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MMO to go: Panasonic designing a handheld online gaming machine
While game studios are slowly forging a path to bringing MMOs to established handheld devices like the iPhone, Panasonic is looking to flip that paradigm on its head. Eurogamer reports that the company has been developing a handheld device specifically for MMOs and is poised for a major reveal. Called "The Jungle," this clamshell unit boasts a high-resolution screen, keyboard, touchpad, directional pad and several input ports. It is rumored to run the Linux OS and could work with MMO titles such as Battlestar Galactica Online and RuneScape, according to the company. The Jungle's website is scarce on content at the moment, but on its Manifesto page the developers state: "Our mission: Create an ecosystem around online gaming. At the core is a new mobile device concept designed specifically for online gamers. We're also working with leading online game developers to create some exciting new content." Whether there is a significant demand for such a product is up in the air, but this is intriguing enough to follow for the time being.
Rumor: Realtime Worlds lays off staff, puts APB up for sale [Updated]
Tweet var digg_url = 'http://digg.com/gaming_news/Rumor_Realtime_Worlds_lays_off_staff_puts_APB_up_for_sale'; One of the most recent MMOs to hit the market is already in deep trouble, according to multiple reports popping up over the internet. According to unconfirmed rumors, Realtime Worlds has fired the entirety of its MyWorld team, made drastic cuts and layoffs elsewhere, and might be putting APB up for sale. Announced last month, MyWorld was to be a social gaming experience scheduled for a 2011 launch. If these rumors are true, then Realtime Worlds is mired in financial trouble and is scrambling to keep from going under. A VG247 source reported, "As of 11:30 GMT Realtime Worlds have put a large proportion on their workforce on gardening leave ranging from 4-8 weeks. APB's staff will be reduced to admin and a skeleton staff of devs and artists to keep it running and do general updates, but this looks like the end of RTW." A developer on the APB European forums briefly addressed the situation by saying, "As we''ve announced we had to restructure the company to make it so that we can focus totally on APB. APB is still going strong and we fully intend to support 100%." We do know that Realtime Worlds fired several employees last month in an effort to restructure the company. Massively has contacted Realtime Worlds for comment, and we will update you as soon as we hear anything. [Update: Realtime Worlds has issued a statement confirming that some MyWorld employees, though not all, have been made "redundant," but that APB itself remains intact. "APB continues to be our primary development focus, and we remain fully committed to the game and its players." According to 1UP, Colin Macdonald emphasized that Realtime Worlds has "got the whole team working on making APB as good as it can be. It's a shame things haven't turned out the way we had envisaged them, but then the beauty of online gaming is that we can address problems and keep on improving experiences. We're completely behind APB, it's got huge potential, and we'll continue to make new content for it." Stay tuned for more updates!]
Jagex pregnant with its third MMO
Look who's expecting: Jagex, the maker of RuneScape, not only has one bun in the oven (Stellar Dawn) but another MMO cooking as well. In an interview with Eurogamer, Jagex CEO Mark Gerhard announced that the company is working on a new fantasy title. "A lot of what we've done to push the boundary for Stellar Dawn will benefit RuneScape and another MMO we're working on," Gerhard said. "We've got the advantage in that we share the same MMO tech platform. From there it's really down to the studios to decide how its [sic] used." While he was reluctant to share the name of the baby, er, new game, Gerhard said that it was not a sequel to RuneScape. This follows their recent announcement of Stellar Dawn, the company's "biggest MMO to date." You can read the full article at Eurogamer.
BioWare Mythic says "Never!" to Real ID
Worried that Blizzard's Real ID system may be coming to an MMO near you? BioWare Mythic has a few words of reassurance on that point: "No. Never. Never. No." This was the response by Warhammer Online's Carrie Gouskos to Eurogamer when asked if BioWare Mythic was mulling over a Real ID-type feature for its games. BioWare Mythic's general manager Eugene Evans supported that sentiment and expanded on it: "We wouldn't do it. I'm surprised they did it, and for a group that is so close to their community, it was amazing that they misread it that poorly. I'm pleased to see them reacting to the community. We should all learn to listen to our communities. Their community made it very clear what the right answer is." This follows the controversial decision -- later retracted by Blizzard -- to force World of Warcraft forum posters to use their real names in an attempt to cut down on trolling and forum spam. Since the controversy, other MMO studios have come out strongly against Real ID, so it's good to see that this includes the folks behind Warhammer Online, Dark Age of Camelot and Star Wars: The Old Republic.
