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Burn Zombie Burn dev praises PSN for allowing closer consumer communication
Open for nearly two years at this point, Kuju-owned, digital distribution-focused doublesix studios has begun to get a foothold in the burgeoning digital landscape. Speaking with GamesIndustry.biz this week, studio head James Brooksby said he and his studio prefer the direct consumer communication offered when working with the PlayStation Network over Microsoft's Xbox Live."We listened to what people were saying and ... it will have features that people have asked for ... [when] we do our first expansion pack [it'll be] actually tailored according to what people are looking for," Brooksby said, noting, in his work with XBLA on the upcoming Southpark game, that Microsoft handles the community communication all by it's lonesome. "We're developing it for them and it's their relationship to take to the consumer and carry on," Brooksby says of the company. Though considering the recent closing of Microsoft's Gamerscore Blog, we're betting that relationship will fall more into the hands of the developer/publisher as time moves forward.
NCSoft adds its titles to Steam
If you're one of those gamers who prefers the digital minimalist approach as opposed to having game boxes everywhere then you're in luck. MMO-giant NCSoft have announced they will be offering their titles -- including City of Heroes, Guild Wars, and Lineage -- via Steam. They're also planning to offer their latest, most anticipated and shiny MMO, Aion as well when the game launches later this autumn.The company seem really excited and the press release sent to Massively Towers includes not one but two quotes. NCSoft are especially keen to note that there will be plenty of special offers on their products via the site and it's a great opportunity for anyone who prefers digital downloading.
Wrath downloadable on release day after all? [Updated]
Yesterday I reported that according to Claudiog Wrath of the Lich King would not be immediately available for digital download. An interesting thing has shown up on the European forums tonight that is worthy of bringing this topic back up.Lyonthri posts in German that Wrath of the Lich King will be available for download next Thursday.I'm scratching my head here too. This was brought to my attention a short time ago, and has since showed up on MMO-Champion as well. So something is definitely up. We're paying attention to the Customer Service Forums tonight in hope of getting some more clarification from Blizzard. The full German text of Lyonthri's post, along with a Google translation, appears after the break.Update 4:40 a.m. EST: Claudiog has clarified his earlier point that he said there should be no expectation of a digital download being available on release day, not that there would not be one.Updated 3:17 p.m. EST: Lyonthri has since updated his post informing us that he is not saying there will be a digital download available on release. He apparently misspoke.
No Wrath digital download immediately available
Claudiog has confirmed what we've speculated for a while. The digital download of Wrath of the Lich King will not be available right away next Thursday.The digital download for Burning Crusade took a few weeks to get going, and while Claudiog can't say if the Wrath version will take as long, he does mention it won't be available immediately.This is important if you're living someplace far off and are expecting to be able to download Wrath the night it releases. While there will no-doubt be places around the internet where you can do it – you will have to use those places at your own risk.You'll hear it here when the digital download does finally go live, but don't expect it anytime soon.
FFXI now available as digital download and free trial
Final Fantasy XI is one of the most enduring MMOs of its generation. Coming up on the game's seventh year of live service, the folks at Square/Enix are making it ever-more accessible to the average player. Recent patches have added in content like NPC allies, eased boss difficulties, and even worked to overcome the game's notoriously challenging level grind. Now the developer is working to make it even easier to get into the game, with some expansions in the client's availability.The game is now available for digital download via the Direct2Drive service! The whole game (FFXI, Rise of the Zilart, Chains of Promathia, Treasures of Aht Urhgan, and Wings of the Goddess) is available for just twenty bucks. You can buy the game's expansions individually as well. If you're not interested in shelling out cash without giving it a go first, they've got you covered there too. There's now a 14-day trial available via FilePlanet. Head over and check out the perils and promise of Vana'diel ... them Tarus are cute!
Wrath of the Lich King will ship on DVD only
One of the most annoying things about installing World of Warcraft is that chances are your installer discs are in CD format, hence it's "discs" instead of "disc." That means you do a lot of swapping CDs out while installing the game. Okay, so that's obviously not a deal breaker, but it's still annoying. We have good news: both the Collector's and regular editions of the Wrath of the Lich King expansion will ship on DVD. Hurray! We already knew this about the Collector's Edition, but that the regular edition will too is good news.Here's the bad news: they'll only ship on DVD. So if you're got a really, really old computer (and WoW will run on really, really old computers so you might), you'll be scat outta luck. That is, until a digital download version comes out. Inevitably it will, of course, but it probably won't be on day one. No Death Knight for you!Thankfully, this is not 1997, so we imagine that only a very tiny minority of WoW players will be bothered. And if you are affected, go buy a DVD drive for 20 bucks, you cheapskate! We thought we'd give you the heads up just in case.
