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Fighting is Magic creator Mane6 to crowdfund new game in 2014
Mane6, the group behind a My Little Pony-based fighting game titled MLP: Fighting is Magic, is back on their feet (hooves?) and will soon begin work on their totally-legal, not-going-to-get-shut-down-by-Hasbro-this-time project. A recent post on the group's blog revealed that the team plans to launch a Kickstarter or Indiegogo campaign at some point in early 2014, after which, "game development will explode." The new game will use the Z-Engine, which was first used for indie fighter Skullgirls, along with some proprietary editors for hitboxes and scripting. While the characters may not end up being ponies, the cast for the game will be designed by Lauren Faust, creator of the My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic television show that Fighting is Magic was based on. You can see a tease of one of the game's ungulate fighters above.
One Shots: Friendship is magic
Oh pretty ponies, is there anything you can't do? Any wisdom that you haven't already mastered? Any look that isn't absolutely stunning? Any swish of your tail that doesn't grant wishes? I think not! I'm sure that reader Michelle agrees with me, since she sent in this picture of her little pony from Star Stable. "It's April Fool's Day," she writes, "and this is my character Lili Wolfwood and her horse Everdream after having clicked on an NPC Bunny. My horse is usually brown and black." Why do I keep forgetting that there's an entire MMO about horses? Why haven't I done an extensive six-week article series on it yet? While I deal with the shame of neglect, you may proceed on to our other excellent player-submitted screenshots.
Skullgirls dev may license engine to Fighting is Magic team for free
Skullgirls developer Lab Zero Games announced plans to provide former MLP: Fighting is Magic developer Mane6 with a free license of its Skullgirls engine should Lab Zero Games' Indiegogo campaign reach $725,000. Lab Zero Games launched its crowdfunding campaign in late February to fund new characters for Skullgirls with an initial $150,000 goal that it reached in just 24 hours.As for Mane6, its ambitions to create a fighting game based on the My Little Pony property were halted by Hasbro in early February due to Mane6 not having the rights to develop the game. Mane6 has since noted its desire to continue development on its game, now using new characters in a new setting. Lab Zero Games' Indiegogo campaign is currently at just over $427,000 with 11 days left before it closes.
My Little Pony Online put out to pasture
OK, so maybe the game wasn't really too old (it had only been live for a month), but Hasbro's cease-and-desist order definitely sent My Little Pony Online into retirement. Of course, this action came as no surprise; back when we first reported on the project, we noted that legal troubles were likely, as the endeavor was not backed by the official copyright holder of the popular ponies. But all is not lost for fans who want to continue their adventures with ponies -- it just won't be My Little ones. In the same announcement where they revealed the demise of the game (while deflecting blame away from Hasbro), MLP:O creators divulged that they are sticking together and are all set to work on another pony-inspired project. Under the name Starlight Studios, the group hopes to have the new project ready in time for Bronycon 2013.
Google patches SVG and IPC exploits in Chrome, discoverer banks $60,000 in the process
Google revels in hacking contests as ways of testing Chrome's worth. Even if the browser is compromised, the failure provides a shot at fixing an exploit under much safer circumstances than an in-the-wild attack. No better example exists than the results of Google's Pwnium 2 challenge in Malaysia: the company has already patched vulnerabilities found in the contest that surround SVG images and IPC (inter-process communication) before they become real problems. Staying one step ahead of truly malicious hackers carries a price, however. Pwnium 2 winner Pinkie Pie -- yes, Pinkie Pie -- is being paid $60,000 in prize money for catching the exploits. That may be a small price to pay if it reassures a few more Internet Explorer users looking to hop the fence.
Gameloft bringing My Little Pony game to mobile platforms this year
Until now, fans have taken the lead, but you'll finally have the chance to get an officially licensed My Little Pony game before the end of this year. Gameloft has formed a partnership with Hasbro to make My Little Pony games for mobile platforms including iOS and Android.Gameloft hasn't detailed the game, but Hasbro did provide some corporate boilerplate if that helps: "Creating highly inventive and accessible digital play experiences based on our world-class brands continues to be at the core of Hasbro's mission and we envision Gameloft to be a key player in the ongoing execution of that global strategy," said Hasbro SVP of Digital Media and Marketing Mark Blecher.Along with My Little Pony, Gameloft will be creating games based on Littlest Pet Shop, which is even littler.