Bobby Kotick muses about a Call of Duty MMO
Activision Blizzard owns one of the most profitable gaming franchises in the world with Call of Duty, and Bobby Kotick knows it. In a recent interview with the Wall Street Journal, Kotick was open about his ambitions with the series, saying that he wishes that they would create an online subscriber version. It's not a new sentiment from Kotick, as he's been saying as such for years, although it certainly is pretty straight-forward. Kotick threw a few logs onto the fire of speculation: "I would have Call of Duty be an online subscription service tomorrow. I think our audiences are clamouring for it. If you look at what they're playing on Xbox Live today, we've had 1.7 billion hours of multiplayer play on Live. I think we could do a lot more to really satisfy the interests of the customers. I think we could create so many things, and make the game even more fun to play." No stranger to controversial statements, it's hard to tell if Activision Blizzard's CEO was just shooting the breeze or hinting at an upcoming title from the publisher. In any case, a Call of Duty MMO would be major news indeed if it happened, so we'll be sure to keep our eyes on Activision -- and our ears on Kotick for any possible confirmation. [Via Eurogamer]
Reports: 3DS more powerful than Wii, doesn't use Nvidia chips
Reports from anonymous sources are starting to paint a rather surprising picture of the mysterious Nintendo 3DS. Both IGN and Eurogamer report that developers have said off-the-record that the handheld won't use the Nvidia Tegra chip, as it was rumored to do. Eurogamer's sources claim that the 3DS hardware is internally known as "CTR," suggesting that the motherboard image submitted to the FCC in May, which noted the "CTR" codename, was indeed related to the 3DS. According to IGN, "Several developers that have experienced 3DS in its current form have reported, off the record, that it has processing capabilities that far exceed the Nintendo Wii and bring the device with abilities that are close to HD consoles such as PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360." We'll find out for ourselves when Nintendo unveils the thing at E3, but this sounds rather uncharacteristic. Nintendo's handhelds have always been designed to use not-quite-cutting-edge technology, to keep costs down and battery life long. We suppose a certain level of processing power is required to generate 3D imagery, especially on two screens, but if these reports are true, the 3DS would represent a totally new strategy for Nintendo. Source: Eurogamer Source: IGN
Prognosticating the future of MMOs
Barring Ouija boards, magical leprechauns and time-traveling DeLoreans, it's pretty much impossible to predict the future -- but that doesn't stop people from trying, no sir. In a recent "The State of the MMO in 2010" over at Eurogamer, Jim Rossignol chats with Paul Barnett (EA Mythic), Colin Dwan (Fallen Earth) and Torfi Frans Olafsson (EVE Online) in an attempt to pin down where MMOs stand as of now, and where they're likely to go. The article begins by stating that the defining line surrounding what is and is not a MMO has become blurred, and will only become more so in the future. Whether we like it or not, different payment models, server types and even genres (such as sports MMOs) have broadened the definition of the genre. Many folks are worried that F2P titles and "quasi-MMOs" like FarmVille may trigger the end of traditional subscription-based MMOs.
PlayStation Move controller lag detected, analyzed
When Sony unveiled its PlayStation Move (nee Arc) controller at the GDC last week, it came along with some impressive promises: it would only cost developers 2MB of system memory (out of 256MB on offer) and it would respond to user inputs within a single frame of animation. Our own experiences with the thing felt a bit more laggy, and now Eurogamer is echoing those impressions and putting a bit of science behind them courtesy of a 60fps Kodak Zi6 camcorder. By filming the controllers and their on-screen representation, the site's tireless statisticians calculated an actual lag (including that of the display) of 113ms -- closer to 10 6.78 frames if a game is running at 60fps. Naturally much of this is thanks to the rendering of the result and not just the Move, but according to a 2008 GamaSutra test we found (linked as "More Coverage" below), the controller lag from the standard PS3 controller varies widely from game to game, with GTA IV measured at 166ms -- almost 50 percent higher than seen by the Move. So, while we can't draw too many conclusions about this single-game test from GDC, we can give a little advice: get back to beating up some underworldian goons as Kratos and don't worry about it.
