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New Aran class fights gigantic beast in this MapleStory trailer
Nexon has released a video featuring their new Aran characters in MapleStory. In the video they fight a Balrog, although this isn't the exact beast most of you will remember from Tolkien's books, it's a close proximity... Okay, who are we kidding? This Balrog looks like a giant hairy beast with armor. At least it's more frightening than that cute kitty in the image above. Nexon says, "The Balrog Party Quest is available for players with characters level 50, up to 120, and rewards the victors with formidable prizes like the Chaos Scrolls and White Scrolls." which to us, says you've basically got to put a hefty amount of time into playing before you'll even see this guy. However, the real focus of the video -- at least in our minds -- is new polearm wielding Aran characters whooping butt, so to speak. So if you're curious to see what this is all about, take a gander at the video below the cut.
Massively's Black Friday MMO sales guide
The holidays are officially here (if you're a retail chain, then they've been here for about a month) and so it's time to start looking for deals to give to either your MMO-playing loved ones or, well, yourself! Shopping can be a pretty big hassle, especially if you're not accustomed to hunting for the best deals. So, we've gone and outlined the season's new releases, as well as some places you can hope to find sales in the coming weeks.
Nexon announces MapleStory news and events
Nexon is bringing plenty of news from the land of MapleStory lately, from new player perks to holiday events to pets. For starters, those venturing into MapleStory for the first time will enjoy the First Job event. Players now have five classes to choose from (Thief, Pirate, Magician, Bowman, and Warrior), each with its own quest line and boss. New players and experienced players alike will enjoy the cash back event, running from now until November 29th. Players will earn 10-15% back, depending on what they spend. Looking for something to spend all this cash on? If you're a pet lover, permanent pets will be available in the shop for a limited time -- you can choose from a Kino, a White Tiger, or a Mini Yeti. Finally, Thanksgiving is approaching in MapleStory and the turkeys there aren't the kind that are served with stuffing and cranberry sauce. These turkeys come in the form of invading "turkey commandos" that you will attack in the hopes that they will drop their eyes. Turkey Commando Eyes can be given to Professor Foxwit in exchange for mesos, so happy hunting! Check out the official site for all the information on the upcoming events.
Dungeon Fighter Online offers screenshots and dungeon preview
Mixing side-scrolling fighting action with RPG elements seems like it should go together like peanut butter and chocolate, so the biggest surprise about Dungeon Fighter Online is that no one else thought of it first. The game is still in the middle of its open beta, but Nexon's most recent offering gave us a small preview of some of the dungeons to come in the game as well as a number of screenshots of them in play. Each of the dungeons in question are accessed from a larger hub area, allowing you to whisk yourself promptly off to a specific dungeon, each with its own enemies (and presumably different rewards). The central area Grand Flores, for instance, leads to Mirkwood Frost and Blazing Gaqarak, with the former being a rime-coated expanse of woods and the latter an eternal forest fire. The Sky Tower leads to the Vestibule of Darkness, full of light-dousing goblins and enchanted armor, and the Golem Tower, in which you fight a large number of... well, okay, that one kind of makes it obvious. (It's not kittens.) The Temple of Apostasy leads to the GBL Arad Branch, a library-themed dungeon in which hordes of librarians attempt to surround you with magic and the rage of a thousand cracked book bindings. Last but not least, Noire Ferra includes among its cavernous reaches the Spider's Lair, sure to be a top vacation spot for arachnophobes everywhere. Take a look at our gallery of shots, and if it gets you interested in Dungeon Fighter Online, let's not forget that the game is currently in open beta. %Gallery-77061%
Exclusive video of Mage class in Dungeon Fighter Online
The team over at Nexon has given us a look at the Mage class from their new 2D dungeon crawling brawler, Dungeon Fighter Online, and boy does she pack a punch!Hard hitting magical spells define this class, of course, but that's not all she can accomplish. The class also has some monster controlling abilities, like gravity wells and knockbacks, in addition to their elemental area of effect spells. If that wasn't enough, the mage can also summon elemental pets, making her the "stand back and let something else beat it" class of the game.Of course, you shouldn't take our word on this alone. We have this fancy exclusive video of the mage exploding people! Hit the continue reading, and let your eyes absorb all of the tasty monster destruction.
