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The Daily Grind: When are in-game titles too much?
Take, for instance, the guy up there from LotRO. He looks as though he's an accomplished fellow, with many miles under his belt. He probably wants something to show for it, too. Could you blame him for wanting to extend his name somewhat, particularly if the MMO promotes such embellishments, even if his name becomes a full paragraph of reading? As many modern MMOs use titles as a reward for character achievements -- particularly since they're relatively easy to implement -- we're long since used to seeing folks collect and display their greatest reference. Yet do MMO titles become too much after a while? Do you occasionally fear for your life when you see a literal wall of text running right for you on the battlefield? At what point do you draw the line in the sand, look the developers in the eye, and pronounce that this is all just getting silly?
Electronic Arts stable now live on the iPad
As with all of the other approved iPad apps, the full slate of Electronic Arts' iPad titles are now ready to go in the App Store. Mirror's Edge, Tetris and Scrabble are ready for download, as is Command and Conquer: Red Alert and Need for Speed Shift. Those last two are probably the most interesting -- playing an RTS on a larger touchscreen is something that a lot of people have wanted to try for a long time, and Command and Conquer will probably be the biggest budget title of that genre available at launch. Need for Speed Shift will probably be pretty predictable as an accelerometer racing game, but it is notable for the fact that it's selling at $14.99, significantly higher than even the other iPad titles we've seen so far. C&C and Mirror's Edge are both above $9.99, and Tetris is the only EA app to go below that point, at $7.99. So it looks like EA is starting out pretty aggressive on pricing for the iPad -- we'll have to see how sales go for them at those levels and what happens to those prices after launch.
iPad game announcements out early and often
The trickle of iPad games released last week has now become a flood of iPad software news. Everybody is climbing over themselves to get the word out there about launch titles. Mobile Entertainment has what's probably the biggest news: another new swarm of titles has been found in the App Store's database, including iPad versions of the popular Fieldrunners and Flick Fishing games. Fieldrunners is a little more expensive than the iPhone version, at US$7.99, while Flick Fishing is one the few iPhone games keeping its price, logging in at $2.99. Words with Friends HD has also been announced, and it looks excellent -- big, bright, and beautiful on the iPad's screen. The extra space also gives a little more breathing room for chatting while playing with friends. There's not a lot of actual information about the game out yet, but we presume that you will be able to play with friends still using the game on their iPhone. Doodle Blast HD was announced as well, and it looks good. There's no doubt at this point that the iPad's App Store will have plenty of titles ready to go on day one.
App Store leak hints at iPad versions of Plants vs. Zombies, Worms
Looks like you early iPad adopters will have something good to play -- PadGadget noticed yesterday that Apple's App Store listings accidentally included a few unannounced iPad launch games in their store listings, even though the games aren't available for download yet. A few games, like Flight Control HD and Labyrinth 2 HD – both high definition iPad versions of their iPhone counterparts – had already been announced by their respective developers but there were at least two big titles on the list that gamers might appreciate: Plants vs. Zombies HD and Worms HD. Yup, looks like both PopCap's popular topiary tower defense game and the old fightin' invertebrates are coming to the iPad on day one. Of course, this could just be a slip-up on Apple's end -- these could be placeholder names, or they could just be testing the app store for iPad titles. But considering the popularity of PopCap's titles on the portable platforms, odds are very good that as soon as you get home from the Apple Store on iPad on April 3rd, iPad day, Tall Nut and all of his other buds will be ready to play. [Via Touch Arcade]
Six Ngmoco iPad titles revealed
In his panel at GDC last week, Ngmoco's Neil Young dropped the news that his company was going all out with their freemium business model -- not only are they releasing twenty iPhone titles by the end of this year, but they're planning on having six iPad titles ready to go right away at launch. Touch Arcade has done a little digging, and they've come up with what they think the six iPad titles will be. Here we go: GodFinger We Rule (both of these were previewed last week) Flick Fishing (probably re-created as a freemium app) NBA Hotshot (also likely remade into Ngmoco's model) CastleCraft (an MMO strategy/wargame) WarpGate As you may have noticed, two of those are Ngmoco originals, and four of those are Freeverse titles that were either planned for the iPad or are being remade for the new platform; again, presumably free-to-play, along with microtransactions and freemium resources in the Ngmoco mold. That's definitely a sizeable library going into the new platform, and if Ngmoco really does have these ready to go on April 3rd (and I don't see any reason why they wouldn't -- even if they haven't gotten one of those test iPads from Apple, their model is designed to release early and make updates quickly if needed), then they'll be positioned to grab iPad app space very early on.
