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MMO Family: Open-world combat and old school gaming in Free Realms
There are many times lately when I've experienced the full power of the generation gap. As my kids get older and more game-savvy, I sometimes find myself trying to catch up with how the younger generation games compared to how I did it during the good old days of gaming. So it was a pleasant surprise to see a little taste of old school gaming in the latest update to kid-friendly MMO Free Realms. The normally peaceful Shrouded Glade has come under attack, and players have been swarming to the zone to help turn back the tide of invaders. It's a prelude event that will usher in some new content to the game, and it features several fun activities while the event continues, but the most notable change is the introduction of open world combat. For the first time in Free Realms, the bad guys are out and about in the Glade rather than corralled safely away in instances. That's brought some interesting changes to how players are interacting in game. In this week's MMO Family, we'll look at the Shrouded Glade event in Free Realms and see how it's bringing a little throwback-gaming to the pint-sized gaming generation.
MMObility: The pros and cons of Tibia's browser version
Tibia is an MMO that has been hanging in there for many, many years. You have to give it respect for that alone. When you add on the fact that the game seems to be updated relatively frequently and boasts a pretty good-sized playerbase, it becomes even more intriguing. I've played it in the past and have enjoyed the simple graphics and slower-paced gameplay. I like how NPCs chat with you, old-school EverQuest-style, and how there seems to be a lot more to the game than meets the eye. There are plenty of eyesores, however. The developers recently released Tibia in a beta browser form. While the client was always easy enough to download and run on my multitude of devices, I always prefer to just jump into my browser and load it up. I found a lot of neat little systems but also quite a few bugs or odd design choices. Colors and layout can be a problem, and I am not the biggest fan of Flash-based MMOs. Still, I am enjoying myself so far and look forward to more. Let's talk about what I found over these last several hours with Tibia's browser-based version.
Baldur's Gate coming to iPad
An enhanced edition of Baldur's Gate was announced this month by developers Overhaul Games (which includes a few devs from Bioware that worked on the title originally), and now there's even better news: That enhanced version is also making its way to the iPad. The game will be out on Apple's tablet at the same time as the PC release, and it will include all of the updates and new content as the other platform. Additionally, there will be iPad-specific controls, such as pinching to zoom in and out and dragging to choose units to control. While they're not done yet, Overhaul says there will be more touch-friendly menus and buttons in the interface as well. Which is just awesome, if you ask me or any other old-school gamer with fond memories of the Baldur's Gate series. We'll obviously keep both eyes out for this one. The game is due out sometime later on this summer.
Rise and Shiny recap: PlaneShift
As with many of the games I choose for this column, I am a bit lost as to how long the game has been in existence, what sort of time has passed since the game first began to allow players into its world, and what the exact state of the game currently is. With PlaneShift, a game that seems to have existed since I was 12 years old and has remained in some sort of testing or beta phase since then, I am even more unclear. Really, it shouldn't matter, but I can see the importance of knowing whether the game you are about to play is in testing or has even been released yet. Without those key words, a player can become confused. Is this quest broken, missing parts, or just poorly designed? Is the game world empty because it's midnight or because the testing crowd is on at different times? I've heard from developers who keep their games in a beta state for years and years, and it usually means that they simply want a sort of explanation as to why the game feels incomplete. I say release it already and perhaps you'd attract more players anyway.
Daily iPhone App: Dragon Fantasy
Dragon Fantasy is basically a love letter to the early age of console RPGs, when Dragon Warrior and Final Fantasy ruled the land. It's got classic 8-bit tile-based graphics, random encounters, silly villains and a nice chunk of content to explore and level up through. There's a nice, original soundtrack and a plucky bald-headed hero named Ogden. The one bummer, is that you're only playing with one hero -- even most console games had you building a party. But that's just nitpicking, really. Dragon Fantasy is $2.99 on the App Store right now, and if you like these old-school Nintendo-era RPGs (and know how to play them -- this one can be a little confusing if you're expecting a game with a more modern take on the genre), take a look. And there's an extra bonus here, too: the developers have a nice set of content planned out, including new story content and more. So if this is one you like, you'll be able to enjoy it for a long time to come.
