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SMITE world champions receive million dollar prize, new character revealed
Tempted to proclaim yourself the best SMITE player in the world? Unless you are one of these five people, there is now demonstrable evidence that you are not on top. The first World Championship for SMITE is over, and the team known as Cognitive Prime has taken home the title and half of the $2.6 million prize pool. Worldwide viewers for the stream over the weekend came out to 78,000 people, which doesn't quite compare to the turnouts at better-known competitive gaming championships like League of Legends. But SMITE's prize pool was larger than the pools for any LoL tournament; in fact, it's the third largest e-sports prize pool ever, behind Dota 2's The International tourney's 2013 and 2014 pools. Coinciding with tournament was the reveal of SMITE's newest god, Hou Yi, Defender of the Earth. He justifies this lofty title with a variety of ranged attacks, movement tricks, and a high resistance to critical hits. Check him out in action just past the break. [Thanks to Sorenthaz for the tip!]
One Shots: Brain Boy
Boy howdy, I do love seeing the wonderfully bizarre superheroes that players can whip up in MMOs. Here's another winner from reader Dynatos, who shows off a rather... unique hero from Champions Online. "Born with an oversized (and over-active!) brain, Alistair Chester Grayson VI was never content with his 'weak' flesh -- so he put his brain to work augmenting his body with cyborg components he created!" Dynatos revealed. "Here he is hovering over the Renaissance Center." Want to be featured in a future edition of One Shots? Send your favorite MMO screenshots to oneshots@massively.com, and don't forget to include your name, the name of the game, and a description of the scene. Large, colorful, UI-free shots that tell a story and really show off the game make for the best images. Look ma, we brought back One Shots!
Settle those sports arguments with Who Won Sports
Many of us love to argue or rather have animated discussions about a variety of topics, politics, religion, where to go for the best hamburger and the king of argument starters: Sports. Now with Who Won Sports you and your friends can settle those disagreements by just pulling out your phone and using this free universal app. Who Won Sports is a simple app that tells you at a glance just what the name implies, who won. You will find team championships, individual award winners and more for all the major sports. Choose your sport, then select which category you want and Who Won Sports in most cases, provides you with a list of winners by year going back as far back as the beginning of the competition or as long as the award has been given. In the baseball category you can choose from twenty-two different championships or awards. You will find World Series winners going back to 1903, Cy Young winners, home run champs, Gold Glove winners, Manager of the Year awards for both leagues and many more including the winners of the College World Series in Omaha and the first player picked in the annual amateur draft held each summer. Did you know Rick Monday was the very first player picked back in 1965? You would if you had Who Won Sports. Overall the app has eight categories from which to choose: baseball, football, basketball, soccer, tennis, golf, hockey, and the Canadian Football League. Golf and tennis feature the four grand slam events in each sport. Tennis includes the Women's winners but no LPGA winners in golf. However the app does include Ryder Cup winners. Who Won Sports makes it much easier to access all this data than using a browser and search engine on your phone. The navigation within the app is a breeze. However I did find a couple of issues that troubled me. For baseball and hockey you will get the winners in whatever year you select but nothing about which team they beat or how many games the series took. However, in the NBA you get a paragraph detailing the outcome of the series and the number of games. In the football category the listing is for NFL Champions but only goes back to the first Super Bowl in 1967. For each winner it tells you what number Super Bowl it was, where it was played and the two teams that played. Why do they provide more details for two of the sports but not the others? Also what about all the NFL Championship games that were played before the Super Bowl started. And what about the American Football League? After all without the success of the AFL, we would have never had a Super Bowl. A little more attention and information would have made this app more complete. I believe you will find Who Won Sports a handy app to keep on your phone and for the most part it will settle a lot of discussions about who won what. You won't find the answer to who is the greatest NFL quarterback of all time but you can see who won the 1928 Stanley Cup if that become important - It was the New York Rangers if you need to know.
