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Massively's Cities XL beta key giveaway: Round Two
If you missed out on our whirlwind giveaway from the last set of Cities XL closed beta keys, you'll be pleased to hear that we're doing it again today. That's right, we're giving away another set of beta keys for the newest closed testing phase, and you have a chance to win!To participate, all you need to do is leave a comment to this post telling us what Cities XL feature you're looking forward to the most. All participants will then be contacted by Monte Cristo with their unique key and instructions on downloading the client. Eligibility for this giveaway will close on Wednesday, July 8th, 2009 at 8pm EST or when all keys have been given away. If you'd like to find out more on our impressions of the game, check out our latest coverage and a hands-on with the closed beta. Good luck![Update: Thank you to all who commented! Eligibility is now closed and you can expect your keys to arrive within the next few days.]
Massively hands-on with Cities XL
As the Cities XL closed beta continues to run strong, we got word that the beta's NDA has lifted [Edit: for press] and we can spill the beans on our first impressions of the game so far. Now, two very important points to be made here include the fact that this is not a review (MMO reviews are bad, mmkay), and this is still in early closed beta stage.With that in mind, we're here to give you some facts on how the game stands now, with a bit of healthy opinion thrown in for good measure. If you're at all curious about how this city-builder MMO can possibly work, follow along below.
Win your very own Cities XL beta key through Massively! [Updated]
We first announced information on the upcoming Cities XL closed beta back in April, as readers were given the chance to participate in a special exclusive lottery promotion. Since then, many of you have shown interest in the game as we've continued to bring you the latest news and interviews about the game.Today, we're happy to announce our involvement with the closed beta and your chance to win a key of your very own. To participate, all you need to do is leave a comment to this post telling us what Cities XL feature you're looking forward to the most. All participants will then be contacted with their unique key and instructions on downloading the client. We have 500 keys to give away total, so it's first come, first serve. Eligibility for this giveaway will close on Monday, June 22nd, 2009 at 7am EST. Good luck![Edit: Wow! All keys are now taken in the very first day. Comments will now be closed on the post, but look for more on the progression of Cities XL coming soon!]
Cities XL releases new screenshots in preparation for beta
Monte Cristo has just released a few new screenshots for their upcoming city-builder MMO, Cities XL. Of course, we've talked about Cities XL in the past, including a few interviews with the team, and we're very excited to see the game progressing so well.With a closed beta coming soon, and a launch later this year in France and Germany (crossing our fingers for the global release soon after!), all city-builder fans should be ramping up their excitement levels just a bit. These seven new screenshots included in our gallery below might help with that. Check them out, as well as our previous coverage of the game for more information.%Gallery-50213%
E3 2009: A chat with Cities XL's Alexandre Zambeaux
Last week at E3, we had a chance to sit down with Alexandre Zambeaux, Marketing Director for Cities XL developer Monte Cristo Games, for some more info on the current state of the game, and what MMO gamers can expect from such a project. You may remember a pre-beta Q&A we did with the Monte Cristo team a few months ago, and as the game hasn't hit an open beta just yet, it will later this year. The info we got from that initial interview helped carve an idea in our heads of what this whole city-building MMO could possibly be, but now we're happy to offer a few more details.Even though this meeting was very informal, we took some great info away from Alexandre to relay to you, the readers. Follow along after the jump to find out more about the business model, expandability, gameplay and more.
Cities XL feature set and subscription pricing for European release announced
Paris-based game developer Monte Cristo Multimedia is only a few months away from releasing Cities XL which will potentially bring something fresh to the MMO scene: persistent world city-building. We've reported that some of Europe's French and German-speaking countries will get their hands on Cities XL first as of September 3rd. Monte Cristo has dropped more details today about the online play they'll deliver with Cities XL with their online/persistent world "Planet Offer". We suspect the feature set will remain much the same when the title releases for North America, however subscription pricing has only been announced for Europe:
Cities XL gets September 3 launch date for French and German-speaking countries
We've been seeing MMO developers prepare to fill different niches in the industry with a number of science fiction, post-apocalyptic, and even horror titles in the works, to name just a few avenues that are being explored. One area that seems unique to us is the concept of a city-building MMO which is on the way with Cities XL, currently in development at Monte Cristo Multimedia. Is this game an MMO (or virtual world) as we would typically define it? Perhaps not. But it will offer persistent world gameplay as well as economic interaction between player-created cities, further enabled by social networking options, which we think may be of some interest to our readers.While we don't have release dates for the North American market yet, Monte Cristo Multimedia got word to us today about the game's European release dates. They state: "Monte Cristo is very happy to announce that Cities XL, the next generation city builder, will be released on September 3rd 2009 on PC DVD in the following countries: France, Germany, Belgium, the Netherlands, Luxembourg, Switzerland, and Austria, in French and German languages. A release is planned for other countries, we will announce a precise date as soon as possible."%Gallery-50213%
Cities XL dev blog explains integration of gameplay with social networking
Cities XL is a game in development at Monte Cristo Multimedia that's ... well, it's a little hard to explain, as it's quite different from the titles we typically cover at Massively. Essentially, Cities XL is an MMO variant of popular 'builder' games where players can create urban landscapes with all that entails, plus businesses and industries, even determining the makeup of city populations (age, education, wealth). The cities designed and established by players can become part of a global, interconnected system, giving rise to all sorts of interactions in this persistent world. (It should be noted that Cities XL can be played in single-player mode as well.)There's a Cities XL dev blog at IGN that's taken a look at some of the features that will be in place with the Planet Offer (fully interactive), namely how a user's profile page will integrate social networking into Cities XL play. The blog entry states: "You will be informed in real time of everything that is happening around your game."