Raph Koster on the future of Metaplace
January first of this year brought about the closing of Metaplace, sad news for everyone involved. Shortly before the announcement was made, Eurogamer had an interview with game designer Raph Koster regarding Metaplace. In the end, they made the decision to release the interview in spite of the closing, as it contained some very good insight into the goals of the staff as well as information about the inner workings. The interview is especially interesting in light of the fact that Metaplace has repeatedly stated that it is not going anywhere, and that we should expect to see more very soon. "Metaplace Inc. isn't about to go away. In fact, we have some pretty exciting plans to announce in the not too distant future," Koster stated. Since we can assume that the basic philosophy and overall goals of the team remain the same, the interview is definitely still relevant for anyone who was a fan of Metaplace. Take a look at the full interview here, and enjoy!
The World of Warcraft in numbers
Business Management has a really interesting graphic up (that they say came partly from Eurogamer.net, but I didn't see it over there) that breaks down WoW "by the numbers." It features an interesting series of stats about the game, in what I call an Oatmeal-style format, everything from number of players and items (30,000) to number of locations (1400) and the most commonly looted item every day (Frostweave). I think these stats all came from a few different places -- from a talk given at Austin GDC last year, to the toplist over on the official WoW site (of course, that chart is constantly updated, so Onyxia wasn't always the deadliest mob, and Frostweave wasn't always the most looted. But it is cool to see all of the numbers stacked up in a row in such a stylish way. And 3.6 million pieces of Saronite Ore turned into 3 million Saronite bars? If that's true, why am I paying so much for it at the AH? 192 quests completed per second is pretty wild, too. That's like three entire Oracles reputation grinds (give or take a few dailies), all completed in this second. And this one. And this one.
Dan Stahl talks Star Trek Online
Eurogamer Portugal had the good fortune to chat with Cryptic's Dan Stahl, the producer of Star Trek Online last week for an overview of the highly-anticipated MMO. The interview covered some ground we've seen before, some we have not, and gave his perspective about the creation of STO. Eurogamer and Stahl talked about his view of things like ship customization vs. remaining true to the Star Trek "look", combat styles on the ground and on ships, and general content. His enjoyment and pride on the game shines through clearly and makes the interview a fun read. "I really think that people who play the game for the first time will look at the game and say 'Wow, they nailed it.'" The translation of the article can be read courtesy of Google Translate, with the original here. As a little extra bonus, Eurogamer treated us to a beautiful new gameplay trailer which can be viewed here. Star Trek Online is scheduled for launch in February 2010.
Steam estimated at selling to 70% of PC market
Where did you buy your last MMO and where will you buy your next? Chances are you'll be getting it on Steam or so the story goes according to Brad Wardell, head honcho over at Stardock. We're inclined to agree with his assertion that Valve's digital distribution platform holds roughly 70% of the PC market as many of us here at Massively have been buying our MMOs -- and PC games in general -- on the service for some time now. So is it a good thing or a bad thing for MMO players? Our experience with purchasing games like Aion and Champions Online through the service has been positive, and so long as no complications arise via patches or other client issues we see no reason to stop utilizing the service unless better offers appear. The only real MMO-related issue we can see is with collector's editions. Some games offer a different set of bonus material for people who opt out of the physical copy and go for the digital, but certain items like art books, mouse pads and other bric-a-brac can't be delivered through a wire... at least, not until sometime in the far flung future. Now, as far as the Steamworks integration issue goes... Well, that's a whole other sack of fishes.