Netflix signs multi-year deal with Hasbro -- and knowing is half the battle
Hasbro, the toy-maker behind pervasive long-form ads shows for kids like Transformers, GI Joe and My Little Pony, is bringing its back catalogue to Netflix. While the '80s hits will arrive some time in 2012, both Transformer Prime and the more recent Pony-based adventures are already available to stream now. Get a full list of the Hasbro heritage being readied for streaming in Netflix's proud press release below.
Daily iPhone App: Monopoly Hotels checks in on EA's freemium expertise
Zynga's gotten a lot of flak for creating basically a clone of Tiny Tower, and you could make the argument EA has done the same thing with its new freemium title Monopoly Hotels. The game features a set of freemium goals as you set up a series of businesses in Monopoly's famous establishments, and just like Tiny Tower, you're recruiting guests, building shops, and so on. But while Monopoly Hotels is definitely influenced by the popular freemium trend, there's enough here that it's really a different game. There's not nearly enough love for the craft as Nimblebit puts into its titles, but there is some really good thinking about reward cycles (money occasionally falls from the sky in Monopoly Town, tasking the player to grab it by tapping away with glee), enough to suggest that if you're all done with Tiny Tower, this one's probably worth a look as well. Of course, EA is shameless with the product placement, so you can build rooms branded around Mr. Potatohead and My Little Pony, and even the rooms themselves (you start by building a "horse room," a gardening themed-room, and a cupcake store) are squarely targeted at the younger, more feminine audience. But the game is well-designed anyway. It's a nice chance to see what a big but open-minded studio like EA can do with the freemium genre (largely led, so far, by indie developers, or at least developers that used to be indie). If you're not a young girl or a freemium junkie, you might find this all a little boring, but hey, it's free. Why not?
Hasbro and Zynga make a deal, toys and games incoming
Hasbro has struck a deal with Zynga to produce toys and games based on the social developer's catalogue of rich, nuanced IPs, which is great news if you've ever found yourself wishing you could somehow continue to give Zynga all of your money, even when you're away from your computer and smartphone.Now, Hasbro's definition of "games" is more board-oriented than Zynga's, and while the licensing arrangement allows for "co-branded merchandise," it doesn't allow Zynga to make games based on Hasbro brands. The first products will hit store shelves sometime this fall, and while no specifics toys or board games have been announced we've got a feeling that My Little Ponyville and Ouija With Friends aren't that unlikely.
Ask Massively: You know what day it is edition
Because of the way Thanksgiving works in the USA, Ask Massively always falls on the holiday. Last year's approach was closer to my usual one, but you know what? This year, I'm just going for the straight dope. We all know what day it is, we all know what holiday we're celebrating, and in all likelihood we're all so stuffed with turkey that we don't want to think about anything other than slowly sloughing to the bathroom. So let's not kid ourselves. At any rate, the important part isn't the paragraph I devote to ridiculous nonsense; the important part is the questions. And they're just past the cut -- questions about video personalities, loneliness, and last week's forbidden screenshot. If you've got a question you'd like to see answered in a future installment, leave it in the comments or send a letter to ask@massively.com. Questions may be edited slightly for clarity and/or brevity.
Fan-made My Little Pony MMO gathers a following
Yesterday bronies across the world rejoiced as Kotaku reported on the production of not just one but two upcoming My Little Pony MMOs. Both My Little Pony Online and Equestria Online are set in the fictional world of the popular series My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, and use graphics and characters from that setting. On further investigation, both of the startup MMOs appear to be fan projects being developed without the official backing of copyright holder Hasbro Studios. As such, the projects may run into legal difficulties as they continue development using characters, artwork and names from the My Little Pony series. The cartoon series that inspired these fan projects was originally aimed at a young female audience, but its popularity among an adult male crowd grew when it became a huge internet meme. There may even be enough fans of the series to make an official MMO commercially viable, as developers on My Little Pony Online have noted a clear interest in the development of their game.
