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'90s web portal Lycos returns to sell its patents
Long before Google and eons ahead of Bing, Lycos was the Internet's search engine. In fact, the company was one of the first to implement spidered web indexing. And while Lycos hasn't made many headlines lately, the company still maintains an impressive portfolio of technology patents. Its patents are wide-ranging enough that Google already got into trouble over old Lycos tech back in 2012 before winning its case on an appeal last year. On Wednesday, the company announced that it will be offering a selection of that collection for sale as Lycos prepares to roll out a number of physical products in the coming weeks.
Google knows you stink and wants to help
It takes a special patent to pique our interest these days, but Google has just been issued actual intellectual property for a device that would help others evade your stank. The "odor removing device" (below) is designed to "emit a fragrance in response to detected parameters," but that's not the half of it. It would also detect your body temperature, heartrate and other factors to determine if you're extra rank from working out. Not only will it then dispense perfume to cover it, it'll even track the location of your friends and find you a route home to avoid them.
Lumines changes hands, returning on iOS and Android
Mobcast acquired the Lumines and Meteos properties from Q Entertainment, the Japanese smartphone game developer announced this week, as translated by Gematsu. Additionally, a new Lumines game is on the way for iOS and Android, and will be a collaboration with the colorful puzzle series' creator, Tetsuya Mizuguchi. Mizuguchi will work on the latest Lumines at his new California-based studio, Enhance Games. The Rez and Space Channel 5 creator co-founded Q Entertainment in 2003 following his departure from Sega. Mizuguchi left the developer in March. The last Lumines game to launch was 2012's Lumines: Electronic Symphony (seen above). [Image: Q Entertainment]
Valiance Online cancels Kickstarter, seeks stress test applicants
Silverhelm Studios has announced that Valiance Online will be accepting sign-ups for its inbound stress test starting today. Valiance Online is one of at least three fan-led superhero MMORPGs attempting to fill the City of Heroes niche, though Valiance has no intention of licensing the CoH IP if fan efforts to purchase it from NCsoft are ultimately successful. It promises semi-freeform character builds, power customization, an open world environment, 25 zones, character alignment, and a player-run economy. The Kickstarter for the game, begun less than a month ago, was apparently canceled ahead of schedule last night with $34,680 raised of its $150,000 goal. A dev posts suggests the loss of the team's marketing manager during the campaign was a setback. Developers have assured backers that they will not be charged and that the game will continue development. "We're still running funding campaigns on our website for anyone interested and are discussing other options as well," says the studio in the Kickstarter comments. Stress test signups will open on the official site later today. [Source: Silverhelm press release]
CCP Games kills a fan remake of Vampire: the Masquerade - Bloodlines
With World of Darkness canned, the closest fans can get to experiencing the source material in video game form comes from Activision's 2003 Vampire: The Masquerade - Bloodlines. Unfortunately, the game was released in a half-finished state and suffers from multiple glitches, balance issues, and general weirdness, not to mention graphics that have aged very poorly. Fortunately, the fan community rallied and set to work on an unofficial remake requiring the original. Double-unfortunately, CCP Games sent that fan remake a cease-and-desist. Although Activision technically owns the rights to the game, the IP remains in the hands of CCP due to its acquisition of White Wolf several years prior. The fans responsible for the remake are attempting to negotiate a way to keep development going, as the remake would have been unplayable without the original game. It's bad news for fans of the flawed but brilliant title and really anyone who would like to play a game based off the franchise any time within the next decade.
Nordic officially purchases de Blob series from THQ
Over a year and a half after it won dozens of intellectual properties in THQ's back catalog auction, Nordic Games announced that it closed an asset purchase agreement with THQ for de Blob today. With the rights to the series now officially owned by Nordic Games, de Blob joins properties such as Darksiders, Red Faction and MX vs. ATV on the Austrian company's list of games. The publisher acquired those brands in April 2013 for $4.9 million. "We are excited about what the future holds for this polychromatic extravaganza as the newest addition to our portfolio," Business and Product Development Director Reinhard Pollice said in an update on the publisher's site. "We will evaluate opportunities with the existing games, as well as potential sequels." De Blob launched in 2006 on PC before a THQ-published Wii version arrived in 2008. The paint-splattering, platforming follow-up de Blob 2 launched on Xbox 360, PS3 and Wii in 2011. Nordic Games also reportedly acquired the THQ trademark under a separate agreement revealed in June, though the mark's listing on the USPTO's website still notes THQ as its owner. [Image: THQ, err, Nordic Games]
Valiance Online launches its Kickstarter today [Updated: It's live now!]
A post on Valiance Online's Facebook has good news for fans of the upcoming game: SilverHelm Studios will be bringing the game to Kickstarter today. "It's packed with all manner of goodies for you to get your hands on," Design Director Nate "Paramount" Vogeding writes. "These things will be exclusive to our KS backers and backers alone. That's right; it won't be coming back around again." Vogeding also promises more pre-alpha invites and tells readers to "let everyone know that yes, there is a city coming back and very soon!" Valiance Online is one of several fan-backed superhero MMOs vying to become City of Heroes' spiritual successor. In September, SilverHelm told followers that it will not be licensing the CoH IP if it is eventually secured from NCsoft by City of Titans. [Update: The Kickstarter is now live, with pledges ranging from $1-$10,000 and a funding goal of $150,000. We've embedded the trailer below.]
