battlestar galactica
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Nnooo.com pitches Pokemon MMO; own name gives the answer
Question: What's the difference between John Q. Public saying they "have a neat idea" for a Pokémon MMO and the maker of casual Wii title Pop saying the same thing? Answer: a foot in the door, and little else. That hasn't stopped nnooo.com from pitching the idea to Nintendo via their website, along with ideas for games based on the Battlestar Galactica, James Bond, and X-Men franchises. We're not saying they don't have the talent to back this claim, but a casual title is a far cry from a polished MMO -- and possibly Nintendo's first one, at that.Even assuming this pitch had a chance to be taken seriously by Nintendo, it's highly unlikely the company would let a third-party develop it, judging by their existing Pokémon line's history. You know, if we're calling dibs, we've already pitched two of these ideas ourselves. Hmm ... Massively Games ... has a nice ring, doesn't it?[Via NintendoLife]
The week in Massively features
MMOGology: Gamerz is speshulMarc Nottke looks into research covering the social problems online gamers can face. Anti-Aliased: Gentlemen! Behold! Chocobos & Static Parties!Colin Brennan argues for the great possibilties offered up by Final Fantasy XI. MMOS X: A roundup of MMOs for the MacMarc Crump runs down a list of MMOs compatible with Apple's slick-looking OS. Massively video exclusive: Villain epic archetypesOur exclusive video introduction to the City of Villains epic Archetypes. Massively Speaking Podcast Episode 1The first episode of Massively's brand-new podcast is live!
TV shows that could be MMOs: Battlestar Galactica
Watching the final season of the new Battlestar Galactica the other night, and getting only a taste of the amazing, chaotic, shaky-cam ship-to-ship action left us wanting more. But even better than a full episode devoted to space combat would be an MMO based in that world. How would that work, you ask? We're glad you did! Keep in mind that this article assumes basic knowledge of the show universe and its characters. If you haven't seen it, get thee to a torrent, or a rental store immediately!First, consider some of the great two-sided rivalries in MMOs: Horde vs. Alliance; AFS vs. the Bane; Humanity vs. Hell -- Mankind vs. the Cylons fits right in. In fact, since the show itself manages to portray both sides as sympathetic, there isn't too much storyline massaging to be done; the universe of Galactica is nicely morally ambiguous. All that really matters is survival.
One Kara Leaves: Karathress vs. Kara Thrace wrap up
On Friday I asked you what would happen if Karathress, the minion wielding sub boss of Serpentshrine Cavern, went up against Kara Thrace, the like-named heroine of Battlestar Galactica. You voiced your opinions, you voted. And you chose Kara Thrace, by a vote of 81.5% to 18.4%.Some of the defining user comments made it clear why Kara Thrace would win. SweetPoison said, "Kara would just bomb SSC with her Viper." Pappagallo tells us that I missed one of Starbuck's key abilities, and I fully agree with him: at 20% health Kara would cast "Summon Adama" in which there's a 99% chance Adama appears in either his old or young form and goes on a rampage, or a 1% chance that Colonel Tigh appears drinking, saying "Kill her, see if I care."Quite the interesting results, and I'm glad everyone had a chance to vote. And just to revise my opinion on who the final Cylon is, I'm now going to say it's Felix Gaeta. We know it's not Billy anymore because Six said "The final five are close."Of course, I could just be frackin' out of my mind.
Battlestar Galactica XBLA price frak-ed on Saturday
This Friday marks the debut of the final season of Battlestar Galactica, and while we have no delusions that the 60 minutes of commercial interrupted TV will leave us any more stupefied than we were at the end of last season wondering what in the frak is going on, we nonetheless cannot wait to pick our jaws up off the floor. To celebrate the premiere, Sierra has chopped the price of its casual BSG-themed XBLA shooter in half to 400 points, and while playing the game still just serves as a painful reminder that we still lack a real Battlestar Galactica game, the new price is nonetheless a welcome treat. But get it while it's hot; the toasters are going to jack the price back up to 800 points 24 hours later. So say we all! Gallery: Battlestar Galactica (XBLA, PC) [Via Press Release]
XBLA's Battlestar Galactica half price on Sat.
