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SOE enlists comic book writer Marv Wolfman to pen PlanetSide 2 backstory
Comic book writer Marv Wolfman is taking a cue from his superhero stories to team up forces once again with a powerful ally -- in this case, Sony Online Entertainment. The writer, who last worked on DC Universe Online, has now returned to the studio to flesh out the backstory for the upcoming PlanetSide 2. Wolfman is in charge of writing a series of fictional episodes depicting the life and history of the people of Auraxis and the rising war between the three factions of the game. He's pretty jazzed about the opportunity: "I'm thrilled to be working with SOE again. Not only do I get to take elements from the original PlanetSide and further develop an extensive backstory that can help players more fully understand this incredible new world, but even better, I get to create dozens of individual characters that I hope will help bring alive the story of PlanetSide 2 for the entire player community." In a dev diary, Creative Director Matthew Higby stresses that it's important to have not just a solid game but a believable world in which that game can take place. "Beyond grounding the design of the world, the story gives meaning to who the people fighting on it are, how they got there, their motivations and what their conflict signifies," Higby writes. The first of these episodes will be released on the PlanetSide 2 site later this week.
Apple stops renting TV shows in iTunes, could be working on a new kind of video service
Apple has pulled the plug on TV episode rentals via iTunes, abruptly leaving customers with only the option of purchasing per episode -- good thing you can watch those on your Apple TV streamed from the cloud -- or a Season Pass where available. AllThingsD has a quote from spokesman Tom Neumayr indicating this was in response to customers that "overwhelmingly prefer buying TV shows." Making the timing of the move particularly curious are once-again renewed rumors of an Apple HDTV and a WSJ profile of new CEO Tim Cook that indicates the company is "working on new technology to deliver video to televisions, and has been discussing whether to try to launch a subscription TV service." Like Google, any move depends on its success in negotiating a new delivery model from the networks, who so far have been averse to anything that threatens their existing relationship with pay-TV providers. It appears 99-cent rentals didn't move the needle, so we'll wait and see what the folks from Cupertino have up their sleeve next. [Thanks to everyone who sent this in]
Apple TV streams purchased TV shows -- not just rentals -- from the cloud after update
Don't think Apple's forgotten about its little hobby, as the second generation Apple TV is getting an update today that lets users buy TV shows and stream them (in high definition) directly to the device, with the additional bonus of streaming access to previously purchased shows. That brings a new feeling of permanence -- already available from others like Zune and Vudu -- to the cloud atmosphere around Apple's hockey puck, but it also means being $2.99 invested in rewatching that episode of Leverage down the road instead of opting for a 99-cent rental. The other new feature listed for this update is access to the streaming site Vimeo, but since the official support site is still only listing info for the 4.2.2 version posted in May, any other details are unknown so far. Update: The official notes for v4.3 are on the support page now, and yep, that's all there is.
Monkey Island episodes come to iPad, 4 and 5 available free with survey on Wii
Telltale Games has posted an online survey for gamers researching a little bit about your buying and playing habits, and in return for completing it, you can grab copies of the Tales of Monkey Island episodes 4 and 5 on WiiWare for free. Just fill out the required questions over on SurveyMonkey Island (man we're funny), put in your Wii code, and boom, you're playing the last two episodes of the series for zero dollars. What's that? You also want to play the first three, but didn't pick them up in that Steam sale? You're in luck -- the series is also coming the iPad. On that platform, the first episode is completely free, and the rest of the episodes are discounted to just $6.99 a piece. More information on that deal in the press release after the break. You'll notice the series has been renamed on Apple's tablet to "Monkey Island Tales," which Telltale says was only so they could put "Monkey Island" first in the title. So that's the whole series for just two measly payments of just $6.99 (unless you don't have an iPad, in which case you'll have to wait). That's a whole lot of game for just chimp change.
Cryptic releases new Star Trek Online Featured Episode
Ready for Star Trek Online's newest Featured Episode series? Well, ready or not, Cryptic is here to give us the skinny on Series 3: Cloaked Intentions. If you're wondering how STO's episodes work, it breaks down like this: Feature Episodes are tied together to form a single story arc. New episodes under each Feature banner take a bow on Saturdays at 11:00 a.m. PST and are freely available to all STO players regardless of level. The new Cloaked Intentions arc involves a series of missions focused on the Romulan Empire; the overarching goal of participating players is the prevention of a bloody civil war. The intrigue kicks off today with Episode 1: The Vault, followed by episodes 2 - 5 every Saturday through March 5th. You can learn more at the official STO website, and don't forget to warp past the cut for the Cloaked Intentions trailer.
