episodic-content
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Marvel Heroes introduces One-Shots!
Greetings, True Believers! If you've been enjoying the scintillating storyline swiftly strung throughout Marvel Heroes, you're no doubt happy at the thought of more tantalizing tales of heroes and villains. But when the game is built on a broad base of boundless maps and mazes, where could the writers weave a web of wonder without damaging the delicate designs of Doom's decisive defeat? Why, the answer is simple -- it's time for the game to embrace the might Marvel One-Shot! One-Shots are episodes carefully crafted to comic concerns, focused on isolated incidents rather than breaking up the flow of the central narrative structure. The first one pits heroes against the sinister schemes of Man-Ape as he seeks to subdue the people of Wakanda and ruin the regency of Wakanda's rightful ruler, Black Panther. Any hero of level 20 or above who's cheering for a change of pace can pick up the One-Shot by selecting the Terminal from any waypoint, so by all means, jump in the next time you're in the game. Excelsior!
Star Trek Online dev blog takes us through episodic content creation
Have you ever wondered how Star Trek Online's episodic content comes together? Well, now you can go behind the scenes with Cryptic's dev team thanks to a new blog entry that outlines much of the creative process. Lead content designer Scott "Goatshark" Shicoff is your guide to everything from conceptualization and basic narrative framework to the mission map whitebox and bug-fixing and polishing stages. It's a lengthy read, but an interesting one if you're into STO and/or game development. Check it out on the game's official website.
Champions Online kicks off its new weekly comic series
Are you ready to get a little bit more Champions Online action in now that the future of the game is more secure? Then you're in luck, as the game has just kicked off the first in its series of weekly comic issues. But these aren't just something for players to read -- no, these are comic issues for players to play through for themselves, watching a story unfold while blasting through new challenges. Similar in format to the featured episodes of Star Trek Online, the first series is titled Aftershocks and kicks off with an UNTIL base going dark. The first installment should take about half an hour to play through, with further installments coming in subsequent weeks to finish out the story. Champions Online players can start enjoying this ongoing arc with any character over level 11 and are encouraged to visit the official page for more information on the new format.
UnDead Online coming for your braaaaaaaains
When it comes to zombies and gun-toting fun with friends, most people would probably immediately think of Left 4 Dead or perhaps Red Dead Redemption's Undead Nightmare DLC. When it comes to MMOs, though, you've got limited choices for horror -- and many of them aren't even out yet! Today you have one more title to add to your listing of horror MMO games that are shambling toward you at some point in the future: UnDead Online. This brain-splattered game is being developed by indie studio JumpCore Productions. The studio was formed in 2007 by Cameron Petty, who was part of the founding team behind Cryptic Studios. According to JumpCore, UnDead Online will be an episodic MMOFPS hybrid that will have its first showing at the upcoming Games Developer Conference in March. A statement released by Petty explains further; "Each episode of the FPS game series will tell the story of a character that exemplifies one of the character classes in the MMO game. The player will experience that character's journey from his or her previous existence into the post-Apocalyptic world brought to life in the UnDead Online MMO, while exploring the unique game play aspects of that character's class along the way." Ultimately, we're glad to see another horror title planned for the MMO genre, and we will certainly be expectantly waiting to chew on the developers' brains about what we can look forward to in their game. In the meantime, the UnDead Online site and forums are awaiting the presence of any interested zombie hunters.
Newest Ask Cryptic focuses on Star Trek Online's weekly episodes
The Breen might be backstabbing frozen monsters, but they've been a part of something wonderful in Star Trek Online. Not in the sense that they've stopped being backstabbing frozen monsters, but in the sense that you'd be hard-pressed to find a player unhappy with the new featured episodes. And with the ongoing plan to add a new episode every week, there's going to be a lot more content to enjoy in short order. The most recent Ask Cryptic feature, unsurprisingly, has focused on this new aspect of the game, with Dan Stahl fielding player questions on the weekly feature. Perhaps most interesting for players will be the fact that Stahl talks about using the prototype version of user-generated content tools to develop some of the patrol missions seen in-game, reminding players that the option to make your own episodes is coming with time. There's also re-affirmation of the episodes becoming permanent features of the game and scaling to all levels, allowing players to take off the rails of the previous leveling structure and chart their own course. View the full article for a deeper look inside the newest part of Star Trek Online, and really, don't turn your back on a Breen.