The original Apple TV, the interactive television box
Even some old-schoolers might not know this, but Apple's more recent foray into the living room with the Apple TV wasn't the first time it has attempted that jump. You've probably heard of the home console Pippin, but Apple also spent part of the '90s working on an interactive television box, a very early predecessor to video-on-demand and what would eventually become the Apple TV. Every once in a while, a version will pop up on eBay, but it never actually went into production, so everything out there is just various prototypes still hanging around. And here's another one: friend of TUAW Randall Bennett has posted a few pictures of Apple's Interactive Television Box spotted at Bell Atlantic, presumably from when they were working with Apple to set up the content delivery service. As you can see, it's a little more unwieldy than the little black box that Apple uses today, but that logo is unmissable. This one's named the "Pippen," apparently -- one letter off from Apple's game console -- and it has some neat Mac-like features, including the Finder: "When it boots, you see the Mac OS Finder on your TV and the inits start loading on the bottom of the screen." The back of the device shows an S-video and serial hookup, as well as SCART connections for a TV and a VCR. It's a pretty wild device, but likely before its time in terms of the network infrastructure (not to mention the content marketplace) required to make it into production.
World of Tanks rolling toward retail
The retail box hasn't quite succumbed to the digital download onslaught, at least if World of Tanks and Wargaming.net have anything to say in the matter. Yes, fans of clutter and old-school box collecting rejoice, as WoT is on its way to a game store near you thanks to a new partnership with Interactive Gaming Software. The World War II-based tank MMO will be available at retail for $19.99, and Wargaming.net CEO Victor Kislyi hopes that the new deal will result in increased exposure around the globe. "We're extremely proud to say that our headliner will finally appear in stores," Kislyi said via press release. "[We] hope that [IGS'] tremendous expertise in distributing retail production will help in bringing the popularity of World of Tanks to a completely new level." World of Tanks is a free-to-play action MMO that launched last April. The game features squad-based tank combat, traditional MMO progression, and a strategic territorial meta-game based on a large-scale map of World War II-era Europe.
Ion iCade Arcade Cabinet review
The iCade Arcade Cabinet began as an April Fool's joke in 2010, but this golden unicorn of iPad accessories has actually made it to production, showing up at our door last week. iCade creator ThinkGeek partnered with Ion to make this former imaginary gadget a reality, and so far it appears to be a hit, backordered for weeks soon after hitting the online store in April. The $100 cabinet pairs with your iPad or iPad 2 over bluetooth, bringing familiar hardware arcade controls to the Atari's Greatest Hits app, which includes classics like Missile Command (free), and Pong, which you can download from within the free Atari app for $1. The iCade is an awesome addition to your gaming collection, but it won't replace the hours of coin-dropping at your local arcade. Read on to find out why this accessory may become a permanent fixture on our desk. %Gallery-124649%
iCade arcade cabinet for iPad starts selling at $100, already on backorder
Humans, they just love mixing the old with the new. To wit, the iCade gaming cabinet for the iPad, an April Fools' joke that was just a fun idea this time last year, has gone and turned very real, replete with FCC certification and now a pre-order page. The Bluetooth-communicating iPad enclosure seems to have originally been on sale for immediate delivery, but ThinkGeek has burned through its first shipment of units faster than you can say "Atari's Greatest Hits." The second batch of $100 iCades is expected by May 20th at the very latest, although orders are being taken only from the US for now. The rest of the world needn't despair, however -- we hear building one of your own is a pleasurable and rewarding experience.
iCade hits FCC, gets torn asunder
The Ion iCade, our favorite April Fools' joke turned actual product, has just passed through the FCC and moved one step closer to retail reality. The arcade cabinet for your iPad had all its Bluetoothy bits laid bare and even brought along its user manual, in case you're the type who bothers to read those sordid things. There aren't too many surprises here except, perhaps, the inclusion of an Ikea-esque hex key -- some assembly required. With the green light from the feds, though, that means the iCade is right on schedule for its May 31st release. If you want to ensure you nab one of the first batch, you can pre-order it now for $99 from either GameStop or ThinkGeek. And, while you wait for the blissful marriage of Atari's Greatest Hits and Bluetooth joystick, you can peep the pics in the gallery after the break.
