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World of Kung Fu announces new daily events
World of Kung Fu is the radical 3d martial arts MMORPG that utilizes Chinese mythology and themes for its setting. The game is free to play, and uses a micro-transactions to sustain development costs. It's important to stress that goods purchased in the "item mall" are not required to complete any quests or objectives in the game. New players also receive three "novice cards" that can be traded for in game items or cash including the following: Earth temple, which grants instant travel to any city already visited. Lion Toy, which will resurrect your character. And the Tai Yi Pill, which grants full healing. To keep player s busy over the summer VestGame Entertainment has announced regularly scheduled events, which World of Warcraft players would recognize as daily quests. However, the daily events in World of Kung Fu aren't just your run of the mill fair, one is a trivial pursuit type of challenge. Quests are given out by Town Crier in the city of Liuhe and their rewards will range from experience, cash, and even rare items. Hey, it's free, and worth checking out if you are struggling to find something to play this summer.
Meet Danny Southard and an 800lb flaming gorilla
Danny Southard is an animator for Champions Online who gets to help make all the cool superpower animations players are expecting to see -- when they eventually get their hands on the game. He works on both player powers and specifically NPC powers for characters with all types of limb combinations. From the sounds of it Danny just recently wrapped up some work on super strength and is now working on some martial arts powers. You gotta have the basics covered, y'know.As far as new Champions Online information goes, Danny does give us a nice hint when asked about his favorite character from the game world. He says, "I can't reveal his name, but he's the biggest flaming gorilla in the history of videogames." Images of the Human Torch combined with Gorrila Grod burst into our minds when thinking about this mystery character. You can never go wrong with pyrokinetic primates.
New CoX patch puts the wallop back in Martial Arts
City of Heroes Dev Back Alley Brawler has been a very busy guy of late. When he's not fending off incoming questions like a tank herding Rikti monkeys, he's working on animations and visual effects. Recently, several powers have seen improvements to their animation speed, allowing players to beat the tar out of stuff much faster than they used to. Katana was recently improved in this way, and now the set in the spotlight is Martial Arts, which hasn't seen any love for a long, long time. The little pauses have been shaved off, meaning that the kicks and punches now flow beautifully. Forum poster Tormentoso has put together a little demonstration.
Tenchu IV being published by ... Ubisoft?
Famitsu has put up a slew of images, both directly from Tenchu IV and its announcement event, documenting the various ninja techniques, such as flipping out and killing people. For those of you that have lost faith in the Tenchu franchise (this blogger included), perhaps these screens will get you down from the fence? Still, we have yet to get to the big news surrounding this.Ubisoft is set to publish Tenchu IV, both here in the United States and in Europe, taking up localization duties, as well. Given the flack that Ubisoft has taken recently for all of its casual titles, we're a bit surprised to see them so dedicated to this title, given the recent entries in the series being less than stellar, to put it politely. And, as if that weren't enough, there's even more to all of this. Apparently, a Tenchu V and Tenchu VI are planned, although no consoles are mentioned. Could these titles also be Wii exclusives? We'll have to wait and see, we suppose.For some basic facts about Tenchu IV, that come from the Famitsu magazine article about the game, head past the break.
The European connection in 9Dragons
Acclaim's martial arts MMORPG 9Dragons is about to gain some more European fans, with the launch of Bardo Euro -- their new European server. Bardo Euro promises to offer the European playerbase an improved game experience with better connections all around.Apparently the players have been calling for a European 9Dragons server for some time; Acclaim is delivering on their promises to improve the game and is holding a number of special events to celebrate the launch: 30% off sale: All items in the 9Dragons Item Mall will be 30% off for 3 days only. June 6-8. Bonus exp rate events: Earn 2 times experience points by playing on the Bardo server. June 3-9. Monster spawn event: High level monsters will invade Bardo. June 3-5, 6, 8-9. VGM/GM PvP event: Test your martial arts skills battling against Acclaim VGM and GM staff. June 3-6, 8-9. Fireworks in Bardo: To celebrate the official launch of the European server, fireworks will light up the sky at random times from May 30 to June 8 on the Bardo server. If you're in Europe, why not give 9Dragons a shot? Roll yourself a Shaolin or Wu-Tang badass and see if you can take down a GM or two in martial arts combat. Via Warcry
Hey Hey Let's Go! Tenchu 4
The Wii is currently Tenchu-less. Ninjas are cool, but not having them on your console is very uncool. And yet suddenly, from the depths of a Japanese scan, we find the first announcement of Tenchu 4, right here on Nintendo's home turf. It's a rumor for now, but there has been no word on development for other consoles -- this may be a Wii exclusive. Let's hope it fares better than the latest portable entry into the series.The first shots of the game look pretty smooth, despite the magazine scan. In the second image after the jump, there's some chop-socky action with grappling moves and takedowns. It looks colorful and violent, which is always top stuff. Our keen eyes of power are ready for the Japanese release on October 23. Let's fighting love!