The Road to Mordor: 10 reasons why LotRO is worth picking up over shiny new MMOs
Every Friday, The Road to Mordor brings you the latest in Lord of the Rings Online news, guides and analysis. Hey dol merry dol, Lord of the Rings Online fans! My name is Justin Olivetti, and I have the pleasure of joining you on this winding, epic road to Mordor. I play a Captain on the Gladden server, and some of my favorite activities in LotRO include wandering accidentally into signature mob camps, exterminating the local fauna in the name of Deeds, and trying to cobble together the perfect pirate costume for show. So I know that LotRO is one of the best MMORPGs out there, and you know that as well, but with all the newer MMOs bursting out of the gate on what seems like a weekly basis, how can you convince your friends, loved ones and everyone in your social network that a three-year-old title is worth giving a try if they missed it the first time around? Never fear -- I am on your side, and ready to equip you with ten terrific reasons why the lovechild of Turbine and Tolkien deserve an even greater number of folks exploring the lands of Middle-earth. So hit the jump and let's spread the word!
Disney wants to take Epic Mickey to 'Nintendo levels' on the Wii
Gamasutra got a chance to speak with the executive VP and GM of Disney Interactive Studios, Graham Hopper, who says that Disney is swinging for the stands on their future game releases. The games division is learning from "pure" gaming studios and their success, and while Hopper admits that the company hasn't always treated their properties correctly on the gaming side, starting with Disney's Epic Mickey, it wants to "give their projects the time and appropriate resources to be successful." In other words, let them stand on their own as games, rather than squeeze them up against a movie's release date. And Hopper hopes for quite the payoff, too -- while third-party titles on the Wii have been hit or miss (mostly miss), Hopper expects Epic Mickey's success to go "to Nintendo levels." He does say that they don't want to turn Mickey into Mario by "simply using him as an icon or an avatar in a game," but Disney's goal in the future will be to make sure that each of their properties' appearances are worth it. Hopper says if they port a film to five different gaming platforms, customers should expect "not the same story five times over, but five different stories, each uniquely suited for the platform they're on." A good plan to have, but much easier said than done.
The OverAchiever: Dungeon and raid titles, Part 2
After taking a two-week detour into guides covering the Love Is In the Air and Lunar Festival holidays, we're going to return to the list of titles available from dungeon and raid achievements. You can find part one here, covering everything from Argent Defender to Grand Crusader. This week, we'll pick up where we left off. Herald of the Titans (requires an Algalon-10 kill under special circumstances) or Starcaller (requires Observed -- 10 player) Herald of the Titans, much like its ToGC-10 counterpart Argent Defender, requires you to kill Algalon in Ulduar-10 without padding the difficulty with gear from higher-level raids. The result is arguably the coolest Algalon-related title apart from Celestial Defender, but it won't come without a ton of planning and a lot of skill. Starcaller is the same deal, minus the gear requirement.
Sonic 4 coming to the iPhone/iPad?
Sega surprised everyone last night with the reveal of Sonic the Hedgehog 4 -- apparently the newest game in the series will be a download-only episodic title coming to the Xbox and PS3 later this year. And the iPhone, too? The very end of the trailer, as you can see above, has a blank rectangle after the XBLA, PSN, and WiiWare logos, which some presume is a space for the App Store logo eventually. In addition, various graphics were found on the official site that hint at an iPhone release as well. The game, which you can see in the trailer linked above, is a colorful return to the series' 2D roots, but even the updated 3D graphics are probably enough for the latest versions of the iPhone to handle. And of course there's the iPad -- considering that the game is called "Episode 1" (so presumably Sega is going to be releasing a few of these), Sega will probably want as big an install base as possible. Just widening the display of an iPhone app might not work so well, as these simulator screenshots on Gadget Lab show, so it's very possible that one of the launch games for Apple's tablet could be a sweet, high-resolution old school Sonic sequel. We'll keep you updated -- just watch out for the drool.
The OverAchiever: Dungeon and raid titles
Titles; they are cool, they are wonderful, and in a not-inconsiderable number of cases, they are very hard to get. Almost without exception, every single title in the game is also linked to an achievement. Today we're going to examine how you can get (or, in some cases, how it was possible to get) about half of the 19 titles currently available from dungeons and raids. Next week, we'll cover the last half, going in alphabetical order. If you're a skimmer, the two toughest achievements are actually at the tail end this week, and if you're currently in Icecrown Citadel, there's two currently-unobtainable titles that may interest you here (in addition to another set next week).