Seldon Crisis rebrands as Sudden Crisis
Seldon Crisis -- the name, at least -- is no more. The science-fiction sandbox has rebranded itself as Sudden Crisis following an IP dispute that left its Kickstarter campaign neutered. "We want to let everyone know that the project and game now has a new name: Sudden Crisis," the studio posted to Facebook. "Everything stays the same, this is the last change needed to separate us from one world and open a new one, one wholly created by us and you. You will shortly see the change take effect across our sites." Sudden Crisis is currently in the middle of an Indiegogo campaign to raise funds for the project.
Seldon Crisis removes Asimov references following IP dispute
The sci-fi sandbox Seldon Crisis initially tried to draw attention to itself through copious amounts of name-dropping with revered author Isaac Asimov, although it turns out that this marketing plan may have backfired. Its Kickstarter campaign has been canceled, with page saying the game is "the subject of an intellectual property dispute." The team attempted to clarify the situation with a post earlier this week: "We were/are speaking with the Asimov estate regarding a partnership, but until those talks are concluded we were asked to not mention certain elements of his novels. This is completely understandable (copyright law demands holders actively protect their copyright or they can lose it). We have taken the necessary measures to fully comply with what has been stated." In the meantime, Seldon Crisis' fundraising efforts have moved over to Indiegogo, where the team is attempting to rake in £250,000 over the next month.
Ubisoft: Watch Dogs beats out Destiny as fastest-selling new IP in Europe
Activision's Destiny may be the fastest-selling new intellectual property in North America and UK, but the top of the puppy pile in Europe remains Watch Dogs, according to Ubisoft. A spokesperson for the company informed MCV UK of GFK data that indicates Ubisoft's game is still top dog for new IP in the region. The obvious speculation is that the PC market still dominates most of Europe, and since Destiny isn't available on PC, Watch Dogs being available on the platform likely made up the difference. Despite its critical reception, Destiny has been the top new IP of the year in the UK and North America so far and has pulled in over $325 million worldwide.
NCsoft might allow players to resurrect the City of Heroes IP
There's good news for City of Heroes fans to celebrate now, even if it's not a finished thing yet. Nate Downes, President of Missing Worlds Media, has posted about a project wholly unrelated to City of Titans and yet entirely tied to it: the quest to resurrect the City of Heroes IP. He explains a story that began in September of last year, starting with a few contacts within NCsoft who led to the ultimate goal of resurrecting the last version of the game as well as licensing out the IP to its spiritual successors. The proposal currently on the table before NCsoft would allow the game's spiritual successors to drop the "spiritual" portion of their title, enable a restoration of the game's servers for the last update (albeit with no saved character data), and create the potential for a "transition" server between the original game and its successors. While it's far from a done deal, it's the best news that the former residents of Paragon City have heard since the lights went dark -- there may be brightness on the horizon.
The Daily Grind: Which IP(s) would you not want made into an MMO?
I'm not sure what to make of this Seldon Crisis thing. It's inspired by Asimov, according to the announcement press release, but I'm having a hard time seeing how something like Foundation will translate, however loosely, to MMO gameplay. Maybe it will and maybe it won't, or maybe the Asimov connection is tenuous and a marketing ploy for what's really the same old PvP game. We'll find out, I guess. It got me to thinking about other potential MMO IPs, though. We've asked before what IPs you'd like to see made into an MMO, so today let's turn that around. Which IPs would you not want to see made into an MMO? And why not? 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!
Court ruling could force YouView to change its name
YouView could soon be forced into a rebrand after it suffered another loss in the courts. After almost two years of legal battles, telecoms company Total successfully argued that YouView had infringed on its "Your View" trademark. Judges agreed that the brand would was "confusingly similar" to Your View, allowing Total to push ahead not only for damages but also seek an injunction on "any further use of the name." YouView maintains that there's "no confusion" between its consumer TV service and Total's business-to-business mobile top-up platform, but today marks the third (and most likely final) time it has come off second best in the courts. Last year, Livescribe was on the wrong end of a UK trademark dispute and was forced to rebrand its Sky Wi-Fi pen having lost to BSkyB. If YouView suffers the same fate, its backers, which include the BBC, ITV, Channel 4, Five, BT and TalkTalk, will have the fun job of figuring out what to call their TV offering moving forward.