PBS releases app for iPhone with full-length episodes and schedule info
PBS released an iPad app last October with access to videos and information about the donation-supported network's programming. Now, the network has done the same for the iPhone and iPod touch, with a free app simply called PBS. Just like the iPad app, you can watch clips and full-length episodes of some of the network's most popular programs, as well as see schedules for both national and local PBS programming. The iPhone app also lets you set reminders for certain programs, and you can also share videos with friends on Facebook and Twitter, or through email. I'm personally a big fan of shows like Antiques Roadshow and Nova, and having them available to watch anytime on the iPhone is great. The app is completely free and available for download right now, but if you like it, do look into hooking up your local PBS station with a nice donation.
Replay episodes or make your own with STO's Season Three
It's fitting that Star Trek Online's third major update is entitled "Genesis," because in several ways, it feels like a new beginning for the game. In a preview of December's Season Three, Cryptic reveals a trio of significant re-dos: a revamp of the visually lackluster sector space, the ability to replay your favorite episodes, and the beta of STO's player-created mission feature, The Foundry. While Cryptic is uncertain whether The Foundry will go live by Season Three, the studio does promise that players will at least be able to tinker with it on the test servers by then. The Foundry is one of Cryptic's answers to STO's perceived lack of playable -- and original -- content, allowing gamers to construct their own stories and episodes using STO's robust editor. "Using The Foundry, you can construct Episodes and share them with your friends. If you're not interested in designing missions, you'll still benefit from The Foundry: Player-created missions will be available to you to play and enjoy, right alongside the Episodes you know and love today." Cryptic has a number of other features on deck for the game following Season Three, including customizing Gorn characters, new uniforms and ships in the C-Store, ground combat improvements, and Klingon-specific updates.
TUAW's Daily App: Grokion
Grokion came out a little over a month ago, but it's worth checking out if you haven't seen it yet. The game provides an interesting mix of Mega Man-esque 2D platforming action and Metroid-style exploration, and while Grokion doesn't quite live up to the polish of either of those games, it's an excellent iPhone-based indie title. The controls are probably the game's best feature; they are super responsive, so both platforming and shooting (after you're able to reach your first weapon) are easy to do. Level design follows the Metroid plan of allowing you to reach certain areas only after you've obtained a certain ability or finished an objective, and it's very well-done. The story is somewhat vague (you play as a robot tasked with saving a "biosphere"), but it's told in a fairly clear and interesting way. The game is only 99 cents, and the developers have said that future episodes will be released for free to current owners. With that in mind, you're probably getting even more game than you're bargaining for. If you're interested in the action/adventure genre at all, definitely pick it up and give it a play-through. If the rest of the episodes have as much effort put into them as this one, Grokion could turn out to be a real standout series on the iPhone.
Ship interiors planned in the near future for Star Trek Online
It's been an interesting process to watch the growth of Star Trek Online over the past few months, with Cryptic clearly making a concerted effort to pack a great deal more content into the game as fast as possible. They've stated prior that they would like to go no more than three months between major content updates, with smaller updates happening on a monthly basis. In the most recent Engineering Report on the official site, we get more details about what's being planned and worked on for the near future -- and the many players eagerly awaiting ship interiors don't have to wait that much longer. The report outlines the rough plan for the next three months, for the Season 1.2 patch, the followup 1.3 patch, and the Season 2 update planned in July. 1.2 is aiming at adding a "sidekick" system a la City of Heroes, new playable races, and social improvements. 1.3, targeted for June, is adding Dabo, the option to trade bridge officers, and weekly episodes. And as could be expected, Season 2 is packed to the gills with new features -- including Klingon episodes, "neutral" episodes for all factions, and ship interiors. Take a look at the full report for more looks at what's on the table and being tested for Star Trek Online.
Apple to sell 99 cent TV shows at iPad launch?
Today's "people familiar with the discussions" prattle carried by both the Wall Street Journal and Financial Times has Apple reducing the price of some of its US television shows to 99 cents in time for the iPad launch. A quick search through the iTunes store makes it apparent that Apple has already been experimenting with the 99 cent rate (and a few freebies) on select iTunes episodes; shows that previously ran $1.99 for standard definition quality or $2.99 in HD. Of course, this could all change by the time the iPad launches since the talks are ongoing. Unfortunately, discussions between Apple and content providers to provide a monthly TV subscriptions have stalled according to sources at the Wall Street Journal, although Apple remains open to the idea. It's worth remembering that prior to adding video support to its iPods, Steve Jobs regularly lambasted the idea of watching video on a tiny, handheld display. The iPad, with its big 9.7-inch 1,024 x 768 pixel IPS panel, is certainly better positioned for video consumption so it's no surprise to hear rumors that Apple's trying to jump start its video business by getting back to the magical 99 cent price point it so loves.
