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EVE Evolved: The top five most dangerous solar systems
EVE Online is a PvP game at its core, with conflict built in at a fundamental level. Pirates lurk around key trade routes and stand ready to pounce on unsuspecting victims, while vast nullsec alliances protect their territories with watchful vigilance and never-ending bloodlust. Wander into the wrong solar system as a new player and your precious ship and cargo will be turned into molten slag and a few points on a killboard quicker than you can say, "Hello, new friend, and what does that red square on your ship mean?" The original map of EVE was generated one evening by an Icelandic developer who could scarcely have known he was deciding the fates of thousands of gamers for years to come. New systems have been added to the game over the years, and a few manual changes have been made to the stargate network, but most of the universe has remained the same for over a decade. In all that time, a few solar systems have stood out as brazen bastions of bastardly behaviour and made their marks on EVE's history. In this week's EVE Evolved, I run down a list of the top five most dangerous solar systems in EVE's long history and delve into why each has earned its reputation as a no-fly-zone for newbies.
EVE Evolved: EVE Online's top selling points
At E3 this year, EVE Online developer CCP Games said it wants the game to still be running decades from now, continuing its usual trend of steady growth. EVE has barely grown in subscriptions over the past year, and average concurrent logins have flatlined since 2010, but the Crucible and Inferno expansions helped start turning things around. Developers hope to get growth back on track and attract new people to the world of New Eden, but I have to wonder whether they're selling EVE to new people in the right way. EVE has always spread through word of mouth, with people being brought in by friends or starting fresh after hearing an epic story of in-game events or seeing an awesome video. More recently, existing online communities have been drawn to set up shop in the game and bring hundreds or thousands of members with them. People brought in by friends and people who join organisations in-game are more likely to stay in the game long-term, and it's this angle that I think CCP really needs to push. With its single-shard universe, awesome community, and massive scale PvP, EVE has some pretty huge selling points that no other MMO can match. In this week's EVE Evolved, I look at a few of EVE's biggest selling points and how CCP could use them to attract new players.
EA CEO won't share Old Republic release date because of "principal competitor"
E3 usually isn't a big news get for us here at WoW Insider, as Blizzard does its own thing with its own announcements and showing up to conventions. However, one piece of news really stuck out as interesting in relation to Blizzard. EA's CEO John Riccitiello made some interesting statements regarding Star Wars: The Old Republic's release date. The Old Republic is EA's MMO set during the fan-favorite Old Republic era of the Star Wars franchise. Riccitiello said: Announcing a release date "would be irresponsible for two really good reasons", Riccitiello said. "One, the competitive marketplace. Putting a window out there creates a window of opportunity for our principal competitor to put out an expansion pack or an ad campaign et cetera around our launch window. Bad move at this point in time." Now, while Riccitiello does not name Blizzard specifically, there are only a few potential "principal competitors" in the MMO market. Blizzard is definitely the biggest name at the table. What Riccitiello is saying is that announcing a release date for their MMO would give Blizzard the opportunity to move in on EA's hype, move its own release dates around, or prepare a patch or game release for the same time frame that The Old Republic would launch.
History 3D brings the Civil War to life
Just in time for the anniversary of the Civil War, History 3D for iPad brings the past to life. If you have a pair of anaglyph 3D glasses (the red and blue kind) handy, it gets even better. There are two dozen pictures to view in black and white and anaglyph 3D. The 3D images were taken using cameras with two or four lenses for a stereoscopic effect. These 3D photos amazed me, and I consider US$0.99 for the app well worth it for this bit of history. The interface is great; it's basically a storybook you can page through. Flip through the photos and tap to bring up the story behind the photos. The 3D images created in the making of this app are being donated copyright-free to the Library of Congress. You have to find your own 3D glasses at this point, but there will be links to stores that carry them on the support website soon. I definitely recommend commemorating this period in our history with a fresh look at the actual events of the Civil War. Check out a YouTube trailer and pop over to the App Store to get your copy of History 3D.