One Shots: Snowblind
Water comes in many forms: gas, liquid, squirt gun, and cheaper beverage option to Olive Garden's wine menu. It can also be frozen in a variety of ways, which makes it perfect for an aquatic-themed expansion as seen in our first screenshot for the week. "Here's a picture from RIFT's expansion, Nightmare Tide," reader Bill sent in. "This is from the glacier area above the main city. The main city is deep underwater and is protected by a blue 'bubble' that extends just above the water line. To reach the upper areas, you use a bouncer (near portals) that shoots you up and into the water." Caution: Do not look at this screenshot for too long, lest you be robbed of your sight by the blinding glare.
Infinite Crisis recruits Nightmare Robin and Atomic Joker
An absolutely massive update for Infinite Crisis has landed, boasting over 6,000 changes and tweaks, not to mention the addition of a pair of new champions: Nightmare Robin and Atomic Joker. Nightmare Robin is actually Bruce Wayne's son Damian, who got infected with the vampiric curse and is a little miffed at being one of the undead. At least he has two large knives and a lot of bleeding-edge training to compensate. Atomic Joker is a bit more lighthearted, what with being a head in a jar who is trying to rebuild civilization in his image. The September release overhauled the launcher, improved the new player experience, polished many of the map visuals, tweaked animations, and added a Crime Alley map where champions can test out skills against the computer. You can check out Atomic Joker and Nightmare Robin in the gallery below and in the videos after the break.
Jukebox Heroes: Chatting with Neverwinter's Kevin Manthei
This week on Jukebox Heroes, we're sitting down with Cryptic Studios Composer Kevin Manthei to talk about his work on the studio's most recent title, Neverwinter. So Kevin, Can you introduce yourself and give us a little background on you and your history with the company? Kevin Manthei: Hi! I am Kevin Manthei, a Minnesota-born, California-living composer. I write music for film, TV and games. I have been doing this for over 20 years and have worked with most of the big publishers in the gaming world and have scored music on feature and indie films, television shows, and animated projects. Currently I just finished scoring the Guardians of the Galaxy section of Disney's Infinity 2 video game and am in the middle of scoring Season 3 of the Ultimate Spider-Man animated series for Marvel/Disney XD. I also recently started work on the animated series Transformers: Robots In Disguise for Hasbro/The Hub network. I have been working with Cryptic on music for its games since City of Villains. I have scored music for City of Villains, Champions Online, Star Trek Online and Neverwinter. Each project I worked on for more than a year, and each game has about 100 minutes of music I scored.
Champions' Steel Crusade now live with new instances and more
Champions Online's newest content update is now available. Steel Crusade finds Millennium City under attack by Mechanon, "a robot supervillain determined to eradicate all organic life." The drop includes three new instances, a new mission hub (the United Nations Tribunal on International Law space station), and a Reawakened Automaton Archetype. [Source: Perfect World press release]
The first chunk of Champions Online's Steel Crusade is live
As we previewed back in August, the first leg of Champions Online's Steel Crusade update went live last week. Your task in the update? Stop people from spontaneously bursting into flames. No, really. The Steel Crusade update begins in Millennium City, where things are really heating up as citizens are spontaneously bursting into flame. With the help of Professor Silverback, you'll need to help save citizens by shrinking down to microscopic size to enter the human brain and investigate the cause of the malady. The update introduces a new archetype for max level characters (Reawakened Automaton), new missions to combat Mechanon, and yeah, a new lockbox with a chance at new costumes and a vehicle. The second and final part of the update launches this Thursday with a "space-station showdown."
League of Legends spotlights Gnar in a new video
So you've heard a lot about the newest League of Legends champion, Gnar. You've read about his abilities. But do you know how to play him? Have you seen him in action? Then perhaps you should watch the newest spotlight video, which sheds some light on how to play the angry little guy -- which is good, since Gnar is currently the only champion whose transformation doesn't lie under the direct control of the player. The video gives an overview of Gnar's abilities in both forms, then runs through a quick guide to handling combat situations with the hoppy little bundle of rage. Essentially, it's all about keeping an eye on when you'll transform and making the most of the situation, hopping in and out as the change takes you and wears off. Take a look at the video just past the break for a more visual demonstration of how to make the most of the character.