According to a commercial that has been running during the Sci-Fi Channel's Battlestar Galactica television series, the Xbox Live Arcade version of Battlestar Galactica will see a half price reduction this Saturday, April 5th. The game will be available for download for 400 Microsoft points, but only on April 5th. It's what we in the business call a one day sale. We aren't in the know regarding the Battlestar Galactica series or what big event is going down on Saturday to spur this discount, but we'll play along. Grab it for 400 if you choose.[Thanks, Ryan Sanders (Rufus)]
GDC08: An evening with Will Wright minus friends (video)
I applied for, and received an invitation to 'An Evening with Will Wright and Friends', held in Mezzanine, a swanky club in San Francisco's SOMA district on Thursday evening. I didn't know what exactly to expect, but I knew two things: 1) It wasn't going to be about Spore, and 2) It was Will Freaking Wright. How did I know Spore wasn't on the offering? 'Cause we're all kind of Spore'd out, aren't we?I was right about the lack of Spore, but was pleasantly surprised and gratified to hear Will speak on a variety of topics -- James Bond, cosmonauts, Gilligan's Island as the predecessor of Neil Gaiman's The Sandman comics, Godzilla, Care Bears, Lost, Walt Disney, Battlestar Galactica, Spiderman, and Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance -- before finally wrapping it all up with the observation that the stories that resonate with us are deconstructible; we can reduce them to components, and using those components, build our own stories. Finally, accepting questions from the audience, I asked him what advice he'd give NASA as they create their MMO. His friends never showed up, but man, Will Wright is always worth a listen. He knows his stuff so well and is such a wonderful speaker ... check out the video I shot after the break, and you'll see what I mean.
Grimwell gives one reason fantasy pwns sci-fi, we go "Huh?"
Watch your head, you don't want it hit by return fire in the ever-present MMO blogosphere discussion of fantasy vs sci-fi. The most recent discussion started up with Massively's own Michael Zenke and his "Five Reasons Sci-Fi Pwns Fantasy" which prompted the return fire in question from Grimwell. Both of the posts are certainly worth reading, especially if you have any kind of lingering interest in the subject matter. As far as we can see, there's truth to be had on both sides of the fence. However, we do have one point of contention to make with Grimwelll's argument. He states that the reason fantasy "pwns" sci-fi is that it's accessible, which is a constant argument on the matter. While we think he may have a point in that less people are inherently familiar with sci-fi, we very much disagree with his assessment that you need to be a math nerd to enjoy good sci-fi -- his example in this case being Star Trek and its now-infamous technobabble.
Battlestar Galactica: Season 1 HD DVD arriving sans quality?
It's not like we haven't seen a high-profile HD title released without the expected level of quality, but it seems the QA lapse is bugging the HD DVD camp this go 'round. Apparently, hordes of angry Battlestar Galactica: Season 1 HD DVD buyers are flocking to message boards to grumble about the shoddy packaging, scratched up discs and other picture / audio niggles that certainly should not be appearing on a $70 (or more) box set. As the above image illustrates, it seems that some buyers are receiving the set only to find a plethora of unwanted scratches (presumably due to misaligned packaging), and if the stuttering playback wasn't bad enough, some customers are also finding image quality / audio sync issues with the included mini series. So, dear readers, have any of you experienced similar headaches? And if so, what's your plan of action?[Image courtesy of Amazon / J. Ryder, thanks Robert P.]
