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Captain's Log: Interview with Star Trek Online's Christine Thompson, part two
Loyal Massively readers will know that just after the launch of Star Trek Online's first expansion, the Legacy of Romulus, I visited Cryptic Studios and met with several members of the Star Trek Online development team. This week I'm picking up where I left off in my conversation with Star Trek Online's lead writer, Christine "CrypticKestrel" Thompson. Join me past the jump to see what more she had to say about the challenges of writing within accepted canon as well as creating a more personal tale for STO players.
Captain's Log: Interview with Star Trek Online's Daniel Stahl, part two
I recently had the opportunity to travel to Northern California and stop by and spend some time with the Star Trek Online team at Cryptic Studios. This week I continue my series of interviews with the team with part two of my conversation with Star Trek Online Executive Producer Daniel Stahl. Take a leap past the break and read more about what Stahl had to say about the new trait system, what a new level cap raise might entail, and his own involvement with writing new story content for the Klingon faction!
Massively's tour of Final Fantasy XI's March update
Eight years doesn't sound like a very long time unless you're talking about MMOs. Then it's the equivalent of dog years, only larger. But Final Fantasy XI has been running for all that time, and the game is still running strong -- and more to the point, bringing out a number of updates, improvements, and other positives for the game. Even as a veteran player, I haven't seen all of the content that's out there -- really, I'd be surprised if I've done much more than scratch the surface. I was given the lucky opportunity to get a guided tour of all the improvements and new content that the game had added with the most recent update, and it's certainly one of the more impressive drops the game has seen. Two entirely new summons, a new quest type, the penultimate missions in Wings of the Goddess, new Notorious Monsters, new areas... it's dwarfing to even consider it. I only had a chance to hit the highlights, and even then it was a lot to cover. So jump on past the cut, and see what's there to be seen.
More on Final Fantasy XI's VanaFest prize and March update
Although VanaFest 2010 is moving into the memories (fond or otherwise) of Final Fantasy XI fans everywhere, there are still bits and pieces that remained unanswered questions. For instance, what exactly are the prized Chocobo Berets going to do when players get their hands on them? Thanks to Corinth on the popular fan translation site JP Button, we finally have our answer: they turn players into chocobos. Using the hat turns everyone in the party into an egg which, when hatched (by removing the buff), will temporarily turn a player into an adolescent chocobo that improves their movement speed somewhat. High time to start making friends with attendees or trivia contest winners for that. The translated information also points to the hats being available with the March version update, which looks to be going live on March 23rd. The VanaFest site has a full breakdown of what's due with the update, but in short it's set to include the penultimate parts of the Wings of the Goddess storyline, job adjustments, and the long-awaited Odin and Alexander summon spells. It's also introducing the new "Trial of the Magians" quests. so the end of the month promises to be very busy for Final Fantasy XI -- even if you're not waiting to hatch from a hat-induced egg.
Motorola's Sawgrass, Android-powered Heron do the vertical slide onto AT&T?
The previously rumored Motorola portrait QWERTY slider Iron Man has popped up again, this time as the AT&T-bound Heron, with listed specs being a 2.8-inch touch screen, 3 megapixel camera with flash, aGPS, 3G, and a big red "subject to change" notice since the device has moved to (drumroll, please) Android OS. Planned availability is said to be November 2nd here, but we suspect these slides are a bit dated and that may ultimately be wholly off target. Also on the menu is another portrait slider, the Sawgrass. This one may in fact be Alexander, and if that's the case, at least we've got a cleaner press shot to put on its tombstone. Then again, we hear from Boy Genius Report that it's reincarnated under the name Somerset. The information you (probably) seek is in the gallery below.
Motorola cancels Alexander smartphone?
So much for the "last stand," huh? After getting pictured way back in August of last year, Motorola has quietly let CES, Mobile World Congress and (almost) CTIA slip by with nary a peep on why this thing has yet to ship. We'd initially heard that Q4 2008 was the window, and then Q1 2009; just last week, we heard that Moto could be shooting out ten new smartphones in the latter half of this year, but evidently this one won't be included. According to the always questionable DigiTimes, Motorola has inexplicably "canceled the planned launch of the Alexander handset and also reduced the number of markets in which it will sell its A3100 smartphone," though it gave no reason as to why. Is it sad that we're not at all saddened? Onward and upward, we say.[Via WMPowerUser]
Motorola's Attila and Alexander set to launch Q1 '09?
Motorola's dandy duo seem set to have their debutante ball sometime in Q1 2009. DigiTimes is reporting that Compal Communications has apparently already received the order for the two new sets that were originally meant to ship this quarter. Of course, we'd also like to see Motorola launch these two things in a more official manner, and with both CES and MWC just around the corner, we'll hopefully get a little more intimate with them soon. Still no word on pricing, but if we hear anything, we'll holler.[Via Unwired View]
Motorola Alexander and Attila spotted, but not clearly
This is really just confirmation of existence more than anything, given that we've already seen purported shots of both the Attila and Alexander before, but at least we're assured that these forthcoming Motorola smartphones are more than just subjects of one's Photoshopping escapades. The image you see above is accompanied by no additional information whatsoever, but we must say, these look strangely seductive in greyscale. Could these really be the first truly black-and-white handsets? Do it Moto, we dare you.
Motorola Alexander gets pictured: WinMo 6.1, NVIDIA graphics, Q4 release
Surely that "last stand" Motorola handset is still burned into your memory, right? No? Anywho, said mobile was just given a face courtesy of Boy Genius, and it's an, um, interesting face at that. We'll let you be the judge on its unsightliness (or beauty, depending on inebriation level), but aside from design, we're expecting this one to include Windows Mobile 6.1, NVIDIA graphics, a 5- to 8-megapixel camera, A-GPS and a Q4 release date. As always, we'll be keeping an ear to the ground for more.
Blu-ray movie releases for the week of Sept. 16th
It looks like Sony and the rest of the Blu-ray crew are ensuring our feelings aren't still hurt from that fiasco a few weeks ago as we're getting 13 titles to choose from this week. Troy: Director's Cut Smallville: The Complete Sixth Season Alexander Revisted: The Final Cut A Few Good Men The Condemned We Are Marshall Deliverance House of 1000 Corpses Viva Las Vegas The Best of Blu-ray, Vol. 1 The Best of Blu-ray, Vol. 2 The Best of Blu-ray, Vol. 3 Jailhouse Rock Not only does this week's releases feature a great assortment of movies any guy would love, it also includes three volumes of The Best of Blu-ray, which feature four classic movies in each set. What really makes these collections great, though, is the incredible savings you get. Each set is currently on sale at $58 at Amazon - that's like getting two movies free!
Total War: Eras arrives next week
Available in Europe since May, Sega's Total War: Eras will finally arrive in the States next week. For $60, this series-spanning collection includes the Shogun, Medieval, and Rome titles, as well as last month's Alexander digital download. All seven games have averaged a composite metascore of 85, and Eras offers significant savings over the separate collections, so this should be a worthwhile purchase for action-strategy fans.Medieval 2: Total War doesn't ship until November, but GameSpot has an updated designer diary and a new trailer for the fourth installment of the franchise.