Champions Online brings the Steel Crusade on September 4th
If you've been sitting around in Champions Online and cooling your cape for a while, you'll be happy to know that a new update is dropping in September, and it's a big one. Partly because players will be facing off against Mechanon, and he's pretty large to begin with. But it's also an update that introduces several new areas, a new mission arc, and a new experience for players who have hit the level cap and want something new to do. Steel Crusade is a two-part update that starts with players finding people bursting into flames across Millennium City in an adventure that leads inside the bodies of the victims to identify the source of this affliction. Ultimately, the arc culminates in a direct attack on Mechanon's orbital station... followed by an anniversary event that pits players against Mechanon himself in a world boss encounter. It also introduces something that City of Heroes veterans will find familiar in the form of the Reawakened Automaton: a new archetype available to experienced players with unique perks.
League of Legends properly introduces Gnar
After teasing players about the nature of the newest champion arriving in League of Legends, Riot Games has provided a full introduction for the prehistoric yordle known as Gnar. He looks nice enough, actually, even sort of cute. At least until he gets angry and transforms into Mega Gnar, a hulking brute who's happy to crush everything in his path and then start down a new path so he can crush more things. Anger issues, in short. So how does Gnar play? It's all about managing the rage. In mini form, he's a quick attacker with some range who also has access to a handy escape ability. When he enrages, though, he's a tank-happy fighter with plenty of durability and burst damage. Both forms have their own weaknesses and strengths, so the art of playing him comes down to carefully maximizing his fits of rage before getting back out of danger. After all, who'd believe the little cute guy could get that angry?
League of Legends previews Gnar without a word
Who is Gnar? An upcoming champion for League of Legends. How does he or she play? We don't know. All we know is a little bit of what Gnar is all about, and that is shown in a quick teaser site that manages to convey a story without using a single word other than Gnar's name. Gnar seems like a pretty happy sort at first, but when a calamity befell Gnar's family, Gnar didn't handle it too well. Gnar can be seen breaking out of an ice tomb and setting forth on what we can only assume will be a rampage filled with enemy champions. Take a glance at the preview page to watch the whole thing play out, and keep your eyes peeled for more information on how Gnar will play. (Speculation has him focused on crowd control and area denial.)
The Daily Grind: Is there an MMO you're too wary to play?
Ever since City of Heroes was abruptly and unjustly sunsetted, I've toyed with the idea of giving Champions Online another spin. It can never be everything City of Heroes was to me, but it has a lot of the same ideas behind it, and it's closer in spirit and gameplay to my beloved CoH than the admittedly few other superhero options on the table. But Champions Online has been so spottily supported by its developers over the last few years that I have a nagging suspicion I'd just be wasting my time, that the game is locked into a cycle of decay that will only frustrate me in the long run if I invest too much time, money, or emotion into it. And that's enough to keep me away. How about you -- is there an MMO you'd like to play but that just makes you too wary to actually jump back in? What specifically is holding you back? 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!
League of Legends introduces Braum, the Heart of the Freljord
For too long, there's been a hole in the many champions of League of Legends. Braum, the Heart of the Freljord, fills that hole, introducing the first truly impressive moustache to the game and allowing everyone to marvel at every perfectly waxed hair. Oh, and he also serves as a tank support character, which is also a first, but mostly it's about that glorious lip-blanket. Right, you probably want to know a little bit more about what Braum can do. Well, he applies a stacking debuff that stuns enemies with his basic attack, but once the first tap is in place, attacks from allies will also increase the stack count. He also attacks with line-based AoE attacks that snare targets, blocks attacks with his enormous shield, and can dash to his allies to help protect them from further attacks. In short, he's a traditional MMO tank tearing up the League of Legends lanes. And he has a moustache. Did we mention that?
