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GDCO 2010: LotRO's revenues double as Turbine lays out a promising future
According to Turbine, it's been a bonanza month for Middle-earth. At GDCO, the studio announced that revenues from Lord of the Rings Online have doubled in the past month since switching to a free-to-play hybrid model. What's even better is that Joystiq reports that LotRO has added a whopping million new accounts over these 30 days as well. Turbine is monitoring the server loads and have additional servers waiting if needed. It turns out that the F2P launch was even bigger than the original launch of LotRO back in 2007. The good news doesn't stop there, either; LotRO has seen 20% of previous subscribers return, three times the numbers of concurrent players at peak times, and over half of the players using the hotly debated LotRO store for a purchase. Speaking of the store, the top-selling item has been an increase in shared storage, followed by tomes (stat boosters), the riding skill, and the Mines of Moria expansion. Looking forward to the future, LOTRO Weekly wrote a summary of Massive Online Gamer's first podcast in which the Turbine devs outlined a few of the goodies in store for players in coming months. They are hoping to roll out updates every two to three months in a similar fashion to DDO's schedule, but are still committed to big expansions such as next year's Isengard. A new multi-boss raid is slated for early 2011, about the same time that the Radiance mechanic will be vanquished from the game forever.
We're live from TGS 2010 in Tokyo!
Yeah, we're braving the cultural divide and on the ground in Tokyo, Japan for the Tokyo Game Show 2010, which will be happening over the next few days. Naturally, being Engadget, we'll be focusing on the hardware side, with stuff like Move, Kinect, and the possible (if unlikely) 3DS sighting, but if you need a full-on games fix, you can head over to Joystiq for all of that sort of news. It's a collaboration of the highest order. Trust us.
Age of Empires Online promises not to nickle-and-dime players
Love it, hate it or meeky accept it, the terms "freemium" and "free-to-play" come with a lot of baggage these days, sometimes to the point of overshadowing the game itself. When Age of Empires fans heard that Microsoft was going to be releasing an online version of the hit RTS series, some of the fans' enthusiasm was tempered by the word that it would adopt the popular freemium business model. Microsoft Game Studio's Dave Luehmann was on hand at Gamescom to assure players that the company isn't out to nickle-and-dime fans to skip parts of the game they don't like. Joystiq reports that they won't be adopting the same strategy as other F2P models. "I don't like to pay for things I don't like to do, that seems kind of backwards," Luehmann said. "So how about we produce things that people actually want?" Instead of purchasing a lot of little items, the studio will simply put up large chunks of content as one-time purchases. These might include a new civilization or an area containing a plethora of quests. Microsoft is still feeling out a fair price point for the additional content, but it pointed to the fact that Age of Empires Online will ship with more than 25 hours of completely free entertainment to enjoy.
Video tour: Joystiq app for iPhone, iPod Touch
We know there are a lot of choices on Apple's iPhone App Store. When we told you about the Joystiq app, you may have thought to yourself, "What can Joystiq offer me in an app that mobile Safari can't bring me?" Or maybe you thought, "There's no way I'm deleting Tilt to Live to make room for the Joystiq app." And look, those are both great questions. So we put this video together to show you what the Joystiq app has to offer. If you've already downloaded the app, here's the part where we once again ask you to rate or review the app on iTunes. If you're not sure how to do that, we show you at the beginning of the video. In short: go here, select "View in iTunes," scroll down just below the screenshots, click on a star rating, and that's it. Done!
Joystiq goes mobile with new iPhone app
Joystiq, our sister site and favorite stop for gaming news, is celebrating the release of their long-awaited app for the iPhone and iPod touch this weekend. The new app gives you quick and easy access to catch up on the latest news while on the go, and the category view gives you the ability to focus on reviews, interviews, contests, or updates for your favorite gaming platform. In addition to reading the site, you can use the search feature to find something specific, share your thoughts using the built-in comment feature, browse through the image and video galleries, send in news tips to the Joystiq team, and listen to recent podcasts for both the Joystiq Podcast and the Xbox Fancast. The app is available for free on the App Store. For more information, check out the screenshots in the gallery below, or head on over to Joystiq to check it out. Oh, and have you seen the TUAW app yet? It's not out for iPad (yet), but the iPhone version is excellent for reading and browsing your favorite TUAW posts on the go. %Gallery-97686%
Go check out the new Joystiq!
