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Get a 3-D virtual preview of Skyforge's Naori Island
If a picture is valued at a thousand words, how much is an interactive panorama worth? That's a question that you might just have to answer yourself when you check out this jaw-dropping gorgeous tableau of Naori Island from Skyforge. Naori Island is a tropical resort that got caught up in the war, leaving it scarred yet still beautiful. You can check out the interactive 3-D screenshot of the island on the game's official website, which allows you to scope out the key landmarks and warm visuals all around you.
Meridian 59 player teases 3-D client
Now that Meridian 59 is available to anyone to tinker with as an open source project, we've been curious what the playerbase might do with this granddaddy of MMOs. One enterprising soul has started the Meridian 59: Community Client Project to bring the title fully into the realm of 3-D. In a brief video, the possibility for a 3-D Meridian 59 is teased with some basic landscape rendering and strategically placed bushes and trees. While the author admits that it's still crude and in the beginning stages, it's tantalizing to think about this 2.5-D title finally breaking through to the third dimension. Of course, purists don't have to worry that their game is under attack, as the production servers for the classic Meridian 59 experience are still alive and kicking. You can check out the community project video after the jump. [Thanks to Dennis for the tip!]
LG's Smart TV platform starts renting out Disney 3D movies, offers new buyers $50 worth
Although these have been accomplished by two different branch entities, there's no doubt the folks over at Disney are in a deal-making mood as of late. Having recently announced a deal bringing new content to Cablevision subscribers, Disney has also partnered up with LG to bring an array of 3D films over to its Smart TV platform -- so long as the units are 3D-ready and you are in the US, of course. This means movies from studios such as Disney Pixar, Walt Disney Pictures, Marvel and Touchstone Pictures will available to rent in three-dee directly from LG's 3D World, including The Avengers, Toy Story, Alice in Wonderland and, later next year, Finding Nemo. Better yet, LG's currently offering a deal which hands you $50 in credit (which expires December 31st) to spend on 3D rentals -- naturally, however, you'll have to shell out some cash on one of its qualifying TVs in order to take advantage of this promo. To learn more about that, check out the press release after the break.
The Game Archaeologist and the veteran of Kesmai
Aaand we're back! Did you miss me? No? Not even a little bit? Aww, you know how to make me feel all kinds of appreciated! Even though it's been quite some time since we finished up our two-part series on the Kesmai company and its incredible (and little-remembered) role in powering up the MMO genre, I wanted to return to take the topic for one last spin. A fellow blogger, Wilhelm "The Ancient Gaming Noob" Arcturus, backs his nickname up by providing memories and stories from gaming eras well before many Massively readers' time. Since he actually played several Kesmai titles back in the day and lived to tell the tale, I wanted to pick his brain before we moved on to other titles. So join me in welcoming Wilhelm and his magical clockwork nostalgia retrieval system!
The Daily Grind: Are you obsessed with jumping?
I suspect that if you polled players about their biggest Guild Wars pet peeves, the lack of a jump ability would be toward the top. The game world just isn't built with a Z-axis. Even if you could jump, there'd be nowhere to go. ArenaNet has been quick to assure fans that the sequel will in fact have jumping. Jumping! You'd think there were no other important mechanics, like crafting or travel or guilds! Besides, if you build your world for jumping, you also build your world for falling... like off of City of Heroes' tall buildings or those obnoxious Kelethin tree platforms in EverQuest (seriously, learn2railings, Wood Elves!). Still we crave our spacebar jumping, so much that we demand it even in 2-D sidescrolling crafting sandboxes like Glitch (where jumping neither decreases aggro nor makes you harder to target in PvP, sadly). Are you one of those obsessed with jumping in MMOs, and if so, why? Is it a nervous twitch? A way to immerse yourself in the gameworld? Do you jump for attention? Or is jumping merely shorthand for an interactive three-axis world? Every morning, the Massively bloggers probe the minds of their readers with deep, thought-provoking questions about that most serious of topics: massively online gaming. We crave your opinions, so grab your caffeinated beverage of choice and chime in on today's Daily Grind!