Nexon America's financials continue to impress in Q3
We reported back in August that Nexon America had begun the third Quarter of 2009 with a very solid July; their revenue for the month grew 35% over the numbers for July 2008. Now that Q3 is over, they are happily touting some additional (and still impressive) figures. August 2009 beat out last year's August revenues by 32%, and September hit a lofty 44% growth in revenues compared to the same time in 2008. Overall, Nexon America's third quarter revenue grew 36% compared to Q3 2008.Nexon America's CEO David Kim pointed out that this success comes without the bump that releasing a new game often brings: "Increasing our revenues without having added any new games to the company's portfolio for more than a year tells me that we are on the right track. Dungeon Fighter Online is just ramping up, so no revenues generated by that game are reflected in the outstanding third quarter we've had.Dungeon Fighter Online is still in open beta, but an item mall has just been launched for the game. We can only imagine that Nexon's growth will continue when these revenues begin to show up on future financial reports.
Mabinogi's "Dragon" update adds... dragons
So, unsurprisingly, the new "Dragon" update to Mabinogi is adding dragons to the game. But not just one type of dragons is being added! Oh no, no, no, they've gone for two types of dragons -- the Red Dragons and the Blue Dragons.It seems these two colors are wings deep in war with one another for control of the mythic Golden Dragon, and both sides will do anything to get their hands on this "master dragon" so to speak. Players, on the other hand, now have the option of flying hot air balloons right through the warzone.
GDC China 09: Social evolution and Eastern vs. Western dynamics
Yesterday was the for the Game Developer's Conference in China, and one of the highlights included a speech given by Nexon America's vice-president Min Kim on Nexon's entry into the Western market and a call for more Chinese developers to make the leap across the ocean.Kim, who was born and raised in New York City and took frequent trips to visit his grandparents in South Korea, sees a connection between the gaming cultures on both sides of the ocean. His speech cited the original links between the American and Asian markets when it came to arcade culture, but how both sides began to diverge when console video games rose to power in American and Japan but not in mainland Asia.Kim's speech also goes into Nexon's first steps into the American market, the rise of social gaming, and Kim's interest in what he calls the "Penguin Army" -- the gamers who will soon out grow Club Penguin and move on to other games. For the full notes on his speech, check out the story over at Gamasutra.
Redefining MMOs: Developers weigh in, part 2
Erling Ellingsen, Director of Communications, Funcom: "A bit surprising to me is that in terms of number of players, it hasn't changed a bit. Ultima Online, EverQuest and Age of Conan has roughly the same number of players per server -- which is quite interesting actually. These worlds have remained quite the same in size, so apart from EVE Online -- which is in a slightly different category because of their game world -- these games haven't become any more massive in terms of population and size of the game world. I'm still waiting for that super-MMO with 500,000 players, one billion square miles of fantasy world and a complex, virtual society filled with political intrigues and personal and social challenges. "The truth is, however, that the size and scope of MMOs has remained relatively the same except for development in graphical technology. It's the same number of people playing, roughly the same size of the world, and we're doing the same things -- building houses, killing critters, leveling up and looking for loot. In many ways, the MMO genre is still in its infancy, and I am looking forward to more advanced MMOs in the future that really challenge the genre standards. "We don't need [a new term for 'MMO'] yet, I think. We're still quite early in the MMO era, and I think some of the big changes are yet to come." Min Kim, Vice President of Marketing, Nexon America: "By definition, MMO means that a game is massive, multiplayer and online. MMOs therefore provide an environment where one player is able to interact with many other players through a setting facilitated through an internet connection. .. "Today, the term MMO is taking on a broader definition where character persistence combined with the ability to play with multiple people suffice (i.e. session-based MMOs like Combat Arms, and KartRider). MMOs have evolved to adopt multiple genres, and the gaming genre should now be attached like a suffix to "MMO" to fully describe the type of MMO a game is (e.g. MMORPG, MMORTS, MMOFPS). However, this starts to get confusing for many