Microsoft joins Apple in stance against Blu-ray
Apple has a surprising ally in its campaign of apathy against Sony's Blu-ray disc format. Microsoft, of all companies, has also stepped out with a passive-aggressive stance against the standard, as UK head of Xbox gaming head Steven McGill says that "Blu-ray is going to be passed by as a format." He says that Microsoft was right to stick with the older DVD format for its game consoles, and that with the rise of streaming content and the infrastructure to deliver it, there's no longer a need for a disc-based format. Apple would probably agree, given the recent introduction of the Apple TV and its streaming content possibilities. Apple and Jobs alike have never been interested in Blu-ray as a format -- originally, the reason given was that they just wanted to see whether HD-DVD or Blu-ray would become the preferred standard, but at this point, with iTunes moving more and more away from physical media entirely, it seems unlikely that Apple will court Sony and its proprietary format at all. So on this issue, at least, Apple and Microsoft appear to have found some common ground. [via Slashdot]
E307: Geometry Wars Galaxies gets new screens and very busy boxart
Geometry Wars Galaxies, besides being a baffling display of brightly-colored sparks, is also a pretty neat shooting game. It's somewhat easier to tell what's going on in screenshots than to be dropped right in the middle of gameplay like in the video. If, like us, you couldn't really figure it out, we recommend the screens. That boxart is just a swirly mess of sparks, though. It's like someone superimposed five Rez boxarts together. Galaxies has some exciting features in store, like co-op play and online leaderboards. We checked with Sierra to inquire about online co-op, and learned that, unfortunately, the online aspect was limited to leaderboards. But the bottom line is that this third-party Wii game uses the Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection for something, and that is very promising news. Owners of both the DS and Wii versions can connect the two and unlock mysterious bonus content. Connecting the games also allows access to the Elite Leaderboard for people who are really good at playing the same game on two systems! %Gallery-4795%
E307: Geometry Wars: Galaxies gets slightly online
The Xbox 360's best launch game, Geometry Wars, is heading to the much-less-HD screens of the DS, and we've got the first screens of Geometry Wars: Galaxies. It appears to have been adapted to a touch-screen-based method of control, but we're sure that's the first thing you thought of when you heard about, well, a DS game. More interestingly, the DS version of Geometry Wars has online leaderboards! And if you happen to end up with both the DS and Wii versions of the game, you can combine your high scores and compete on the Elite Leaderboards. An apt name for something that basically requires more money to use. Publisher Sierra Entertainment says that Galaxies contains the full version of the Xbox 360's Retro Evolved as well as a new single-player campaign. %Gallery-4777% [Via press release]
An elegant announcement for a more civilized age
This is yet another confirmation of what every gamer has been waiting for since the first time we saw the Wii controller. At the Hollywood & Games Summit, panel moderator N'Gai Croal asked LucasArts president Jim Ward about the possibility of a Wii lightsaber game. Ward's response was very encouraging. "We're all over that, and internally we have already played a lightsaber game on the Wii. It's a lot of fun, and we'll get there." He went on to say that "some stuff" would be out this fall. Start practicing your blind Force-guided waggling now.[Via NeoGAF]
'The big three' ARE coming in 2007 (to Japan)
In an interview with GamesIndustry.biz, Nintendo confirmed that they do in fact plan to release Super Mario Galaxy, Metroid Prime 3 Corruption, and Super Smash Bros. Brawl by the end of this year, as well as pretty much every Nintendo game announced for the Wii. This corroborates an IGN report to the same effect, and is also totally, totally rad. Here's the full list of Nintendo's planned 2007 releases. Donkey Kong Taru Jet Race is slated for June 28, and the rest are all "2007": Donkey Kong Taru Jet Race Wii Health Pack Disaster: Day of Crisis Mario Party 8 Project H.A.M.M.E.R. Wii Music Super Mario Galaxy Super Smash Bros. Brawl Battalion Wars II Forever Blue Mario Strikers Charged Metroid Prime 3: Corruption Mario and Sonic at the Olympic Games Keep checking with us for news of the inevitable delays of about half of these. Seriously, that's a lot of first-party Nintendo games for just half a year or so. Aw, we just made ourselves sad with our own skepticism. Still, if half of this stuff does get released in Japan this year, it'll be great news and do a pretty good job of ending any drought that may or may not be happening.Update: fixed some italics and formatting.
PSP hardware shipments plummet, software up slightly
When Sony released their fiscal Q3 (Oct. - Dec. '06) financial results recently, most of the focus was on the PS3 and how the costs of its launch contributed to a massive loss for Sony's games unit. But, as the UK's Pocket Gamer points out, a massive slowdown in PSP shipments worldwide is probably just as worrying for the company. In the three month holiday period, Sony shipped just 1.46 million PSP units worldwide, a nearly 72 percent decrease from the 6.22 million units shipped during the same period a year ago. Broken down territorially, Europe and Japan each got roughly 900,000 systems while North America saw only an anemic 10,000 PSP units shipped in the three month period (no, that isn't a typo). For comparison, Reuters reported in November that Nintendo planned to ship 1.5 million DS units to Japan in December alone. But not all is doom and gloom in the Sony numbers. NPD data from December showed relatively healthy sales of nearly a million PSPs in North America, suggesting that Sony slowed North American shipments to let retailers sell off some of the 2 million systems shipped during the summer months. And despite the slowing hardware shipments, PSP software shipments actually rose 20 percent to 21.2 million units worldwide for the holiday season. Still, it's easy to look at this massive shipment slowdown and see the tide decisively turning towards Nintendo in the portable market share battle.
