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All systems go: Perpetuum launching November 25th
It's been five years in the making -- not to mention 18 months of beta testing -- but on November 25th, it all comes to a head. Perpetuum Online, which has been described as "EVE Online meets mechs," finally has a launch date. Avatar Creations' project is a persistent world at war, in which players can build, pilot and destroy robots across the landscape. According to Perpetuum's manifesto, the dev team strived to make an MMO that focuses on a social experience that utilizes crafting, economy and territory control as tools to connect large amounts of players. The download will be free, and Avatar Creations has announced that the pricing plan will be €8.95/$9.95 depending on the region. Interested players would do well to take the company up on the offer of early access, which costs the same but gives an additional week of play (early access players can start on November 18th) and four weeks of "extra extension points." Hit the jump to see Perpetuum's launch trailer and figure out if this is the virtual world for you!
Command line execute: Perpetuum powers up open beta and early access
Do you like robots? We know, look whom we're talking to -- of course you do. Who doesn't? Well, let us ask you this: Do you like piloting hulking robots with enough ordinance to take out a smallish city? Again, that's a mostly rhetorical question. Ergo, it might be of interest to you to know that Perpetuum, the giant city-killing robot simulation MMO, has not only booted up its open beta, but is looking ahead to an early access program as well. Avatar Creations is coming off fresh from a year and a half of closed beta testing and has its sights set on a launch in the not-too-distant future. Interested parties may get their hands on the open beta starting October 18th, and if the game tickles your fancy, you can pay €9.95 to enter the Early Access program, which includes the first month of launch and an extra week prior to Perpetuum's release. Perpetuum boasts a single persistent world where one robot can, in fact, make a difference. We've been intrigued by some of the interesting ideas this dev team has whipped up, so it will be great to get our hands on the beta at last. You can read the full press announcement over on the official site.
Earthrise reveals information on building damage and offensive structures
A small note of neat news has come out of the Earthrise camp regarding building defensive structures for your guild and the options available to attackers who might wish to destroy said defensive structures.In the forum's question of the week, the developers have revealed that base structures will have durability meters, as buildings just don't "break apart" the minute they're hit by something. However, these durability meters will slowly decline over time, representing wear and tear from the elements. This will require guilds to make sure that they upkeep their buildings, much like a real mechanic needs to check up on a building's machinery every so often. This "durability decrease" is currently set to a very infrequent amount, so busy guilds don't have to be repairing buildings constantly.Attackers will also have combat options, but these will come in the form of mechs and temporary structures that can be placed on the map. These options have nowhere near the permanence of what defenders can produce, and that makes a large amount of sense to us, at least.
Famitsu: Armored Core 3 coming to PSP
Fans of bulky mechs and slim handhelds will likely find this bit of news to be the highlight of their day: From Software is porting Armored Core 3 onto the PSP, according to Famitsu. A scan (via PSPHyper) shows the 2002 PS2 title is slated for a July 30 release on PSP and will include some extra goodies, including Ad Hoc multiplayer (and even Ad Hoc Party support).But, dare we ask what the point is? There have been countless Armored Core games that have released since then, so why not just port one of those? Or, here's a novel idea: what about a new game? We hear PSP owners love those things.
Deployment 16 stomps onto Tabula Rasa's battlefields
If you've been clamoring for mechs, then clamor no more! Deployment 16 has now hit the Tabula Rasa servers, and you too can jump in a big 'ol mech and go stomp some people. Don't know how to find them? Don't worry, we've got you covered in that department.The only downside to all of this mech joy is that they're only available in Edmund Range. But, with the mechs now being available, you can be sure that pretty much everyone is rushing on over to get a taste of steel in their system.This patch isn't devoted entirely to mechs, though. Players will be happy to procure three new sets of armor, as well as 40 rare weapons that are named after TR players. The AFS buildings got a facelift as well, so there will be some new sights to see for all of the players before the game closes.For the full patch notes, check them out on the Tabula Rasa website.
TR's Mechs have arrived on PTS with Deployment 16
Tabula Rasa's Public Test Server just received a brand new shipment of Mechs, and the AFS recruits are pumped! With the highly-anticipated Deployment 16 hitting the PTS last night, Personal Armor Units are finally here. The CELLAR Arena and the Edmund Range Training Grounds have both been expanded to accommodate the Mechs, as well as some newly available combat technology installed.This patch also brought about some other goodies, including three new armor sets with level 50 stats that can be worn by any level, new pets, new emote items, hyper-EXP tokens and probably the coolest thing of all time: 40 unique weapons named after some of the game's most involved players. Look for a post later today regarding more on that. In the meantime, if you don't already have the PTS installed, check it out for these latest changes to the game before they go live.
The Daily Grind: Are you holding down the fort in Tabula Rasa?
Listen up soldier and listen well! You have only a little over two months before the Bane reinforcements arrive and put the entire army of the Allied Free Sentients at risk in Richard Garriott's Tabula Rasa! We at the Massively.com detatchment want to know if you are on the front lines of the war, or are spending time in other battlefronts!With the game becoming free to play, it seems that more soldiers are adding to the AFS front lines every day. But we here at Massively understand that you may not want to pick up your gun, as you know the war will be ending on February 28th! But the skilled engineers of the AFS have added many new tools of destruction to the field of war, such as a first-person tactical combat view and the highly anticipated PAUs and mechs!So are you with us, soldier? Are you going to be using less mew mew and more pew pew? Shout out your plans in the comment box below, but be loud! That Bane artillery cannon on our position is causing too much of a racket!