A series of unfortunate demises: classic arcade game deaths compiled into a tender tribute video
Whatever your flavor of old school gaming, whether you were a future-loving RoboCop killer or a skeleton-slaying Golden Axe swinger, there's a little slice of nostalgia here for you. The guys from BoingBoing have lovingly compiled some of the most memorable death scenes from the games of yore into a video tribute, and they've been nice enough to leave out the names of all the games featured. There's no Pokémon action in there, but still, can you guess 'em all?
TUAW's Daily App: Dungeons & Such
Dungeons & Such is exactly what it sounds like. It's a very nostalgic homemade RPG game for iOS that will have you looking back fondly on the days of Dragon Warrior and Final Fantasy on the NES. Sure, by modern standards, the graphics are a little lame -- this definitely isn't Infinity Blade we're talking about. Most of the game is in menus, and most of the art is static 2D pictures rather than brilliant 3D environments. But the game runs smoothly, the action is varied enough to stay interesting, and if you're a fan of old-school dungeon crawling, you'll probably find yourself right at home. There's quite a bit under the surface, too -- you've got full Game Center integration, in-game guilds to join, and you can even "hire" your friends to play with them asynchronously as you dive into dungeons. The game's being updated, too, with bug fixes, new items to find and other suggestions straight from users. Dungeons & Such is US$2.99 on the App Store right now, or there's a lite version to check out for free if you'd like to do that. It's not completely polished (as I understand it, the whole game is basically the product of one guy's hard work), but if you're interested in an old-school RPG experience, it won't let you down.
Keepin' it real fake: Likea Leica, only not
Of all the KIRFs in all the world, this might be one of the laziest. Sure, aesthetically it does a fine job of aping the Leica rangefinder it takes as its "inspiration," but the Likea camera goes downhill very quickly when you move in a little closer. The first thing you'll notice is that, instead of the finely engineered Leica body, this thing is made out of, well, cardboard. Then you find out that the pinhole element isn't provided in the box and you're faced with the impossible judgment of deciding whether the need for a pinhole element or its omission is the worse offense. Ah well, what do you expect for 20 bucks? Just go buy some film and let your imagination fill the (vast) gap between the Likea and the real stuff.
The Road to Mordor: Old school hobbits
(Screenshot courtesy of Lord of the Rhymes) Over the past couple weeks Lord of the Rings Online players' eyes have turned to the future, and this column with it. After all, with the beta for LotRO F2P edition in full swing and the recent news from E3 about this fall's offerings, it's kind of hard not to be focused on what's ahead. However, I was tickled by a LotRO forum thread this week that looked back, not forward. It's one of those nostalgia threads that tend to pop up in a forum of any game more than a few years old, a place for veterans to reminisce about the olden days (whether good or bad). It's also an excellent chance for newbies to learn a bit more about the history of the game -- and perhaps thank their lucky stars they didn't have to walk uphill through three-foot snow with a Balrog on their tail just to log in to the servers every day. The thread certainly makes for good readin', but I wanted to comment on a few specific examples of how the game's changed, and how it was back when we were in school. Old school, that is. Hit the jump, and we'll travel to the past in our hobbit tub time machine!
Sony's last cassette-blastin' boom box is precisely how Ruff Ryders roll('d)
Sony may not shed a tear for the 3.5-inch floppy disk when it meets its maker in March, but you'd better believe the company's crafted a retirement plan for the format that propelled it to fame: the compact cassette. To be fair, the CFD-A110 CD / cassette boom box above isn't actually a new product -- it's a relabeled CFD-A100TV from 2003 minus the nigh-obsolete analog TV band -- but if you're rocking magnetic mix tapes we're guessing you'll welcome this blast from the past. For your projected ¥20,000 (about $215) you'll get a pair of full-range speakers, 14 AM/FM presets, an external microphone port for karaoke and a remote when it launches in Japan this June 21st. What that won't buy you, however, is an obnoxiously large gilded chain, a beefed up left shoulder for carrying it around, and a time machine needed to actually fit in while using this. Ya heard?
