will also need to swap memory cards to change accounts, as the free version is tied to the PSN account information stored on a memory card. Will this be true of the Western version as well? It's unknown, as Sega has yet to officially announce that Phantasy Star Online 2 will be on the Vita in the US. Keep your eyes peeled as the game gets closer to its Japanese release and more information comes out about localization.
GDC 2012: A look at Dark Legends with Spacetime Studios
Life, death, and a return from the grave: That sums up the life of a vampire, but it also sums up the journey of Spacetime Studios. What do the two have in common? The studio's upcoming title called Dark Legends. At GDC 2012 this week, Massively had a chance to talk with Gary Gattis, CEO of Spacetime Studios, and we got a first-hand look at how the company successfully created a game in which people can play together on laptops, tablets, phones, and virtually any mobile device available.
Spacetime Studios working on new mobile MMO Dark Legends
Spacetime Studios, the developer of popular mobile MMO titles Pocket Legends and Star Legends, has announced that it has begun work on a new mobile game following the Legends format. The new title, about which we know virtually nothing aside from the fact that it exists, is called Dark Legends. Ominous, right? DroidGamers reports that Spacetime Studios CEO Gary Gattis has stated that "Dark Legends will be a bit of a departure from the formula that Pocket Legends established as we innovate on lessons learned." So there's clearly a new twist to the studio's standard gameplay, but we'll just have to wait and see what that twist may be.
MMObility: Simplifying design for the mobile market
Whenever I write up something about a smartphone MMO, one of the most common complaints I hear is this: "If I wanted to play a game for several hours, I would sit at my gaming desktop." While this is true for many players, it is also true that games like Star Legends and Pocket Legends by Spacetime Studios have met with a lot of success. The developers were surprised to find that players were more than willing to sit for several hours while playing the games on their tiny screens. Still, there is a lot of truth to the complaints about smartphone MMOs. An MMO is typically something a player wants to get lost in. We commonly refer to it as "immersion," but really we're just talking about being sucked into the ideas and design of a title. If you have found yourself daydreaming about a game while at work, you were "immersed." I would argue that this type of deep immersion is very possible on the smaller screens of smartphones and tablets. However, in order to achieve it more commonly, developers might have to adjust many of their designs and theories. Click past the cut and we'll discuss it!
Pocket Legends launches the Mount Fang expansion
It's time for another update for one of the first MMOs on the go, Pocket Legends. Mount Fang, the latest expansion, brings with it an increase in the level cap to 66 as well as a reduction in the experience curve across the board. If you're at the level cap, you can shoot for the next tier, but the reduction in the curve ensures that players at any level can benefit from the update. There's more to the update than just leveling, however; players will be given access to a new free campaign, Mount Fang, that starts at level 59 and provides new monsters, quests, and rewards. And of course, there are new vanity items in the cash shop as well as a special set of cosmetic armor for players who hit 66 before the next cap adjustment. If you've been enjoying the game on your mobile device of choice, download the expansion and get into the mix.
New iPad MMO Fleck turns real maps into fantasy landscapes
With the sheer number of GPS-enabled devices capable of gaming, it seems inevitable that games will start taking the hard part out of developing intricate maps. Sure enough, the brand-new iPad MMO Fleck is giving you the chance to fight monsters, tend gardens, and meet new friends, all by wandering around in your neighborhood. The game is build on an overlay by Google Maps, letting players explore the fantasy world at the same time that they move through the real world. The game is currently available for the iPad and browsers, and the team at Self Aware Games is also working on porting the game over to support other mobile devices such as iPhones, Droids, and similar smartphones. The game currently supports play throughout the continental United States as well as portions of southern Canada and northern Mexico. While the game's location-based setup might make travel times a uniquely involved process, iPad owners might well find something to like in Fleck as development continues.
NCsoft's Gaffney: Subscriptions more profitable than microtransactions
Jeremy Gaffney may not be a household name to MMO fans, but the Carbine Studios head honcho has been involved in some of the industry's biggest titles as both a developer and an executive. Gaffney helped found Turbine in the Asheron's Call days and also worked on both City of Heroes and Tabula Rasa at NCsoft. In a new interview at GamesIndustry.biz, Gaffney talks at length about his industry experiences as well as several hot-button issues including mobile MMOs, mega-launches, and the free-to-play vs. subscription debate. "There's still a lot of money being made in subscriptions right now. Worldwide there's a lot of money being made in [micro]transactions, but there's probably a bit more money really being made in subscriptions worldwide," he explains. Gaffney also weighs in on the market segmentation brought about by F2P models and whether MMO mega-launches can still be profitable in a post-World of Warcraft world. Read all about it at GamesIndustry.biz.
Vendetta Online to be ported to the Android OS
Google's operating system, Android, has had an odd genesis. It's been ported around for every flavor of mobile device, from phones to tablet PCs, but it's coming into a field already crowded with operating systems -- and the plethora of hardware running the system has hampered some efforts to port games to the architecture. Guild Software Inc. is making the push, however, adapting their indie MMO Vendetta Online to the Android system architecture. For proponents of the Droid over the iPhone, the good news is that it's the same operating system on your phone of choice. However, the port is specifically targeting the NVIDIA Tegra processors, aiming toward smaller netbooks and tablets rather than phones. In the official FAQ, the developers clarify that they're not currently planning to aim the port at any phones, although the door is open once the initial port is finished. It's still an exciting step for the Android architecture, however, and it continues expanding the network of MMOs available for mobile devices.
New product will let you MMO on the go
Multiplayer online virtual worlds consume a lot of your time. It's important to put them down now and then and get out of the house to live a real life, but that's about to get more difficult; we can expect massively multiplayer online worlds to become available on our cell phones any day now. There have been a couple small scale examples already, but a company called GEMINI Mobile Technologies thinks it's produced a breakthrough product.The product is called "the eXplo platform." It's a framework for 3D online environments running on mobile phones. Its features include customizable personal spaces (essentially player housing), messaging, photo sharing, shopping, and games. A few days ago the CNET News Blog took a look at S! Town, a product based on the platform. Initially released in Japan, it's headed to North America and Europe and will feature Facebook and YouTube integration for American consumers.Look for S! Town in North America and Europe in 2008.
