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AO-rated PC version of Manhunt 2 releasing next week
If you thought Manhunt 2 had reached the pinnacle of mature content in video games, you better guess again. The controversy-garnering title will be re-released on Direct2Drive next week for $29.99 -- only this time around, it's packing an AO rating. As those who lived through Mahuntgate surely remember, that was planned to be the original rating for the game, before the ESRB rolled up, and was all like "what? You want to stick shards of glass into another man's ear? No. No, sir." Rockstar has remained mum about what the new rating will entail, but our guess is that it will incorporate more graphic forms of violence, and perhaps a few extra dirty words. We've contacted Rockstar to get more specific details on the mature-r content, and to find out when we can expect the Early Childhood version of the game to hit store shelves. [Via Big Download]
More Age of Conan subscription incentives coming
Funcom's Erling Ellingsen recently informed Eurogamer about future Age of Conan subscription "initiatives" being planned, which are to follow the new price reduction of multi-month subscriptions . It's of particular interest that Funcom is planning further pricing specials, as they've been doing a lot to bring players back to the game ever since launch. Should their efforts pay off, it's likely that The Secret World will see a significant development boost, which is something we'd be very happy about as fans of Ragnar Tornquist. However, nobody knows yet if the current "initiatives" have been helping, as Erling wasn't able to comment on current numbers. So until some hard numbers come in -- hopefully of the positive nature -- it's anybody's guess on how the game will perform. It's possible that there's a free-to-play model in the game's future, especially since it wouldn't be the first time a Funcom game has gone that route. However, only time will tell where King Conan and his followers end up.
Funcom's Q1 2009 report shows solid revenue
Funcom has released a report detailing their financials for the first quarter of 2009. They brought in over US$7 million in revenue for the period, and although this figure is slightly less than the previous quarter (but without the disastrous US$23 million depreciation loss), they are pleased with the stability of their earnings during the economic turbulence of recent times. The report also mentions some positive trends in their flagship game Age of Conan: Longer average subscription periods, demonstrating customer loyalty The number of new customers per month is much higher than Q4 '08 (the introduction of free trials helped here) A solid and stable customer base for the quarter Higher levels of activity in game than in previous periods Not to be left out, The Secret World made it into the report as well, mostly just to say that the recent reveal was well-received, and the project is on track. Anarchy Online only really had a one-line entry in the report, and it was to say that revenues from the game were slowly declining. The casual and free-to-play games that Funcom referred to in their Q4 '08 report are also keeping to their development schedules -- the screenshot above is from a java-based MMO that is currently in the focus-testing and gameplay tweaking stages. For now though, with TSW and the other casual games still on the horizon, the overall success of Q2 '09 will once again hinge on the performance of AoC.
Anarchy Online expansion interview explains Legacy of the Xan
We mentioned earlier that Anarchy Online's newest expansion, Legacy of the Xan will roll out this week on February 19th. The expansion is more of a booster, actually, which is what Anarchy Online game director Colin Cragg mentions in an interview with MMORPG.com's Jon Wood. Cragg lays out what differentiates Legacy of the Xan from some of the larger expansions in the past, like Shadowlands or Lost Eden. The interview is heavy on details about Legacy of the Xan and what it brings to the game for existing players.
Behind the Curtain: The guilt of an MMO gamer
I haven't been playing World of Warcraft as much as I should have this week, and I feel bad about it. Last week, my Warrior hit the Defence cap, I got my first 25 Emblems of Heroism, and I tanked Archavon on 10-man. This week though, I've hardly even logged on. I have instead spent most of the week playing Mario Kart Wii, honing my skills so that I can crush my 7-year old nephew utterly when next we meet. There are lessons we all need to learn early in life. Chief among them being never, ever, horse your Uncle Craig at Mario Kart. He'll thank me for it in time. I also had some problems with my internet connection, thanks to the UK's seeming inability to cope with heavy snow. Then again, it is January, so I can see why we were taken by surprise. That was sarcasm, by the way. I have felt guilty about my lack of WoW time though. I've been neglecting my characters in favour of other games, and I feel bad about it. I've felt this way before, on the occasion that I've taken a break from WoW, for example, to spend some time with EVE Online or Star Wars Galaxies.