This Wednesday: XBLA winds up in War World (with Mega Man 9)
This Wednesday sees a sole new Xbox Live Arcade release in the form of War World, a third-person shooter set in a typically mech-infested milieu. Aside from an assortment of bipedal tanks, War World offers players a 100-level single-player campaign, four multiplayer modes (deathmatch, CTF, etcetera) and best of all, "normal mapped diffuse and specular lighting," in exchange for 800 ($10).It's also a much better deal than developer Third Wave Games' previous title, Peace World, which pretty much everyone found to be a boring, unrealistic and touchy-feely affair.Update: Oops! We forgot about Mega Man 9. We just assumed you'd purchased it on a system with a functional d-pad.
Exteel's top ranking players and clans now viewable online
You guys sure do talk a lot of crap in-game. Let's see if those bragging rights really do belong to your clan. Now everyone really knows who the heck the top bots in Exteel are with the latest ranking feature on the Exteel website is live which displays player and clan ranks. There is no extra software to install, no manual profiles to keep up to date, all you have to do is log on and smash each other into smithereens. You can also search for clans and pilots too see where they stand, there's actually some jerk out there named Legolas. You know what to do if you see that player roaming in-game. Both ranking lists will update every 24 hours, early in the morning and the ranking system is currently in-beta so players can expect more features later down the road. Be sure to check out our Exteel coverage, or jump right into the game by downloading the Exteel client.
AFS mechs' new animations show their mettle
As is usually the case, there were a lot of things that we wanted the Destination Games team to put into Tabula Rasa's patch 1.5 that we don't see in the build on the PTS. The opacity of the development process usually has that effect. But one of the nice benefits of our ignorance is that we are often quite pleasantly surprised by the unexpected things that we find every time a new build shows up on our a desktop. One of the things that eluded as when the patch notes were posted yesterday, but which delighted us when shown in motion is the new attacks and animations for the mechs that patrol the heavier AFS bases.One player who goes by the name of Flashburn on the Planet TR forums was courteous enough to record these new animations for our viewing pleasure. Notice the way the mech raps on his head to unjam the rockets. It's subtle, but worthy of a chuckle. And who can't be at least slightly awed by that new jumping attack? Are these new animations in some a way preview for what's ahead with the long-promised personal armored units? We can only speculate at this point, but we're suddenly excited about the prospect all over again. We'll have more on the new build as we explore it.
E307: Front Mission DS interview and media galore
We've got a flood of Front Mission DS media for you today. In addition to the new screenshots viewable in the gallery below, there's also a minute-and-a-half-long trailer for the Square Enix SRPG past the post break. If you need more than just combat clips and menu hopping to get you going, scroll down a bit further for the original Japanese trailer.Front Mission DS finally bring the series' first entry to the states, adding touchscreen controls, multiplayer battles (local only), and several new Wanzers to the mech-based title. While this release already includes the alternative UCS storyline from the PlayStation remake, five new missions specific to the DS version have also been added.RPGamer had a chance to sit down with producer Koichiro Sakamoto to discuss the handheld port and his thoughts on bringing more Front Mission games to the DS. According to the interview, were it not for the campaigning of a particular team member, North America might not have received the game: "There was one [who] was very passionate about the game, and wanted to give players in the United States the chance to experience. He felt that Front Mission 3 and 4 proved that there is a userbase, and since the DS is currently very popular, the thinking went, 'Why not give it a try?'"%Gallery-4781%
Xbox 360 impressions: Lost Planet: Extreme Condition
Capcom's third-person Xbox 360 shooter shares many qualities with the brilliant Resident Evil 4, most notably in its emphasis on survival. The planet you find yourself on is unbelievably harsh, with thick banks of snow, blizzards and freakish monsters attempting to foil your progress at every turn. That's why you're equipped with up to three big and satisfying guns (with more mysteriously littering the icy wastelands) and a suit that keeps you nice and warm. Unfortuately, the suit requires an orange substance called T-Eng to maintain your body temperature and it is continuously exhausted as you traipse about in the cold environment. It's awfully convenient then, that the vicious creatures so fond of attacking you release this substance upon their death. Kill to stay alive.
Battlefield 2142 allegedly confirmed by PC Gamer [Update1]
According to digg, this video trailer from the May 2006 issue of PC Gamer confirms the existence of Battlefield 2142 and its pending release this fall.Feel free to watch those warring mechs, but we'll hold off judgment until we hear the official word from EA/DICE. Do you believe a future ice age will precipitate a global war over arable land? You've been warned.[Update: Scans of the mag have surfaced online. Thanks, Iced_Eagle!]See also: Battlefield 2142 hinted at by Digital Illusions producer EA gobbles up the rest of Battlefield developer DICE [Thanks, Shaved Moose and Einhanderkiller; via digg]
