Cthulhu
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New Horizons spots snowcapped peaks on Pluto
Right now, most mountaineers covet the seven summits: the highest peaks on each continent. In the (very, very distant) future the big seven might be redefined as the highest peaks across the solar system. A whimsical thought, perhaps, but a newly-discovered mountain range on Pluto will have even the most amateur of Earth-based climbers intrigued. The frosty-looking peaks are located in the south east of a region known as Cthulhu, and stretch out over 260 miles in length.
Clockwork Empires mates world-building, steampunk, Elder Gods
Clockwork Empires, the next game from Dungeons of Dredmor developer Gaslamp Games, appears to be a typical, steampunk-themed bureaucracy simulator, with one major twist: Instead of ordinary catastrophes like floods or fires, your biggest concern are attacks by squamous, unknowable Elder Gods. If it helps, imagine a less militant Age of Empires as written by H.P. Lovecraft. The cities you create, while arguably typical, always hold an air of malice, even before your citizens burst into flame or are driven mad by obscene geometries. "Build mighty colonies populated by foppish aristocrats, ambitious middle-class artisans and clerks, and the toiling lower-classes who labor in your magnificent factories, scientific laboratories, lavishly decorated houses, farms, cathedrals, pubs and more," reads the game's official description. "But be careful - every character in your society has its own personality, motivation, and (sometimes deadly) secrets." That would be concerning if it weren't for the game's extradimensional horrors. If your society declines or succeeds in certain ways, you may earn a visit from one of Cthulhu's poker buddies. Fortunately, how your society evolves is entirely up to you. "Ultimately the creation and outcome of this incredibly nuanced world is dictated by the player, but as developers we've steered clear of directing the actual outcome of each society players will create," stated Gaslamp Games CTO Nicholas Vining. "The outcomes can vary so greatly it was important to design the game to be as shareable as possible. From building to strategizing, exploring and the emergent player-to-player shared content, no two games will be alike. That's the gruesome and wonderful nature of Clockwork Empires." Clockwork Empires will debut on the PC, Mac and Linux platforms at some point during 2014.
ThinkGeek's latest USB gadget makes every day a day of the tentacle
It's harder than ever for a USB gadget to stand out these days, what with nearly everything seeming old hat, but ThinkGeek has cooked up something new that's sure to get noticed. While it unfortunately doesn't double as a memory stick as you might expect, the retailer's new USB Squirming Tentacle is very much a tentacle, and a squirming one. See for yourself after the break, and be prepared to shell out $25 if you feel the need to answer this particular call of Cthulhu.
WRUP: Eldritch terror edition
Well, it's that time of year again -- that special time of year when a young man's thoughts of buying BlizzCon tickets turn to a creeping psychosis. When dark whispers echo from the cavernous depths of the serpentine tunnels beneath the earth's crust, their walls emblazoned with pulsing eldritch symbols unknown to any living civilization. When dreamers with minds unguarded bear witness to the psychic rumblings of beings lost to time. If you listen closely you can hear it, sussurating even now...Ïa! Ïa! BlizzCon tickets f'thagn!Oh, and it's also that time of week (Saturday) where we check in with our many writers (and one Peruvian pygmy mummy) and see what the heck they're doing this weekend. The two may intersect in ways you probably anticipated. So let's see just what's causing our writers' sanity levels to drop dangerously low this weekend. Adam "Holisky: Trying to pull off 75 daily quests from Friday through Sunday. Alex Ziebart: I won't be doing anything. I profaned an ancient tomb and now I've switched bodies with a Peruvian pygymy mummy! A primeval headhunter is running around in my body! If only I could alert an expert in mystical anthropology who could provide a tincture, or perhaps a talisman, to break the spell. Allison Robert: Praying my connection holds through an Ulduar-25. NO, THIS IS NOT A HORRIBLE DREAM, DEAR READERS. THIS IS REAL LIFE. AND THERE'S MORE, LURKING JUST BEYOND THE JUMP.