World of Kung Fu gives North America love on Valentine's Day
Fans of combat systems based on Eastern martial arts will be getting a valentine from VestGame Entertainment. World of Kung Fu is arriving in North America on the 14th as an open beta, and I couldn't be more excited. A kung fu devotee myself, I've been interested in this title, which bases combat styles on your preferred weapon, from standards like the spear and sword, to more esoteric types like the fan and hook. But even better than that is the game's stated intention:'Unlike other games in which the point of the experience is to defeat monsters and enemies, this game invites the martial artists to become deeply involved in the development and establishment of a society which interweaves economic and social systems. The game also enables the players to enjoy the emotions of a private life filled with romance and drama. Furthermore, as they increase their skills, the players can establish their own school and master their own style of Kung Fu which they will then be able to pass on to others, plus much more!'Expect a First Impressions to arrive shortly. I'll do my best to look at this critically, but come on, you can buy a 'Fortune Pig' to pick up your loot for you! How could this not be great? Stay tuned ...
AoC opens the door for more hands-on combat
As seen here and here, the combat in Age of Conan is something we've not seen in an MMO before, and it's to Funcom's credit that they're trying to bring combat closer to something approximating the choices an actual fighter might have to make during a battle. If this approach proves successful (and it's likely to please at least a portion of its audience), it's possible we could see other MMOs take up the challenge of refining an active-combat methodology themselves. I'd like to see a combat system with some depth applied to the martial arts MMO genre, where a warrior's style actually does matter -- a lower, more grounded stance versus a higher, more mobile one; the option of attacking different locations on an opponent's body; a succession of keypresses to activate special chi-based abilities; a workable, skill-based blocking set of actions. Much better than simply firing off a macro, such a system would truly test a player's mettle, leading to a deeper appreciation of the complexities of real-time combat. Here's looking to the future: may it bring us innovation!
James Bond stuntman releases martial arts animations in Second Life
To be honest I'm not sure which is the bigger story here: The headline is true, Marcus Shakesheff, a stuntman on Die Another Day among other films, has had a range of his martial arts moves recorded by motion capture, converted into animations in Second Life and they will be available to buy and, it appears, as part of a game within Second Life. I am trying to find out the details of the animations, but have had no joy so far.But, I have to wonder if the fact that this headline's in this week's Newport, Cwmbran and Risca Weekly Argus is, in fact, the bigger story. It appears that Second Life has become sufficiently mainstream that even local papers, traditionally very parochial, carry stories about it. At least they do if the story is about a local person.Thanks to Cam for the tip, and the scans of the original article.
Open beta for Zu Online starts tonight
If you're looking for a game with a Chinese-wuxia-esque twist, you'll be interested to know that Zu Online will enter its open beta testing phase this evening at 8:00 PM EST. Poke around the official website for the client download (which can even be acquired via BitTorrent, if that's your sort of thing!) and for instructions for the actual launch when it comes. All the old alpha accounts are getting wiped just prior to the beginning of the new phase, so the servers will be a level playing field for new players. If you're not familiar with the game: it's a Kung Fu MMO which features player flight and group-oriented story quests as major selling points. It also has a really neat, stylized cell-shaded look -- something that when you think about it seems like a really good match for the genre.Animated, story-driven Wire Fu -- how can you possibly go wrong with that?
Jade Empire's grand PC makeover
BioWare's three-year absence from the PC (not counting those fine Neverwinter premium mods) is about to come to an end in January when the revamped Jade Empire ships. According to project director Diarmid Clarke, the 3 million-strong fan community asked for some overdue PC love, and the Canadian developer responded. Speaking with FiringSquad, Clarke discusses Jade's new levels and fighting styles, reveals a few new enemies, and explains the decision to recruit Gray Matter (Return to Castle Wolfenstein, Call of Duty: United Offensive) to assist with the port from Xbox.The high-res coat of paint and enhanced effects are evident in the latest batch of screens, but it will be interesting to see if fans take their Chinese kung fu mythology with the fully customizable mouse and keyboard controls, or the more familiar Xbox controller. Which will you choose?See also: Mass Effect rumored for the PC BioWare exec confirms Jade Empire continuation
Mazu Kan's "contact-free" Laser Martial Arts game
If you've got the bank credentials to back it up, you can build your own robotic fighting machine, or hop in the "squishy ball shooting" Land Walker and (slowly) mow down neighborhood pests as you please. But if you've only got $60, and don't feel like sustaining any major injuries when releasing that pent-up rage, Mazu Kan's Laser Martial Arts game has you covered. This two-person, "contact-free" slugfest contains a pair of wearable sensors that track your punches, dodges, and uppercuts to determine who loses their "10 life points" first. The built-in "sound and rumble" effects supposedly help you forget that you're not in an actual brawl, while the "two levels of combat" should put those newly-acquired cagefighting skills to the test. Red vs Blue tees not included.[Via Uber-Review]
