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Funcom details Secret World Templar mission [Updated]
Templar Week continues at Funcom, and this time the firm is teasing fans of The Secret World with bits and pieces of the game's factional missions and mythology. Today we get a look at a rogue agent mission within what is ostensibly the world's oldest (and definitely its most well-known) secret society. Funcom's dev diary paints the Templars as an uncompromising bunch, and players interested in joining the ranks of these ancient smiters of evil will travel to London, where they'll "feel the weight of thousands of years of history in the great arches of Temple Hall." They'll also be chasing a defector across the globe and even into some sort of alternate hell dimension, and you can read all about that and more at MMORPG.com. [Update: PC Gamer's got a preview of bunch of spooky TSW monsters too!]
The Secret World's Dragon Week reveals faction backstory, mission details
Dragon Week continues for Funcom and fans of The Secret World. The latest series entry takes the form of a dev journal that hints at the faction's backstory and teases a Dragon ranking mission from the game itself. The Dragon is based in Seoul, South Korea, and is so secretive that even its own members don't appreciate the full extent of its power. The organization operates under the belief that "seemingly insignificant events can trigger cataclysmic change," and players will find the Dragon recruitment process a bit different than that of the game's other two factions. Potential recruits are paid a visit by silent Dragon monks, then unceremoniously deposited in a Seoul neighborhood with no apparent exits. If the recruits manage to find the Dragon headquarters, they're rewarded with more info about the faction and their own destiny. There's more, including details on that mission we mentioned earlier, but you'll need to head to MMORPG.com to read it. [Thanks to Acidbaron for the tip!]
The Secret World's beta signup postponed
Those of you all hot and bothered for the start of The Secret World's beta registration event will need to avail yourselves of a cold shower (or at least a couple of tall, cold adult beverages). Funcom has announced that its ARG-infused signup event is not quite ready for prime time, and there's no time table on the rescheduling, either. A blurb on the game's website delivers the official "we're deeply sorry for the inconvenience" yada yada and also goes on to say that the registration for The Secret War event is delayed "until further notice." We'll keep our eyes peeled, and our heads on a swivel, as it's no doubt the fault of those dastardly Illuminati. [Thanks to Paul for the tip!]
Expensive corn dogs, plus 10 other things that are totally Apple's fault
Seattle Times columnist Brier Dudley speculates that we should expect the price of corn dogs to skyrocket from US$0.99 to $1.50 each. Since Dudley's report, U.S. financial markets have been in a tailspin over the news. Who does financial speculator Dudley say we should blame for the rising price of corn dogs? Steve Jobs. Of course. It all fits. You see, according to Dudley, small business owners enamored with the iPad will use any excuse they can find to justify owning one. "It'll help my business be more productive," corn dog vendors will say, but Dudley says this is a trap: These hapless souls will be snared into Apple's annual cycle of iPad upgrades, forcing them to shell out thousands of dollars in costs per year. Following basic economic principles, Dudley therefore expects those rising operating costs to be passed on to consumers. Therefore, you'll be paying half again as much for your corn dogs as you were last year, and it's all because Apple has hypnotized everyone into buying iPads whether they need them or not. I know you want seconds on the corn dogs, but there's no reason to shout. Dudley has no idea how deep the rabbit hole really goes. Corn dogs are only the beginning. Put on your aluminum thinking caps and follow along as I unveil the true extent of Apple's nefarious plans for world domination. We're through the looking glass here, people. 1. Brain cancer Did you know the iPhone is the most dangerous cell phone ever? Dr. Joseph Mercola sounded the warning two years ago, but nobody listened. Now, every time you send your Angry Birds high score to Game Center or FaceTime with your grandparents, you're not just getting a dose of endorphins from your brain's pleasure center -- you're also soaking up neuron-killing microwaves! Everybody panic! 2. Hearing loss iPod use causes deaf- I SAID, IPOD USE CAUSES DEAFNESS. Those white earbuds are basically the aural equivalent of staring directly at the sun during an eclipse; experts all say don't do it, but you just couldn't listen, could you? I SAID, YOU JUST COULDN'T- oh, forget it. 3. Unemployment The iPad is a job killer! You know it has to be true, because a Congressman said so. Those guys know how to kill jobs. Digital downloads are causing stores like Borders to shut down, and it's all Apple's fault! Damn its wildly popular iBookstore! But there's another underhanded scheme behind U.S. unemployment at work here... 4. Underage Chinese labor Apple uses child labor! They admitted it! Hundreds of thousands (11) of tiny (15-year-old) hands built your iPhone in terrible factory conditions. Next time you unlock your iPhone, think about how all eleven of those 15-year-old Chinese workers were unable to unlock themselves from Foxconn's chain gang (until Apple found out about them, anyway). And as we all know, no one else makes products at Foxconn's doom factories; once again, it's all Apple's fault. 