Call of Cthulhu: The Darkness Within coming to iPhone
"Ph'nglui mglw'nafh Cthulhu R'lyeh wgah'nagl fhtagn..." but not for long. A company called Digital Jokers, in conjunction with a subsidary called Mayhem Studios, is bringing HP Lovecraft's cuddly, horrible, insanity-inspiring Great Old One to the iPhone in the form of a graphical adventure game called Call of Cthulhu: The Darkness Within. It looks like fun, although if the laughable trailer is any indication, they'll need to do some spell checking and additional translation before the game actually goes live.Still, Cthulhu fans will slog through some pretty bad software if it means there's a good Lovecraftian story in the mix. We'll keep an eye on this one -- graphical horror-based adventure on the iPhone done well could make for a good (or should we say evil?) time.[via Macworld]
All the World's a Stage: There's something about Mary Sue
All the World's a Stage is a source for roleplaying ideas, commentary, and discussions. It is published every Sunday evening, (though it was delayed somewhat this time by technical difficulties).Mary Sue is extremely unpopular with roleplayers. She comes along pretending to be the only daughter of Illidan and Tyrande's one-night stand, secretly spirited away and raised by furlbogs until she underwent a mysterious transformation that turned her into a human, seduced Arthas away from Jaina, and learned from him more than you will ever know about how to be a Death (i.e. Retribution) Paladin. In fact, Mary Sue isn't just one person -- she is a demon-spirit possessing all those characters in roleplaying and fan-fiction, both male and female, who rely on clichés, melodrama, and/or supposed intimate relationships with one or more characters in the original story to such a degree that they actually try to upstage those characters, their fellow roleplayers, and indeed, the entirety of the original lore. Other roleplayers often see this sort of thing and get frustrated out of their minds.And yet there's something about Mary Sue: she keeps reappearing all over the place, from seductive blood elf hunters who claim to be Thrall's secret lover, to angst-ridden human warlocks who insist that they are the half-demon offspring of Kil'Jaeden. What is it that continually attracts people to these ideas, couched in phrases like "tragic past" and "missing one eye" and "emits a deep sorrow that makes you want to cry?" The answer is darker, more disturbing, than you can possibly imagine.
My 2008 MMO hopes and wishes
2007 was an incredible year for MMOs, with tons of updates to existing games and a benign rash of new titles as well. I'm not much for predictions, but I'll tell you what I'm hoping for in 2008, since you all asked so nicely:Blizzard to out-Diablo Mythos with their new MMO -- Let's face it, playing Mythos is ten kinds of fun, and most of that fun revolves around the type of gameplay that the original Diablo invented, and Diablo II refined. Mythos currently fills the gaping void left behind by Blizzard's continuing not to update the Diablo universe with a new game, but wouldn't you like to see it done up properly?Google to provide some real competition for Linden Lab -- Right now, Second Life is the only cat of its breed, and it's snoozing in the sun. The ability for users to create their own content is arguably SL's biggest draw, and it's fueled many careers, but the interface issues, rolling restarts, updates that fix things only to break other things, and age verification problems leave me wanting someone to learn from these mistakes and bring us something better. We know Google's working on something ... here's hoping it's a Third Life.A new genre -- So far, we've had Fantasy MMOs rule the day, with Science Fiction a close second, and a hodgepodge of other titles kind of experimenting with concepts a little bit. And pirates. But I'm looking for something new. Something that combines my love of cryptography with Cthulhu, perhaps. Or something that lets me relive my days playing cops and robbers. Whatever it is, this is the year to strike!Resolutions? Hmm. I guess I resolve to keep playing those smaller MMOs and telling you what I think of them, and trying not to be too dismissive of those I find lacking. Ooh, that's gonna be difficult -- I'm quite fond of the snark, I am. What are your New Year's MMO hopes and wishes?
Hello Kitty FOR THE HORDE!
Actually, the Hello Kitty UI interface is faction-agnostic. And I'm not sure how HK would voice her allegiance anyway -- she has no mouth and she must scream. Regardless, Alice over at Wonderland links to two separate instances of a Hello Kitty-themed interface for WoW, one of them from famed virtual worlder Joi Ito. As she says, "Bloody hell ... it's horrible :o)"If Blizzard released an epic set of Hello Kitty armor tomorrow, how many of you would jump at it?
More Sadness details emerge
NIBRIS, one of the smaller development houses confirmed to be working on a title for the Revolution, recently revealed some goals for their game Sadness. In striving for a more atmospheric, psychologically-based game, NIBRIS hopes to stress on the player's nerves and shock them into submission. “...In my head there is a voice, different from the others. Whenever it answers it overwhelms the remaining voices, it mixes up thoughts and destroys peace. It tells me that I'm only mixed up in a thought which yearns to prove its own existence. The voice which whispers that I'm not really who I am and the perceived reality is only an abstraction created by my own mind. It is the original voice, which wants to free itself from my head, to free itself from the logic and reason it is being stifled by. The voice of animal endurance at all costs, which forces onto unimaginable things. It is the voice of chaos which is now screaming frightfully in my head for me to take an axe resting against the wall and cut off my father's head.”I hope to see something that combines the dark atmosphere of Call of Cthulhu with the shockingly clever mindgames of Eternal Darkness.
