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First Impressions: LEGO Universe's Forbidden Valley
Welcome back to our series of First Impressions on the upcoming title, LEGO Universe. Before we get started, I must note very clearly that the experiences chronicled here are in the current beta client of the game. The reason for this note is that while my previous experience in the Gnarled Forest was largely bug-free and polished, the Forbidden Valley zone is a microcosm of the bugs that still reside within the game currently. But even with the bugs clearly showing themselves, the zone also has some of the more ambitious art, design, and amusing (if not punnier) quest writing currently in the game. Curious about how this new area in LEGO Universe stacks up? Join me after the break as we navigate the dangerous lands of the Forbidden Valley. %Gallery-97712%
PAX 2010: It's clobberin' time with SHSO's PvP online card game
Massively has taken a swing at Marvel's Super Hero Squad Online several times in the last few months, now. So, on our trip to PAX, the boy-in-grown-up-shoes, Jay Minn, could not wait to show us the newly announced PvP portion of this dynamic game. Minn, who is the Director of Games for The Amazing Society, turned in to a giddy imp and directed me to a computer station that had a burning Human Torch on the screen, all prepared to fight some bad guys. Even though PvE wasn't what I was there to cover that day, Minn just had to show me anyway. "Click on a bad guy," he told me, "and good things just happen." I obliged; the Torch lit up and chased some bad guys away! At that point, we were told we had to move on to the PvP portion of the demonstration. Marketing people can be such spoil-sports sometimes. The giddy grin returned to Minn's face as he gave me instructions on how to get into the online card game. In the lower right-hand corner simply sat an icon that looked like fanned-out cards. As part of the demo I was able to pick my opponent, and since I just love seeing the Ol' Canucklehead Wolverine get beaten down, I picked him for my enemy. And who is the best Marvel superhero? Spider-Man, of course. I had to choose him as my character. Hero up with me after the break to find out the details of my adventure through this shiny and lively online card game.%Gallery-101337%
Hero up! Hands-on with Marvel Super Hero Squad Online
Back in May, I scored Massively's first real look at Super Hero Squad Online, the Marvel-flavored, kid-friendly MMO from Gazillion Entertainment and The Amazing Society. I was smitten with the game at the time, and so when Gazillion offered me the opportunity to take a peek at the newest build earlier this week, I jumped at the chance. Who can resist some hands-on time with such an adorable toy! (Answer to rhetorical question: no one, which is why you should go sign up for beta right now.) Plus, if I learned anything the last time, it was that I have a duty to relentlessly inquire about Squirrel Girl. Am I right? Gazillion PR Manager Keith Mutzman and The Amazing Society's Director of Games Jay Minn wasted no time bringing me up to speed on the progress of the game as the team heads to PAX this weekend, so I'll pay that forward -- join me after the break and we'll dig in and hero up!
It's clobberin' time: Whomp other Super Hero Squad players at PAX
We've got two quick questions for you: Are you a Marvel fan, and are you going to PAX this weekend? If you leaped up from your chair screaming, "YES! YES! A THOUSAND TIMES YES!" then cut back on your caffeine intake and get thee to Gazillion's booth (#3433) in the exhibition hall for a special treat. Not only will the company be showing off Super Hero Squad Online, but it'll be hosting a special PvP tournament for awesome prizes. At the tournament, players will get their hands on the collectible card battle system, where they can build their own customized decks and strike out at lesser heroes who stand in their way. In SHSO, these cards can be earned through quests and mini-games, or purchased via microtransactions. Gazillion has three Alienware prize packages for the winners of the tournament, including keyboards, headsets and a monitor. This unique PvP system could be an effort to recall the joy of collecting toys and cards. Visitors to Gazillion's booth will also be able to play other aspects of the Marvel MMO, sign up for the beta, and shake hands with the developers.