5. Addiction Frankly, it wouldn't matter if Apple's products were manufactured by bipedal, enslaved factory-worker kittens genetically engineered to be as sympathetically cute (and productive) as possible. Why? Because Apple has us all addicted to the iPhone. That's the core of the company's grand scheme right there: create products so compelling that we can't put them -- hang on, checking my Twitter stream -- down. Apple purposefully designed the device to be compelling for only 12-14 months, however, which means by the time the next one comes out, the iPhone you have will feel like a useless piece of junk. All part of Apple's plans to keep you in... 6. Poverty Apple doesn't give away software upgrades like Snow Leopard or Lion for free to people running older operating systems. And you know what that means? Well, it means you have to pay for them! That's money that could've gone toward rent or getting braces for little Suzie, but nooooo... greedy old Apple insists on charging money for its products! It doesn't help matters that Apple intentionally breaks its older products to get you to buy new ones, then purposefully engineers basic flaws in its newer products in order to force you to buy accessories! Where does it all end? To the mines with you! 7. Crime Four years ago, the NY Daily News determined that the iPod was singlehandedly responsible for a nationwide crime wave. But did we listen? Of course not! And four years later, now that Apple makes products even more desirable than the iPods of old, crime is higher than ever. 8. Climate change Apple's leading the charge into cloud-based computing, but as Greenpeace wisely pointed out last year, clouds cause shifts in climate! All those data centers have to get their power from somewhere. Apple hasn't yet figured out how to transmute cash directly into electricity, which I suppose is lucky for coal plants run by people who turn electricity into cash. It's unlucky for the rest of us, though -- those of you in coastal cities had better buy waterproof cases for your iPhones. You know what's craziest about this? Al Gore is on Apple's board of directors! The guy who brought the whole climate change thing into the limelight! It really IS a conspiracy! 9. Espionage "Big Brother is watching you." It's more than a line from George Orwell's 1984, it's the literal truth. Underground bunkers buried deeply beneath Cupertino monitor your every move via the iPhone in your pocket. From atop his throne built entirely from $1000 bills, Steve Jobs sits before a bank of 10,000 Apple Cinema Displays that let him know, at any moment of his choosing, exactly when you start playing Flight Control in the bathroom. Oh sure, Apple says they never used that data for anything, and they say they've fixed the "bug," but that's exactly what you'd expect them to say, isn't it? 10. War Apple has declared war on everything. War on Flash. War on Google. War on Amazon. War on Samsung. War on Microsoft. War on Nintendo and Sony. War on publishers. War on developers. War on users. War on Porn! An entity willing to go to war with so many combatants, simultaneously, can only have one goal in mind: total, global domination. We've grown so used to reading the headline snippet, "Apple declares war on (x)," that it's unlikely we'll notice at all when (x) turns out to be "humanity." And how are we supposed to stop Apple when it rises, gargantuan, monolithic, from its long slumber beneath Cupertino's bedrock to enslave us all? How can we battle against Apple and its legions of underaged factory workers when we're all addled with brain cancer, deaf, unemployed, poor, terrified of crime, swimming for high ground, and so addicted to our iDevices that we don't even notice when they report our locations to the Thought Police? How, dear comrades, can we win the day without corn dogs?
The Secret World's Tornquist talks truth, pain, and non-combat gaming
Rock, Paper Shotgun is back with part two of its interview with The Secret World's Ragnar Tornquist. Part one debuted yesterday and detailed a bit of the history behind the game's development as well as blurbs about factions, puzzles, and ARG thingamajigs. Today's installment talks about everything from Tornquist's recurring real world/hidden world motifs, to the endings of Lost and Dreamfall, to unfulfilled fan expectations. As you might expect, the interview errs heavily on the side of the philosophical rather than delving into gameplay specifics. Everything from the nature of truth, to Funcom's Secret World agenda, to the reticence of the gaming industry to evolve beyond kill-everything-that-moves is up for discussion. On this last point, Tornquist hints at the challenges inherent in designing non-combat gaming experiences. "It's difficult. You can't sacrifice fun. But then of course the idea of fun is ambiguous. Does it always have to be fun? Can't it be painful too?"