Anarchy Online announces new expansion: Legacy of the Xan
These days, most discussion of sci-fi themed massively multiplayer online games tends to focus on Jumpgate Evolution, EVE Online, or the hotly anticipated post-apocalyptic titles that are on the way. But Anarchy Online is still going strong, and Funcom has just announced a new expansion for the title: Legacy of the Xan. The Anarchy Online (booster) expansion will feature two new adventure areas and bring players to the hidden city of the Xan civilization. There are also new team instanced encounters including a 12-player raid encounter, and two new storylines -- "Dust Brigade" and "Alien Invasion." Anarchy Online will also give you new ways to boost your characters, through symbiants, spirits, and deck items.
Anti-Aliased: You've been Auto-Assaulted, part deux
I'm one of those people that likes to think that NCsoft has enough money to get by on. It's just my gut reaction that if you have a few successful games then you probably have some spending money in your wallet. So, I like to think that NCsoft, even though they certainly took a pretty huge hit when they invested in Tabula Rasa, could have easily kept the development process going. Perhaps it would have been much slower than it currently was, but there was no reason it couldn't keep going on some type level.They have, at least, provided some compensation for players who are currently subscribed to the game; the chance to try out games like City of Heroes and Lineage 2 are offered in the stead of TR gameplay time.
Anarchy Online update adds raid interface, turns zones into instances
Anarchy Online's version 17.1 update went live last week. It added a complete raid interface to the game, allowing players to combine up to six teams into a raid group with its own chat channel and loot rules. The interface will allow raid leaders to move players between teams, and every player in the raid group will be able to monitor the vitals of other raid group members.Additionally, a handful of AO's existing playfields -- Sectors 13, 28 and 35 to start with -- have become raid instances. That means that raid groups can take these encounters on at their own pace and without competition. Funcom plans to do this to more playfields in the future.The update also features your standard assortment of bug fixes and gameplay and balance tweaks. Read the patch notes at the AO website for details.
Anarchy Online turns seven; free stuff for everyone!
Funcom's other MMO, Anarchy Online, has just had its seventh birthday. A number of the people that worked on the game got together to make a video that looks at AO since its beginnings, including Morten Byom, Craig Morrison, Ragnar Tørnquist, Colin Cragg, and indeed, Age of Conan's game director Gaute Godager.To make sure that everyone is digging the anniversary vibe, there are various freebies up for grabs, most in keeping with the theme of "seven". All current subscribers will receive 700 paid points and 7 buddy keys. Those on free accounts have the chance to upgrade to the full game for $7/€, and will get 7 days free play time included . On top of this, a party planner NPC is giving away all sorts of items in-game. Last, but not least, there is an AO-themed gaming PC from GameRigs.com to be won -- check out the details at their website.
Win an Anarchy Online-themed desktop from Funcom and GameRigs
It seems to be the year of the Science Fiction MMO-themed desktop PC. A couple months back, CCP and Commodore joined forces to sell us EVE Online enthusiast desktops. This time, GameRigs and Funcom put together the above-pictured Anarchy Online computer, and are giving it away in a sweepstakes.It looks sexy and all, but we were disappointed to see that the provided system specs are rather vague. It has an "Intel Core 2 processor" and an "NVIDIA GeForce graphics card." Well, that could be anything, but hey, it's free, ain't it? And do you really need a GeForce GTX 280 to run 2001's Anarchy Online? Not so much!It looks like you don't have to do anything but fill out a form to enter the sweepstakes. You don't even have to be an Anarchy Online subscriber. You do have to be a legal resident of the United States or Canada (excluding Quebec; now that's not fair!), though.