Subscribe to Age of Conan and receive The Secret World beta access
Funcom recently announced their plans to get older players back into Age of Conan and boost multi-month subscription rates. Players with inactive subscriptions are invited to retry the game for two weeks and receive a double experience bonus. Those who sign up for multi-month subscriptions will receive these additional bonuses: 3-month sub: Beta access to The Secret World 6-month sub: Beta access + in-game helmet that boosts experience gain by 10% 12-month sub: Beta access + helmet + a free copy of Conan expansion Rise of the Godslayer Age of Conan has received many updates in the year and a half since its release. However, MMO players can be an unforgiving bunch, so these incentives to give the game another shot are quite necessary. And it's extra-smart given all the excitement around The Secret World. Considering how many players would be willing to pay for beta access, a subscription to a vastly improved AoC is just icing on the cake. For those interested in catching up on AoC, check out the most recent game director's letter, new content, and revised subscription options. Have a burning question for Funcom about this or anything else? Ask it here. Having fun in Conan's homeland? Make sure to check out all of our previous Age of Conan coverage, and stick with Massively for more news from the Hyborian Age!
Star Trek Online release date set
According to Eurogamer, Cryptic has confirmed that Star Trek Online is set for a February 2nd, 2010 release date in the U.S., and a February 5th, 2010 release in Europe. This comes about a month after Cryptic previously confirmed that STO was set for a first quarter 2010 release. STO is currently in closed beta, allowing those lucky select fans a chance to the game out. If you previously had purchased the Champions Online lifetime or six month subscription package, you will also be getting a chance to try the game out during the closed beta stage. We'll be sitting down with the STO development team soon, and are looking to take all the questions you have about the ships of STO; so hurry up and get them in before 12 p.m. PST tomorrow! [Edit: We contacted Cryptic to confirm Eurogamer's story, and they say that this is not the official release date, but they will be announcing it very soon.]
Demo impressions of Star Trek Online from Eurogamer Expo 2009
We recently mentioned that Star Trek Online fans would get a chance to play through a demo of the game at Eurogamer Expo last week. One of the first reports we've read about the Star Trek Online demo comes from Oli Welsh at Eurogamer who was uniquely positioned to check out the game (it was their Expo after all.) Welsh begins by writing, "Trekkies can put one fear to rest right now: Star Trek Online feels just like Star Trek." Although this might assuage a bit of the apprehension some gamers have about trying yet another Star Trek game, Welsh is up front about the fact that the demo he played through was a contained single player experience. It's too soon to say what gameplay will feel like when hundreds of other players are thrown into the mix. He writes about the demo's transitions between locations via warp jumps, keyboard navigation of star ships (standard WASD, with additional throttle control), and the pacing of ship combat. Welsh also walks the reader from the bridge of a Federation vessel down to the surface of a planet where Klingon opponents await. Fans of the game should read Eurogamer's hands on with Star Trek Online and may also be interested in the video footage of STO gameplay from Limited Edition, shot at this year's Eurogamer Expo (starting at 02:40. They've also captured gameplay of Global Agenda as well.) We've got a video embed of that for you after the jump.
More Age of Conan subscription incentives coming
Funcom's Erling Ellingsen recently informed Eurogamer about future Age of Conan subscription "initiatives" being planned, which are to follow the new price reduction of multi-month subscriptions . It's of particular interest that Funcom is planning further pricing specials, as they've been doing a lot to bring players back to the game ever since launch. Should their efforts pay off, it's likely that The Secret World will see a significant development boost, which is something we'd be very happy about as fans of Ragnar Tornquist. However, nobody knows yet if the current "initiatives" have been helping, as Erling wasn't able to comment on current numbers. So until some hard numbers come in -- hopefully of the positive nature -- it's anybody's guess on how the game will perform. It's possible that there's a free-to-play model in the game's future, especially since it wouldn't be the first time a Funcom game has gone that route. However, only time will tell where King Conan and his followers end up.
