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Luke Cage joins Marvel Heroes in update 1.3
As of last month, update 1.2 was Marvel Heroes' biggest to date. But that was then, and this is now: Today's update 1.3 surpasses its predecessor with even more content. Along with more unique items and an Iron Man rework, Gazillion Entertainment revealed a new hero (Luke Cage), new systems and modes, team insignias, and legendary quests. Additionally, the Lady Deadpool costume is now available. Players who want to earn special bragging rights can go back and start at level one again after they reach level 60 thanks to the new Prestige Mode. The Hero Synergy System offers more character customization as it unlocks account-wide synergy bonuses whenever a hero hits levels 25 and 50; these bonuses can then be equipped on any hero. The completion of legendary quests will give player rewards as well as the ability to craft Legendary Blessings for their artifacts and more. And finally, team insignias allow players to show off membership on previous teams. For complete details on these new systems and other fixes, check out the official patch notes. And get a look at Lady Deadpool in the trailer after the break [Source: Gazillion Entertainment press release]
Perfect World reassures players regarding the future of RaiderZ
There are certain things that trigger instinctive fears from MMO players. Things like having your game of choice shut down in its country of origin, which rarely bodes well for the future of the game as a whole. RaiderZ has shut down in both South Korea and Europe, but Perfect World Entertainment's senior product manager Mark Hill insists in a recent interview that this does not mean the title is in any risk of shutting down in North America. Hill states that the game is still developing a new expansion for release in the near future and that the development team is in close contact with the North American staff. He also points out that the game is not region-locked, allowing players to still register and play for the American version regardless of their countries of origin. While this doesn't mean the game is invincible in this market, it should help make current players a little more comfortable while playing.
Metroid-style action game Blood Alloy jumps to Kickstarter
Suppressive Fire Games recently launched a Kickstarter project to fund its first game, Blood Alloy, a 2D "Metroidvania-styled" action game. The game is in development for PC, Mac and Ouya. Blood Alloy has players running-and-gunning through a dystopian, futuristic world "teetering on the brink of apocalypse." The game's creator, Frank Washburn, cites the Metroid, Turrican and Dark Souls series as inspirations for Blood Alloy's "non-linear exploration with optional pathways, hub areas, shortcut creation and discovery, and tons of secrets." Washburn is seeking $50,000 by October 10 on Kickstarter, and says that 75 percent of the Blood Alloy's funding will go towards paying the independent contractors that will help develop the game, while another eight percent will cover marketing, legal and licensing fees. [Thanks, Hannah!]
Marvel Heroes update 1.2 gets Frosty
Gazillion Entertainment has deployed the biggest content update yet to Marvel Heroes, bringing a collection of enhancements and tweaks to several core aspects of the game. The defense system has been completely overhauled, survivability has been re-tuned, and a new hero has joined the fray. Update 1.2 adds the Heroic and Super Heroic difficulty modes for all heroes. Players who defeat Dr. Doom or reach level 30 can access Heroic mode; Dr. Doom must be defeated in Heroic (or players must reach level 45) before Super Heroic is made available. Both modes offer new loot and enemies to match the increased difficulty. Also new to the game are relics, which offer special stat boosts to heroes as well unique items that are as powerful as they are rare. Finally, Emma Frost is now a playable character, providing new powers like mind control and Diamond Form tanking. She can be purchased individually or through a special hero pack.
A Mild-Mannered Reporter: All the superheroic news that was fit to print in August
Some months surprise you. When I went back through July's news a month ago, I was surprised to see that there had been a lot of superhero stories that I had collected but not really thought about; what I thought was a quiet month turned out to be quite active. August, on the other hand, was a pretty light month with only one major update that arguably could be pushed to next month depending on perspective. Incidentally, this was the first summer in a while that didn't have a good superhero film come out. Coincidence? Almost certainly. Our current month promises to have some shakeups. There's a Kickstarter in the wings for The Phoenix Project, and the other major titles all have patches just over the horizon. But today we're looking at the calm before the storm, known to most people as "August." Even if there weren't many world-shattering revelations, there are still some elements worth discussing.