Transformers Universe offers a peek under the hood
It's taken a long time for it to approach launch, but Transformers Universe is closer to being ready for public consumption than ever before. It's got pre-launch bonus sales in effect, it's revealing Autobots and Decepticons alike, and it's showing off its gameplay. If you're excited to see more of what's going on behind the scenes, you'll be happy to learn that the development team has offered a peek into the development with a new series dubbed "Under the Hood." So what's in the first episode? Aside from a text-only Q&A with vice president David Nicholson, the episode looks at the Founders program, a peek at voices, and a detailed discussion of what the game will play like and where it's going in the future. That includes plenty of footage of robots turning into cars and beating the tar out of one another, for the record. Check out the video and the Q&A just past the break.
Oculus VR responds to claims of IP theft from ZeniMax
When John Carmack left ZeniMax to work for Oculus VR, claims were made that he took some important intellectual property with him. "The proprietary technology and know-how Mr. Carmack developed when he was a ZeniMax employee, and used by Oculus, are owned by ZeniMax," a ZeniMax statement to Engadget said. Now the Oculus folks are responding to these accusations for the first time in an official capacity stating that all claims are false. Read on past the cut for the official statement from Oculus VR. [Source: Oculus VR press release]
Oculus accused of stealing ZeniMax IP [Update: Carmack responds]
[Update: John Carmack has responded to ZeniMax's claims. "No work I have ever done has been patented," he said. "Zenimax owns the code that I wrote, but they don't own VR."] The Elder Scrolls series publisher ZeniMax Media is seeking compensation for the Oculus Rift VR headset technology following the recent departure of associated developer John Carmack, The Wall Street Journal reports. ZeniMax alleges that Carmack performed "extensive VR research and development" while employed at ZeniMax, entitling the company to "ownership of key technology used by Oculus to develop and market the Oculus Rift." Carmack joined Oculus as Chief Technology Officer shortly before departing the ZeniMax-owned id Software last year. ZeniMax notes that Carmack first contacted Oculus founder Palmer Luckey in 2012 regarding the company's virtual reality technology. While at ZeniMax, Carmack allegedly iterated on a prototype VR headset he received from Luckey, later demonstrating a modified version at a ZeniMax convention booth in Los Angeles.
The Daily Grind: Has an MMO ever sparked your interest in its IP?
IP-based MMOs are a big draw, as games like Star Wars: The Old Republic, Lord of the Rings Online, DC Universe Online and even World of Warcraft have shown us. Clearly these IP-based games have brought pre-existing fans of said IPs into the MMO fold. Does that work in reverse, though? It's working in my case, as my current addiction to Marvel Heroes has caused me to purchase a few X-Men comic books. What about you, Massively readers? Has an IP-based MMO ever sparked your interest in an IP? 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!
PAX East 2014: Pre-launch words with WildStar's Jeremy Gaffney
WildStar is being released in about a month and a half. It feels as if it's been forever since the game first revealed its announcement trailer. Now we've finally got a release date in sight, and the last few features for the game are being revealed to the public. It's one of the last chances that we'll have to talk about the game before it releases. On the last day of this year's PAX East, I had a chance to sit down with executive producer Jeremy Gaffney to chat a little bit more about the game before it launches. While the game has gone gold and the discs are being manufactured, the team is still refining and improving the game and plans to do so up until the day of launch. That meant talking about the endgame, the development process, and the changes that have been made already in the most recent stages of beta.
Report: Microsoft pays up to $150M for augmented reality hardware IP
The rumors swirling around Microsoft's me-too attitude regarding virtual reality may be more than idle gossip, according to TechCrunch. Citing unnamed sources, the site reports that Microsoft has purchased augmented reality-related intellectual property of wearable tech company Osterhout Design Group for between $100 and $150 million. The big thing to note here is that Microsoft's IP acquisition revolves around augmented reality, not virtual reality. Think Google Glass, which is augmented reality, vs. Oculus Rift, which is virtual reality - the former lets you see the world with more information and visual enhancements, while the latter completely replaces the world and what you see with an entirely separate one. It's also not clear whether this acquisition will lead to anything resembling the Oculus Rift or Project Morpheus for the Xbox; wearable tech is gaining traction in the mobile markets, with devices such as the Galaxy Gear from Samsung now on their second design iteration. In other words, Microsoft's acquisition of ODG's intellectual property may lead to new products which attach to Windows Phone as opposed to Xbox. Really, any guess is fair game at this point. We won't know for sure how Microsoft intends to penetrate the VR and/or AR tech space until they themselves announce what, if anything, they're working on. [Image: Microsoft]
Why I Play: Star Trek Online
I always feel like explaining my desire to play Star Trek Online can be summed up quite simply with eight words. "Space -- the final frontier. These are the voyages..." It sounds corny, but it's true. My various natterings on the site have covered a lot of settings for which I have no real affection, but Star Trek is different. It's been a fixed point for me since I was around seven years old. It's a setting I have an immense fondness for, something I've been invested in for most of my life. Really, the thing that amazes me is that I manage to take time away from Star Trek Online. But loving the name on the box would only take me so far if the game were a big steaming pile. Every time I go back to the game, even though I have complaints here and there, I fall back in love with the game as a whole all over again. It's not perfect, but it's amazingly well-done.