Guys, seriously; if you haven't seen the brand-spanking-new-just-relaunched-tonight Joystiq, you pretty much haven't lived. Thrill to a completely redesigned and streamlined site, chill on the stunning new games database, drill... down into the archives of fantastic features and uproarious reviews, now all easily accesible with a deft move of the mouse or trackpad. In all seriousness though, the cats over at Joystiq have done an amazing job, and you should reintroduce yourself to the site. There's a ton new (detailed in a easy-to-digest blog post), so jump on over and read all about it!
Turbine purchased by Warner Bros. Home Entertainment
In news that rocked us back on our heels, Warner Bros. Home Entertainment has just announced the purchase of Turbine Inc. Previously the largest privately-owned MMO studio in North America, Turbine is now a member of the Time-Warner family. This means that Asheron's Call, Dungeons & Dragons Online and Lord of the Rings Online have been folded into this deal. This comes after a Warner Bros. spending spree, in which they picked up TT Games, the assets of Midway, and a majority stake in Rocksteady Studios.
Joystiq at PAX: Here's your schedule
a man chooses, a slave clicks for a larger image Did you know that PAX East was originally going to be called "the Joystiq Expo?" That's a flagrant lie, but considering the number of Joystiq-related events scattered throughout the show, you'd be hard pressed to think otherwise. If you want to hang out with the stars of the Joystiq Podcast and the rest of the Joystiq east coast crew – and even earn a chance to win one of these super limited edition Andrew Ryan figurines, courtesy of our pals at Irrational Games – make sure you stop by every one of these many events: Blueberry Muffin-Tops Breakfast brought to you by Malt-O-Meal Saturday, 8AM Start the day right with a free bowl of Justin McElroy's favorite breakfast cereal. Space will be limited, so make sure you follow @JoystiqBBMT on Twitter to find out how to get a wristband for entry to this exclusive event. [more info] Get Ready For Love: The Joystiq Podcast LIVE! Manticore Theatre - Saturday, 8:30pm It'll be just like the show you love, except you'll be forced throughout to stare at the terrifying visage of the hosts. So, in short, a spectacle in every sense of the word. Come early -- there will be giveaways. [more info] Everything You Always Wanted to Know About Game Journalism... Manticore Theatre - Sunday, 2:30pm Chris Grant and a team of esteemed gaming peons will answer any and all questions you have about the art and craft of getting paid to write about games (it's a tough life). Review scores. Swag. Junkets. Bias. The death of magazines. The rise of blogs. It's all fair game. [more info] Sequelitis Snake Oil: Quack Medicine for the Video Game Industry Manticore Theatre - Sunday, 4:00pm This panel will seek to diagnose the video game industry's purported "sequelitis" by way of discussion from thoughtful panelists, including Irrational Games' Ken Levine; Obsidian's Chris Avellone; Harmonix's Dan Teasdale; Giant Bomb's Jeff Gerstmann; and moderator Chris Grant (from Joystiq!). Mr. Levine is bringing five of the above, super limited edition Andrew Ryan figurines. There are only 200 of these in existence and they're not for sale anywhere – so come early. [more info] Also, do you want VIP access to Mafia II? 2K Games has graciously offered to give eight Joystiq readers a chance to get 30 minutes with the upcoming game, and exclusive swag. VIPs will be able to cut the line and get VIP access on Saturday, 4PM. Want access? The first eight commenters (that are at PAX East!) that respond to this post will get e-mailed instructions on how to get access.
The Engadget Show - 007: Nicholas Negroponte, PlayStation Move exclusive demos, Dr. Richard Marks, Joystiq's Chris Grant, and more!