'Select' 3D movies not coming to 3DS soon [update]
Update: Just a scant eight hours later, Nintendo has clarified its promise of " an additional library of select 3D movies" for the 3DS. The clarification in short? "Nah." "The press release announcing the new Netflix service for Nintendo 3DS also references the system's upcoming short-form video service," Big N said in a written statement. "Nintendo 3DS owners soon will be able to enjoy free, specially selected video content that includes 3D movie trailers, comedy clips and music videos." This is, of course, the short form video service we learned of in March. Just to be clear, by "an additional library of select movies," Nintendo meant "the new Bruno Mars video and the trailer for Big Momma Goes to the Big House." We haven't struck through all the text of the original post after the jump -- but just know it's a non-story.
The Game Archaeologist and the What Ifs: Middle-earth Online
I had so much fun walking down the halls of "What if?" last week that I thought I'd keep the streak going for the rest of the month (if you'll allow for some summertime indulgence). It's not that I necessarily wanted MMO history to turn out differently than it did, but it's always tantalizing to wonder what the field would look like with different games out there. Would they have proven more popular than our current crops? Would they have pushed the envelope of innovation? Of course, it's easy to project greatness onto never-released titles, bemoaning that "if only MMO X had launched, we would've had the perfect game!" What ifs are interesting but should never be taken as absolute fact. This week I wanted to look at a project that's related to an MMO near and dear to my heart. As most of you know, I'm somewhat of a Lord of the Rings Online nut here at Massively. Sure, the rest of the staff is upset that I smoke pipeweed inside and never wear shoes, but that's just how far I go to understand the game. But even my LotRO isn't immune to a massive what if. Known to some but not to all, Turbine wasn't the first MMO studio to take a crack at Tolkien's license -- no, for that we have to travel back to 1998 and revisit Sierra On-Line. It was this company that had a brief but memorable run designing Middle-earth Online, aka "What if LotRO had permadeath?" It's a fascinating glimpse into an entirely different approach to the IP, and even though it died a fairly early death, it's important to be remembered. Frodo lives!
E3 2011: EverQuest II's Dave Georgeson in 3-D
If you're going to fly, why not fly with a little style -- and in 3-D? At E3, we were able to grab some facetime with Dave "Smokejumper" Georgeson, EverQuest II's executive producer, as he showed us the next dimension of MMO gameplay while we checked out some of the new aerial races in the game. "We wanted to do a little more with the flying creatures than to go from Point A to Point B," Georgeson said, referencing EQII's aerial races. "So we put in these flying race courses, which is a good test ground for showing off 3-D." It's one of those things that has to be seen to be believed. The 3-D effect while flying is, in a word, awesome. The user interface is up close, your character is somewhere in the middle, and the environment is in the background. The effect is very noticeable when you turn, which happens a lot while flying. Hit the jump to hear more of Georgeson's thoughts on 3-D in EverQuest II as well as a get tantalizing sneak peek at the game's future!
The Game Archaeologist sees The Shadow of Yserbius
Really, I blame my parents for not being filthy rich. If they were, we could've afforded the $130/month unlimited subscription fee to the ImagiNation Network (INN) back in the early '90s. Just think! All of the gaming, the socializing, and the roleplaying that you could handle -- for such a low price! I mean, sure, there were hourly options, but who'd want to play for a mere five hours a month? So instead of becoming part of a growing online community, I had to be content with my SNES and copy of Chrono Trigger -- hard times, indeed. Sometimes I think how my life would've been different if we had subscribed to Sierra's colorful online world, because I would've had a chance to get in on one of the first graphical MMOs: The Shadow of Yserbius. It was a step forward in graphic quality from the text-only MUDs of the day but perhaps a step backward from the complexity that many MUDs brought to the table. Still, for a few shining years, it entranced thousands who lined up to delve dungeons deeply alongside their friends (and a couple of complete strangers with odor disorders). Today we're going to take a quick peek at one of the first MMOs that stepped into the realm of lush color and animations and see what made The Shadow of Yserbius so enduring.