World of WarCrafts: Rock, paper, scissors
World of WarCrafts spotlights art and creativity by WoW players, including fan art, cooking, comics, cosplay, music and fan fiction. Show us how you express yourself; email lisa (at) wow (dot) com with your not-for-profit, WoW-inspired creations. World of WarCrafts brings you arts and crafts around a theme this week: rock, paper and scissors. First up: "rock" -- a ceramic wind rider cub from Lakira of US Area 52. "I made this statue in my HS ceramics art class as an extra project," writes Lakira. "He's made out of clay and painted with acrylics. I later added some brown felt fur for his little mane; I didn't have any faux brown fur, but I think he looks better with the felt!" "I toiled over a few weeks, working out his design and hoping he wouldn't chip or break -- or even worse, blow up in the kiln," Lakira continues. "After he was finally fired, I had to finish painting him fast, in fear of someone stealing him. It's happened before, blah! I've never done anything really on this scale before; I've made tiny fel hound figures, but that was about it." Our verdict: adorable! Follow us past the break for more rock, paper, scissors crafts.
Sunday Morning Funnies: Ribbon-wielding cultists
Happy Valentine's Day everyone! Pudie and Antubis and Sukugaru won last week's trivia! Pudie was the first to identify the origin of the song, and Sukugaru and Antubis reminded me that I had asked for the name of the song in specific, and not the movie title. The full answer was The Hills are Alive with the Sound of Music from The Sound of Music. Lys' idea of Beauty and the Beast would also fit, and it hadn't occurred to me. You each have won a virtual and imaginary pet bunny prize! These bunnies shall come from outer space; very savvy and and genteel bunnies of witty and adventurous natures. As a bonus, for identifying the My Little Pony, Serthida wins a virtual and imaginary epic purple Valentine's Day cake! It tastes however you wish it to taste, and contains no calories, sugar, fat, etc. Heck, it's actually nutritious. This week's list of comics only appears to be of moderate length; it's actually quite long. As always, leave your comments, and send tips about WoW-related webcomics through our tip form, or leave them in the comments section as well.
Sunday Morning Funnies: Epic win
First of all, I would like to congratulate Keyra for winning the virtual cookies! This batch is vegan upon request, comes with a nice tall glass of cold soy milk, and I'll even throw in some fresh berries. Khloe Kardashian was the right answer to last week's impromptu trivia question! Watch out for this week's trivia question, buried in amongst the comics. Unfortunately, I didn't receive any new comic tips, but I don't think you'll be disappointed! On a side note, I feel very lucky that photographing one's collection of My Little Ponies is a relatively popular occurrence, for how else would I have found such a lovely epic pony? I had more to choose from than I would have imagined, but I finally narrowed it down to the lucky pony on the right.
[1.Local]: I can haz in-jokes
Reader comments -- ahh, yes, the juicy goodness following a meaty post. [1.Local] ducks past the swinging doors to see what readers have been chatting about in the back room over the past week.The green-eyed loot monster contemplating readers from the top of this week's We Have a Tabard appeared to be the source of some agitation for one reader. "I wish each and every person who ever used an 'I can haz' joke was firebombed into oblivion, including the author of this story who posted that braindead image," complained Preston. "Internet memes are some of the dumbest trends on the planet."Readers seemed to feel otherwise, peppering this week's comments with insider jokes, geek references, internet memes and a generally wry outlook on WoW and life. Join hands around the bonfire, boys and girls, and let us indulge in an entire post's worth of internet memes and dumb trends ... courtesy of our very own readers.
World of WarCrafts: My Lich King Pony
World of WarCrafts spotlights art and creativity by WoW players, including fan art, cooking, comics, cosplay, music and fan fiction. Show us how you express yourself by contacting our tips line (attention: World of WarCrafts) -- not-for-profit work only, please.Heat got you down? Summer raid attendance and progression wilting? Have a case of the midsummer doldrums? Sometimes, it's good to start out your week with something a little, err, different. Cue this week's World of WarCrafts project, combining the runes of Frostmourne and the power of the Lich King with ... My Little Pony.If you're suddenly humming "one of these things is not like the other," we'd suspect you've perked up and are catching on fast. That's the reaction we suspect most people have when confronted by the frosty terror of My Lich King Pony from Rosenrot of Nazgrel-US. "I love crafting and WoW," Rosenrot writes, "and when I was a little girl, I loved My Little Pony. I wanted to combine my past and current loves into one really cool project!"