Super Hero Squad Online video highlights fun and accessibility
Yesterday brought the news that Super Hero Squad Online will be playable at Comic-Con this week, but what if you can't attend, or simply can't wait to get a good look at the game? Well, the fine folks at The Amazing Society have you covered with their new walkthrough video of SHSO, which takes a look at character creation, character progression, and some of the more lighthearted aspects of Super Hero Squad Online. Characters will play in the familiar Marvel world; if you want to have a dance party on top of the Daily Bugle or fly around Oscorp, you can. And speaking of dancing, the character emotes are something that the team obviously had a lot of fun creating. From dances to "snow angels" in the concrete, each character has his or her own unique emotes to enjoy. Finally, the game is all about accessibility. You're a superhero, and the developers want you to feel like one from character creation on. There will be character progression, but you'll have some powers to reckon with right away. Check out the video after the jump for the full tour!
Marvel Super Hero Squad Online playable at Comic-Con
If you're attending Comic-Con later this week, make sure you leave some time in your schedule to visit the Marvel Entertainment booth. Marvel and Gazillion Entertainment will be fully unveiling Super Hero Squad Online for the first time, allowing attendees to play the game. Super heroes, combat missions, and social spaces will be available for play, and the game's headquarters system will be revealed as well. Players can customize their headquarters based on the S.H.I.E.L.D. Helicarrier, adding trophy collections to dress it up even more. Amazing Society Vice President and Studio Manager Jason Robar thinks attendees will like what they see: "Combining hundreds of items, realistic physics and the unique personalities of the Super Hero Squad members makes an unforgettable experience. We're looking forward to sharing it with all Comic-Con attendees."
LEGO Universe unveils new gameplay trailers
LEGO Universe looked like a fun MMO from the very start -- who doesn't love LEGO bricks? The screenshots, game details, and interviews increased fan interest, but any MMO gamer worth his or her salt is going to want to see some gameplay. LEGO has obliged us with three new trailer videos: battle, build, and play. The videos are pretty self-explanatory, with the first one detailing the building process which allows you to choose pieces from a menu. The "play" trailer shows fun dancing, jumping, and car-racing action, while the battle trailer provides a bit of hilarity when vanquished foes explode into a little pile of LEGO bricks (that's not new information, but it's never not funny). Check out all three of the new videos at the LEGO Universe site.
This week on The MMO Report
You may remember last week's MMO Report being part one of an epic two-part episode. Crazily enough, this week brings us part two, and it's back to the Los Angeles convention center for more of Casey Schreiner and his E3 interview shenanigans. This week's show features interviews with Steve Garvin and Lance Robertson, lead designer and executive producer, respectively, on Jumpgate Evolution, Jason Robar, co-founder of Amazing Society and part of the braintrust behind Marvel Superhero Squad Online, Rory McGuire, lead designer on The Agency, and Sony Online Entertainment's Chris Cao, game director for DC Universe Online. "You pick up that controller or that keyboard and you're literally punching dudes in the face; you're not waiting to take a turn. This isn't an MMO that's dressed up or sped up, it's one that's on crack. It is action all the time," Cao says, when asked how the game compares to previous superhero MMOs. Check out all the MMO Report E3 action at G4TV or after the jump.
E3 2010: Hands-on with Jumpgate Evolution
At E3 yesterday, I had the opportunity to sit down and play some Jumpgate Evolution. Yes, I said Jumpgate Evolution: the game we've all feared was going away after announcements of its indefinite development. Interestingly enough, this is a game that many of you have shown great interest in. Is the game still alive? Is it playable? When's it releasing? Well, luckily for you, most of those questions were answered at E3. Not only is it playable, I spent probably 30 minutes barrel-rolling and dogfighting my way through a handful of tutorial quests. Is it ready for primetime, though? Follow along after the jump to find out my E3 hands-on impressions of the highly-anticipated space action MMO.