Funcom reveals new Secret World cinematic
Funcom's had a busy fortnight, what with Age of Conan's content extravaganza and a few location reveals for The Secret World. Tonight the Norwegian development firm has taken the wraps off another spiffy teaser, this time in the form of a new cinematic for its upcoming conspiracy-horror MMORPG. The two-minute trailer starts off innocently enough, as a forlorn-looking barfly fond of cigarettes and strange tricks with pocket change makes his way from a bar stool to the nearest bathroom. It only gets weirder from there, and before the clip's running time is up, we've seen a sackcloth man-creature having trouble with a urinal, lots of icky tentacles, and some sort of multi-eyed horror from the depths of hell. None of this phases our ice-cold protagonist of course, and he even takes the time to zip his fly while disposing of the baddie in fine supernatural style. See for yourself after the cut, or head to GameTrailers.
The Secret World unveils the Kingsmouth Lighthouse
There's something spooky about your average lighthouse, particularly when viewed through the gloomy gauze of a dark and storm-drenched night. It's no surprise, then, that The Secret World will feature a lighthouse or two, and Funcom's latest location reveal centers around the beacon located by the port town of Kingsmouth. This particular lighthouse was built by the Illuminati in the 1700s. The purpose was two-fold. First was obviously the desire to see ships safely into the harbor. Beneath that benign exterior, though, lurked "a clear and powerful statement: This was Illuminati territory, their eye was all-seeing, their light shone brighter and stronger than any other." Today, the Kingsmouth Lighthouse still holds its share of secrets. The facility was automated at some point in the past and has since fallen into a state of neglect. A hidden staircase is rumored to exist somewhere in the rock at the lighthouse's base, and bronze panels inscribed with warding symbols have been reported as well. Eccentric author Sam Krieg has also taken up residence, and while we could tell you more about this eclectic location, there'd be no reason for you to visit the official Secret World website.
Joel Bylos on building a better Secret World
If you were given the chance to build your very own world from scratch, how would you do it? What would you include? Would it be a world of beauty or dark dreamscapes? And would the inhabitants enjoy their stay or flee in terror? To the team at Funcom tasked with fashioning The Secret World's... world, this isn't a hypothetical question, but a practical one. In a new developer blog post, Lead Content Designer Joel Bylos returns to share a behind-the-scenes view of how a game world is made. Bylos says that there are four aspects to world-building: identifying purpose, research, building flow, and prototyping and production. Because The Secret World takes place on our planet in the here-and-now, the team has a reference point to begin, but layers a "secret history" on top of it. Bylos explains by saying, "This is the history of an area as only a member of The Secret World can experience it; the footprints of the secret societies and their past conflicts; the truth behind the local myths and legends; the echoes of ancient magic and forgotten rituals." Of course, it's one thing to design something what you think is interesting and fun -- it's another to see if it works out in practice. All of this planning on paper is just the first stage of getting it in the game, which Bylos promises will come in an upcoming post.
The Secret World reveals new Accursed Woods location
The Secret World's third location reveal of the week is here, and we're once again back in New England for a look at the Accursed Woods. The new blurb on the game's official website kicks things off with a rather unsettling quote from H.P. Lovecraft, an author whose works have inspired both the story and the visuals of Funcom's forthcoming opus. The Accursed Woods play host to some sort of gnarly, nameless terror, but Funcom's prose makes it clear that players will know the true nature of the evil that lurks beneath the forest floor soon enough. "Soon, very soon, these horrors beyond horrors will leave the woods, and quaint Kingsmouth will fall to their chittering chorus," the site says. Bring your bug spray and head to the official Secret World web destination for more.
The Secret World's Innsmouth Academy profiled
Earlier this week Funcom treated us to a blurb about The Secret World's creepily atmospheric Atlantic Island Park. Today the official site has been updated with a new reveal centered on Innsmouth Academy. By all outward appearances, the academy is a private high school for rich kids. As per usual in The Secret World, things aren't always what they seem on the surface. Innsmouth Academy serves as something of a prep school for children of the Illuminati, "and a degree from Innsmouth Academy opens many doors for a budding magus and occultist." The school has a lengthy history, and originally opened its doors in 1798 before being rebuilt three times as a result of three different disasters (including the opening of a dimensional portal in the elementalism lab). Head to the official Secret World website to read more about the school and its faculty.