Star Trek Online's State of the Game: The first patch
According to the latest State of the Game from Cryptic, Star Trek Online's first update will be surprisingly hefty. "The first update is going to have more PvP, Klingon exploration content, more ground fleet actions, more ship costume pieces, more playable species, and then some," says the executive producer Craig Zinkievich. Of course, that's only a small piece of the rather titillating article outlining the current plan for the first few months of updates. The future holds new Federation episodes, deep space encounters, Borg exploration clusters, quality-of-life updates, daily missions and an encounter with the Borg Queen. Cryptic teases at what they're calling "Raid-i-sodes" or high-end episodes requiring a five-person party to pull out all the stops for a win. The first of these will see players heading off against the Borg Queen, and we're quite excited to learn more in the coming months.
Resident Evil 5: Gold Edition hits retail in March, DLC in February [update]
It looks like Capcom USA was tired of us making fun of the proposed name for the upcoming Resident Evil 5 expansion, "Alternative Edition." The division has chosen a bling-ier title for its stateside release: Resident Evil 5: Gold Edition. Gold Edition will be released as a retail box copy on March 9 for $49.99 as a single Blu-ray disc, including the original game and add-on content, on PS3 and as a DVD with download voucher for Xbox 360. If you already have Resident Evil 5, you'll be able to pick up the first DLC chapter earlier. "Lost in Nightmares" and a custom pack will be available for download on February 17 for Xbox 360 and February 18 for PS3, while the second, unnamed DLC episode will be released March 3 (Xbox 360) and 4th (PS3) alongside a second costume pack. No mention has been made of a possible PC release. Update: Capcom passed along dates for the European release. The PAL DLC release dates are the same as those reported above. However, the Gold Edition retail release will be Friday, March 12. %Gallery-78541%
Star Trek Online's 'Episode Missions' detailed
Many an MMO has its own word for the ever present quest, but usually a name change is the only real difference. With Star Trek Online's Episode Missions, Cryptic is working towards creating a nomenclature that describes the experience of living out the beloved television shows of our past, and you can read all about it in a new developer blog. Each episode will be roughly 45 to 90 minutes long and functions as a primary mover in player progression. Many of their stories will be infused with conflict, although Cryptic is saying not all episodes have to end with battle. The setting -- the year 2409 -- is a time of war, which gives credence to a Trek universe where blowing things up is unfortunately more common. In this respect, Star Trek Online is much more like the movie versions than the series. The game is set to launch with three seasons of episodes, where each season represents 14 episodes. That's 42 episodes at launch, which is kind of like a nerdy lucky number. We'll take it as a good sign.
Team17 details Alien Breed episodes structure
At the Eurogamer Expo -- in Europe! -- Team17 has revealed its plans for the episodic structure of its upcoming downloadable title, Alien Breed Evolution. It was previously revealed that the game would be released in three separate episodes, and now Team17's John Dennis explains that each episode will contain a prologue and five levels that are "much larger than they should have been." In addition, each episode contains two major "set pieces" -- large scripted events -- as well as two boss battles and a multiplayer level. Each episode should last five to eight hours. The first episode of Alien Breed Evoluation should release fairly soon, as it was originally slated for "around October." The XBLA version will enjoy an unknown period of exclusivity before the PSN and PC versions are released.
WoW Moviewatch: Dude, Where's My Mount? Episode 8 -- Awww Nuts
Some of the language in this movie may not be appropriate for work.Apt-T Productions is back with the well-anticipated Dude, Where's My Mount? Episode 8 -- Awww Nuts. In terms of ongoing, serial machinima, the DWMM legacy has really been growing. Between DWMM and the Chronicle of the Annoying Quest, fan-film viewers are truly starting to get meaningful, full seasons of entertainment.In this episode, our bewildered heroes return from the really real world (man), and land back in Azeroth. After a bit of confusion, they get chased around by dragons. And that's when they find the Elf Girl. Interestingly, the credits to this episode thank Felicia Day. (You might have heard of her.) Was the Elf Girl voice-acted by Felicia? I wasn't sure, and couldn't pick out the voice to be certain. Anyway, hijinks continue, and the pair of heroes find themselves in the midst of a squirrel army.I really feel like DWMM is getting better and better. Like so many serial novels and fiction, the longer the characters exist to gain life and depth, the more interesting they become. The comedic stride is also clearly evolving, as I find myself smiling and laughing a little more with each episode.Edit: Voice credits at the end conifrm Chelsea Sprauer performed the Elf Girl. Thanks Kincaid!If you have any suggestions for WoW Moviewatch, you can mail them to us at machinima AT wowinsider DOT com.Previously on Moviewatch ..
