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Newest MAG trailer airdrops televisions into battle
There's nothing quite like seeing thousands of home theater setups falling from the sky, as evidenced above by the latest trailer for PS3-exclusive MAG. Aside from reminding us of the not-quite-an-MMOs impending release date, the video shows off a variety of different gameplay types, and asks if we have it in us to earn our fellow players' trust. We suggest that those of you looking to enroll with the toughest, most ragtag group of rumblers this side of the Colorado sign up right here. Can you earn our trust? (Hint: You earn our trust by leaving friendly comments ... and maybe sending us booze. Maybe.)
Face off against Zipper Interactive in MAG beta's closing ceremonies
Got some complaint about MAG that you'd like to directly file with the game's creators? You'll have your chance to do so this Friday, when a number of Zipper Interactive staffers will join in the Shadow War as part of the beta's closing ceremonies. All you have to do is join in a fight, and keep an eye out for squads using the clan tag [ZIP]. According to the developer's blog, they'll be playing for two hours starting at 9 p.m. EST. Remember, present your suggestions in a courteous, congenial manner. For instance, "hello, Zipper Interactive employee. I think the game would be improved by limiting the number of times a first aid kit can be used in a single spawn. Thank you so much for listening. I'm going to fire bullets at you now, okay?" [Via CVG]
Join Joystiq's MAG army and get a free beta code
MAG is a pretty ridiculous title, but it does perfectly sum up what the game is all about. Massive Action Game is the first console game to feature 128 vs. 128 online multiplayer matches, which you'll be able to try tomorrow with the debut of beta 4.5. We want you to join the Joystiq army: a 128-person squad of loyal Joystiq readers ready to represent us online. The PlayStation Network will tremble, with the Joystiq team striking fear into all that dare to step into MAG. Together, world domination will be ours!* But, you say you're not in the MAG beta? Well, we'll fix that right now! Become a Joystiq fan on Facebook and you'll be able to score yourself a code. %Gallery-51370%
The Daily Grind: Your shooter of choice?
Lots of shooter/action MMOs coming out in the future, and we here at Massively are eager to play them all. From the 256 player battlefields of MAG to the chaotic, persistent territory control of Global Agenda and even over to the streets of APB, more MMOs are taking the route of the action title and avoiding the point-and-click style of the MMORPG. So, readers of Massively, what's your shooter of choice? Are you more of the first person, character development style of player that's embodied in MAG? Would you rather customize your character and your ride while shooting up the town in APB? Or are you up for some spy-fi jetpack action in Global Agenda? Or, do you want to take the none of the above option and lay down all of your chips on PlanetSide or PlanetSide 2? (Mmmmm... PlanetSide 2....) Shoot your mouth off in the comment box below! See what we did there?
MAG Beta now pre-order exclusive, servers running 24/7
The MAG beta program is getting one final, well-timed push before Zipper Interactive gears up to launch the impossibly oversized shooter. The game has officially moved onto Beta Phase 4 -- a shift which not only makes 6,000 changes within the game (including modifications to the skill tree and an increased level cap), but also makes the beta exclusively available to those who've pre-ordered the online FPS at GameStop. Yes, if you've been playing the beta using one of the other promotional access codes, you'll be shut out of the proceedings. However, as a side bonus, Zipper is now keeping the game's servers open all day, every day. That's right, you no longer need to sacrifice your nightly Murder, She Wrote viewings to adhere to the beta's odd schedule. Thanks, Zipper!
MAG interview talks about gameplay and development
You can argue the specifics about whether or not MAG qualifies as an MMO, but the game certainly fits the "massive" portion of the bill -- 128 characters to a side in battle, customized and developed characters, persistent world based on the performance in the skirmishes. The game's release is only a couple months away, and there's still a great deal more to learn about it if you haven't yet opted in to the preorder beta. Luckily for all of us, Giant Bomb has an interview with Seth Luisi which sheds more light on how the game will play and progress. The interview is quite substantial, covering everything from MAG's skill progression to leadership roles in the game. Among the more interesting tidbits is the system for squad leaders and further command posts. In order to give some incentive to follow a commander's orders, the objectives they set give a bonus to experience when fulfilled, and as the objectives are fulfilled the leader gets points to help improve their character. It's an interesting dual-reward system that should help lead to people being a bit more inclined to give and take orders in a setting notorious for just the opposite. But that's hardly the entirety of the interview -- it's only a tiny slice of a talk that ranges to the state of the world affecting map play, character specialization, and some of the problems that the team is facing and working on improving. Take a look at the full interview, which clocks in at around eight minutes long, and you might be inspired to place a pre-order and get your hands on the beta early.
Over 8,000 updates and bug fixes in latest MAG beta update
Looks like a certain beta testing community hasn't neglected its duties as a stalwart lookout for bugs, errors and other unsavory in-game snafus. This morning, Zipper Interactive launched a patch for the MAG beta client which includes over 8,000 updates and bug fixes. The patch will be automatically downloaded and installed next time you hop into the Shadow War. A brief synopsis of the important changes can be found after the jump. We elected to not include the full list of 8,000 updates, as it would have delayed this post until mid-April, at which point it would have been fairly useless to you.