The Secret World unveils Atlantic Island Park
Funcom may not be previewing The Secret World at this week's E3 convention in Los Angeles, but you can bet on a couple of reveals designed to keep the horror-conspiracy MMORPG fresh on everyone's mind. First up is a new location blurb update on the game's official website. Atlantic Island Park is a creepy-crawly outdoor area oozing with dread atmosphere. Originally built in the 1970s by industrial tycoon Nathaniel Winter, the place was beset by freak accidents and ghostly sightings from the beginning. Kingsmouth locals opposed the construction due to the dark history of the Henderson farm, on which the park was built, but development continued. Apparently, so did a blood curse, night terrors, and various and sundry scream-inducing phenomena. Check out the details on the official website.
Engaging the brain: Funcom talks about the immersiveness of story in The Secret World
"No designer could ask for more to draw upon," The Secret World's Joel Bylos says. "This world, our world, is the greatest resource of them all." And so begins a fascinating trip down the dark alleys of storytelling in Funcom's upcoming MMO. In a dev diary posted at MMORPG.com, The Secret World team suggests it's more interesting to set the game in our world instead of in rehashed fantasy lands. By embracing the concept of "everything is true," the writers open the door to every conspiracy theory, every urban legend, and every branch of pseudoscience known to man. "The story is exploration. The story is discovery," Bylos promises. He says that the ultimate goal of the storytelling team is to get players to stop mindlessly clicking and to start engaging the story on a conscious level. This includes investigating events, hunting for clues and solving puzzles. No, this isn't Scooby-Doo Online (although that would be awesome). It's also interesting to note that every character in the game has full voice-over and motion capture as a way to pull you into the story instead of jolt you out of it. Bylos also outlines the different types of missions, which include stealth and infiltration, action, investigation, and story. [Thanks Even!]
Secret World impressions video shows glimpses of new footage
Game Reactor has just released a new preview video for Funcom's horror-conspiracy opus known as The Secret World. Petter Martensson and Bengt Lemne have a lot to say about the title in an impressions piece that runs just north of 10 minutes in length. Lemne talks about his experiences viewing the game at GDC, and we get to see a few glimpses of new footage from Kingsmouth and other locations throughout the world. The duo also talks about Funcom's much-publicized focus on story, with Lemne ultimately concluding that whether TSW is story-centered or not will be up to the players. "You can go and do all this [the story elements], and I think you can have a lot of fun if you do it in a group... but I think that the day the game is released, you're going to find guys that know how to do all these things, how to find these things, how to do it the fastest," he explains. Lemne also posits that earning skill credits will be the primary motivating factor for players (as opposed to Funcom's stated aim to have the narrative drive gameplay). Endgame is also a concern, as eventually the story content will dry up, and the plan seems to be to funnel players toward TSW's PvP elements. There's more, including discussion of PvP modes and the game's "overwhelming" skill options (as well as the resulting balance issues). Check out the full video at Game Reactor.
The Secret World readying seven years of content, new trailer released
Someone -- or something -- opened the news floodgates at The Secret World offices today, and apparently the stream was diverted directly to Eurogamer (with a tributary reaching IGN as well). There are several noteworthy pieces of info to pass along regarding Funcom's conspiracy-horror epic, starting with the fact that the Norwegian developer has already laid out seven years' worth of post-launch content updates. "We have actually begun not only design work but art work on content that's due after launch that has been planned from the get-go," game director Ragnar Tornquist tells Eurogamer. Despite assuring GDC audiences that The Secret World "is not a console game, it's not a game that tries to be anything like that," Tornquist acknowledged that Funcom is considering options beyond the PC. While the PC version is still the current focus, he leaves open the possibility of a console port if TSW turns out to be a big success. "You really need to make a different game [for consoles]. How different that will be, it's hard to say," Tornquist explains. Finally, IGN has gotten its hands on the newest trailer for The Secret World, and though the clip (titled Everything is True) manages to avoid showing much gameplay footage during its three-minute running time, it nonetheless delivers a considerable amount of atmosphere due a combination of effective editing, music, and titles. See for yourself after the cut.
The Game Archaeologist goes to Earth & Beyond: A talk with Rade Stojsavljevic
I have to admit, it's bizarrely fascinating to cover a deceased MMO. The effort produces a bag of mixed emotions: fond memories, bitter resentment, wistful longing, and casual disinterest by those who weren't there. These games truly matter to some players, even though they're already in danger of being covered by the sands of history. In these events, our monthly expeditions into these games becomes a rescue operation of sorts as we try to preserve the past by digging it up. I found it a welcome challenge to hunt down former Earth & Beyond developers who were willing to talk about their time with the game (and who hadn't forgotten it entirely -- 2004 is, like, sooo long ago!). Fortunately, I got a few nibbles for my efforts, and this week I reeled in Jet Set Games President Rade Stojsavljevic, who took time out of his schedule to hand us a long-lost piece of the Earth & Beyond treasure map. Hit the jump to hear Stojsavljevic reminisce about the best -- and, yes, the worst -- that Earth & Beyond had to offer!