The Game Archaeologist: The danger of expecting lightning to strike twice
It's no secret that many of the more successful Kickstarter projects over the past few years have heavily capitalized on player nostalgia, brand names, and former dev gods who are back for another round. The formula for drawing in the big bucks seems to be the following: Take something players hugely loved back in the day, dangle the concept of a sequel (spiritual or otherwise), and promise some measure of iterative improvement. I once wrote about how we really can't go back again to recreate a particular game experience because it was usually a confluence of several factors that were related to where the industry was then and where you were then. I'm not saying that there isn't value to retro gaming, playing classic MMOs, or involving the past in future development! But there is a danger in how we as gamers become so beholden to our nostalgia that we dare lightning to strike twice -- and we're paying big bucks to see that happen. But can we? Will it?
Champions Online hosts FoxbatCon in-game
We're moving into the heart of convention season, when people move across the country to stand in lines and buy trinkets representing our favorite hobbies. So why not also pick up some trinkets in Champions Online to represent your character's favorite hobbies? It's time for FoxbatCon, the in-game event that celebrates the intensely campy 1960s television series focused around the roguish scamp known as Foxbat. After all, who wouldn't want to be surrounded by cosplayers inside of a superhero game? The FoxbatCon event will run until April 11th, allowing players to pick up Foxbat Swag Bags from defeated villains full of convention-themed prizes. Players can also take part in missions (some of which will be introduced during the event) to earn Foxbat Creds, which can be redeemed for even more con swag. If you're eager to celebrate the camp value of an old (fictional) show, jump into the game now for the full experience. [Thanks to matixzun for the tip!]
Perfect Ten: Game franchises that became MMOs
Popular franchises have been known to jump between various entertainment media, from games to television to movies to comic books and even to pogs. We should not gasp in utter amazement that this is also the case with many of our beloved MMOs; we should nod sagely and accept the terrible truth. There are several video game franchises that have culminated in -- or at least have taken a detour through -- the land of MMOs. For gamers who wanted more and especially did not want to see their journey end, an MMO continuation is a welcome answer that's usually hiding its own problems. But nevermind that; let's march down the halls of history and see the yearbook photos of these franchises when they were young!
Champions Online's rampage revamp goes live
Rampages are all the rage in Champions Online, as Cryptic has pushed live a patch to both revamp several old ones and add in a new rampage to the mix. The revamped rampages include the UNTIL Sky Command, Gravitar, and the Lemurian Invasion, while the new one is called Fire and Ice. Rampages rotate every three days, offering players a different challenging experience and a shot at Justice gear and costume pieces. With the patch, Champions Online also added in new private queues, a Magic Girl costume set, and the petal cloud aura. The latter two are available through the in-game store.
Massively's Valentine's Day roundup
When a mob hits your eye with a big sharpened spike... that's not really amore! In fact, it's downright painful. But it's February -- a time when love is in the air, hearts are aflutter everywhere, and pink and red festoon your favorite MMOs. So in the spirit of the season, go ahead and give that mob an extra-hard love tap, right from... er, to the heart! And don't forget to collect whatever treasures it had for you because we all know Valentine's Day isn't all about the love; no, it's about the loot! Want to know where to get your hands on something special for this holiday? There are plenty of celebrations throughout the MMOverse offering a plethora of events and goodies. Check out some of the various Valentine's events and specials going on now.
Massively exclusive: Champions Online gears up for a rampage
Are you ready to go on a rampage in Champions Online? Good, because there's a big Rampage revamp on its way to the game that should provide players with a lot of new things to do. Three missions are getting a full redo with rewards and challenges tweaked, and a brand-new Rampage is being added to the game, giving veteran players a chance to group up and pit themselves against the toughest opponents Millennium City and points related has to offer. The new Fire and Ice Rampage pits players against two villains originally designed by a player, and the title alone should give you some idea about what's coming. Meanwhile, the Gravitar, Lemurian Invasion, and Sky Carrier have been turned into proper Rampages with an updated set of items and costume pieces on offer. Check out the preview gallery, and click past the cut for all the details on this upcoming addition.