The writers strike is in full effect
In case you haven't noticed, most of the best HD shows are in reruns. December is usually a month of reruns, but we've already seen an alternative season finale to Heroes, and in January when we'd normally expect to see our favorite shows come back, you can expect to see more reruns and more reality TV. There are some of our favorites that have some episodes left, like eight episodes of Lost, nine episodes of Medium, ten episodes of Battlestar Galatica, and seven episodes of Jerico. But others like the Office, Heroes, and Big Bang Theory are already out. Hopefully, the writers will get compensation for downloads before the remaining shows run out, and if not at least we'll have more time to watch all those HD DVD and Blu-ray discs.[Via ZatzNotFunny]
Enter for a chance at 50,000 MSFT points
Giving away Microsoft points is a shoo-in for exposure and free press, especially when 600,000 points are up for grabs.The Battlestar Galactica marketing team is giving away some 600,000 Microsoft points to twelve lucky souls who enter their year long sweepstakes. Entry into the sweepstakes is super easy, just make your way here, fill out the tiny entry form and POOF! You're entered. The sweeps runs through November 2008 where every month they'll award one winner 50,000 Microsoft points (although the official rules says 52,000). And don't worry about re-entering every month, because one entry will do and roll-over each time. And while you're at it, try and win a trip to LA too.
The writers' strike effect on HD programming
The ability for a group to go on strike is a fundamental right in American, and while we don't really understand what the problem is -- we'd assume the writers want more money -- we do know we're going to miss out on some HD programming. The first shows to feel the pinch are the live shows like Leno and SNL, next up is the scripted shows which mostly seem to have about 9 episodes under their belt. Luckily some HD programming is resilient like sports and reality TV -- not that there's much HD. At this point it's hard to know how long the strike will last, but if it lasts more than a few months, at least we'll finally be able to catch up on all those HD movies we've been meaning to watch. Here's a short list of our favorite shows that will go into reruns if this thing doesn't end before too long.Heroes - Seasons will end early on Dec 3rd Lost - Expected to have eight out of 16 episodes ready. Medium - Will have 9 of 22 episodes completed. Battlestar Galactica - Has 10 hours of episodes, plus a two hour movie to air this Fall.
Exit and Battlestar Galactica on XBLA
Ah, Xbox Live Arcade Wednesday. When you wake up you can just smell the fresh games. This week we've got two new entries for our favorite downloadable service, Exit and Battlestar Galactica. The latter provides sci-fi fans with a much needed something (or so we're told), while the former gives us a stylish, old school logic puzzler (oddly described as "pazzle action" in its dashboard description). So, you can either blast the Cylons to hell, or you can help various strangers escape there precarious predicaments. The choice is yours. We should probably note that either choice will set you back 800 MS Points.
This Wednesday: Cylons and Exit make their entrance on XBLA
This wednesday, in addition to the previously-announced Battlestar Galactica, escape-prone puzzler Exit will come to Xbox Live Arcade. Both games will be available for 800 MS points (US $10). Ire-inducing card game Uno is also receiving an update this week. The title now supports the Big Button Pad used with Scene It! as well as some camera and privacy improvements. New content for Bomberman, dubbed Bomb-up Pack 3, and Pinball FX is also due to arrive. All content will become available this wednesday at 5 a.m. ET.
Battlestar Galactica and Exit set for XBLA release
Nothing gives us a much needed second wind during our Monday afternoon than the announcement of the Xbox Live Arcade releases for the week. And good old Microsoft hasn't let us down, announcing that both Battlestar Galactica and Exit will release to the Arcade masses this Wednesday.Battlestar Galactica will cost you 800 Microsoft points and feature lots of nostalgic Battlestar Galactica fighting moments, single and multiplayer gameplay and pretty much top off your Battlestar Galactica fanboy cup of excitement. The other 800 Microsoft point Arcade release, Exit, comes from TAITO Corporation and is a single player puzzle game with over 200 levels of fun that puts you in control of a hero named "Mr. ESC". And with a name like Mr. ESC you can almost guarantee that the level of corniness will be cranked up to twelve. But that's it for Arcade announcements today, now the only thing left for you to do is prepare for Battlestar Galactica Exit'nicity this Wednesday.