ASUS' 12x BW-12D1S-U external Blu-ray writer: world's fastest, until the next one
Fed up with the simply unacceptable performance of your external Blu-ray writer? Of course you are. ASUS feels your pain, and it's looking to ease it with the soothing balm of the BW-12D1S-U, a new 12X, USB 3.0 burner. The highly capable (and highly complex, we're surmising) BW-12D1S-U offers realtime 2D to 3D conversion, 1080p video output and support for the usual complement of HD audio formats. But does it have a jewel-like, almost ominous translucent blue power button, you ask? Indeed it does, not to mention a sleek black finish and the ability to operate horizontally or vertically. The outfit has yet to put a price on having the fastest writer on the block, but don't even pretend that you wouldn't pay it. Whatever "it" ends up being.
World's first 3D microlaser created, has a gooey Bragg-onion center
Solid-state lasers are fine, durable and reliable and all that, but what if you want something a little softer, maybe a little more conforming to your needs and moods? Or, what if you want something that can beam light in all directions at once? Then you need to go liquid, baby, liquid. That's what Slovenian scientists (and diacritic wunderkinds) Matjaž Humar and Igor Muševič have done, creating, in their words, "3D microlasers from self-assembled cholesteric liquid-crystal microdroplets." Various layers of fluids form what's called a Bragg-onion optical microcavity, including embedded crystals not unlike those that flip the tiny switches in an LCD. These blobs are self-assembled chemically and, when a little laser is applied to them, can create a 3D image by shining their light in every dimension simultaneously. Well, not every one -- you know the Fifth Dimension can only be seen if you let the sunshine in.
First PS3 3D game updates available in Japan on June 10
Sony Japan has announced the first games to be updated for 3D in that region -- a set of games corresponding to those included with Sony Europe's Bravia promotion. Super Stardust HD, Pain, and WipeOut HD will all be patched to support 3D for those in Japan with fancy enough TVs on June 10. Like in Europe, new Bravia buyers in Japan will be treated to all three of these 3D games for free, along with a 3D MotorStorm Pacific Rift demo. For those not buying a new TV, the 3D update for WipeOut and Super Stardust will still be free (even if the games aren't). Pain, however, lives up to its name with a ¥300 ($3.28) charge to add the new 3D mode. Now that near-identical details and launch dates have been released for 3D support in Japan and Europe, we can safely guess that a similar promotion will be on the way in North America. [Via Andriasang]
Killzone 3 revealed in next GamePro -- and it's 3-D
One of Sony's major E3 titles has been revealed slightly ahead of time. Sony and Guerrilla Games are delivering on Jack Tretton's impromptu promise: Killzone 3 is real, and you'll be able to see it for yourself in the July issue of GamePro, on shelves June 1. A subscriber spilled the Helghan beans on the GameSpot forums, also revealing that the game is playable in 3-D, with the effect requiring the use of glasses (oh, and a 3-D-capable television). GamePro has confirmed the cover story to Joystiq. That means that Killzone 3 is going to be a showpiece for Sony's 3-D technology, and therefore we should probably expect to hear a lot about it at the company's E3 presentation.
Avatar movie producer interested in Avatar MMO
var digg_url = 'http://digg.com/pc_games/Avatar_movie_producer_interested_in_Avatar_MMO'; It probably shouldn't come as much of a surprise. James Cameron's Avatar caught the attention of gamers from the moment the first trailer was released. Its appearance alone was extremely familiar to anyone who's spent more than a few minutes in any number of fantasy MMOs, and the movie's plot centered around what could be called the most immersive MMO ever. The movie has already been turned into a single player game, and now our friends at G4TV report that Producer Jon Landau says he's "very interested" in the creation of an Avatar MMO. Before you groan in despair, hear him out. The focus doesn't seem to be on shoving something out the door right away while the money machine is still running at full speed: "it's something we'd want to do, would be very interested in doing, but we'd have to do it right. To create those worlds is sometimes a long time endeavor." Landau continues by exploring the concept of 3-D gaming -- a feature that would be almost a given in an Avatar MMO: "I think that the addition of 3-D in gaming tends to be more transformative than 3-D is to movies. [...] I think we're starting to see the start of 3-D becoming commonplace in gaming." Follow along after the jump to see the full video of Landau's talk with G4TV.