The Guild posts episode 8 of season 2
Yes, the new episode of The Guild is now live for your watching enjoyment, and the gang deals with the servers going down the only way they know how: by driving each other crazy. Strangely, rather than running for the hills while they don't have to be in the game together, they decide to party up in real life as well, and that should be a sight to see next week. Plus, Codex gets her own game shut down by an unexpected player.Good times as always. The latest episode should also be up in HD soon on Xbox Live and in the Zune marketplace as well. Just the thing to keep you entertained during today's extended maintenance.
The Guild episode 2 of season 2 out now
Episode 2 of The Guild's second season is out now -- you can view it right over on The Guild's website (you'll have to click to it), or in the other usual places: on Xbox Live in HD or on the Zune marketplace. This week's ep deals with all the craziness that got set up last week: the loot drama continues, Zaboo's T1 temptation leads to an unlikely quest, and Clara plots revenge. Vork has a new job as well, which will probably lead to trouble.If you were eating turkey last week and missed it, don't forget to listen in to our talk with Felicia Day on the WoW Insider Show. We chatted about the new season and what's in store for these characters, the big exclusive deal with Microsoft, and how to best explain geeky things like guilds, choose your own adventure books, and loot drama to people who have never heard of any of them.Weekly releases by The Guild is pretty exciting, we have to admit, even though the gang is working overtime to get them done. We can't wait to see what happens next week.Thanks, Hatorihanzo of Mug'thol!
GTA IV's first episode still slated for fiscal '08
Following today's news that Grand Theft Auto IV will be delayed due to "technological challenges" until Feb. and April of next year, we wanted to know what happens to the Xbox exclusive episodes. Considering the money Microsoft put down for that exclusive GTA content, we're sure they'd probably like to know when that'll be available too. A Take Two spokesperson told Joystiq, "While we can't comment on the confidential contractual agreement, we still plan to deliver the first episodic content for Xbox 360 in fiscal 2008."Now, here's where it gets technical. We know that originally the first episode was supposed to come out in March of '08, because the CFO of Take Two said so. The second episode would be released later in fiscal '08. Take Two's fiscal year ends in November, meaning that it looks like we'll get one episode in fiscal '08 and the next one beginning fiscal '09. If the time table stays the same, the first episode will come out five months after the game is released. But they can always wake up the episode when November ends.
Take-Two not explaining GTA $50 million exclusive
Take-Two refuses to comment any further on Chief Financial Officer Laine Goldstein's "oopsie" that Microsoft may have paid $50 million for GTA IV's episodic content. Goldstein said during a conference call last week that they had been paid $25 million for the episodic content to be released next March and another $25 million for their next fiscal year. GI.biz, along with almost every other news outlet, contacted Take-Two for clarification and got nothing but the wall of voicemail and receptionists who just can't find someone to comment at the moment.Some questions remained previously about if the GTA IV episodic content was "exclusive" (the same way Haze is a timed exclusive) or if the Xbox 360 episodes were actually exclusive exclusives (that word really gets so muddy in this industry). Take-Two confirmed late last week that the episodes are actually only for Xbox 360. And at a price of $50 million dollars, if that's how much the episodes actually were, you better believe that the word exclusive means exactly that in this case. There is also the belief that the $50 million is an advance to Take-Two on what Microsoft believes their portion will be off of Xbox Marketplace sales. Although, $50 million dollars for two episodes is still a large sum of money ... an oddly large sum.
Sam & Max Episode 5: Reality 2.0 released on GameTap
First they faced off against a deranged eye fitness guru, then a talk show host followed by the toy mafia and Abe Lincoln. Now Sam and Max have to overcome a foe of a different kind: the internet! The fifth installment of the episodic Sam & Max adventures is available today on GameTap. Reality 2.0 is filled with the signature Sam & Max humor wrapped in an adventure-lite game. This time around the jokes poke fun at everything geek-related. Expect some video game parodies as well, such as when Sam yells "Its-a me, Sam!" before leaping into the air to collect a coin.You can grab Reality 2.0 from GameTap starting today, or download it from Telltale Games on April 12th for $8.95.
