heroes
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Rumor: Microsoft wants to resurrect 'Heroes' as original Xbox show
Microsoft is in talks to bring Heroes back, possibly as part of its original Xbox programming lineup, TVLine reports. The new series would involve new heroes and stories, with cameos from past stars, though talks are still in preliminary stages, the site says.In 2012, Microsoft formed Xbox Entertainment Studios in Los Angeles with the goal of producing exclusive series for Xbox and "interactive" programming, all overseen by former CBS Entertainment President Nancy Tellem.
Microsoft reportedly looking to revive 'Heroes' TV show on MSN/Xbox
It may not be remembered quite as well as Arrested Development, but it looks like Microsoft is aiming to bring back another big network TV show on a service that's decidedly outside the bounds of traditional TV. According to TV Line, that show is Heroes, which was cancelled by NBC in 2010 after a four-year run, and the video service is MSN (itself part of Microsoft's broader push into original programming for Xbox). While the talks for Heroes are still said to be preliminary, the revived show would apparently focus on new characters and stories, with some of the original cast only making cameos in the new series. Of course, this wouldn't be the first time that Heroes found its way onto an Xbox 360: the show was one of the few series to be released on HD DVD, and briefly found its way into some bundles with Microsoft's HD DVD player add-on for the console.
Mythic developers discuss the swan song of Wrath of Heroes
Warhammer Online: Wrath of Heroes is shutting down near the end of the month, but it turns out that the developers have a few last hurrahs for the game. A recent fansite interview sheds some light on the new heroes that are coming out during the game's final month of operation, with 17-18 heroes being fast-tracked for release. The game's main currency, Gold, will be able to purchase everything in the cash shop including Gold Boost items, intentionally creating plenty of money for players to enjoy the last bits of the game. What's not coming? Most anything else that was in development, including some heroes that the developers just didn't have enough time to finish. There were also Scenarios in development that aren't close enough to completed to be functional; while pushing out heroes quickly is a priority, a half-finished Scenario is fun for no one. Fans looking for fine details on exactly which traditional Warhammer factions will be represented in the last month can look at the full interview.
Storyboard: One of us is going down
You and your group of roleplaying companions need something new to do. You've grown tired of sitting around talking about problems in the outside world or engaging in a non-stop soap opera drama wherein someone is always sleeping with someone else inappropriately. By complete coincidence, you and your companions all appear to be heavily armed and armored, leading to an excellent suggestion -- you should go out and get involved in a conflict! A fracas of some kind! What a concept! Sarcasm aside, long-running conflicts are a lot of fun when handled right. While I've talked about them in brief before, today I want to look at a handful of common conflict types and offer some tips about how to run them without tears. If you think drama can spill over into OOC channels when it's just a matter of pretend romances being spurned, you don't even want to know what happens when the knives come out.
HeroClix TabApp adds DC Comics figures
The HeroClix TabApp is an interesting, if not all that impressive, app for the iPad that uses HeroClix figurines in conjunction with iOS to make a game featuring the superheroes of the HeroClix series. When it first launched earlier this year, the app featured only Marvel heroes. But apparently the series is doing quite well, because HeroClix has now added some DC heroes to the mix. There are two packs available. One includes Superman, Batman and Wonder Woman, and the other is a "Dark Knight Rises" special featuring Batman, Bane and Catwoman. And the app, as you can see above, has been updated with new content for all of the heroes, so if you buy those packs, you can unlock and play the new games and settings. Unfortunately, this app isn't all that great, as I said in the review linked above. But it's good to see that this is getting more popular. Hopefully we'll see more and better interaction between the digital and physical worlds in terms of gameplay on iOS.