Jagex cancels MechScape at significant cost, restarts anew
Jagex CEO Mark Gerhard has indeed confirmed the cancellation of MechScape, although you wouldn't quite know it from his comments, which seem excited to be working on a different title with a new direction. This isn't the first time an in-development MMO has been rebooted in favor of a completely new direction, although Tabula Rasa at least kept its original name. Why the sudden decision? According to Gerhard, MechScape wasn't able to avoid the same pitfalls of RuneScape. Of course, making such a move is going to cost Jagex millions, but their current financial success will be shouldering the weight. The new game -- known as Stellar Dawn -- should be coming in 2010 and will be based on the MechScape graphics engine. The big changes planned for Stellar Dawn are content and combat focused, although no specifics were given by Gerhard. It's a bold move, no doubt, and sometimes this industry favors such decisions -- other times it punishes them significantly. Whether you look at this as stalled (Tabula Rasa) or prolonged (everything Blizzard) development, you have to admit it creates a notable amount of interest in Jagex's 2010 game.
Players to get hands-on time with Star Trek Online at Eurogamer Expo
Some people have already gotten into the closed beta for Star Trek Online, but for the rest of us it's going to be a waiting game. There may be good news for some of our UK-based readers, though. Those in attendance at this week's Eurogamer Expo will get to experience both ship-based action and ground combat firsthand in a Star Trek Online demo Cryptic Studios has set up. According to Eurogamer, Cryptic will allow Expo attendees to fight a fleet of Klingons and follow that up with an away mission on a planet's surface, where they will encounter the "Guardian of Forever." Eurogamer Expo will run October 27-28 in Leeds, and October 30-31 in London. You can check out the full details of this public hands-on of Star Trek Online in the Eurogamer announcement. %Gallery-28615%
All Points Bulletin closed beta has begun
Urban crime (game) enthusiasts, rejoice! The All Points Bulletin closed beta has begun, according to reports at both Eurogamer and Kotaku. It was rumored that the beta would begin this month and it seems there are presently three windows of gameplay a week in the All Points Bulletin CBT -- Tuesday, Thursday and Sunday evenings, says Eurogamer's Oli Welsh. Those interested in ripping up the streets as either a Criminal or an Enforcer can still apply to become an All Points Bulletin beta tester at the game's official site. APB is in development at Realtime Worlds in Scotland, and aims to bring a new level of online interaction to multiplayer urban crime games. Check out Massively's coverage of All Points Bulletin for more on what Realtime Worlds is creating.
Metareview: Dead Space: Extraction (Wii)
Did you know that Dead Space: Extraction landed in stores this week? It's true! We certainly dug it in our Snap Judgment, but in case that just wasn't enough for you, we've compiled a few other folks' opinions on the game just below. Worried about not seeing that beautiful screaming face in the future? We are too, folks. We are too. GamePro (100/100): "An experience that's more captivating and engaging than any light-gun game I've ever played before. [The story] mirrors Dead Space's thoughtful dialogue, characterizations and pacing which is a good thing all around." GameDaily (80/100): "Although we questioned EA's decision to do this, as well as bring Dead Space to the family centric Wii, everything clicks and the game's surprisingly enjoyable. Instead of conjuring up a cheesy narrative (as seen in other shooters like Ghost Squad), the developers put a lot of effort into the story and its characters." Eurogamer (80/100): "Gameplay is straightforward, yet it's a refined familiarity, borrowing numerous elements from the original Dead Space in abundance while wrapping them around the well-worn demands of a typical on-rails shooter ... One area that definitely benefits from the on-rails nature of Extraction is the overall pacing. Sometimes you creep along agonisingly, other times it feels like the enemy onslaught is never going to end. There are few occasions where you don't come away feeling like your scraped through by the skin of your teeth, and even on the game's lowest 'Normal' difficulty, there's a definite sense of achievement when you get through." Giant Bomb (60/100): "Extraction's marketing campaign would like you to think of it as a 'guided experience' that whisks you through the dramatic beginnings of the series' horrible space-monster outbreak, but in blunt terms, Extraction is an on-rails shooter. Blunter still: it's a light-gun game. These days, that's not a style of game serious game players usually gravitate toward. But keeping the genre's inherent restrictions in mind--not to mention the limitations of the Wii hardware -- Extraction is really pretty good, for what it is." %Gallery-49881%