when one considers online versions of games like Texas Hold'em or Chess, where there are massive player bases that have high levels of engagement and some level of persistence. ... "I believe the definition of MMOs has elevated to a point where it is bleeding to define games that simply have players that play with each other online. At Nexon, we have tossed the idea of calling our games 'connected games,' 'live games,' 'social games,' etc. However, at the end of the day, our goal is to grow truly massive player bases. The reality is that the majority of these massive player bases probably won't care about whatever we call our games, as long as they are fun and keep them enjoying the experience. Rather than thinking of new terms, I want us to focus our energies on creating great playing experiences with massive player bases to justify the existence of the terms that currently exist. "When people outside the industry ask me what kind of games we work on, I simply say 'online games.' The frustrating result is that sometimes people respond with, 'I heard those poker games make a lot of money.' ... I would like people to call our games FFOs -- Fun Free Online games." Laralyn McWilliams, Free Realms Creative Director, Sony Online Entertainment: "It's interesting, because I think there is a shift in terminology. 'MMO' has come to mean a specific kind of massively multiplayer game, as the short version of MMORPG rather as a general term for all massively multiplayer games (where MMORPG is a subset of MMO). You see the term 'virtual world' used now to describe massively multiplayer games that don't feature strong character progression or RPG elements. We classify Free Realms as a 'virtual world,' despite the game's light stats and character progression, because Free Realms emphasizes moment-to-moment fun over the grind to level 80. "I think we'll see new terms evolve as the genres deepen and clarify. I would bet, for example, we start to see more sports MMOs, and then we start to see more specific kinds of sports MMOs. There will probably be an 'MMO' sports game, where you level up as a baseball player by playing baseball in the game, and there will probably be a 'virtual world' sports game, where you hang out, talk about your favorite teams, and have fantasy football in a virtual setting. It's such a new area in game development (which is itself a new field) that I think we have only just started to scratch the surface." Fernando Paiz, Dungeons & Dragons: Eberron Unlimited Executive Producer, Turbine: "To me, 'MMO' means a game where thousands of players can simultaneously connect together in a persistent world where they can play and socialize together. When the term was first used, it was narrowly defined to be a fantasy RPG game in the mold of Asheron's Call or EverQuest. Today MMOs are quite diverse and can be in a variety of genres and for a variety of audiences. "[We] probably [need a new term for 'MMO']. But no one has come up with a term for it that is both appropriate and catchy enough. I think 'persistent online game' is the closest phrase that captures the essence of what MMOs are. To me a 'virtual world' specifically describes a shared online environment. You can have a virtual world that is not necessarily a game." Bill Roper, Design Director, Cryptic Studios: "I don't think 'MMO' means anything differently now than it did when it was first used, except that now MMO almost always has an implied RPG (role-playing game) attached. "I think the [term] we have right now is simple and explanatory. If someone is going to make something outside of the understood definition, they should come up with an acronym or terminology that makes sense. For example, an MMOFPS (first-person shooter), or MMORTS (real-time strategy) would be examples of this. "'Virtual worlds' tend to denote a lack (or limited amount) of directed game play. These are more sandboxes that thrive or die purely on player-generated content. Second Life is obviously the best example of this concept. MMOs do best when the developer continues to create new content and give players new systems to explore with existent characters." Page 3 of Redefining MMOs: Developers Weigh In
Dungeon Fighter Online hits open beta
Dungeon Fighter Online hits open beta today, so anyone wondering whether or not they'll like the game can give it a shot. If you need a little more encouragement than that, we can tell you that the game feels like a cross between classics like Golden Axe and Diablo with an MMO bent for good measure. You can even hook up an Xbox 360 wired controller to your PC if you'd rather not use a keyboard.Sure, it's a free-to-play game and that brings certain negative assumptions to some peoples' minds, but we think the juice is worth the squeeze. Fruits never hurt anybody, unless you're smashing a lemon into your face, and then you're just asking for it anyhow.