Screenshot explosion: Star Wars Lethal Alliance
While it is wide-known fact that many Bothans died trying to get their hands on blue prints for the Death Star, another lesser-known Twi'lek named Rianna Saren and her droid Zeeo also attempted to acquire them.Set in the timeframe between episode III and IV, Star Wars: Lethal Alliance is already known to feature some form of multiplayer (cross your fingers for Wi-Fi) and familiar faces from the universe such as Darth Vader and Kyle Katarn. The folks at Ubisoft have not revealed any more information on the game, however as tightly as they closed their fist, several screenshots slipped through their fingers over to IGN.
ONM falls flat on "secret exclusive"
Supposedly, ONM (Official Nintendo Magazine UK) was holding out on a pretty big exclusive set to grace the cover of their next issue, set to release in September. They hyped up that this was something we'd yet to see, so the fact that it turned out their "secret exclusive" was none other than Battalion Wars 2, a game revealed at Leipzig, is equal parts laughable and pathetic. We haven't been following the coverage of this rumor as it snowballed on various message boards and blogs because it isn't in our nature to be a gossip rag. We respect our readers and even though ONM hyped this "secret exclusive" up for some time, we felt it did not need to be commented on. We'd let the guys at ONM handle their business. And handle it, they have.
Wii impressions from LGC
One of Moz La Punk's readers was on-hand at Leipzig with one mission: get their hands on as much Wii as possible. That's right, the reader craved Wii and did their best to make sure that the majority of their time at the show was spent within close proximity to it, holding the Wiimote and engaging in some gaming. They got their hands on a plethora of games at the show, including the two main titles for Nintendo: Battalion Wars 2 and Mario Strikers Charged. The reader's take on the demo for Elebits reads:"No one may have knew it, but this wás a new demo. Unlike the E3 demo, this time you could hunt Elebits in the garden next to the house. It also contained a new orange Elebit with wing-like ears, used for the little creature to fly. The developers also integrated a weight-limit, so not everything could be thrown around. Instead, every time something was shot, the weight was shown. Objects up to about 2 kilogramms could be lifted. The house also contained several electronical devices which could be opened by collecting enough Elebits to activate them. A dishwasher even contained differently coloured versions of the blue Elebit, as seen in the CG trailer with the Elebits dancing. The controls were simple, as A activated the beam, the Wiimote was used to aim and look around and the analogue stick moved the player character." Head on over here for the rest.[Via Go Nintendo]
Skyguard defense laser protects humans, kills missiles
Always one to ensure that our soldiers are equipped with the latest and greatest killing tools battlefield technology, military contractor Northrop Grumman has just unveiled a mobile defense system that creates a virtual bubble of protection against flying artillery over anything located within a five kilometer radius. Based on the Tactical High Energy Laser testbed that's been in development since 1996, the so-called Skyguard system employs target-acquisition radar and a deuterium fluoride laser to detect and shoot down a variety of airborne projectiles, including rockets, mortars, and short-range munitions. Northrop is promoting the weapon as a way for countries to defend deployed troops or critical infrastructure such as airports, and not surprisingly, Israel was one of the first foreign nations given a product pitch. Initially the system is said to cost between $150 and $200 million per installation, though mass adoption could see prices plummet to less than $30 million- and someday it may even be affordable enough to install at your very own house, providing the neighborhood kids with some not-so-subtle encouragement to keep their baseballs and frisbees out of your damn yard.[Via Gizmag and Laser Focus World]
Everyone likes Wii in the next-gen wars
We'll never stop speculating on just who will win in the upcoming console wars. It's in our nature to do so. Thankfully, however, there's a site dedicated to tracking current consensus amongst interwebbers as to provide hard, undisputable fact to back up our claims (mostly typed in caps and grossly misspelled) across message boards everywhere. That current consensus is that the Wii will be winning in the war to come between man and machine consoles, gaining a very favorable 55.5 percent selection amongst visitors, with the Xbox 360 coming in at about half that with 26.2 percent, and the PS3 tanking at 18.3 percent.
John Carmack talks Cell and PS3 development
During E3, the saint of first person shooters sat down to talk with G4TV and discuss the PlayStation 3's development strategy. Seeing as how he pioneered the modern day shooter and single-handedly codes some of the most cutting-edge graphics engines, people listen when he has something to say about this sort of thing. During the interview, he admitted that the PS3 will have more power backing it than the other guys. That's exactly the way Sony wants it though, and the price reflects that. However, the most interesting part came when Mr. Carmack said Sony made a mistake with the PlayStation 3. The mistake wasn't with the price though, it was with the Cell architecture. We're months away from launch, and it's still no secret that the PS3 is hard to develop for. Okay, so this isn't the first time John has said this. But he reiterated that the fragmenting of code which developers are going to have to do for development is an unnecessary evil. Even so, he still thinks the PS3 will bank on Sony's core following, despite these issues. We'll have to wait and see how much the price affects that following though.
