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"SNAP" and virtual transference
Cheyenne Mountain Entertainment and their newly formed publishing company FireSky have some incredibly huge plans for the future of gaming. Stargate Worlds, the virtual MMO of the hit television show, is just the tip of the proverbial iceberg. Joe Ybarra, FireSky's Senior VP of Strategic Operations, recently spilled the beans about some of those plans... and they are nothing short of revolutionary.FireSky was created to publish SGW for a very simple reason. CME felt that they knew their product better then anyone else, and because they already had in-house talent with backgrounds in publishing, they figured why not do it all? With an already established focus on the service aspect of their product they truly believed they could create a customer support organization and technical infrastructure that was superior to anything out there. That in and of itself is a very bold move, one that not many companies would even consider let alone actually implement.But FireSky has a far greater purpose then just game publishing.
Jumpgate Evolution: Combat controls
Jumpgate Evolution is a space combat MMO. How players control their ships will be instrumental to the enjoyment of the game. When you think of joysticks and flight sticks you likely think of highly detailed flight simulators and not massively multiplayer games. But if that's all you think about then you've likely never heard of, let alone played, the greatness that was some of the X-Wing, TIE Fighter and Wing Commander games. JGE plans on bringing back the joystick and - as Ten Ton Hammer's Cody "Micajah" Bye calls it - the "strap yourself in" mentality. I couldn't have said it better myself. Bye sat down with NetDevil's Hermann Peterscheck and asked him about their game's combat controls. Aside from the basic keyboard and mouse setup, players with very elaborate control setups will be able to use those as well. But the gaming control goodness doesn't end there. NetDevil is also supporting more advanced input devices such as TrackIR, and will continue to evaluate other brand spanking new hardware as it becomes available. JGE will also provide both third and first person modes, giving players the ultimate choice in how they want to play. So if you can't find a setup you like, well... lighten up. You're too finicky. But won't people with a tricked out setup have an unfair advantage over those with just a lil ole mouse and keyboard? Find out after the break!
Jumping through the Gate: Factions and Missions
Ten Ton Hammer has posted another of their Jumpgate Evolution bi-weekly interviews, this time with Hermann Peterscheck, Producer for JGE. In this installment, Peterscheck answers questions about the game's factions and missions.While reading through the Q&A I was comforted by the fact that Peterscheck continues to push the idea that JGE doesn't have hard and fast rules, and that they are trying to put as much of the game's outcome into the hands of the players (through their choices) as possible. This was something he mentioned during his interview about death and roleplaying as well, so it really does seem like something they intend to follow through with. In this case, while players will have to choose what nation to play (Quantar, Solrain or Octavius) there are no rules about allegiances, thus factions can interact in a myriad of ways with all of them.
Is it time to get your joystick on?
TenTonHammer's daily Loading... column is usually scribed by John "Boomjack" Hoskin, but today's blogisode ("Get your joysticks ready") is written by Managing Editor Cody "Micajah" Bye. I like Cody's point of view (not that I don't like Boomjack's) mostly because he and I seem to share a lot of the same game likes and dislikes. Much like my fellow bemoan-er of sword and sorcery games here at Massively - Samuel Axon. But I digress...Cody tackles hype. A topic that could easily be taken up as a doctoral thesis at any major college. In particular though Cody addresses the over-the-top game hype surrounding "better known" games like Warhammer Online, Age of Conan, Stargate Worlds, and The Agency. That my friends is only four of the 5..6..7..8... oh hell, I lost count. Well, the innumerable MMO's slated to come out this year alone. Can you say: saturation point?However, as Cody points out there's one game that has slipped quietly under the radar (much like Michael Jackson has over the last few years). And it's left both of us wondering why. That game? NetDevil's Jumpgate Evolution. Oh sure, NetDevil might have slammed headfirst into a concrete wall with Auto Assault, but Jumpgate has been around much longer. NetDevil's just reimagining it, much like the Sci-Fi Channel did to Battlestar Galactica, and based on what I've seen thus far I expect the same out of nowhere, smash hit experience.But what really got me stoked while reading Cody's article was this comparison: "Jumpgate Evolution may finally be the game that reaches out to those gamers who cut their teeth on products like X-Wing vs. Tie Fighter or the Wing Commander series." Oh sweet mother! For those of you old enough (like myself) to have played any of these games (X-Wing and TIE Fighter are usually on many veteran PC gamers top ten games of ALL TIME list) when they originally released - then you have truly lived. One of gaming's great mysteries has always been why LucasArts never bothered to redo or expand on them. So if NetDevil can turn Jumpgate Evolution into the space flight experience those phenomenal games offered, and morph it into an MMO... well, as the title says, it really will be time to (dust off and) get your joystick on!