MAG pre-order beta has begun, game to launch on January 26th, 2010
If you've been itching to try out your trigger finger with 127 of your friends, then your wait is pretty much at a close. MAG's public pre-order beta has gone live as of Monday and you can jump in by simply going out to your local GameStop/EB Games and pre-ordering the game.The beta will be continuing until November 20th for all of the pre-order beta players, while those who got in thanks to their Qore subscriptions will find their play time ending on November 8th.MAG has been confirmed for a release on January 26th of next year, so there will be some downtime between the beta and the release of the game for Zipper Interactive to do some bug fixing and further polishing.
7-Eleven wants you to reserve MAG there
We use 7-Eleven for all sorts of purposes it wasn't intended. For instance, since our diet consists solely of pizza burritos and bags filled with two different flavors of Doritos, it's pretty much our grocery store. They're happy with our custom, but they're not satisfied. 7-Eleven wants our video game dollars really bad. In fact, they've set it up so that the best place you can pre-order MAG is probably the same place where you buy your Slurpees. Pre-ordering at 7-Eleven will net you an exclusive recruitment kit with background info about the game's factions and a poster, the best way to tell guests that you like to get your Parliaments, tampons and video games in the same transaction.
Wishes do come true, Planetside 2
"X game sounds a lot like Planetside. I wish they'd make a sequel to that game." is something we've heard over the years as similar-yet-different titles have been announced and released. Well who says wishes don't come true? As it turns out, SOE is planning to "expand the Planetside universe with another game" and is asking players of the original for their input via survey. Rock Paper Shotgun picked up the scent of impending sequelosity, which is a word we've just made up that describes a sequel revelation of such ferocity that it slaps your jaw to the ground.There are a lot of games, such as MAG, that are attempting a Planetside-ish experience. However, nothing new has really attempted the scope of the game, so hearing that another is on the way infuses us with a intoxicating blend of hope and curiosity.
Uncharted 2 plundering Europe October 16
The time is almost upon us to saunter back into ancient ruins and murder hundreds upon hundreds of mercenaries in Naughty Dog's upcoming quarter-tucked adventure, Uncharted 2. Stateside Nathan Drake enthusiasts have known the date their bread would be buttered on for quite some time (October 13) -- now, Sony's confirmed to Eurogamer that the title will be hitting European store shelves just three days later. (Whoa, don't hurt yourself. That's October 16.) If you're on the fence about your Uncharted 2 purchase, you'll be able to check out the game -- along with MAG, Heavy Rain and God of War III -- at the Eurogamer Expo, which runs October 27–28 in Leeds and October 30–31 in London. Tickets to the event are only £6, which we're fairly certain translates to about $0.16 in real currency. What a steal!
Redefining MMOs: The Shooter Invasion
The MMO industry is always changing, and if we're going to stay ahead of the curve, we need to re-evaluate some of our views and ingrained notions from time to time. The Redefining MMOs series at Massively is our look at the state of massively multiplayer online games as it is today, and where we see it going. This week we're going to look at how shooters have invaded the MMO space, give you a run-down of some promising MMO shooters on the horizon, and finally tackle the question of whether or not they should be covered here at Massively. Something we're seeing more and more is a blurring of the lines between formerly distinct game genres -- this is especially true of shooters and MMOs. There are a number of shooters on the horizon that fit the bill as MMOs (although not RPGs), but such games are a radical departure from the DikuMUD pedigree shared by most MMORPG titles we cover at Massively. These shooter-MMO hybrids may have quests, levels, and classes, but they cast few illusions about being true RPGs. They're shooters through and through, but have persistent settings or are massively multiplayer -- traits which catch our attention.
Sony accepting applications for European MAG Beta
PlayStation.Blog recently dropped an announcement that will send European fans of acronyms and large-scale combat through the roof. Zipper Interactive is going to be handing out 16,000 beta codes for MAG to those living in Europe over the course of the next few weeks. To apply, go to the blog's "Competition" page and fill out the appropriate info. It's first come, first serve, so ... come! Be served! If you're not fortunate enough to live on the West-Eurasian Peninsula, take solace in the fact that Zipper's going to eventually need to enlist everyone on the planet to test out the game's enormous server load. Also, remember that we've got freedom and liberty and stuff.
The Daily Grind: Is MAG an MMO?
It sports 256 players on a map. 8 man squads, 32 man plattoons, and 128 men on one side in their company. It has a "shadow war" online mode where companies compete to win battles, pushing active warzones back and forth on the map, meaning that each battle has an effect on the online gameplay structure. Winning battles means securing contracts for your group, who works for one of the 3 in-game factions that are struggling for dominance.MAG is, without a doubt, one heck of a first-person shooter. It's players per map rivals PlanetSide's 300 players per continent, coming only 44 players short of the popular MMOFPS's battles. However, with multiple objectives per map and the 256 players being squeezed into smaller battlefields than PlanetSide's continents, one could say that the game is going to be much more chaotic and interesting.With all of this in mind, we ask you for your opinion on the following: Is Sony's MAG an MMO? It certainly sports the necessary components of persistence, character development, team mechanics, and player count, but we want to hear from you, the readers. Drop your thoughts into the comment box below, and let the discussion begin.