Marvel Heroes game update 1.15 buffs XP, adds new costumes
Game Update 1.2 is just around the corner for Marvel Heroes players, but Gazillion isn't waiting until then to roll out a few much-needed tweaks and changes right now. The 1.15 update is out today and should provide a welcome boost to mid-tier levelers. The team has increased XP gain for levelers in Manhattan, although bigger adjustments are on the way next week. There will also be more cash from downed bosses to the tune of three times the number of credits than dropped previously. Other small changes include removing a few recovery animations to make powers faster and a buff to the Black Widow. Gazillion has also added a few new costumes as both drops and store purchases: the Black Panther Vibranium Armor, the Human Torch 2099 costume, and the Punisher Marvel NOW! costume.
RaiderZ shutting down in Korea, NA version endures
RaiderZ just can't catch a break, it seems. Just a few weeks after the title was shuttered in Europe, Neowiz announced that it will be taking the game offline in South Korea next month. The Korean version will go dark on September 24th, and the publisher said that it will be reimbursing cash purchases through October. The North American version is still alive and kicking, however, and has released a state of the game post to rally players behind the title. Perfect World said that it's preparing new monsters, zones, dungeons, and loot for the near future. The company also took the opportunity to promote its in-game events, such as GM-run hide-and-seek games.
Marvel Heroes dev blog talks PvP, defense, and new heroes
It's time again for Gazillion Entertainment's weekly Marvel Heroes dev blog, and this latest entry hops, skips, and jumps its way across a vast number of topics. First on deck are changes to the game's defense system and difficulty ratings; the dev team is working to reduce the odds of one-shotting and improve the experience for melee heroes. Also in the works: tweaks to Midtown Manhattan, the release of rare costumes to the in-game store, a boost to the drop rate for eternity splinters, and further iterations to the game's upcoming optional PvP system. Of particular interest is the team's confirmation that it can change hero behaviors between PvE and PvP environments, meaning basic hero components like crowd control and cooldowns can be tweaked separately for both styles of play. Finally, work continues on Emma Frost, Squirrel Girl, and Luke Cage, all due for release in the somewhat near future. Luke Cage can create (and throw) cars, Emma Frost brings new mind control abilities, and Squirrel Girl has... squirrels. Most changes featured in the dev blog should be going live on test servers soon, if they're not there already.
A Mild-Mannered Reporter: Superheroic news for July
So how's everybody been? You all doing well? Because I'm super, and thanks for asking. For some reason, July was one of the first months since its announcement that seemed to be fairly quiet for Infinite Crisis; I can only guess that most of the staff was too busy playing to make announcements, which would be the ideal situation. But the other superheroic games on the market certainly didn't quiet down, with Marvel Heroes and Champions Online both making plenty of noise. Even DC Universe Online got in on the action, or tried to until SOE Live wound up being all about one game. But I'm getting ahead of myself. You want a rundown on the super scene from last month? It's all here behind the cut, so come on down and take a look. It's the third month since we moved over to the new format, and I can't help but hope that I'm starting to get into the cadence.
Marvel Heroes patch 1.11 breaks game, reverts back
Marvel Heroes was proud to roll out patch 1.11 last night, and the playerbase was proud to receive it. There was only one problem: It didn't work. Gazillion couldn't get the game up and running for everyone, and after several hours of outages, the team decided to create a new patch to revert the game back to a pre-1.11 state. CM Stephen Reid explained the studio's response: "After an evening of working to see if there was a quick solution to the issues we encountered when we brought up game update 1.11 tonight, we've decided to go with 'Plan B:' deploying a patch that essentially 'reverts' the live game to its pre-game update 1.11 state. This is safer and will allow the game to be up and for you to play in the live environment while we diagnose, fix, text, and redeploy game update 1.11." Patch 1.11 contained the Human Torch playable character as well as the new eternity shards system. Gazillion assures players that if they managed to log in last night and purchase the Human Torch, it will be safe and sound when 1.11 returns.