HD movies featuring stereo sound in PlayStation Video Store
Though we suspect this is totally normal judging by the fact that not all HD flicks available via Apple TV have 5.1 Dolby Digital surround sound, it is a wee bit disappointing. One particular tipster wrote in to express his frustration with Sony's recently launched PlayStation Video Store, noting that his HD movie rental featured only stereo sound. When contacting Sony on the matter, a Store specialist informed him that no refunds were allowed and there was no way to determine how audio was packaged prior to downloading. So yeah, if multi-channel audio is paramount, you may want to think twice about emptying your wallet in the PS Store.
Age of Conan now available for digital download
Funcom's Age of Conan is now available as a purely downloadable product. Folks who have been on the fence about buying the game because of the filthy retail box can now rest easy - the entire game can be obtained via digital distribution from the official Conan site. The game costs about $50 via download, and clocks in at 15 gigs. The downloader supports pausing and restarting of your transaction, so lost connections aren't the end of the world. And - one would assume - you can redownload it as many times as you'd like. The developers have even been considerate to the size of the stream. Purchasing the product will immediately activate Age of Conan but due to the size issue, two additional days are given to your account for a total of 32 days included.
PlayNC store expands payment options by adding PayPal
NCsoft wants to make it easier for their PlayNC shoppers looking to buy one or more of the following MMOGs in their stable: Tabula Rasa, CoX, Guild Wars, and other digital-boxed goods. They've gone so far they are now accepting PayPal as a payment option. PayPal has a variety of different payment and transfer methods linked to one's PayPal account. The new payment option is only available for digital code purchases and not NCcoin or subscriptions. Support for Euros and British pounds will be added tomorrow. The pay-to-download business is booming, more and more MMOG companies are taking advantage of alternative non-credit card payment options. It sure beats driving down to the local big-box store.
Apple, Fox join hands in iTunes movie rental deal
Right on cue, it's being reported that Apple and Fox have indeed (finally) agreed on an iTunes movie deal, and while details are admittedly scant at the moment, chances are Stevie J. will get to the nitty gritty come Macworld. What we do know, however, is that the alleged partnership will enable iTunes users to rent new Fox DVD releases and keep them around "for a limited time," though pricing figures weren't speculated upon. Additionally, it sounds like Fox will be spreading its digital file inclusion from select titles to all flicks, giving DVD purchasers a FairPlay protected file that can easily be transferred (read: without third-party transcoding software) to a computer and / or iPod for later viewing. As expected, both firms declined to comment on the reports, but all the minutiae you can stand will likely start flowing in just a few weeks.[Via paidContent]
Samsung teams with MusicNet for subscription-based music service
Samsung certainly has an on-again / off-again history with regard to online music services, but the MusicNet-based system that was most recently announced is finally going live in the UK, France, and Germany. Built to work seamlessly with the firm's K3, K5, and T9 media players, users will soon be able to access and purchase digital music through the Samsung Media Studio application. Notably, previously released DAPs (such as the Z5) that were dubbed PlaysForSure devices are also compatible with the new platform. The service will provide a duo of ways to pay, the first of which will demand €14.99 ($20) for the subscription-based flavor if you reside in Germany or France, while the Brits will pony up £10.25 ($21). For those digging the per-song approach, you'll be looking at €1.15 ($1.57) or £0.79 ($1.60) depending on your homeland. Currently, it seems that the SamsungPlay website is still in limbo, but we're sure it'll have its act together before too long.[Via Pocket-Lint]
Digital download service coming to Pure's DAB radios
If you're feeling a little constricted by the relatively limited amount of digital download venues out there (especially across the pond), Imagination Technologies and UBC Media Group are on the rescue wagon. Recently, the duo has announced plans to create a service which will "allow listeners to purchase music directly from DAB digital radios." The system will reportedly combine Imagination's new DAB and internet digital radio platform with UBC's Cliq instant music purchase technology, which will satisfy the desire for instant gratification by providing a "buy now" option on select DAB radio stations. Exact terms remain undisclosed at the moment, but we do know that those oh-so-attractive Pure Digital systems will be among the first to sport said purchasing technology whenever it goes mainstream.[Via RegHardware]
GameTap now $9.95/month; GameTap TV announced
PC subscription gaming service GameTap has dropped its monthly fee from $14.95 to $9.95 and announced a GameTap TV expansion that will offer "a new broadband video streaming network" for games- and non-games-related programming.The GameTap TV feature will include separate channels dedicated to music videos, network game previews, GT TV-exclusive content, and "even an animation channel set to go live this spring that will feature an original series of animated shorts."We don't know where Space Ghost fits into all these broadband network plans, but we're sure that it can't be good. The cost-cutting measure by the TBS-owned venture are important in light of all the digital-download announcements made by the big console manufacturers recently, but it's hard to tell whether the $5 drop in monthly fees will greatly increase the number of current PC subscribers. Anyone gonna jump in on this?See also: What is GameTap? [Official page where the inset image was found] GameTap to offer previews, trailers GameTap: Turner's games-on-demand site is live
