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Ro aims to bring its online COVID-19 screenings to all of the US this week
If you feel sick and think you might have contracted the COVID-19 virus, one thing you shouldn't do is walk into a clinic without calling ahead. There's a chance of putting healthcare workers and other patients at risk, not to mention yourself if the visit is unnecessary and unplanned. An intermediary online step could help you decide if you need to be tested, though. Ro -- better known for its erectile dysfunction medication program Roman -- set up a system earlier this month that connects patients with physicians to decide on if and how they should be tested. A Ro representative says that the company hopes to make the service available to everyone in the US by the end of the week.
Men's health tech creates shame-free ways to get treatment
About 50 percent of men have erectile dysfunction. That's not to say that half of all men around you at any given time have ED. The statistic is aggregated across age groups, with the condition being more prevalent in older men -- 30 percent of men in their thirties, 40 percent in their forties and so on. But despite all the men it affects (not to mention their partners), ED isn't something people talk about much. It remains a taboo subject -- so much so that men even have trouble broaching it with doctors.
Life of Rome aims to put roleplaying front and center
Life of Rome is described as a third- and first-person MMO set in a persistent Rome where players choose between playing as a Roman or a Barbarian with a heavy emphasis on roleplay and a community-driven political system. While major RP-based storylines will be run by the developers at UK-based Breakout Studios, players can affect the game through long-term political, economic, or military goals. The game uses the Unity engine with Photon Networking and is currently in early alpha stages with no release date announced. [Thanks to Rob for the tip!]
Try not to lose the Battle of Teutoberg Forest again in Total War: Rome 2
The Battle of the Teutoberg Forest is an epic historical Roman defeat against Germanic tribes, in which about 20,000 Romans died, including suicidal officers tormented by their failure and soldiers who had their remains desecrated by the barbarians. And now you can play it as a game!
Rumor: Titan might be a time-traveling, earthbound MMO
The folks over at Project Titan claim to have a huge leak on Blizzard's upcoming Titan project from a reliable (and unnamed) source. While we are certainly wary of rumors, particularly on this scale, the author says he is "extremely confident" about the leak in particular. So what is Titan, according to this post? Several bullet points sketch a picture of an MMO that is based on Earth, is big into historical mythology (including Greek, Roman, and Viking myths), and involves "a lot" of time travel. The leaks says that Titan will play from a third-person view, has a new game engine, could also be headed to consoles, and has a strong e-sports emphasis. The leak purports that over 150 developers are working on Titan, including Jay Wilson. Apparently we'll be seeing a teaser of Titan at BlizzCon before it goes into friends and family testing in early 2014. So what do you think? Is this too elaborate to be a hoax, too vague to be the real thing, or a possible advance insight into what Titan is? Sound off in the comments! [Thanks to Mynsc for the tip!]
Teaming up with Hi-Rez for some Halloween SMITE
Halloween is a holiday when people typically dress up in outlandish costumes and go out hunting for treats. This year, I got to put a bit of a different spin on it by dressing up as a mythological god and going out to hunt for gold and items in some games of SMITE. Hi-Rez invited Massively along for its Halloween stream earlier this week, and I tagged along for some great fun. Despite being relatively inexperienced with the game, Reason Gaming's Lassiz was along for the ride as well, and his professional play helped lead us to a decisive victory. Although it's still in closed beta, SMITE currently boasts a surprisingly large playerbase with hundreds of thousands of players and a very unique twist on the MOBA style. If you're looking for more information or a way to try the game for yourself, read on!
Gods and Heroes announces launch date, preorder details
Heatwave International announced the launch date for Gods and Heroes today, so if you're interested in chopping up massive monsters and exploring ancient cities, you can do so on June 21, 2011. Not only that, but players who pre-order the game will have access to the it an entire week early, starting on June 14, 2011. That means that you can get in and reserve the name "Stabby McFeathertop" immediately -- lucky you! You'll also get a cool statue for your character's home and a Tunic of the Gods bonus power for pre-ordering at retail. There are some pretty cool systems built into the game right away. You can own your own estate that acts as a headquarters for the army of minions who will fight at your side. That estate can be decorated with not only your pre-order statue but also with different buildings that effect those minions. That way, once you go into battle you and your minions will be fit and ready for the action-based combat. Be ready to conquer ancient Rome come early summer!
Google Street View invades historic landmarks, makes it unnecessary for you to ever leave the house
The vagabonds of Google's Street View team have struck again, this time conquering classical French and Italian landmarks for their mothership's immense pictorial collection. As of today, you're able to drop your little yellow avatar in Google Maps right atop such famous locales as the Colosseum of Rome or Florence's Basilica di Santa Maria del Fiore, whereupon you'll be transported right to it (or, in the case of the Colosseum, inside it) in the same way as if they were any old street addresses. This follows, of course, Google's introduction of an intriguing indoor version of Street View for some of the world's most prestigious museums recently and continues the company's trend of bringing the arts, in this case classical architecture, to a wider audience. We just wonder what reason said audience will have to ever step outside with all this splendor at its fingertips indoors.
Vin Diesel's Tigon Studios developing ancient world MMO: Barca B.C.
Have you ever hoped to play a massively multiplayer online game set in the ancient world? What about playing a Carthaginian soldier fighting the Romans in the Punic Wars, circa 200 B.C.? Action film star Vin Diesel certainly has, it's his dream game. In fact, he's so taken with the idea that his game company Tigon Studios is developing the Punic Wars MMO, titled Barca B.C., which he announced in an interview with Destructoid's Brad Nicholson.Diesel didn't give many details about the upcoming title, and it's still in an early stage of development. Destructoid reports that Tigon Studios has been working on Barca B.C. for roughly three years, and it could take up to another four years before release, according to Diesel. [Via Kotaku]
Perpetual delays Gods and Heroes, cuts jobs
Clash of the Titans fans take heed, as Perpetual Entertainment has once again postponed the release of its upcoming Roman mythology MMO Gods & Heroes: Rome Rising, laying off 30-40 employees as the project transitions from development to playtesting. The announcement marks the second such delay the game has suffered, the first coming in late 2006 when budget concerns resulted in 35 of the San Francisco-based MMO developer's employees losing their jobs. Explaining the rational behind the layoffs in a recent interview, Perpetual CEO Chris McKibbin cited a need for "a much smaller, more focused and agile team," rather than the larger team required for the game's actual development. In a positive spin, the executive notes that Perpetual plans to help those impacted by the layoffs in finding new positions with other developers, or working on the studio's other MMO Star Trek Online.In addition, while Gods & Heroes was originally planned for release this fall, McKibbin downplayed the delay, noting that "we have been targeting a fall launch and we are extending the time in beta to focus on quality and polish ... from our standpoint we want to give our game more time to get to [that level] of polish, rather than rush to a ship date."
PC impressions: Gods and Heroes: Rome Rising
Games like Rome have gained some following, so a Roman-themed MMO doesn't seem too surprising a concept. Marking a departure from the elves-and-orcs staple of so many MMOs, Gods and Heroes: Rome Rising takes place in a stylised Roman setting of approximately 300BC.The game's setting assumes that Roman mythology was more-or-less fact, so players can attain favour with various gods and battle a range of mythological creatures. The focus of play is a cross between hack-and-slash combat and squad-based strategy -- execute combo moves and fight hand-to hand, or deploy a squad of soldiers to do your dirty work for you.