Gazillion trumpets 1.5 million registered Marvel Heroes users
I have a confession to make. I once registered as a Marvel Heroes user. This was before I confirmed my initial suspicion that the game wasn't my cup of tea, and it was motivated in large part by the fact that I cover many games that aren't my cup of tea for a living. My reason for telling you that I'm a registered Marvel Heroes user is because Gazillion is also telling you something about registered users in its latest press release. Specifically, the company is crowing about the fact that its game has 1.5 million of them. What it's not saying is how many of those users, like me, have never spent and will never spend a) any money on the product and b) any time playing it. But, hey, 1.5 million is a big number! Gazillion also announced that the game's new Asgard zone will release this Fall. Finally, a series of planned summer updates will include PvP and endgame additions, a new tier of "ultimate" items, and a new currency. [Source: Gazillion press release]
New side-scrolling Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles game arriving in October
A new Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles game is coming in October, Activision announced via press release. The game is based on the Nickelodeon animated series, and is described as a "side-scrolling action-brawler" with "loads of combat and animated scenes." It is the product of a multi-year, three-game deal between Activision and Nickelodeon, first announced in February. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles will launch on October 22 in North America, October 23 in Asia and Australia and October 25 in Europe and Latin America for 3DS, Wii and Xbox 360. %Gallery-194267%
Marvel Heroes dev blogs talk fixes, price reductions
Marvel Heroes posted a couple of updates to its official website yesterday. The first is penned by Doomsaw, an MH designer who has a quite a lot to say in terms of what the dev team is currently doing. The game's defense system is being worked on, as are difficulty modes, PvP, itemization, raids, and more. The second update concerns permanent price reductions on both heroes and costumes in Marvel Heroes' item shop. Affected characters include Wolverine, Spider-man, Storm, Hulk, Iron Man, and Deadpool. Get the full list, as well as the full development update blog, via the links below.
Marvel Heroes makes it easier to earn new superheroes
While it's always been possible to gain new superheroes in Marvel Heroes via loot drops, Gazillion CEO David Brevik says that the current system is less than ideal. "The best loot should be challenging to acquire," he writes, "but we don't want players to be overly frustrated with the process of acquiring heroes." To address this, Gazillion is preparing to scrap the current hero token drops and institute Eternity Splinters instead. Splinters are a new type of currency that will drop from mobs more frequently than hero tokens did and can be saved up to purchase the hero of the player's choice. They'll also be used to purchase ultimate power upgrades and hero respecs. Brevik says that the team is committed to adding new heroes to the game so that players will always have something new to earn. He also posted a FAQ regarding the upcoming system for those who have specific questions.
The problem with F2P is dishonest product marking, says David Paris
Game developer David Paris has penned a new blog at Gamasutra focused on the stigma of free-to-play business models. Paris, whose bio lists him as the builder of the world's first subscription-based internet MOG (Valhalla), says that there's nothing inherently wrong with F2P that more honest product marking won't fix. And thus we come to the core of the problem - the lack of honesty about how much impact IAPs [in-app purchases] have on games. The truth is that F2P monetization is frequently very much about concealing exactly this impact from its players so that we will either play until we are so invested that we will cough up and pay, or so that we'll provide an audience for the whales to lord it over. Burying pay-to-win mechanics under an initial layer of skill-to-win, providing advantages that become required for competitive play, roadblocks or surprisingly reduced game functionality tucked underneath paid barriers that weren't obvious when you started. He cites League of Legends and Marvel Heroes as games that do it right and wrong, respectively, though he does criticize LoL for failing to offer an all-the-content-for-a-single-price option.