The Digital Continuum: Evolving past the Diku design Part 2
The other movement of change sweeping through developers' design choices is the near removal of classes and/or levels. EVE Online was one of the first MMOs to do away with levels, and the upcoming All Points Bulletin and The Secret World appear to be doing the same. Now, titles like Champions Online and Fallen Earth are doing away with the idea of a class system altogether.
The Digital Continuum: Evolving past the Diku design
I never played any of the numerous MUDs -- let alone DikuMUD -- back in the early nineties, and it's probably for the best, as my then youthful mind wouldn't have spared more than a few minutes to learn how they worked, let alone spend the necessary time to play them. We're talking pre-teen here, just to be clear, and I was really interested in stuff like point and click adventure games. Oh, and also Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.Even though I wasn't around for the progenitors that would eventually lead to things like Ultima Online, EverQuest, Dark Age of Camelot and World of Warcraft, it's not hard for me to see in the wake of all those titles the line of ideas and creativity that connects all of them. Hell, you can trace it back to the original release of Dungeons and Dragons if you really wanted to, but let's focus on the future for today.
Massively and Cities XL team up for special closed beta promotion
One of the most popular requests from Massively readers is more coverage for MMOs that break the traditional fantasy or sci-fi mold. How about an MMO based on city building and municipal management? Cities XL from Monte Cristo Multimedia is an upcoming MMO that not only breaks the mold, but it takes the MMO genre into territories not yet explored. To help celebrate today's closed beta announcement for the game, Monte Cristo has joined forces with Massively to provide an exclusive promotional code to help our readers get a better chance at being selected for closed beta access to the game. Keep reading below for more information on what Cities XL actually is, including an exclusive Q&A with the developers. Plus, we have complete details on the promotional code event, video trailers, a screenshot gallery and more!%Gallery-50213%
Developer Monte Cristo talks low-price subscription models
As MMO gamers, we're fairly used to paying a certain amount of cash for our subscriptions -- the figure rarely wanders very far from the USD$15 a month mark. Usually you'll have either the $15-a-month setup, or a free-to-play game with costs to buy items or upgrade to a premium account. Speaking with Gamesindustry.biz, Parisian development studio Monte Cristo put forward a different game-plan: budget subscription prices. Their upcoming city-building title Cities XL will feature both single player and MMO modes. Those that get into the MMO aspect of the game will pay just GBP£10 (or roughly USD$15) for a 3-month subscription.The hope is that players will not only be more willing to try the MMO version of Cities XL at that price, but that they would also be more likely to pay for the cheap plug-ins that Monte Cristo is developing and can be added to the game. The studio's head Jerome Gastaldi commented that he and his company did not really believe in the microtransaction-only model, and hence, the mixed business model came about. With money coming back to them from box sales, subscriptions, and add-ons, Gastaldi hopes that their decisions will make Cities XL less risky than launching a purely single-player game.
The Best of Big Download: December 15-21
This week is the last one in 2008 that will likely have a lot of major gaming news but Big Download still has lots of plans to cover the past year and looking ahead to 2009 in the next several days. In the meantime let's look at the highlights from the past week:Exclusive features Contests: We have lots of contests that we are running this week. You still have time to enter for your chance to win a free copy of Galactic Civilizations II, Demigod, Prince of Persia, a Red Alert 3 game and swag pack or game codes for GoG.com. Reviews: We have our final verdicts on Prince of Persia, Strong Bad Episode 5, and American McGee's Grimm: A Christmas Carol. Cities XL preview: We go hands-on with the upcoming ambitious city sim game from Monte Cristo. Left 4 Dead game guide: Our final game guide for Valve's shooter takes a look at some of the more interesting achievements. Countdown to the biggest PC game news stories of 2008: What was the biggest story in 2008 for PC gamers? We give our picks for the most memorable events of the past 12 months. Big Download's 2008 Rose Ceremony: We give out roses to those folks and groups who made news in PC gaming in 2008 and refuse to give roses to others. GamerApps - GamerDNA: We take a closer look at the new social networking site for games. Indie Showcase: Our weekly look at the indie games scene takes a look at some new artistic minded browser based games. Big Ideas: Our weekly look at game themes takes a look at in-game health features. Big Iron: Our weekly hardware column gives out their first annual hardware awards Freeware Friday: Our weekly look at free games takes a look at the B-movie game inspired title Cottage of Doom. Virtual Bargain Bin: Our look at cheap games takes a look at two games that have been released for free at GoG.com, Beneath a Steel Sky and Lure of the Temptress.