Europe gets a MapleStory Oktoberfest
North Americans, we've been had. MapleStory Europe is getting a crazy drunken Oktoberfest with monsters, parties, and beer.... wait a minute, non-alcoholic beer?! Oh, right, it's MapleStory...In any case, European MapleStory players can look forward to a giant beer tent filled with "drunk" monsters (unless non-alcoholic beer sends them into a woozy state -- they are monsters after all, so who knows) and a brand new map featuring a new PvP play mode. The Ariant map, home of the Ariant Coliseum challenge, pits players against one another in capturing monsters "alive" before the other player does the same.Lastly, one final event will have monsters dropping special boxes filled with rare items for the duration of its run in October. These boxes, however, can only be opened with keys bought from the item shop, which means you're going to have to spend a little coin to enjoy this final event.The MapleStory European only Oktoberfest (curse you Europe, we like Oktoberfest too) will be running from now until October 7th. (*Hears the sound of the Europe crowd rejoicing at NA's lack of Oktoberfest.*)
Dungeon Fighter Online gets its own website
For those in the audience looking forward to Dungeon Fighter Online, you may wish to know that the upcoming Nexon game has launched their own website, along with a guide to the game and a new initiative called "DFO Corps."DFO Corps will consist of a handful of fans of the game writing about issues and news in the game via the official website, letting the community control what they want to hear about the game. The initiative seems to be very close to EVE Online's Interstellar Correspondents project, where players volunteer time to write up brief news stories about their sections of the galaxy for the rest of the EVE community.Dungeon Fighter Online has also moved into a "early access" beta, where any player may sign up and retrieve a key from 1up.com or Gamespot.com. If you're interested in trying the game out, full instructions can be found here.
Mabinogi to get "Dragon" update this year, teaser trailer revealed
The Ancient Secrets of Irinid patch for Mabinogi was only launched a matter of months ago, but it looks like the team at devCAT kept up their momentum and quickly got to work on the game's next chapter. Publisher Nexon America has just announced that there will be another content update this year, simply titled Dragon, which is focused on a war between dragon factions in a new area called Zardine. This zone will play host to a number of new enemies, and dungeons here will feature a new "hard mode" difficulty.Along with the dragons in Dragon, Mabinogi's recent foray into flight will continue in the next patch, with players engaging in aerial combat with flying monsters -- while manning hot air balloons. Sounds ridiculously precarious, but at the same time fun. The update will also include lots of additional items, weapons, clothing, image enhancements and some pets. The teaser trailer we have posted after the break shows off a bit of everything from Dragon, including the aforementioned hot air balloon combat. Click through to check it out.
A trio of Mabinogi videos show off the "Ancient Secrets of Irinid"
Mabinogi was recently patched with a big content update called "Ancient Secrets of Irinid", which added an African themed zone called Courcle and flying mounts (including the legendary pelican) to the game. To help promote all of the new stuff on offer, Nexon has put out a trio of videos that highlight some of the biggest features from the patch. The one above shows a fairly hazardous river rafting trip, which is made much safer by a pretty powerful new Magic Shield skill, followed by some animal taming. Past the break, the second trailer looks at the new flying mounts -- though its hard to go past the pelican, there are others to choose -- as well as the Dash combat skill and the massive Giant Alligator boss. The third video starts out peacefully, with some Metallurgy and Fishing, but then things get decidedly more ferocious when the Giant Lion boss shows up to punt someone off the screen. It seems there's a delicate balance between some quiet exploring and getting your butt handed to you by over-sized animals in Courcle, but it's nice to have a choice.
Nexon revenues are up, largely driven by MapleStory
One of the most successful companies operating in the free-to-play games arena is Nexon, which reported their July revenues are up 35 percent year-on-year, according to Worlds In Motion. Much of this good fortune can be attributed to MapleStory, which set a new max concurrent user record of over 70,000 users last month. While the number of registered users in a free-to-play MMO doesn't tell the whole story, Nexon recently announced MapleStory has 92 million registered users worldwide, six million of which are in North America. Nexon America VP of Marketing Min Kim was quoted by Worlds in Motion about the company's plans for North America. Kim said, "We're heavily investing on all fronts -- in our games, our publishing platform, aggressive marketing efforts as well as customer service. The best news for Nexon America is that our success isn't just reflected in registered users, but in actual, dramatic revenue growth."