Marvel Super Hero Squad Online images released by Gazillion
Gazillion Entertainment has officially announced the first of its MMO games based on Marvel properties, the unfairly adorable Super Hero Squad Online. How are we supposed to resist the idea of playing as Chibi Thor or Widdle Silver Surfer in "Super Hero City"? This game allows players "to be their favorite Super Heroes in a living online world," as long as said players don't mind being (almost literally) Nerfed versions of those heroes. Players can join up with friends to form squads to fight evil together. Of course, they can also collect items for their customizable personal spaces. If you'd like to see these lil' heroes (and the game) in action, GameTrailers TV will debut a trailer on Friday at 12:30 AM. Update: Gazillion informed us that these are CG images and therefore don't precisely reflect the actual game's visuals. %Gallery-92971%
A significant update on Jumpgate Evolution's progress
NetDevil's Scott Brown has emerged from the black depths of development on Jumpgate Evolution to give an update to the commmunity. In fact, he's given quite a substantial -- if not brief -- update about the various game elements being hammered into proper working order. The topics covered are Battlespace, mission structure, faction definition and improvements being made to the previously lackluster enemy AI. So basically, NetDevil has been working to revamp the game ever since its June 2009 release date was changed into a To Be Announced state, leaving fans wondering when they'd be able to get their space fighter action on. We've posted Scott's bullet point update beyond the break, for those interested.
LEGO Universe gameplay footage full of 'imagination'
It's been a long time coming, but we've finally got a good look at early alpha footage of LEGO Universe thanks to CES10. Gametrailers has a four part video of a developer walkthrough given by NetDevil's Scott Brown, and boy is it ever full of multicolored brick-y goodness. digg_url = 'http://digg.com/playable_web_games/Great_New_LEGO_Universe_Developer_Walkthrough_footage_Vids'; We're impressed by how much this game looks similar to its console brethren, especially where action and platforming elements are concerned. Of course, it wouldn't be an MMO without social elements, some of which we get to see here. More importantly, we get a look at how the developers are handling building with LEGOs in-game. The game simulates a kind of personal bubble around the player's avatar, which is strikingly similar to the metaphorical one all kids experience when sitting on the floor with a big pile of the toys. Hm, we're pretty sure NetDevil is on the right course with this one. Check out the video walkthrough after the break.
The Digital Continuum: Socialize, now
Socialization is dead! Isn't it? Well actually, that's a tough one. Certainly, the perception that socialization is becoming a lesser factor to more and more developers has become the norm among most people. That doesn't necessarily mean they're correct. So, let's examine the general landscape of yesteryear and beyond to see what's really going on when it comes to human interaction in our massively multiplayer online games.
Jumpgate Evolution brings on a new Executive Producer
Any of you die hard Dark Age of Camelot fans out there? We hope you're paying attention, because NetDevil just brought Lance Roberston aboard their Jumpgate Evolution team as executive producer. For those not in the know: Lance's career blossomed as he rose through the ranks at Mythic Entertainment while working on Dark Age of Camelot. As such, he possesses extensive experience developing MMOs with both PvP and PvE focuses. He also helped to ship Warhammer Online as a senior producer, before the unfortunate events we're all aware of over at Electronic Arts. Jumpgate Evolution is a three faction game that deals with PvP and PvE. Sound familiar? It should, as DAoC's tri-factions were one of its selling points back in the day. Lance also benefits from having experience in the "what do do" and "what not to do" areas of PvP/PvE MMO development, so we're certain he'll prove to be an immensely useful member of the JGE team.
The Digital Continuum: Five exciting MMOs in 2010, part 2
Mmm, Star Wars made into an MMO by BioWare. The scope and breadth of what BioWare is looking to accomplish makes me the most excited, if I'm being honest. Star Wars: The Old Republic really needs to hit before the next World of Warcraft expansion.