Sam & Max: The Tomb of Sammun-Mak media needs a shave
Click image to check out our 'stache of screens Telltale has sent over some media from Sam & Max: The Devil's Playhouse's second episode, The Tomb of Sammun-Mak, which takes the duo down a decidedly gentlemanly path. Sure, there's only the one in-game screenshot where Sam is sporting some bushy whiskers (good show, old boy!) but there's still other items to leisurely peruse, perhaps while sipping a fine Earl Grey tea. There are also several pieces of art for your eyes to appreciate, including a posh train and rather down-on-his-luck-looking Max, if that's more to your liking. So, put on your most dashing outfit and be sure to head into our gallery for a sophisticated look at the upcoming episode. Tally-ho! %Gallery-92554%
Episodic Tales of Monkey Island coming to WiiWare, PC
digg_url = 'http://www.digg.com/gaming_news/Episodic_Tales_of_Monkey_Island_coming_to_WiiWare_PC'; The tale of Guybrush Threepwood and his ascent through the pirate ranks is one of the most-loved stories from the adventure games of yesteryear, and now you can get ready for a whole lot more of it. LucasArts has announced to us at E3 that they're working with Telltale Games on Tales of Monkey Island, a five-part episodic series to be released monthly on both PC and WiiWare. LucasArts says that there's no shortage of demand among both developers and gamers to make and play as much Monkey Island as possible, so they're giving what they call "one of the forefathers of adventure gaming and the precusor to the RPG genre" the Sam and Max treatment. There aren't any other platforms scheduled for release -- while the Monkey Island special edition is being released on Xbox Live, LucasArts CEO Darrell Rodriguez was tight-lipped when it came to getting the episodic content on consoles or even a platform like the iPhone. But he did tell us that their plan is to take us back to the "halcyon days" of the company, "when people couldn't wait for a LucasArts game to come out." Considering that the last Monkey Island release was almost nine years ago, it'll be nice to have the wait for a trip to the Tri-Island Area reduced to just 30 days. %Gallery-64662%
Massively visits Stargate Worlds: The interview, part 2
Our part two of our interview with Cheyenne Mountain's studio head Dan Elggren, creative director Chris Klug, art director Howard Lyon, VP of technology Demetrius Comes, and senior marketing manager Kevin Balentine, we talk about the team's plans to reach out to Stargate fans with little gaming experience and we learn about the classic Stargate characters and lore we'll see in the game.
Telltale talks about Strong Bad, Sam & Max
The folks at Telltale Games have been talking up Strong Bad's Cool Game for Attractive People, as well as the upcoming Wii port of Sam & Max, to TheBBPS. Aside from what was said to Joystiq last week, the team at Telltale Games revealed that the Strong Bad game will be running on the same engine that powers Sam & Max. Also revealed about Strong Bad is the inclusion of a "bizarre 'edutainment' title" in one of the upcoming episodes.In regards to Sam & Max, the decision to go with a retail product made more sense, but they aren't ruling out the possibility of hitting up WiiWare.%Gallery-20307%[Via X3F]
ION 08: MMOs and the television content model (SGW)
Joseph Ybarra, SVP of strategic operations at Firesky, the publishing subsidiary of Cheyenne Mountain Entertainment, presented a session today at ION 08 about the Stargate Worlds production model that borrows heavily from Hollywood and TV models. The goal for SGW is to approach content updates for the game more like a production cycle for television, in which an episode takes a predictable amount of time to complete (14-16 weeks in the case of Stargate Atlantis). After some background on Firesky and CME, Ybarra showed the Stargate Worlds trailer and launched into a discussion of the strategy with SGW. The idea is to adopt a movie model for the development phase and a TV model for the post-launch "live" phase. They chose to use the BigWorld middleware platform and Unreal Engine technologies in an effort to use proven tools: "don't reinvent the wheel." This allows them to both minimize risk and focus on the content.