WildStar's newest video takes aim at... well, aiming
There's an element of fire-and-forget in a large number of MMOs, a sense that all of the hard work of targeting is done for you by the game. You click on your target, you activate your ability, and that's all the thought you need to put into aiming. But WildStar is looking to change that, as outlined in the newest Dev Speak video. Aiming your abilities correctly is a big part of playing the game, and failing to do so means missing your target about all of the time. Lead class designer Hugh Shelton and lead combat systems designer Chris Lynch took the time to talk a little more about the particulars of aiming with several media outlets because this is something that takes a large amount of consideration. So head past the cut not only for the video, but also for more valuable details on the art of making abilities go where you want.
Epic job listing outs unannounced 'competitive online action game'
Epic Games is currently working on two projects: the tower defense action game, Fortnite, and another game yet to be unveiled. A job listing calling for a senior systems designer mentions "an unannounced competitive online action game that includes player progression, heavy itemization, and a dynamic economy." The listing, which does not specify platforms, calls for a senior systems designer on both Fortnite and the unannounced game. Last year, Chinese company Tencent Holdings invested $330 million into Epic Games, acquiring a minority stake in the Cary, North Carolina-based studio. Epic Games' most recent game was the Xbox 360 exclusive, Gears of War: Judgment, made by its People Can Fly division.
A Mild-Mannered Reporter: Superhero news of June
June was definitely a month. And things definitely happened during it. And some of them could sort of be seen as relating to superhero games, so that's good. Unfortunately, most of them sort of... weren't. That's not entirely true, really. There was some news about superhero games all through June; it's just that most of it had very little to do with the here and now. Most of it focused around what will happen, where games will be going, and what players can expect in the future. There was a decided lack of news about what's going on right now. Still, that makes it no less worthy of review. So let's hop in the not-very-far-back machine and take a look at the news from June, which also featured some sort of gaming convention or another. I can't remember which one, exactly. It'll come to me in a minute.
Super Chibi Knight, a 2D adventure game from dad and daughter
Nick Pasto and daughter Bella have set out to create a video game together in Super Chibi Knight, a sequel to Pasto's original Flash game, Chibi Knight. He most recently programmed the excellent Abobo's Big Adventure. With Super Chibi Knight, Pasto is not only interested in offering his daughter a taste of his childhood gaming through a retro-inspired side-scroller, but also wants to teach her (and us) a bit about gender equality in games. "The idea for the original Chibi Knight kind of sprang from having a daughter and seeing a world where girls are slightly pigeon-holed into what they're supposed to like and not like," Pasto tells Joystiq. "I wanted to make a game that would be accessible to kids (but still fun for adults) but that would be slightly subversive about gender roles and make the player wonder whether the hero is a boy or a girl (the gender in Chibi Knight 1 is obscured by a knight's helmet, but the voice is feminine) and then hopefully ask themselves if it really matters." Pasto says people still ask him whether Chibi Knight is a boy or girl. %Gallery-192884%
Metareview: Deadpool
So you want a stupid action game? Good, you're in luck. EGM (80/100): "If you're a fan of Deadpool, you'll certainly appreciate the experience, but if you're really unfamiliar with the character (even though I don't know how that's possible at this point), you might be a bit wary of having this game be your first experience" Game Informer (60/100): "When I finished this game, I walked away unfulfilled. After a weekend away from it, I found myself chuckling over the crazy things Deadpool said and did. His obsession with Wolverine is particularly funny. The memories I took away from the game were worth the time I put in, even if playing it was a chore." Eurogamer (60/100): "Even with this crudely skewed difficulty curve, it's not hard to romp through the game's six stages without too much trouble, and once it's done there's not much else to do, beyond replaying it all again to max out those upgrade trees or dipping into a selection of one-note challenge stages based on locations you've already grown tired of." IGN (60/100): "On the other hand, much of the Deadpool gameplay experience is formulaic and safe...so safe you might think developer High Moon Studios is playing some sort of self-referential "hey, isn't it ironic how normal this is?" meta-gag on you. But it's not." VideoGamer (50/100): "Deadpool is a great character wrapped in a standard (and short) action experience."%Gallery-192212%
