shadow-cities
Latest
Shadow Cities closing down October 7
First announced in 2010, Shadow Cities was set to be a completely new experience in MMO gaming. The location-based mobile game secured millions in investment capital and had a promising showing at GDC 2011. But all of that wasn't enough to keep the game afloat almost three years later. Finnish developer Grey Area has announced that they will be closing down Shadow Cities on October 7 of this year. The game has already been removed from the iTunes App Store as of today and it will not accept new Mana Potion purchases. [Source: Grey Area release]
MMObility: A look at the location based MMO Life is Magic
I've been looking forward to checking out Life is Magic since I first took a peek at it during GDC Online 2012. The art style, slick presentation, and location-based gameplay drew me in, but I've had it for only a short while since then. I've now been able to snag enough time to get a great idea about what the game holds for players, and so far I can say that there's definitely a polish to the game that I haven't found in many mobile MMOs. So what is so special about this one, especially compared to other location-based MMOs like Fleck or Parallel Kingdom? There are several differences, most of them focused on the art style, unique world map, and cool collectible card game-ish system that ends up being the best part of the game. %Gallery-173874%
MMObility: Real-life location games for your daily walks
I've been having a lot of fun with Parallel Kingdom lately. It's a location-based MMO brought to us by PerBlue, one that offers a layer of reality thanks to the fact that it is built on top of the real-world map. You can claim your real-life block, help other members of your city, and trade with other players from all over the world. It's actually a pretty simple design, but it helps to give the game a sense of realism. Parallel Kingdom isn't the only location-based game out there, though. I thought it might be cool to take a look at some of the other titles to see what the competition has to offer. So far I have only found a few that are stepping up in quality. Read on to see what I think of the rest!
MMObility: The year in mobile
What a year, huh? We gamers have seen a lot of changes, but especially in the mobile market. New devices came and went, technologies spread out even further in the world, and MMO gaming established itself on the smallest screens possible. Of course, the mobile market is not as large as the standard MMO market, but it is definitely growing. As more devices appear, more players come to fill up the games. Our phones are not what they used to be, even five years ago. They are now truly tiny and powerful computing devices that are always connected. A player can literally live all of his digital life on one small device. If we look at the laptop and netbook market, we see even more growth and power. All of these devices need games to play on them, and MMOs fit perfectly into the mobile lifestyle. Click past the cut and I'll recap many of the best stories from Massively's mobile coverage!
Enter At Your Own Rift: The big takeaways from GDC
After dining on enough beef brisket to feed an army of hungry cowboys, I returned from Austin's GDC Online to chip away at the Ashes of History world event quests. RIFT had a nice showing at the GDC Online Awards ceremony, walking away with awards for Best Online Technology and Best New Online Game. In addition, Trion CCO and RIFT Executive Producer Scott Hartsman gave a talk about RIFT's pre-launch preparations and post-launch plans. GDC was dominated by a handful of common topics, like free-to-play, metrics, monetization, and technology. In this week's Enter at Your Own Rift, we'll take a look at a few of these to see how they apply to RIFT, and then we'll look at the big takeaways from GDC overall.
MMObility: Shadow Cities confuses the heck out of me
I like unusual games. No, really, I love them. I would rather puzzle away at some oddball of a game than be forced to play the same old game that I have played before. I don't mind taking my time with a new title, learning its rules and lore. Of course, my goal is not to hunt down every morsel of information about a game, either. There is a fine balance between knowing how to play a game and practically keeping a cheat sheet next to my laptop or phone. Sometimes a game comes along and makes me really scratch my head. It's rare, though, especially in this age of YouTube videos and newbie Q and A threads. Shadow Cities has given me more of a hard time than almost any other game in recent memory. The question is: is this a good thing or a bad thing? Click past the cut and we'll discuss it.