AO designer says adieu, moves on to The Secret World
Anarchy Online content designer Nina "Aythem" Sund has been writing developer journal entries over at Ten Ton Hammer for several months, sharing game design wisdom and insider anecdotes with players. Her latest entry had a different tone, though. She used the medium to bid farewell to AO players as she moves on to work on Funcom's next MMO, The Secret World.As a parting gift, she spent the rest of her entry telling fans how they too can become game designers. Hers is good advice if that's an aspiration for you. Unfortunately, she didn't slip out any news or information on The Secret World, which as so far been very, well ... secret. Ten Ton Hammer attached two bits of concept art, though, so savor that!We hope Funcom will continue to support AO even though it now has Age of Conan and The Secret World to worry about, too. Sund was a popular quest designer at AO; we're glad she'll be adding her touch to TSW, but poor AO!
Anarchy Online updates PvP system in new patch
While excitement continues to build for the in-development Age of Conan, Funcom's first Massively Multiplayer game is still going strong. This week Anarchy Online released patch 17.8, a major update that adds a whole new layer to the Player vs. Player system in the game. Each profession now has ten levels of rankings for individual successes, and there are separate 'team rankings' for grouped PvP as well.The content update adds a number of other new elements as well: a new 'Dust Brigade' quest instance, a change to the Perks system, and tweaks to nanos and NPCs throughout the world. The game is free to play with a tiered payment system this year, and there's a really good-looking graphics update coming soon. What's not to like?
Anarchy Online dev makes every NPC feel special
Content Designer/Writer for Anarchy Online -- Nina "Aythem" Sund -- has a new developer journal post up, covering NPCs within the world of Rubi-Ka. We really like that NPCs have personalized names taken mostly from the people working on AO, but also from other interesting places. One recent NPC was named "Heath Bridges" after Heath Ledger in light of his untimely death. It definitely gives players a good idea bout how much effort people put into the games they enjoy.Of course there are always times when it isnt as easy to create names for her NPCs. Such as the case of Andre Bottle, given the first name of a coder and the last name of, well, a bottle. They can't all be winners, but then again Andre Bottle sure sounds like a nice guy to us. Our favorite name is Scott Free, which is of course a play on words in the form of a name. Yeah -- that kind of humor works on us here at Massively, but only because we're incredibly humorful in nature.
Anarchy Online team releases teaser for revamped graphics engine
Anarchy Online was released in 2001, and as such, the current graphics don't quite hold up when compared to games of this generation. Since the game has been receiving a lot of new players from their free-to-play offer, the team at Funcom decided to do something about the lackluster environments by developing a new rendering engine for their graphics system. They have also made a teaser trailer available to show off their hard work, and it can be seen in two different resolutions here. With this, and the changes to allow people on the free-to-play option the chance to get more of the game for less, it seems Funcom is working hard to jump-start the aging title.The game director for AO, Craig Morrison, was interviewed by MMORPG.com about the new engine and was able to tell us a bit more about the upgrades. Apparently they have been working on the engine for close to a year, and it will allow for much greater optimization from GPU's. Once the new engine is in place, it will not be possible to run under the old engine, but the team is going to make many of the graphical bells and whistles optional, to prevent those with older systems being blocked from a game they're already able to play right now. They are aiming to release this revamped engine later in the year.[Thanks, Collin]
Anarchy Online moves to tiered subscriptions
With the news that Anarchy Online will offer free-to-play service for another year, you might be wondering why you'd want to ... pay for the free game. Well, that free service is severely limited. You can only reach a certain level, and you don't have access to the well-received Shadowlands expansion content. The only alternative to free status has previously been Anarchy Online's large-for-the-value $14.95 monthly fee. Funcom is now offering an in-between option, a $5/month package that gives you access to the Shadowlands on your formerly F2P account! You'll also be able to reach max level. The full-priced option still exists, and has no restrictions whatsoever in your progress within the game. There is a catch, though: once you upgrade from a free-to-play account, there's no going back. With the Shadowlands content unlocked on your account, you're always going to have to pay at least the $5 fee to keep it open.Just the same, as Mike Schramm noted in his previous post on AO's free service, it's great to see a now-venerable title being kept open by a small group of loyal users. Thanks to RMT, a small team of content developers, and now a new tiered pricing structure, the future of Anarchy Online looks brighter than you might have expected (given the gritty cyberpunk air and all).