SMITE rolls out a video for Ares
Interested in the deities of SMITE? You'll be quite happy to know that the game has put out a new video revealing one of the game's many heroes. In a stunning move that should shock nearly no one, one of the heroes available for play in this game of warring gods is Ares, the Greek god of war. And while almost any student of mythology could give you a brief rundown of who Ares represents (people who like war), the video goes into depth about Ares' abilities and combat roles. Ares in SMITE is meant as a melee magical tank. His abilities allow him to chain other gods for continual damage and increased movement speed, bolster the defenses of himself and nearby allies, and breathes fire from his shield to cut down high-health targets. At the apex of his power, Ares can pull several enemies together to him while dealing extensive damage. Take a look past the cut to see a full rundown of his skills as well as some demonstrations of their tactical execution.
How Guardians of Middle-earth innovates on the MOBA gametype
We first saw Guardians of Middle-earth in action back at E3 this year, and it was quite impressive even then. Monolith has taken the PC-centric gameplay of the emerging MOBA (or DotA, or LoL, or even action RTS, whatever you like to call it) genre, and translated it over to a console and a controller. But since that first play at E3, I've gotten a few more chances to play the game at Comic-Con and PAX. GOME (acronyms!) is more than just a console clone of the popular League of Legends and the upcoming Dota 2.Monolith has iterated on this complex strategy/action genre in a few different ways. Here's a list of five different things, whether you're a level 30 summoner or a Venomancer newbie, that you'll find new and interesting about Guardians of Middle-earth when it arrives for consoles later this year.
Amazon and NBCUniversal expand Prime Instant Video deal, let you stream Parks and Rec in one place
Amazon and NBCUniversal Cable & New Media Distribution today announced a deal that will expand the mega-retailer's streaming selection by hundreds of episodes, including the likes of Parks and Recreation, Parenthood, Friday Night Lights, Heroes and Battlestar Galactica. Prime users will be able to check out older seasons of those shows on their computers, iPads, Xbox 360s, PlayStation 3s and, of course, Kindle Fires. Non-Prime subscribers can also try out Prime Instant Video's 22,000 movies and TV shows for one month, gratis. More information and lots of excited quotes about the deal can be found after the break.
MMO Blender: Eliot's superior superheroic romp
I like superheroes. So I'm not unhappy at the presence of several superheroic MMOs, but I am unhappy at how the games handle heroes. I think there's space for a game that does superheroes better than they've been done yet, one designed to be unmistakably about superheroics while still being a really great MMO. That means taking little bits and pieces from several other games and blending them into one unified whole, something that's more than the sum of its parts. The problem is that superheroes aren't just people with powers beating up other people with powers. There's more to it than that, and there are a lot of little elements that depend entirely upon the setting. Some stories just don't work in the Marvel universe, some don't work in the DC universe, and some need a completely different setting altogether. So let's look at this from the ground up while I show you my dream superhero MMO, one that would deliver exactly what I'd like to see.
End of Nations outlines Heroes and Mercenaries in a new video
End of Nations has a large number of units, and each of them has a relatively fixed role. You know at a glance what any given unit is meant to do and how it works with other units in the game. And then there are hero units, which are specifically meant to throw that balance off. Heroes possess multiple special abilities, generally ones that synergize well with other units, allowing you to pull out an unexpected set of abilities on an unsuspecting opponent. Some Heroes are willing to work for any side in a conflict, and these Mercenaries are arguably even more powerful. When you hire a company of Mercenaries, you acquire both a Hero unit and several sidekick units specifically tuned to complement the Hero's abilities. That means a full strike force tuned for maximum impact, one that might enable a strategy not normally available to your faction. Jump on past the break for the full video explaining Heroes and showing these powerful units in action. [Source: Trion Worlds press release]
Nival unveils new heroes for upcoming Prime World
