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Fabled Lands co-creators discuss their canceled Eidos MMO
Dave Morris and Jamie Thomson, prolific co-writers of a number of RPG gamebooks, recently spoke to Bit-Tech about one of their most ambitious and, ultimately, unsuccessful projects: An MMORPG commissioned by Eidos in the late 90s. Despite being bankrolled by the ocean of Tomb Raider money the publisher was floating in at the time, the MMO, which was to be based on the pair's Fabled Lands series, never got off the ground. The game's downfall was the result of the team's overambitious goals and the studio's directionless development process. The project began to lose money, and as Eidos' success began to falter, the MMO was canned. The duo haven't given up on the Fabled Lands franchise, however -- virtual versions of the gamebooks will hit the iPhone sometime this summer. For an interesting read on how wacky game developers were in the late 90s, check out Bit-Tech's feature on Eidos' doomed foray into online gaming. [Via Eurogamer]
BioWare shoots first to kill Star Wars: The Old Republic Xbox 360 rumor
There was a great disturbance in the rumor-Force yesterday when VG247 acquired a memo from UK retailer GAME with an alleged upcoming release list for Xbox 360 -- a docket that included a listing for Star Wars: The Old Republic. While the better part of the day was spent hypothesizing about which button would be mapped to "Kill Dude With Lightsaber" (right bumper, of course), BioWare wasted no time in squashing the rumor. "While we recognize that there are other operating systems and platforms available for games today, our development is specific to the personal computer using the Windows operating system at this time," BioWare's Sean Dahlberg explained. As to why the game was on the Xbox 360 release list, Dahlberg hadn't the foggiest idea, but reassured that the game "should not be on there." [Via Massively]
Warhammer Online endless free trial now instantly upgradeable
EA Mythic is making an even stronger push to try to hook trial players on Warhammer Online, allowing them to upgrade their copy of the game without requiring them to visit a tangible, brick-and-mortar retailer. Now, players who partake in the "endless" free trial can access the title's full portfolio of quests, areas, and baddies by simply subscribing to the game -- purchasing the client itself is no longer necessary. Of course, the retail version of the game comes with a free month-long subscription, so it's not that huge a savings. Still, you now have the option of upgrading your account without interrupting your zealous Realm vs. Realm campaign. [Via Massively]