Impressive new Dragon Nest and Dungeon Fighter Online gameplay videos
Nexon America is coming to the Penny Arcade Expo this year, and they've released two very cool new Dungeon Fighter Online and Dragon Nest gameplay videos. Now, we were already curiously interested in Dungeon Fighter Online before, but after seeing this video we're now officially excited to try the game out at PAX.Then you've got this Dragon Nest gameplay video, which really caught our attention when we watched it. This game has seemingly come from left field with combat that looks as though it were ripped straight out of a console action RPG. If you're into these games at all, it should be good times soon enough when they officially release in North America -- DFO sometime soon and DN next year.Click and ogle the videos after the break.
Nexon permanently increases the rate of experience gain in MapleStory
One of the downsides of an ever-expanding game is the time it takes a new player to "catch up" to the majority of the player-base. Most people are kicking it in some groovy expansion while others might be stuck on old long-abandoned content. Nexon has identified the need to speed their players through certain areas of MapleStory and has taken one of the more common routes to do so: they have announced that the game's experience curve has been boosted. Players from level 11-30 will get experience 50% faster than before. From 31-200 the bonus is decreased slightly, down to a still-significant 25%.The temporary experience boosts that were granted for recent events were apparently received very well by MapleStory players, and this approval is what led to the permanent increase. Nexon America's VP of Marketing Min Kim helped to make the announcement: "The world of MapleStory is considerably larger than when it was first released. Accelerating the EXP rates empowers old and new users alike to better explore the MapleWorld." The new exp curve is already in effect, so what are you waiting for? Go level a Cygnus Knight!
MapleStory's Cygnus Knights are almost here
MapleStory will receive an update by the end of this month which will introduce a brand new set of character classes called Cygnus Knights. These knights have already been available in MapleStory Korea and MapleSEA (the South East Asian version) for a while but players of the global version of the game will soon get their turn to try them. A Cygnus Knight starts without a specialization, and after ten levels a new sub-class must be chosen; either the Dawn Warrior, Wind Archer, Blaze Wizard, Night Walker or the Thunder Breaker. Here's a fun fact: the Wind Archer was called "Wind Breaker" in the MapleSEA version. Well played, localization team.To prepare for the launch of the patch, Nexon has put out a guide to creating Cygnus Knights, as it seems to involve just a few more steps than simply pressing the create button. We've put the guide into a gallery which can be viewed below. There's also a trailer introducing the Cygnus Knights and the various sub-classes; head past the break to check it out.%Gallery-68849%
SDCC 09: Dungeon Fighter Online reveals comic book artwork and a new trailer
One of the last things coming out of Comic Con '09 is some of the tasty new artwork and the brand new trailer we've gotten from the Dungeon Fighter Online team during our visit to their booth at the convention. The art is done in complete comic book style, setting up a bit more of the personalities behind the main five characters -- gunner, fighter, mage, priest, and slayer.We've also received word that this week will mark the start of the closed technical beta for DFO. Server load, network tests, and things of that sort will be the focus of this initial beta. Later will be another closed beta phase which will focus on game balancing and design, as well as player feedback.Also, Neople, the original developers of Dungeon Fighter Online, will be on hand to aid Nexon with the localization of the game to North American audiences. This will allow the game to come out to our shores just like the developers intended for it to be played.Interested in seeing our new trailer for the game? Continue reading and catch the trailer after the break!%Gallery-68825%
Dungeon Fighter Online trailer shows classes and gameplay
Not going to be at Comic-Con to see the Dungeon Fighter Online preview that will be on show? Fear not, as Nexon has provided us with a new trailer for the game that gives a short introduction to its story and its five classes, as well as showing a tiny bit of gameplay at the end -- it's pretty much the perfect way to get acquainted with the game if you haven't looked into it yet. Head past the break to meet the Slayer, the Fighter, the Gunner, the Mage, and the Priest (each with their own incredibly cheesy catch phrase), all while getting worked up listening to the adrenaline-filled arcade-style tune pumping in the background.