If you're looking forward to Prime World, Nival's upcoming entry into the growing market of DotA-style games, you'll be happy to know that the game's developers have just released information on a new group of heroes. This week's reveals cover a lot of ground, from the stalker-style Phantom and Faceless to the ice spells of Cryo and Blizz and the pack tactics of Wolf Dancer and Jaeger. Phantom and Faceless focus on hit-and-run tactics to harass the enemy, with high mobility, low hit points, and a lot of quick damage skills. Their talents include damaging teleportation and a stacking buff to damage as battles wear on. Cryo and Blizz instead focus on control and damage at range, with the ability to lock opponents in place and blanket an area with biting winds. Last but not least, Wolf Dancer and Jaeger use their pets as miniature armies, overwhelming enemies with large numbers of vicious targets. Take a look at some early screenshots of these heroes in the gallery below. [Source: Nival press release] %Gallery-125703%
Free for All: Making the perfectly flawed character
Whenever I play a new MMO, the first thing I want to know is who I am supposed to be inside this particular game world. I would like to have as much control over the conception of my character as possible, but let's be honest: Great customization is not as common as many of us would like. This might explain my attraction to games that offer the ability to craft a true, unique character, even if only in looks. I love a good cash shop and the ability to make my character essentially me -- if I were the me inside that other world. I don't play MMOs to be the hero, at least not most of the time. I don't want to kill the largest boss or get the best armor. I'll leave that to gamers who like that sort of thing. I play an MMO to sort of lose myself inside the world of a character of my own making. Over the years I've noticed a pattern in how I establish a great character, one that I want to continue playing. Originally, I wanted to refine this process into a list in case other players wanted to compare, but the list keeps evolving, so instead, I'll give some examples of how I have been creating unique and wonderfully flawed main characters in some of my favorite MMOs.
A Mild-Mannered Reporter: Underused enemies in City of Heroes
Last week I discussed why I'm not fond of Nemesis as a group, and this week I promised to discuss villainous groups that I think that City of Heroes could use a bit more actively. So I am certain that longtime readers expected me to spend most of this week talking about the Fifth Column because of course I would. I love the Fifth Column, I think they're a fantastic group of villains, and I've talked about how great they are as a group over and over. Surprise! Not this time. For all that I love the Column (and their continual curbstomping of their pale imitation in the Council), that wasn't my goal this week. No, this time around I want to highlight other groups that I think Paragon City could use a bit more often, enemies that either fall off the radar or just don't get as much attention as they're due. Even in a game that's been around as long as City of Heroes, there are certain enemy groups that just never get the love they deserve. Maybe the future can fix that for some of these guys.
The Firing Line: Hands-on with Heroes & Generals
During the first 10 minutes of my time with Heroes & Generals, I killed once, died twice, and drove a tank, a jeep, a half-track, and a bicycle (not necessarily in that order). I also rode shotgun on said tank and said jeep, manning a nifty vehicle-mounted machine gun in the process. I marveled at the visuals, took way too many screenshots of my squadmates looking at the blow-away badass in-game map (it's the little things, amirite?), and generally had a helluva good time. Did I mention that all of this happened in a browser?
The Daily Grind: Who will be our MMO development heroes of tomorrow?
The lifespan of the MMO genre is still fairly short when you take general gaming into consideration. Fifteen years ago, most of us wouldn't have dreamed of what's available online today, thanks to the innovators who brought together graphical roleplaying games and the MUDs of the day. People like Richard Garriott, Raph Koster, Starr Long, J. Todd Coleman, and a handful of others helped create what we know today as MMORPGs. But who will be the innovators and trend-setters of tomorrow's MMOs? We see a lot of innovation these days, but ascribing those ideas to one person isn't as easy (or applicable) as it was in the early days of five-man studios. Still, there are geniuses in these modern studios making some much-needed improvements that will carry on for many years. So if you're a player and you know of someone who will be known for his or her innovation in the future, let us know. If you're a developer who wants to call out a co-worker for something he or she has done to change the genre, get that name out there! Every morning, the Massively bloggers probe the minds of their readers with deep, thought-provoking questions about that most serious of topics: massively online gaming. We crave your opinions, so grab your caffeinated beverage of choice and chime in on today's Daily Grind!