Progression and building in LEGO Universe
Information on LEGO Universe has been somewhat thin as of late, but that's beginning to change. Over at 1up you'll find a meaty preview that covers quite a bit of ground, including basic MMO features like progression to LEGO specific stuff like building quests. The building mode is of course the keystone to this game, and the fact that a player cannot be harmed when entering the mode speaks volumes about its importance. Aside from building mode, zones in LEGO Universe are likely to be distinctly memorable due to the licenses' ability to have pirate, ninja, robot or even Star Wars themed planets -- assuming they're capable of using any of their real world toy lines within the game. And as for combat? If you've played any of the console LEGO games, then you'll know what to expect, which is essentially action-based combat. There's a lot more detail in the actual preview, so check it out if building with bricks is how you get your kicks.
Gazillion layoffs hit Romero's Slipgate Ironworks
Whatever Gazillion Entertainment's secret mastermind plot is, their next step has been to create an unfortunate situation for a suspected 50 now ex-employees at Slipgate Ironworks. The reasoning? According to Gazillion, "As part of our focus on reaching the widest possible audiences with breakthrough MMO entertainment, we decided to change the format of our project at Slipgate Ironworks to better achieve this aim," So, whatever unannounced MMO the team was working on is now canned, it would seem. At least there's a silver lining, in some sense. Gazillion also stated, "-the other Slipgate staff are already in discussions around the many open positions across our slate of projects." You know what? We'd make another world conquering joke here, but that'd be too easy. Instead, we're just going to sit in our chair, pet our cat and sip this lovely whipped latte. Oh, whoops, guess we just can't help ourselves sometimes.Seriously though, next year is going to be interesting, because the official statement alludes to something being released from the publisher next year. Unless they're just talking about Jumpgate Evolution -- at least, we hope that comes out by next year -- and then we're not really sure why they just didn't say as much.
Gazillion Entertainment and Abu Dhabi Media form joint MMO studio
When Gazillion Entertainment's existence was first revealed to the public, the immensity of the company made many of us wonder whether or not their ultimate goal was world domination. Which brings us to today and Gazillion's newly announced joint MMO studio project with Abu Dhabi Media, a partnership aimed at bringing massively multiplayer online games to Arabic countries in the Middle East.Well played Gazillion, well played. We can just see their CEOs now, stroking their skinned cats, arching a single eyebrow. What will their next project be? Our guess is a death ray on the moon, or maybe an asteroid rigged with massive jet engines and aimed at the Earth until their villainous demands are met.Whatever Gazillion Entertainment's future plans are, we're pretty sure they involve some kind of space-located doomsday device.
Jumpgate Evolution beta snags 250K sign ups
After jumping back into the slipstream of development this past May, NetDevil announced today that the latest beta for Jumpgate Evolution has had 250,000 sign-ups. The game is currently in the "friends and family testing phase," but it plans to go into full beta ... um, somewhere in the future.Jumpgate Evolution's development is in an interesting place at the moment. All we know officially is that the game missed its June release, and that feedback during the current stage of testing of the "feature complete" game caused the team to rethink some stuff.%Gallery-26197%
E3 2009: The evolution of Jumpgate Evolution
The last time I personally saw anything about Jumpgate Evolution (Netdevil's re-imagining of the the very early space MMO) was almost two years ago when I spoke with the executive producer. At that time, we had little more than a few screenshots and concept art. Massively has spoken with Peterscheck and covered the game multiple times since then, but when I stepped into Netdevil's little booth at E3 (so little, in fact, that it didn't even have their name on it -- it was labeled with Gazillion Entertainment, their publisher), I didn't have any idea what to expect.What I found was both surprising and impressive. Way back in that first interview, Peterscheck told me that they were trying to make a space shooter MMO that depended on skill rather than stats, that offered up a fully realized universe for players to explore, and gave some new options for PvP and space combat that we hadn't seen before. Sitting in their booth watching the game get played on three big screens, I saw all that and more. Hit the jump (gate) below for impressions and even a gameplay video from last week's show.%Gallery-65380%