TUAW's Daily iPhone App: Shadow Cities
Shadow Cities is an interesting title from Finnish developer Gray Area. It's a location-based MMO, in that you level up a character while fighting with other players and claiming territory, all of which is based on the real world around you and your iPhone. The game allows you to cast spells with special gestures, which are resource driven and set up to play long campaigns in small bursts of time -- it's designed perfectly for the iPhone and its various interfaces. I found the game a little confusing when I saw it at GDC, but that was an earlier version. Even if the game is a little complicated, it's rewarding when you figure out exactly what's going on. And it's even more rewarding when you have fellow players around you -- if you're in a city such as New York or San Francisco, you'll probably be in luck finding some competition in the local area. Everyone else will still have neutral forces to fight against, but the game's more fun when you participate in the overall PvP campaigns. You can "beacon jump" to other cities, but things are much more fun when you're fighting for a home base. At any rate, Shadow Cities is currently free in the App Store, and at that price, I can't help but recommend you check it out. A lot of people have tried location-based MMOs already (and I bet we'll see even more of these in the future), and while Shadow Cities isn't exactly the easiest game to get into, it does offer some good innovation in the quickly growing genre.
Shadow Cities launches on iOS App Store
Technomages, today is your day! Rise up and cast off the fetters of boring society to claim your kingdom! All it takes is one free download of Shadow Cities, which has finally arrived at the Apple App Store. Taking the best parts of real world alternate reality games (ARGs) and MMOs, Shadow Cities casts you in the role of a mage who is fighting dark forces while simultaneously striving to control chunks of territory. Instead of staying home, players are tasked with traveling physically to different places around their neighborhoods to cast spells against other players and NPCs. Players can join one of two factions that struggle for ultimate domination amid an unsuspecting populace. Shadow Cities hit the top of the charts in Finland when it was released there, and Grey Area hopes that it will do the same worldwide. If you'd like to learn more about this immersive title, make sure to read up on our Shadow Cities tour from GDC!
GDC 2011: Grey Area's Shadow Cities redefines mobile MMORPGs and immersion
How does being the main character in a techno-cyberpunk fantasy MMORPG grab you? And when we say "you," we really mean you, as opposed to a digital avatar or a pre-made character archetype. While we're at it, how does playing said MMORPG in the real world, specifically your home town and any cities you may visit, sound? If you answered "pretty freaking awesome" like we did, keep reading. We sat down with the guys from Grey Area at last week's GDC to talk about the firm's slick new location-based iPhone MMO called Shadow Cities. We came away with the feeling that while many MMO companies talk a good game when it comes to innovation and driving the genre forward, this small Finnish startup is actually walking the walk.
GDC 2011: Impressions of the conference and what 2011 will bring
The 2011 Game Developer's Conference is behind us, and as we all recover from sleep deprivation and carpal tunnel syndrome, we can't help but reflect on our overall impressions of the event. This year saw a more efficient conference with the show floor consolidated into one hall and the usual Career Pavillion, Game Career Seminar and Game Connection events set up to help job-seekers find their dream careers in game development. But for the games press, most of the action happens off-site, where studios and publishers rent conference rooms and hotel suites to show off their latest game demos and conduct interviews. So while GDC is nothing like your E3s and PAXes, it is a place to gather info and get a feel for what to expect in the coming year. Follow along after the jump to see what I thought of this year's MMO offerings.
iPhone MMO Shadow Cities raises $2.5 million in investments
As smartphones become increasingly ubiquitous, it's inevitable that we'll start seeing unique uses of the technology involved -- something we're already seeing with Shadow Cities. The iPhone MMO is rather unique, tracking your location and putting you into an active battle with creatures placed on the GPS-enabled map. It's an innovative concept, a sort of game-oriented FourSquare, and one that's apparently intrigued investors enough to pony up big money to the tune of $2.5 million. This infusion of funding ties into plans to release the game in the US soon, as developer Grey Area has currently only released the game in its native Finland. Players will focus on taking dominion over the streets and completing quests, with the game itself following the free-to-play model complete with cash shop. Shadow Cities is certainly a novel product, and we'll be taking the time to chat with the studio about the game's development and future at GDC next week.
Grey Area announces Shadow Cities, first location-based iPhone MMO
Searching for a new MMORPG for your iPhone? Look no further than the platform's first location-based massively multiplayer title, Shadow Cities, courtesy of Finnish developer Grey Area. Virtual World News checks in with some interesting information about the game, including the fact that the it tracks your location via OpenStreetMap and creates a game world based on your city before populating it with various enemies. Gameplay consists of exploring, hunting down rogue spirits, and obtaining new spells as you level. Casting spells is accomplished by drawing rune-like shapes on the iPhone's screen, and players can also join one of two factions and battle other players in the same area of the game world. The game is slated to be released in late 2010, and you can sign up for an email notification on the official Grey Area website. You can also view a brief teaser trailer after the cut.