Well kids, this was one for the record books. If you didn't catch the live stream of the show (or you weren't there in person), here's your chance to get in on the action. On one of our biggest shows ever, Josh sits down with visionary technologist (and the man behind the OLPC project and MIT's Media Lab, amongst others) Nicholas Negroponte for a chat, tries to figure out why we can't get train schedules on our phones with new correspondent Rick Karr, and Paul and Chris Grant grill Dr. Richard Marks about the PlayStation Move. Oh, and it's not just talking -- we demo the Move in-person, even checking out some never-before-seen demos Sony has whipped up. All that, and music from minusbaby and visuals from notendo. Did we mention the hundreds of giveaways? No? Okay... just watch the thing! Hosts: Joshua Topolsky, Paul Miller, Nilay Patel Special guests: Nicholas Negroponte, Richard Marks, Christopher Grant Produced and Directed by: Chad Mumm Executive Producer: Joshua Fruhlinger Edited by: Glenn Gapultos Music by: minusbaby Visuals by: notendo Opening titles by: Julien Nantiec Download the Show: The Engadget Show - 007 (HD) / The Engadget Show - 007 (iPod / iPhone / Zune formatted) Subscribe to the Show: [iTunes] Subscribe to the Show directly in iTunes (M4V). [Zune] Subscribe to the Show directly in the Zune Marketplace (M4V). [RSS M4V] Add the Engadget Show feed (M4V) to your RSS aggregator and have it delivered automatically.%Gallery-88680%
The Engadget Show live with Nicholas Negroponte, PlayStation Move, and Joystiq's Chris Grant
Keep your eyes tuned to this post -- because at 5:00 PM ET, we'll be starting The Engadget Show live, with Nicholas Negroponte of the MIT Media Lab and OLPC Project, Dr. Richard Marks showing off Sony's PlayStation Move, commentary from Joystiq editor Chris Grant, plus much, much, more! You seriously don't want to miss it! Update: The live show is over, but don't fret. We've got the full version coming soon (within a day) for download via iTunes, Zune Marketplace, and RSS feed, or you can watch the stream right here. Stay tuned, the post will be soon!
Valve: Coming to the Mac is "biggest event in Steam's history"
The good folks at Joystiq got to sit down and talk with John Cook, the director of Steam at Valve, and he says there's probably no comparison to the news about Steam coming to the Mac -- it is "the biggest event in Steam's history." He says that not only is it big news for the company and its services, but that one of the goals of the service will be to "prove" to other game developers that coming to this platform is important. Like PC gaming in general, Mac gaming isn't dead, "it just needs to be attacked from more directions than retail." Too true -- while PC gaming is suffering on the retail shelves, Mac games are having those same issues many times over. And with Apple taking a larger share of the desktop pie than ever, putting Steam games on the Mac platform is a huge benefit both for game companies and their customers. Cook says he hopes that "many, if not all" of the game companies with games on Steam will eventually bring their titles over to the Mac. Good news for us. He does knock down, however, the suggestion that Valve is coming to the Mac on the way to the iPhone -- Cook says the company is focused on the Mac right now. That doesn't rule out a move to the iPhone or the iPad, but for now, Steam on the Mac is a story that's plenty big. We can't wait to see the client running in April.
APB impressions from Joystiq at GDC
Our friends over at Massively's sister site Joystiq have weighed in with their impressions of Realtime Worlds' forthcoming All Points Bulletin MMORPG, recently demoed at last week's Game Developer's Conference in San Francisco. The article drops a few interesting nuggets, including the fact that APB will not feature hand-to-hand combat on release day, as well as observations on the vehicle customization tools, enforcer versus criminal PvP, mission types, and other items shown at GDC by studio founder (and Grand Theft Auto creator) David Jones. "I have to admit that the concept of a "GTA MMO" was never one that seemed like it would "work." After seeing APB in action, though, with its multitude of customization options and spectacular shootouts, my feeling has definitely changed. It really could work," Joystiq concludes.
GDC Roundup, day four
The tenth annual Game Developers Conference is in full swing in San Francisco, CA, and our sister sites Joystiq and Massively are on the scene! No matter what kind of games you're into, there's a ton of news on its way out of the convention, and we're compiling some of the stuff that might matter to you in daily roundups just for you. If you want the whole GDC news experience, check out all of Massively's and Joystiq's coverage, or previous roundups. I apologize for my appalling lack of Michael Sacco-ness. Saccosity? Massively's Interview with DC Universe Online "We're hitting major milestones right now. We're pushing as hard as we can right now to get a launch date out there. [...] We're trying to get it in your hands as quick as possible. The great thing about Sony is we really are taking our time. We have been given the opportunity to make this right." Fable 2 Episodes Massively Successful "That was hugely successful. There were something like over half a million. I think it was 600,000 downloads of the first episode, which was very, very cool." "Save your fork, there'll be pie" After confessing to having a big appetite for Borderlands, the Gears of War developer used the pie analogy to explain to Joystiq how games without any sort of DLC "hooks" are becoming increasingly rare. GDC 2010 Microtalks: Big ideas, tiny speeches Ten lecturers -- all from different sectors of the game industry -- each spoke for five minutes and each were allowed to use 20 different slides. Naughty Dog's Richard Lemarchand set the stage for the speakers, announcing the theme of the talks as "come play with us." Massively's Interview with Dungeons and Dragons Online Today, the numbers speak for themselves. Their revenue is up 500%, they've had over one million new players, and you'll be hard-pressed to find anyone who would refer to the game as "forgotten." Turbine has arguably set the standard for a hybrid free-to-play business model, and it's paid off very well. However, it wasn't always a sure thing and it certainly wasn't a snap decision. GDC 2010: The Future of Champions Online At the end of our brief discussion on the future of Champions, Bill had this to say, "Past that, I think it's just about remaining as responsible as possible to what the community is telling us they want." That sounds the right approach to us.