PAX 2009: MAG producer explains the game's original server technology
Making online, 256-player battles unfold without lag or disconnection issues is nothing short of pure techno-wizardry. However, according to producer Alan Van Slyke, who recently spoke with us at a PAX preview event, that's exactly what MAG will bring to the table thanks to a groundbreaking new form of server architecture."Before we started working on the front-end client technology, we started building the servers. We wiped the slate clean and asked 'what do we need to do to scale to these numbers to make sure it's not laggy, and make sure people can't exploit,'" Van Slyke explained. What they decided was that peer-to-peer hosting was insufficient -- instead, the MAG team created their own networking solution which would host and authenticate game data from a (presumably beefy) central server.Van Slyke couldn't reveal the specifics of the technology (the patent for which is still pending), but promised that it would reduce latency and completely eliminate connection griefing which has plagued other multiplayer shooters in the past. In addition, he said Zipper's not worried about having its servers crushed by a day-one rush of new recruits, explaining that "we've invested a lot in our server technology and our load test harnesses and the things we can do to replicate the scalability of it to ensure that it's stable and rock solid."
Sony details MAG pre-order bonuses: where to get what
Following a weekend of 256-player mayhem at PAX '09, Sony has unloaded more details on the pre-order campaign for its "massive action game," MAG, which releases on January 26, 2010. First up are three exclusive in-game characters, each corresponding to one of the game's three PMC armies -- with custom gear -- and available via a different retailer. GameStop has the S.V.E.R. soldier contractor for offer while Game Crazy is offering the Raven recruit -- we're not sure why, but Sony's keeping the wraps on where you can pre-order to receive a Valor grunt.Reserving the game via Amazon will grant you access to your very own S.V.E.R. "personal space" (read: apartment) in PlayStation Home. If you want the most alluring incentive, however, it's back to GameStop for access to the public beta of MAG beginning October 10. (Qore subscribers will be let in on September 17.) Initially, the beta servers will only be online during specific play windows, but Sony has confirmed that they'll be up-and-running 24/7 after November 9.If you want all of the goodies, you're going to need to mount your own MPC ("massive pre-order campaign").
Hands-on: MAG's 256-man multiplayer
I, like most people, have never participated in a 256-player virtual battle (or, due to its uncannily enormous amount of participants -- is it a war?). Though Zipper Interactive's MAG is built on incredibly strong first-person shooter foundations, incorporating fast-paced combat and a plethora of unlockable character modifications, the takeaway impression from my recent time with the game during a Sony preview event at PAX is, as you might guess, it is enormous.The game does an excellent job of partitioning players off into smaller, 8-man squads. Though most of your contact is with your immediate teammates, there's a constant sense that you're part of something bigger. There's nothing intangible about the cause for that feeling -- you are a cog in a much larger military machine, rewarded for spinning in accordance with your higher-ups' orders.
You MAY have written part of this MAG trailer
Did you partake in SCEE's MAG contest? If so, you may find your "inspirational" words in this new trailer for MAG. PSN users colingb20, Aday111, shenmue360, BioEye, playmartelli, OwNii, Dark_Jester, Bandicoot1980, MoeRonimoe and Klixx were all selected to have excerpts from their "battlefield speeches" inserted into the background of this cinematic trailer. Their prize for winning the contest? An entry into the MAG beta -- something you can purchase with an annual subscription to Qore.
September Qore heads to Skywalker Ranch, subscribers get MAG beta
September's episode of Qore features a view from Skywalker Ranch, as the soundtrack to Naughty Dog's Uncharted 2: Among Thieves is mixed and mastered at George Lucas' famous estate. Qore also sits down with gear head Jay "Retired for 10 Seconds" Leno and talks about his involvement with PSP's long-in-development installment of Gran Turismo. But, the real meat of this month's episode is access to the upcoming MAG beta -- for gamers not lucky enough to have been invited already.Users are automatically entered into the beta test -- set to begin later this month -- if they are Qore subscribers. If you're thirsty for large-scale online battles, users who subscribe to Qore on or before September 17 will also be invited. Sadly, purchasing September's episode alone will not net you the beta access. Even sadder, we're used to having to pay our way into these exciting bonuses.Check out a preview for this month's episode after the break.
MAG public beta now underway, first wave of invites sent
Based on the hojillion tips we recently received informing us of this news, we wager that most of you probably already know this -- still, we thought we'd pass it along for those who don't check their email as religiously as the rest of us. The first wave of invites for the MAG beta have been sent out -- for all you know, there's one sitting in your inbox this very second.See, now we know you're not reading anymore, because you're too busy checking your email. We could say something like "you have a dumb and ugly face" with no fear of retaliation. Of course, we won't do that, because your face isn't dumb, or ugly. It's precious and beautiful, like a beautiful alabaster doll's face.[Thanks to everyone who sent this in!]