Former Apple employee admits he sold confidential info, cost the company in excess of $2 million
Paul Devine, the man who last August collected a pretty lengthy list of charges against his name from the FBI and IRS -- which collectively amounted to an accusation of "screwing Apple" -- has now admitted his guilt. Specifically, Devine has fessed up to wire fraud, conspiracy and money laundering, in which he engaged while exchanging confidential information about upcoming Apple products for cold hard cash from interested parts suppliers. He's now having to forfeit $2.28 million in money and property that resulted from his nefarious exploits, with sentencing scheduled for June 6th. Devine's lawyer is quoted as saying he's a "good man who made a mistake, and now he's trying to make amends." Indeed, the mistake of getting caught and the amends of trying not to go to prison. Jump past the break for a full statement on the matter from the US Department of Justice.
Funcom calls The Secret World release date a "misunderstanding"
Did you know that Funcom's The Secret World was due to release "in the next few months?" We didn't either, nor apparently did Funcom despite a published report to the contrary in The Montreal Gazette. The article touches on Funcom's relationship with Electronic Arts and its disappointment with Age of Conan's performance relative to World of Warcraft's. It also intimates that The Secret World (developed at the company's Montreal studio) is nearing completion. "This must have been a misquote or a misunderstanding of some sorts. We have never communicated a release date for The Secret World," said a Funcom spokesperson in a statement to Eurogamer earlier today. Development on The Secret World is ongoing, and the game features a co-mingling of contemporary horror, conspiracy, and fantasy elements with Lovecraftian themes and skill-based progression.
PlayStation Home celebrates two years, outlines next year's additions
Man, it seems like only yesterday that we first stepped virtual foot into PlayStation Home, communicating with fellow PS3 owners using a complex system of gestures and gender morphing. In actuality, it's been two years since the platform launched, and according to a Sony press release, over 17 million users have visited its ghostly halls in that time. These users have participated in over 600 "community events," some of which were sponsored by other game developers and publishers, while some of which were hosted by us, such as our lightly-attended "Virtual Pizza Party/Singles Mixer 2009." The presser also announced two games which will arrive on the platform next spring: Sodium 2, a follow-up to Outso's successful, Home-based competitve tank shooter, and Conspiracy, a multiplayer "Spy/Puzzle game" from Jet Set Games. You can check out a few screenshots from the latter of these two titles in the gallery below. We wonder if our own proclivity for sexual espionage will give us a leg up? %Gallery-110310%
Entelligence: Conspiracy theory, part one
Entelligence is a column by technology strategist and author Michael Gartenberg, a man whose desire for a delicious cup of coffee and a quality New York bagel is dwarfed only by his passion for tech. In these articles, he'll explore where our industry is and where it's going -- on both micro and macro levels -- with the unique wit and insight only he can provide. We've all heard the great conspiracy theories of our time. President Kennedy was killed by more than one gunman. The moon landing was hoax, a drama secretly recorded on a stage set somewhere in Atlanta or Texas. More recently, the attacks on the World Trade Center were really perpetrated by the US, not Islamic terrorists. There are far more, I assure you. What's funny is that in the last few years, our industry has spun off a number of conspiracy theories worthy of being made into a movie. Apple, Microsoft, RIM, HP, Palm -- you name it, and there's a story being told. Of course, with most of these stories it's never direct from the source. It's people, who know of people, who knew someone, who heard from a friend that... something happened. As with all good tales, there's always someone who will believe. Oliver Stone, are you listening? Here are my five favorite tech conspiracies.
Apple supply manager arrested for wire fraud, money laundering
Ever wonder why -- after years of secrecy -- camera-ready iPod cases began rolling out? The answer could possibly be Apple supply manager Paul Shin Devine, who was just fingered by the FBI and IRS as a fraudulent, money laundering mole. Devine was arrested Friday for allegedly receiving kickbacks from six accessory suppliers in exchange for confidential information, which apparently gave them an edge in negotiating Apple contracts. "The alleged scheme used an elaborate chain of U.S. and foreign bank accounts and one front company to receive payments," reports the San Jose Mercury News, "and code words like 'sample' were used to refer to the payments so that Apple co-workers wouldn't become suspicious." Though we're not yet sure what specific confidential information might have been passed along and we doubt the indictment will say, a separate civil suit filed by Apple claims Devine accepted over $1 million in "payments, kickbacks and bribes" over the course of several years.