No 3D Blu-ray movie support for PS3 this summer
While an upcoming June PS3 firmware update will bring support for 3D games, it looks like console owners will have to wait to watch 3D Blu-ray movies. According to Tech Radar site Home Cinema Choice, the upcoming PS3 firmware update will not enable support for 3D Blu-rays. In other words, you can enjoy those free games you'll get with that fancy new Bravia 3D TV, but don't bother picking up Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs. At least, not right away. 3D movie support is expected to arrive with another firmware update later this year. [Via 1UP]
MotoGP dev keen on Natal head tracking, 3DTV
Speaking to CVG, MotoGP lead designer Greg Bryant discussed the future of the series on both the Xbox 360 and PS3. Bryant said the development team plans to incorporate Natal support into MotoGP 10/11 in order to implement head tracking. According to Bryant, "the future for [Natal] is through head tracking in racing games." As for future iterations on the PS3, he noted that the team plans to use stereoscopic 3D and "theoretically" enable head tracking with the Playstation Eye. Honestly, if it turns out anything like this, consider us stoked.
Ubisoft envisions a future of 3-D movies, games
Older readers out there might think that the 3D gaming revolution began with the advent of consoles like the PlayStation, N64 and the Sega Saturn, but the real 3D gaming revolution is just beginning, according to Ubisoft. 3D gaming doesn't refer to three dimensional graphics anymore; nowadays it means that the game jumps out of the screen and into your eye holes. Beginning with the game adaptation of James Cameron's Avatar, Ubisoft Montreal's Yannis Mallat tells the Financial Post that he sees the company becoming a "360-degree entertainment content provider." As the wording suggests, Ubisoft's future won't necessarily be restricted to games. Mallat hopes that future game consoles will be able to render photorealistic graphics, enabling Ubisoft to create games and films using the same assets -- similar to what the company did with the Assassin's Creed: Lineage short films. Of course, enjoying this "360-degree entertainment" will require a special television set. Still, Mallat is firmly behind the technology, saying that it does for images what Dolby did for sound. "No one wants to go back to mono," says Mallat. That's all well and good, but a huge number of gamers have yet to even upgrade to an HDTV at all, let alone one that can take advantage of 3D technology. [Via VideoGamer]
Sony: No plan to launch 3-D support for all PS3 games
Hold on before you run out to buy a new TV! You may have seen the report on Engadget stating that, according to a Sony rep, all PS3 games will run in 3-D with a software update next year. We contacted Sony ourselves to learn more about what sounded like a major megaton to let slip at a trade show. Sony told us that the company is "conducting a technological investigation" of whether it's even possible to do that. As for specifics: "there is no plan for the market launch of this at this time."If you're dying to look at a 3-D game right now, Engadget also captured a video of Wipeout HD being played in 3-D, which you can see above. For some reason, the 3-D effect doesn't come through when viewed in an embedded video recording -- even with the glasses in front of the lens. Sony really needs to work on that.
Impressions: James Cameron's Avatar
Today being "Avatar Day" (what, didn't your calendar tell you?), we figured it's the perfect time to fill you in on what we've seen of the gaming side of James Cameron's much-talked-about mega-project, James Cameron's Avatar. The Game, as it's subtitled, is split into two distinct products on consoles. (Additionally, there will be portable versions for DS and PSP.) The games aren't typical movie-license rehashes and tell their own stories, separate in plot from the movie, in turn contributing unique elements to the Avatar universe.Ubisoft likens Avatar to Harry Potter, "an incredible entertainment phenomenon." Understandably, you might not have made the same connection, but then, the marketing push is only now beginning to rev up (did you catch the movie trailer yet?). Excuse us then, if we prematurely deflate some air out of the tires: Xbox 360(PS3/PC) Wii Jump to a platform-specific preview above or read both after the break.
Fujifilm's FinePix Real 3D camera to launch in September, cost around $600
It's been a while since we've heard anything about Fujifilm's FinePix Real 3D camera, but as the twin-lensed shooter nears that scheduled September release some more details are spilling out -- including the price, which will be "around $600" at launch. Yeah, it's steep, and that's not all: to properly view the images you'll need to either shell out for special prints with a plastic lenticular lens on it or buy a special stereoscopic LCD photo frame, and none of that really screams "cheap." Honestly, our instinct would be to spend all that scratch on a good DSLR or even something like the Olympus E-P1, but there's always a chance Fujifilm's about to reveal the public's deep-rooted desire for 3D snapshots. We'll see -- anyone dying for one of these?[Thanks, ED]