GDC roundup, day two
The tenth annual Game Developers Conference is in full swing in San Francisco, CA, and our sister sites Joystiq and Massively are on the scene! No matter what kind of games you're into, there's a ton of news on its way out of the convention, and we're compiling some of the stuff that might matter to you in daily roundups just for you. If you want the whole GDC news experience, check out all of Massively's and Joystiq's coverage, or yesterday's roundup. Sony has the power to Move you Though it might look like a black Wiimote topped with a scoop of sherbet, Sony's PlayStation Move motion peripheral aims to take the motion-sensitive gaming field to eleven. Joystiq's got all the Move info you need, and you can dance to it. 38 Studios swings for the fences with two new titles World Series champ Curt Schilling's 38 Studios is developing an "epic single-player RPG" codenamed Copernicus, and an MMO project codenamed Project Mercury. Oh, and fantasy novel fans: R.A. Salvatore is in charge of building the universe where both games take place. Welcome to Poisonville, population 4,000 Bigpoint Studios says their browser MMO Poisonville is the most expensive browser-based MMO to date, with a budget of two million dollars. It certainly seems to have been spent in the right places in this full-featured GTA-alike. It's the DLC Age at EA EA's John Schappert says that Dragon Age: Origins downloadable content has made over a million dollars so far! Digital distribution in total netted them $575 million last year and projections place next year's DD profits even higher. EA is ready with DLC strategies for several upcoming games. Monkey Island 2 Special Edition overflowing with new booty LucasArts' beloved Monkey Island franchise saw a resurgence with the release of a remastered Secret of Monkey Island last year, and now Monkey Island 2: LeChuck's Revenge is getting the same treatment, with new art, developer commentary, and improved controls. Sakaguchi's latest Story looks like a picture book Final Fantasy creator Hironobu Sakaguchi's Mistwalker Studios is hard at work on a new RPG, and they released some truly beautiful artwork of the game's island locale to whet our appetites.
Want more on the PlayStation Move? Head over to Joystiq!
Sony's calling the PlayStation Move the "next generation" of motion gaming and planning to market it as heavily as an entirely new console, so it's sort of a big deal -- and that means our main dudes at Joystiq are all over it. We've already covered the main details, but hit the links below if you're looking for some seriously deep dives. SOCOM 4 to support PlayStation Move EyePet to support PlayStation Move, hits North America holiday 2010 Move supported by 36 companies, 20 games this fiscal year The PlayStation Move games (we know of) Hands-on: SOCOM 4 (with PlayStation Move!) Hands-on: PlayStation Move's 'The Shoot' Hands-on: PlayStation Move's 'Move Party' Hands-on: PlayStation Move's Sports Champions We touched it: PlayStation Move from every angle 'Arc' lives on in PlayStation Move's logo
GDC 2010 roundup, day one
The tenth annual Game Developers Conference is in full swing in San Francisco, CA, and our sister sites Joystiq and Massively are on the scene! No matter what kind of games you're into, there's a ton of news on its way out of the convention, and we're compiling some of the stuff that might matter to you in daily roundups just for you. If you want the whole GDC news experience, check out all of Massively's and Joystiq's coverage! Sword of the New World: Let's get political GamersFirst's achingly pretty MMO import Sword of the New World, née Granado Espada, is getting new content in its Political PvP system, allowing players to "run for office, control the colonies, and be a tyrant" in the SotNW universe's bizarro-America. Battlestar Galactica MMO on its way to your browser TV space opera Battlestar Galactica follows in the footsteps of that other popular space show and gets its own MMO -- right in your browser. That's right, you can be a forsaken and a Cylon at the same time if you so desire. Somebody knows their audience. Massively gives it an in-depth look right here. Indie Fund wants to help your indie game get off the ground Ron Carmel of 2D Boy -- creators of indie superhit World of Goo -- unveiled plans for Indie Fund, an innovative funding and mentoring system for indie developers who might not have the capital to get a game completed and published on their own. Taikodom blasts its way to America Taikodom takes the mine-space-rocks economy of EVE Online and throws in a dash of twitch shooter for flavor, and GamersFirst is launching it stateside, with plans for a closed beta by summer and a release by year's end. Fallen Earth iPhone app is, well, basically Fallen Earth Icarus Studios wants you stay connected to their post-apocalyptic romp Fallen Earth, and to that end, they're developing an incredibly comprehensive FE experience on the iPhone, allowing you to check out your inventory, browse the auction house, chat with friends, and even craft items, all on the go. Civilization V is bringing hexy back Firaxis' latest entry into the Civilization series doesn't want you bogged down worrying about stuff like cardinal directions. You don't even need most of those anyway! Civ V goes old-school with its hex-based grid. Oh, and they also built a whole new engine from the ground up. Hug that DX11 card.
