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E308: DC Universe Online roundup
Sony Entertainment Online revealed a metric ton of new information on their upcoming superhero MMO DC Universe Online at E3 this week, and Massively was on hand to pick the spicy brainmeats of Creative Director Chris Cao, SOE-Austin VP of development John Blakely, and famed DC artist and Executive Creative Director for the project, Jim Lee. Check out the roundup of all the DCUO coverage from E3 including interviews, screenshots, a full breakdown of the trailer and analysis of DCUO's role on the console. Plus, don't forget to tune in next week for our exclusive interview with Jim Lee! Development team interview A top to bottom exploration of DC Universe Online How the DC world will come to life in DC Universe Online E308: DC Universe Online already 'released' inside SOE Screens and Trailer DC Universe Online screenshots First footage of DC Universe Online The DC Universe Online trailer explained MMOs on the console MMOs for your PS3 DC Universe Online's role on the PlayStation 3
E308: How the DC world will come to life in DC Universe Online
The story and gravitas of the DC IP is pushing one hundred years strong. There's just so much to deal with, you have to wonder how the world and the game will interact. In our epic discussion of DC Universe Online with Creative Director Chris Cao and SOE-Austin VP of development John Blakely, we spent a lot of time talking about story and worldbuilding.Read on below the cut for information on how comic-book events will affect the game, how the IP is what will separate DCUO from its competitors, and a few words on how the game will hook into the amazing DC community.
E308: DC Universe Online's role on the PlayStation 3
Our discussion with the folks behind DC Universe Online covered a lot of ground. Our look at the game's informative new trailer provided a great framework, and we followed up with numerous exploratory questions about game systems like raiding and instancing. DCUO is coming to the PlayStation 3 console, and Creative Director Chris Cao and SOE-Austin VP of development John Blakely had several pieces of information to share with us about how the new MMO would interact with that system.Read on below the cut for discussion of the interoperability between the PS3 and the PC, differences between the way they play, and the possibility of patching problems on the PlayStation platform.
E308: A top to bottom exploration of DC Universe Online
Superman soars above the skies in Metropolis. Batman swings from rooftop to rooftop in Gotham City. The world of DC comics is an extremely venerable IP, with numerous evocative characters, locations, and villains. It's set to be the backdrop for one of the most ambitious new titles planned by Sony Online Entertainment: DC Universe Online. We had the chance to talk with DCUO Creative Director Chris Cao and SOE-Austin VP of development John Blakely all about the game.Join us as we explore the game from top to bottom, uncovering tidbits about the game's raid gameplay, the underlying technology, holiday events, and the game's business model. We even ask about the game's launch date, with pretty well expected results. For a taste, here is what the game is capable of as far as world events: "We actually have a dynamic content system. What that means is that we hand-craft each event (like an armored car robbery or a hostage situation) and then we spin them up dynamically based on who is there and what they're doing. It allows us to easily replace every single encounter in Metropolis and Gotham and suddenly have Brainiac Attack or the Thanagarians Invade. Next week at Comic-Con you'll be able to play through that event."
E308: The DC Universe Online trailer explained
Sony Online Entertainment's upcoming title playpen at E3 offered several different delights. Prior to our lengthy conversation with DC Universe Online Creative Director Chris Cao and SOE-Austin VP of development John Blakely (in which they noted the game is 'already released'), we got to see a lengthy trailer which included some pre-recorded interview snippets. We aren't going to be able to provide you with the video itself for some time, but the voice content of the video is well worth reading up on.Alongside Mr. Blakely and Mr. Cao, DC comics veteran Jim Lee also appears in the video. Mr. Lee is Executive Creative Director for the project, connecting the DC comics creative minds to the developers at SOE. We managed to sit down with Jim Lee to talk about his role on the project, a discussion we'll be able to share with you sometime next week. Read on for our introduction to the game, some hints about what they'll be offering at Comic-Con next week, and the vocal stylings of voiceover guy.