Rumorong: More exclusive GTA IV Xbox 360 content in '09
According to Take-Two there is no additional exclusive episodic content for the Xbox 360 version of Grand Theft Auto IV beyond what was previously announced. The confusion stems from a call last night regarding Take-Two's financials where CEO Ben Feder said, "In fiscal 2009 we'll also be offering additional episodic content for Grand Theft Auto IV on Xbox 360." A Rockstar rep tells Next-Gen that Feder was referring to the second announced episode.The semantic crux in the statement is that if the second episode is released after Nov. 1 '08 it is part of Take-Two's fiscal '09. We already knew that the first GTA IV episode was planned to come out shortly after release, and then the second episode about a half year after that, which places it after the fiscal '09 start date. The devil is in the wordy details.%Gallery-3442%
Did Microsoft pay $50 million for GTA IV content?
The other day it was announced that the Xbox 360 version of Grand Theft Auto IV would feature exclusive episodic content not found in other versions and today we've learned why. Per Take-Two's latest fiscal conference call the company discussed an extra $50 million on the balance sheets listed as deferred payments split into two $25 million dollar chunks. The transcript confirms that the $50 million relates to the 360's episodic content and when asked to explain the release of such content it was explained as such:"The first 25 is for the first episodic content package that's supposed to go out and that is in March of '08. That's why it moved into current because it's in the next 12 months. The second 25 will be for the second episodic, the episode, and that will be later in fiscal '08."So, Take-Two received an extra $50 million for GTA IV's episodic content on the 360 which will be available in two installments, one next March and one sometime in 2008. The question is where did the cash come from and we can only speculate Microsoft's deep pockets had something to do with it. And if it was Microsoft, we'd be almost certain that the once talked about PS3 content is now canceled.[Via the gta place]
GTA IV episodic content exclusive to the 360
What's that smell? It's the unmistakable aroma of exclusive content coming to the 360 ... lovely. Yesterday, gameindustry.biz confirmed with a Take-Two representative that Grand Theft Auto IV will feature episodic content that will be exclusive to the Xbox 360 platform. Yup, you'll only be able to get such episodic content on your lovely white box and no other console. Life is great isn't it? No other details were confirmed about such content other than its exclusivity.GTA IV is huge game and if the 360 version is going to get content that no other version on other consoles has, it's a big deal. Now we just hope that such episodic content doesn't cost us anything or, if it does, it doesn't break the bank. Our fingers are crossed.[Thanks, to everyone who sent this in]
Joystiq interviews Sam & Max designer, Dave Grossman
Apparently, the streets of San Francisco are simply bustling with adventure game designers wandering about in search of inspiration and that one inventory item they callously overlooked. We were in possession of one microphone and one unbelievable obnoxious blogger, both vital items for an upcoming, uh, life puzzle. Look, we just needed an intro paragraph, alright?Above you'll see Telltale's game designer and dedicated poet, Dave Grossman, being interrogated about things like episodic content, the hiring of console programmers and, of course, Sam & Max Season 2. (SPOILER: It's is in the planning stages.)
American McGee gets episodic in Shanghai
American McGee is looking for a few dark, twisted types to join his new independent studio in Shanghai, as he prepares to ride the wave of two contemporary trends in the gaming industry: episodic content and Chinese food.With Bad Day L.A. set to launch soon, the man behind Alice and Scrapland is now focusing his attention on building "an episodic game set in a dark, fairy tale universe." This project could be related to Oz or Grimm, a pair of graphic novels McGee is producing with Cellar Door Publishing.A former game designer for id Software and Electronic Arts, McGee also founded The Mauretania Import Export Company, and has served as the Creative Director for Enlight Software.
Half-Life 2 for Xbox 360 could be in the works
Recently erected EB Games and Gamestop listings of Half-Life 2 for Xbox 360 have ignited rumors that Valve's acclaimed sequel is again headed to a Microsoft console. Despite a somewhat stripped-down version of the game being released for Xbox last November, an Xbox 360 version would presumably include added features akin to the upcoming PC 'Platinum' edition (also scheduled for February 2007), which is said to contain Half-Life 2: Deathmatch, Counter-Strike: Source, and Day of Defeat: Source. In addition, Valve could use the Xbox Live service to deliver the long awaited expansion episodes*, just as we speculated back in April.In responding to the listings, Valve would not confirm the project, stating, "We've only announced development for 360. No specific titles to reveal just yet, but folks can expect to hear more before the end of this year." *See: Half-Life 2: Episode 1 set for June release; Half-Life 2: Episodes Two and Three confirmed