Battlestar Galactica next week on XBLA
Alright, we should start by saying that we know nothing about Battlestar Galactica. So, don't expect any pithy in-jokes in this post. At least, don't expect any about Battlestar Galactica. So, let's just get to the meat then: Battlestar Galactica is making its way to Xbox Live Arcade next Wednesday. The game will feature 10 single-player missions as well as a multiplayer component that supports up to 8 players on Xbox Live. The single-player campaign features battles taken from the show, while the multiplayer allows players to dog it out as one of 8 different Human or Cylon ships (4 of each). Battlestar Galactica will be available for 800 MS Points.Finally, they'll have something new to talk about on Battlestar Galactica Forum.
Sierra's ambitious Winter XBLA plans
If you're planning your next XBLA purchases for the next few months then be sure to not count out Sierra's upcoming library of games, because they actually look promising.The crew over at IGN got some hands on time with all six, count 'em six, of developer Sierra's new games that are set to release on the Xbox Live Arcade this Winter. So, enough of the fluff let's get to the goods. Sierra's bountiful and very diverse Winter XBLA lineup includes a 3D space shooter called Aces of the Galaxy, a mystical hack, hack, slash slasher called Arkadian Warriors, the TV based Battlestar Galactica, a puzzling bunny game called Boogie Bunnies, a casual gamer's RTS Commanders: Attack of the Genos, and finally Switchball. See, we told you it was a diverse group of games. You can check out IGN's hands-on take of each Arcade title as well as screenshots and video from each game after the jump. And with such an interesting lineup of adventure, sci-fi, shooter and action based games we can't help but be most excited to play Boogie Bunnies. Dancing bunnies ... what more can we say?
Battlestar Galactica: Season 1 coming to HD DVD
If you were amped up to find that Star Trek: The Original Series was headed to HD DVD, this tidbit could result in copious amounts of celebrating. Universal Studios has just announced that it will be bringing the complete first season of Battlestar Galactica to HD DVD this winter "in one elaborate box set." Reportedly, the set will be "presented in 1.78:1 widescreen anamorphic video and include a pair of audio options: Dolby TrueHD 5.1 lossless and Dolby Digital Plus 5.1." Additionally, the package will be brimming with extras including a "picture-in-picture video commentary on the entire mini-series, more than a half-dozen featurettes, multiple deleted scenes," and the tantalizing "Encyclopedia Galactica." Mark your calendars, folks, as the set is slated to land on December 4th for $99.98.[Via HighDefDigest]
Sierra details fall XBLA releases like Battlestar Galactica
Sierra revealed details on three titles coming to XBLA this fall. Switchball, Commanders: Attack! and Battlestar Galactica will be gracing XBLA in the coming months. PC owners can play Switchball already, but the other games everyone will need to wait until the fall.Switchball is like Marble Madness with an ever changing ball. Sometimes it's light, sometimes it's electric, sometimes it doesn't know what it is. Players lead the ball through various labyrinths. Commander: Attack! is a turn-based strategy war game featuring '30s art deco. There is a 15-mission single player campaign and you can compete against three friends. Last, but most important, Battlestar Galactica is a top-down space combat game. You'll be able to compete against eight players online or through a single-player campaign as either a member of the Galactica or the Cylons. We'll have more information later in the day.
Switchball, Commanders: Attack! & more XBLA bound
TeamXbox pulled some strings and got the pre-E3 dish on three new XBLA offerings from Sierra Online. Over on their site they posted a dump truck sized load of screenshots, game details and videos for Sierra Online's three Arcade games including Switchball, Commanders: Attack!, and Battlestar Galactica. No word yet on the games' release dates or how much they'll cost, but we're sure more info will trickle in when the games get officially announced at E3. Fanboys: Attack!