E308: DC Universe Online already 'released' inside SOE
We had a lengthy chat with the folks behind Sony Online Entertainment's upcoming super-hero MMO, DC Universe Online. Creative Director Chris Cao and SOE-Austin VP of development John Blakely were extremely forthcoming with details and preview information on the gigantic game. Make sure to check back over the next day or so for more on your passage into the world of the DC heroes. For now, we wanted to mention that (surprise) the game is already released! At least, within the halls of SOE, the game is very much a live product. Chris Cao: John Blakely has started a "play it like it's live" initiative. We actually run everything like it's a live service. We do update notes to ourselves. We basically do everything you would do as a normal MMO that's already live because we've learned that changing that rhythm going from pre-launch to live is where most of the mistakes happen. Suddenly you are doing things faster, suddenly you're assuming consumer concerns instead of your own. By being our own consumers and being a provider to the company we get that experience up-front. By the time we get it out to you guys, we'll be old hat at it. We've already been doing it a year and we're going to keep going throughout the development process.%Gallery-27756%
E308: MMOs for your PS3
Touring SOE's swanky E3 press room, we noticed a trend while chatting up various developers: the PlayStation 3. Though up to this point, console MMOs haven't been the norm, Sony seems to be pushing hard in that direction. The three major titles SOE is showing off this week -- DC Universe Online, Free Realms, and The Agency -- are all planned for release on the PlayStation 3 as well as the PC. DCUO and The Agency are both currently planned for a simultaneous PC/PS3 release (though that may change) while the Free Realms team is planning to make sure they have a smooth PC release before making the jump to PS3. Everyone we talked to seemed to recognize there are some hurdles to overcome to bring an MMO to a console market -- but they were also confident about overcoming them.
E308: A first look at DC Universe Online
As you may have noticed, today SOE has been showing off their upcoming MMO DC Universe Online at E3 today. Though we'll have a detailed writeup soon (as soon as our fingers can type it!) featuring all of the details we squeezed from the development team, we wanted to share some of the game's concept art and screenshots. All we can say is that we can't wait for Comic-Con, when we'll have a chance to get our hands on a playable build of the game.%Gallery-27752%%Gallery-27756%
E308: First footage of DC Universe Online
Did you hear? Jim Lee showed up at the E3 2008 Sony press conference and not only talked about DC Universe Online, but showed it too! Our initial thoughts on the video? While purportedly still pretty early on (even though Lee mentioned that they'd been working on the project for three years now) the footage doesn't look bad at all. However, it does remind us quite a bit of the EverQuest 2 graphics engine. We just hope that it's only a visual resemblance and not a technical one -- as that engine has some troubles we'd rather like to not see in DC Universe Online.It's quite nice to see all of our favorite characters represented in this trailer. We even get some Black Adam love, which was entirely unexpected! We're sure to have more information about the game for you as E3 continues, so stay tuned, go order some spandex and keep your bat-radar on! Hungry for more DCUO news? Massively got the scoop at E3 from Creative Director Chris Cao, SOE-Austin VP of development John Blakely, and Executive Creative Director for the project, Jim Lee. Check out the roundup of all the DCUO coverage from E3 including interviews, screenshots, a full breakdown of the trailer and analysis of DCUO's role on the console. Plus, don't miss the rest of our E3 coverage!
E308: Jim Lee talks about DC Universe Online at Sony's press conference
Jim Lee has just appeared on the stage at Sony's press conference here at E3 to talk about Sony Online's upcoming DC Universe Online title. He kicked off his presentation by doing a one-handed pushup (the press conference is going down on the same state that Jack Palance did his famous pushup on), and it only got more exciting from there.Lee told the audience that that creating the MMO based around the DC Comics universe is a dream for him -- not only did he grow up reading comics, but he's also a big Everquest fan -- he was the first Paladin to get a Firey Avenger. He also said that the game will allow players to create their own superhero and/or supervillian, and then fight alongside some of DC's finest -- against the Joker with Batman, or pull a Bane and help all the bad guys break out of Arkham.Lee also showed off a bit of art from the game, featuring Batman (seen above), Superman, and the Green Lantern taking out baddies in a colorful landscape. We'll keep an eye out for more DCUO info when we speak with Sony later today. Hungry for more DCUO news? Massively got the scoop at E3 from Creative Director Chris Cao, SOE-Austin VP of development John Blakely, and Executive Creative Director for the project, Jim Lee. Check out the roundup of all the DCUO coverage from E3 including interviews, screenshots, a full breakdown of the trailer and analysis of DCUO's role on the console. Plus, don't miss the rest of our E3 coverage!