David Jaffe talks death of Calling All Cars as servers go offline
This week heralded the end of the Calling All Cars saga, as David Jaffe finally saw the lights go out on his PSN baby. He's got a set of final thoughts over on his blog -- he says that as his first online game, it was definitely a learning experience, and while there were good times, it wasn't the most fun he'd ever had. He's suprisingly regretful about the whole thing: He says that he seriously thinks he probably should have "made it war themed and ['ditched'] the cartoony stuff," and that it was really a problem of expectation. At $10, he says, they were expecting gamers buying downloadable titles to just be "sampling them like candy," not looking for a full game experience. But we wouldn't worry too much about Jaffe -- while he jokes that the CAC server shutdown "marks the beginning of the end of my career," we're sure there's still more fun to be had from that mind of his. We're hoping to see what he's got planned next by the time E3 rolls around this year.
Capcom: Wii is 'a tough market to crack'
Capcom spoke to Gamasutra recently about the difficulty in taking advantage of the Wii's huge user base -- it and other third-party developers have struggled for a long time to sell games to the casual folks who bought Nintendo's console, and Capcom's senior director of communications Chris Kramer says it hasn't gotten any easier. "If you're not Nintendo," he says frankly, "it does seem harder to make money on the Wii today compared to the PS3 and the Xbox 360." So what's the solution? Fewer titles, higher quality. Kramer promises that Capcom will release fewer titles on the Wii in 2010, and that the few that do hit store shelves "will be much larger, event-size games." And he expects that other major developers will follow suit: You'll see "fewer games from the major third parties, like EA, Activision, and Ubisoft." If third parties don't see sales on the console, says Kramer, they'll stop developing for it.
2K Boston is bringing back Irrational Games name, legacy
[Image credit: Game Informer] Halo: Reach isn't the only story that you'll find in next month's Game Informer -- the magazine's blog has also revealed that the developer known for the past two years as 2K Boston will be returning to its roots as Irrational Games. The change isn't unexpected, as we've seen hints of the old identity coming back to the spotlight for a while. But apparently the company is going full force with the "renewed commitment" to the legacy: it'll be kicking off a new website soon (in about three days and 16 hours as of this writing, according to the countdown now running on IrrationalGames.com) that will contain lots of community features and information about Irrational's past -- including fan favorites like System Shock 2 and Freedom Force, in addition to 2K Boston's BioShock and future titles. Meanwhile, the company has a new logo -- spiffy! -- and the next Game Informer will have more information about the studios' history and why it made the choice to turn back the clock on its identity. We look forward to reading all about it.
Wii dominates Amazon's video game best sellers of 2009
Online retailer Amazon has tallied up sales in its Video Games category for the year 2009, and the results are overwhelmingly in favor of the Nintendo Wii, with nine out of the top ten spots going to Nintendo's console, various official accessories, and games. The best-selling game on the list is New Super Mario Bros. Wii at spot number 5, a feat made even more impressive by the fact that the game came out in November -- selling more copies in under two months than most games sold all year. But above that it's all Wii gear, from the Nunchuk and the MotionPlus addon to the console itself at the top. Modern Warfare 2 is the only non-Nintendo title in the top ten, and it's specifically the Xbox 360 version, while the PS3 version comes in at number 13. There are only two titles exclusive to another console on the list: Halo 3: ODST for Microsoft at 16, and Uncharted 2 for Sony at 18. But that's not much to cheer about: even the Wii Wheel beat them both. It's fair to say Nintendo can declare Wii-ctory on Amazon in 2009. See the full list below. [Via Kotaku]
Insider Trader: Progressive Professions
Insider Trader is your inside line on making, selling, buying and using player-made products.Professions in The World of Warcraft are one of the many endeavors in which players can invest their time and efforts. Despite the fact that most players do indeed level them, and the fact that there is quite a bit of interest in them, people are often left questioning their value at the end of the day.Profitability and cost to level are two of the most frequent complaints against their chosen professions, but today I would like you to consider another reason: boredom. It is not that the professions themselves are inherently boring. It is more that, in a game where there are always new things to collect, new reasons to PvP or run raid content, new dailies and new factions, professions just can't compete. Most can be leveled in an hour or two at the Auction House, and once this has been achieved, the key items made, and the buffs applied to your gear, what else is there?