MinION USB stick decodes DNA in a matter of seconds
If you happen to be "special," then this $900 USB device is just about the worst thing ever. The aptly named MINion serves its masters by interrogating the cells of living organisms and rooting out their genetic secrets. We won't pretend to know exactly how it works, but it starts by pulling a strand of DNA through a razor-like nanotube that unzips the double helix. The nucleotide bases are then electrocuted one by one until they give up their code. The resulting sequence is stored like a ticker-tape readout, for the whole world to see. The MinION can complete its task in seconds and, unlike most other DNA sequencers, it's portable and simply plugs into a laptop. Luckily, it has so far only been shown to work on very short genomes, like those belonging viruses and bacteria, so for now you're probably safe.
You're the Pundit: What OS does Santa use?
When it comes to forecasting the next big thing, we turn to our secret weapon: the TUAW braintrust. We put the question to you and let you have your go at it. Today's topic is Santa. What OS does he use? According to Apple, he uses an iPhone 4S but we're not necessarily swayed by Apple PR. We're pretty sure that Rudolph is an avowed Red Nose Linux user, and Donner and Blitzen swear by any hardware that supports Thunderbolt. So how does Santa compute? You tell us. Place your vote in this poll and then join in the comments with all your reasons. %Poll-72261% (Photo by DGrinbergs, Flickr, licensed under Creative Commons)
Dev Watercooler: Faction favoritism
Lead Quest Designer Dave "Fargo" Kosak has just posted the latest Dev Watercooler. This time, the topic is faction balance. In the wake of BlizzCon, this perennial topic has flared up pretty brightly. While the devs did indicate they wanted to give the Alliance a bit more good stuff during some panels, some other incidents during and after BlizzCon (including the news that Theramore, one of the most iconic Alliance cities, will be razed to the ground) has left some doubtful, leading to intense debates and 100+ page forum threads on the subject. The way Kosak explains it, the devs definitely want to make sure that there is faction pride for both sides, and, he argues, while the Alliance may be getting beat up, the Horde has taken its share of lumps too. But in the long run, heroes are not born out of easy times. The Alliance will go through tough times, but it will give heroes the opportunity to arise. The Alliance's time is coming. One thing he did admit to is that Blizzard needs to do a better job of making sure people can interact with their heroes. He acknowledges that the Alliance may not think of Thrall as theirs or part of their story, and he promises that once Cataclysm as over, we will catch up with other characters. Whether you agree with all of his reasonings and conclusions or not, it's a good read, and it does prove that Blizzard is hearing us and is at least planning to try to address some of the complaints of faction parity and Thrall overload. Check after the break for the complete text of Kosak's post.
Party with the Gods & Heroes devs in Austin
Heatwave Interactive aims to seize the day -- Friday, October 14th, that is -- by offering players of Gods & Heroes a unique opportunity to visit the studio in person. Following the final day of GDC Austin, Heatwave's community team will offer 10 attendees the chance to spend an afternoon and evening touring the offices for "sneak previews" and a Q&A with various panels and team members, including CEO Anthony Castoro, the design team, the art team, the support team, and the community team. Guests will then participate with the devs in hosting a live Ustream chat, after which they'll enjoy the fruits of their labors (or more accurately, the meats) with a BBQ worthy of the gods. Interested parties can RSVP by email on the official site. Have fun!
WoW Moviewatch: Heroes
It's been a long time since we've heard from Kidsake. His music video for God's Gonna Cut You Down received huge acclaim among machinima fans. The use of Johnny Cash as musical background, coupled with unique and interesting visuals, thrilled many of us. Kidsake's back with a new video called Heroes. It's a shout-out to his friends and fellow WoW players, featuring a large series of character vignettes set to Peter Gabriel's cover of Heroes. This surprisingly moody, brooding piece actually reminds me of Kidsake's other videos. He definitely brings a thoughtful, enigmatic feel to his videos. Interested in the wide world of machinima? We have new movies every weekday here on WoW Moviewatch! Have suggestions for machinima we ought to feature? Toss us an email at moviewatch@wowinsider.com.