Richard Garriott talks about Portalarium and the future
Earlier this week we told you about Richard Garriott's latest venture, turning an eye to the social media trend with his new business venture Portalarium. Our sister site Joystiq spent some time with him discussing the company and its future. Before delving into where Garriott is going, Joystiq explored a bit about where he's been. They talked about the infamous venture into space, and the even more infamous NCsoft lawsuit, then moved on to what Portalarium is all about and what Garriott hopes to accomplish with it. Portalarium's aim is essentially to tap into the growing social network gaming genre and do it bigger and better. The interview covers the basics of how the business model will work as well as Garriott's views on what the market is lacking and how he plans to fill in those gaps. It's an interesting read, so head over to Joystiq and take a look at the full interview!
Street Fighter IV coming to iPhone
I've wondered before just how a fighting game on the iPhone would work, and now I'm going to find out: Capcom has announced that they're releasing the latest Street Fighter game (they're up to IV now) on the iPhone. You can see how it works over at IGN -- there's a virtual joystiq on one side, and four virtual buttons on the other. I have no idea how it will actually work in practice; it certainly seems like your thumbs would cover up both your character and the enemy while fighting, and that's assuming that your thumb has the dexterity to know which buttons you're pushing without tactile feedback. But we'll see -- Capcom says the game will have a large number of fighters to choose from (though probably not as much as the full retail game), and the ability to play multiplayer via Bluetooth. One other interesting note on this one: Street Fighter IV has only been released on the major consoles, and the iPhone will be the game's first handheld relase (that we know of so far). This could be Capcom's experiment -- if they can release it on the iPhone before putting a port out on the DS or PSP, and see some success, we could see other larger developers releasing ports earlier (or maybe even exclusively) on the iPhone in the future. But let's not count our hadouken before it's completed -- first we have to see if a game like this will even work on Apple's little handheld touchscreen.
MAG review highlights strengths and flaws of the console MMOFPS
MAG is a PlayStation 3-exclusive MMOFPS title we've been keeping our eyes on at Massively. The inevitable debate aside about whether Zipper Interactive's title is an MMO or not -- yes, tanks and guns replace dragons and magic spells -- the game accommodates up to 256 players in a zone at a time. The idea of FPS gameplay with that many people at such a high degree of graphical detail is pretty mind-boggling, and it's something we've explored a bit in the MAG beta. Our parent site Joystiq recently sat down with the game now that it's officially launched and wrote a short MAG review. Joystiq's Griffin McElroy gives a brief overview of MAG's gameplay and his assessment of the title's merits and flaws. That idea of 128 players per side doesn't mean you'll all be charging towards your opponents in one awesome wave, he notes. Rather, you'll typically be interacting with your fellow soldiers on a squad level (4-8 people) to achieve objectives, with multiple squads comprising platoons, and four such platoons forming an army.
Rumor: Zelda Wii to be Majora's Mask sequel
Let's get this straight: There are rumors about video games, and then there are crazy internet rumors about video games that are so intriguing you can't help but get excited about them, even though you don't believe they're anything more than products of an overactive fan imagination. This post is about the second kind. Information has bubbled up from the Japanese 2chan message board about the new Wii Zelda game and, while 2chan's record on rumors hasn't been bad (they've broken information on Japanese anime, Resident Evil and other games that later turned out to be true), these rumors are crazy. Like Majora's Mask crazy. See what we mean after the break.