Breakfast Topic: Create-your-own titles
The other day, I was giving away a loot card code over on our Twitter account (as I tend to do -- are you following us over there yet?), and I asked people to send along suggestions for the titles they wanted to have in game. Mine is "the Noob" (for obvious reasons), but there were some really excellent ones in the mix: The Legend, The Fashionable, The Bounty Hunter, Banker (very practical, I agree), and my favorite suggestion, The Dying, for any character that dies at least 1,000 times.We've actually asked this question in a Breakfast Topic before, but it was last year, when titles were still pretty hard to come by (nowadays, everyone's got at least one, right?). So let us hear them: if you could have any title you wanted, which would you choose?And remember, Blizzard's listening: they've already put one fan-suggested title in the game, so who knows. Maybe the one you suggest in this thread will eventually be right above your character's head.
Mike Morhaime and Paul Sams accept Guinness World Record awards
Apparently there were a few Blizzard blokes at E3 last week, even though we didn't see them wandering the floor at all. Mike Morhaime and Paul Sams were both there to accept their awards for world records from Guinness after making it into the 2009 Gaming edition. World of Warcraft picked up a record for the most popular MMORPG in the world (with, as you probably know, 12 million players), and Starcraft gained recognition for being the best-selling PC strategy game, with 9.5 million copies sold worldwide. Neither of these awards are really that much of a surprise -- both games have already garnered tons of other awards, and both games are already squarely in the pantheon of the best and biggest PC games ever sold. But being recognized is always nice, we're sure.They honored a number of other extremely popular games and services as well, including two big Activision Blizzard titles: Call of Duty 4 was recognized for being the most-played online video game, and Guitar Hero was recognized for being the best-selling rhythm game series (though Red Octane, the game's original publisher, was honored, and they've only recently been acquired by the Activision overlords).Congrats to all the award winners, as if they even needed it. Something tells us the millions and millions of dollars in revenue from all of these games was probably a nicer reward than Guinness recognition. Just a guess.
Having fun with the Patron/Matron titles
There's some fun to be had out there with everyone's new Patron and Matron titles. And by fun I clearly mean instituting a level of confusion and raised eyebrows that only a transformative romp through the wilds of Storms Peaks can give you.First, you want to get your title from Children's Week. And with the exception of School of Hard Knocks the title shouldn't be hard to get.Secondly, display the title and fly out to Brunnhildar Village. You want to head towards the area where you change forms into a Hyldnir Frost Vrykul. You know, the big blue women.As you form goes "poof," so will your title. If you were a man and are now a woman, you gain the Matron title. Don't you feel special now? Of course as soon as you fly out from the area and shapeshift automagically back to your original form, your title will change back as well.There are reports in which people have experienced similar behavior being sheeped in PvP. Apparently all sheep are male? Who knows...Have fun with this, but not too much fun.
Breakfast Topic: What's the best pun name you've ever seen?
We've all seen some Alliance kiddie named "ikillhoarde" or a Warlock named "ifearyoudie." After all, what Horde wouldn't run for cover from a Hunter who's named after his very death? And woe is the person who actually thinks he can get away from a Warlock's fear. Phear the lock, baby.Add titles into the mix. "Doora the Explorer" is probably my favorite of all time. Every time I see someone named that I yell out "Swiper, No Swiping!" Of course insert the obligatory NSFW Kevin Smith reference here.Another favorite of mine that I've seen is "Highlander the Immortal."What's the best pun name that you've encountered in the game? Ever thought about renaming your character to make yourself pun-famous?
Flawless Victor title removed in Patch 3.1
With stealthiness worthy of an Arashikage, Blizzard removed the Flawless Victor title granted by the Achievement Hot Hot Hot Streak, along with the Achievement itself in Patch 3.1. This tiny little 'inconvenience' was conveniently left out of the patch notes, surprising many players who logged in to the puzzling message 'Title removed: Flawless Victor'. Conversations with GMs didn't manage to shed light into the situation, either, with the standard answer bring "apologies for the inconvenience".Blizzard gives no reason for the removal of the Achievement and title, and forum posts asking about the matter have so far received no blue responses. On the other hand, Bornakk was quick to address the bug about the Champion of the Frozen Wastes title, which was hotfixed. It's fairly certain that Blizzard removed the Achievement intentionally. Some suspect that there were exploits that allowed players to obtain the Achievement with ease, while others dismissed it as a meaningless title in what is arguably the most imbalanced Arena season to date. With the Arena system being completely overhauled yet again for Season 6, it is possible that we may see the title return in some form or the other.