Under The Hood: Free For Now
There is a veritable glut of free-to-play MMOs, both in development and on the market. This much is certain. It especially originates around the Asian countries such as South Korea, Japan, and China. And some of the smart designs of these free-to-play games are gradually working their way into more mainstream, American and European MMOs. But how do these games stay in business? And how do they relate to the traditional design of monthly fees?
Manhunt 2 one step closer to British unbanning
In America, it was quite the saga getting Manhunt 2 from AO-rated, system-excluded game an eventual, mediocre M-rated release. In Great Britain, though, the battle to get the game released continues to this day, though it is moving in Rockstar's direction.GamesIndustry.biz is reporting that Rockstar has won its appeal of the BBFC's decision to refuse the game classification by a four to three vote. The game's not out of the woods yet, though -- the BBFC could still continue to defend it decision through further appeal to the High Court. "We won't make a decision until we've seen the full printed judgement," a BBFC spokesperson told GI.biz.
Funcom: cool stuff coming for AO in 17.8
Craig Morrison, the director of Funcom's Anarchy Online, wrote up a letter to the game's player community describing what's to come in the 17.8 update.17.8 will bring a new team-based instance encounter that continues the Dust Brigade storyline, a complete overhaul of PvP titles, and a separate "social" tab in the inventory system so players can equip items specifically for their appearances without completely replacing the stat bonuses of existing gear. Also, Funcom's focus is shifting back to the pre-Shadlowlands world in terms of new content development.Morrison said information about upcoming holiday events and the graphics engine upgrades is forthcoming. The updated engine is still in alpha testing but should be ready "mid to late next year." Fans of the game can expect to see some footage of the changes "very shortly." We don't think a graphics update is likely to incite a surge of new players for this industry dinosaur, but hey, if you're already an AO player, it's still exciting.[Via WarCry]
Selling AO up the virtual river
It's a sad day for those living in Rubi-Ka. Funcom has decided that Anarchy Online isn't nearly messed up enough, and so have announced that players can now spend money for points that can used in-game to buy items. That's right friends, the economy was just flushed down the tubes by guys who make the game. How exactly is this a good thing? Sure, Entropia Universe uses actual currency in a virtual environment, but we're talking about a game that has been running for years under the system that you actually have to work to earn your money, and now they are just letting you buy it outside the came with cold hard cash. I guess the currency sales within the game by farmers was so massive that they figured "hey, if you can beat them, join them." This very morning I was mulling over the idea of starting up my account again and seeing how the game works with my updated graphics card, but I think I will pass. Can they please change the name of the company to something other than "Funcom?" It's misleading the players to believe that they are a publisher interested in the fun of the players, when this is so obviously not the case.
M-rated Manhunt 2 gets previewed
In the interest of comparison, IGN has now played an M-rated build of Manhunt 2, taking their time to document the differences between this new version and the older AO version. As one might imagine, the violence has been toned down, but that doesn't mean the game is going to be completely devoid of blood and guts. Oh, there'll still be loads of that.IGN was able to take the title through its paces on two levels, one of which they were lucky enough to play before. Now, in these levels, stealth is still heavily emphasized, as players must sneak up on and murder their enemies as lead character Danny. Not only that, but IGN comments that some murderous sequences in the game are still downright disturbing, which we fully expected given the game has Manhunt in the title.%Gallery-3148%[Thanks, BPMΩ!]