Sir Clive Sinclair doesn't use a computer, exceeds recommended irony levels
Clive Sinclair is a Knight Commander of the British Empire, the inventor of the slimline pocket calculator, the man behind the Sinclair ZX80 that made home computing affordable in the Queen's isles and also, by his own admittance, a dude who just can't be bothered to use a computer. Speaking to The Guardian, he glibly confesses that he has his emails read to him (by his manservant, presumably), before launching a broadside against modern computers for being "totally wasteful" with their memory, requiring time to boot up, and having altogether "appalling designs." Hit the source for the full interview and an expanded history of the man's achievements, it's well worth the read.
Zenith 5-S-29 radio case mod explained in excellent, water-cooled detail
The trusty old desktop rarely gets the love it deserves these days. Losing gamers to consoles and casual users to laptops, it's left only with a loyal band of enthusiasts, but what a gorgeous bunch they are. Gary from the Bit-tech forums has put together the above case mod, inspired by the styles of early 20th century electronics, and reminded us all that big can be beautiful. He's managed to fit an entire water cooling setup inside, while leaving no detail undocumented in a thorough, pic-heavy walkthrough of the project. We'd have considered the stunning wooden case enough by itself, but Gary has taken care of the little touches as well, as exemplified by the spare PCI slot covers matching the external construction. Hit the source link for images of the build and the insides laid bare.
Giroux Daguerreotype is world's first mass-produced camera, about to become the most expensive one too
If you thought that shooters like Olympus' E-P1 or Leica's M8 had old school aesthetics, think again. The real old school -- we're talking 1839 here -- was all about wooden boxes and brass lens protrusions, as you can see above. The double box design of the Daguerreotype lets you achieve focus by moving the smaller inner box away from the front-mounted 15-inch lens. Exposure times can take up to half an hour, though, so you might wanna budget for a sturdy tripod as well. Speaking of budget, if you know the meaning of the word you're not probably not the target audience here, as a May auction in Vienna is set to start at €200,000 ($280,000), with predictions placing the final sale price closer to €700,000 ($980,000).
Retro XBLA games must be repurchased for the Xbox Game Room
Bad news for those of you who have picked up some classic arcade titles on Xbox Live and can't wait to play them in Microsoft's new Game Room: It looks like you will have to repurchase anything you want to play with your avatar in the 3D environment. Game Informer learned this recently from a Microsoft rep, who went on to say that it's because the Game Room titles are different from the XBLA versions -- in fact, it sounds like they're more old-school and not "revamped," as the rep puts it. Fortunately, you will get a small price break: As previously announced, the games will sell for 400 ($5) to play on Xbox 360 and PC, 240 ($3) for the game on one platform or 40 ($0.50) for "two quarters'" worth of playtime. But for those of us who've already shelled out 400 for the Centipede/Millipede combo, it looks like we'll have to pull out the wallet yet again.
Get over $1000 worth of pen-and-paper RPGs for donating $20 to Haiti
Like tabletop RPGs and want to help Haiti? That should include every single one of you. Otherwise, get off this site right now and go roll yourself a 20-sided die and see how much fun it is. Then come back, and go donate $20 to Doctors Without Borders through the Gamers Helping Haiti program on DriveThruRPG.com. Just by throwing a Jackson in the pot, you'll get the chance to download $1481.31 worth of old school pen-and-paper RPG rulebooks, scenarios, campaign settings and addendums. That's more orcs, droids, bards, free actions and critical hits than you'll ever need in your entire lifetime! The set includes the full Serenity RPG, the Castlemourn campaign setting and full sets of rules for both pirate- and zombie-based roleplaying games, among about a million other little RPG related downloads. Not to mention that by donating, you're helping out the cause of Doctors without Borders in Haiti, and you don't have to be watching CNN to know that those folks need all of the bonuses to Strength they can get these days. What are you waiting for? Don't roll for initiative -- just go do it! [via The Escapist]
