niche
Latest
'Drive' director debuts free streaming service for forgotten movies
Love him or hate him, you can't deny that Drive and Neon Demon director Nicholas Winding Refn has an astute eye for style in his movies. He's taking that and launching his own streaming service, dubbed "byNWR." It's different from Netflix in that its offerings will be tightly curated by Refn and others. Oh, and it'll be free. The service describes itself as "an unadulterated expressway for the arts," and beta sign-ups are live right now.
Twitter buys an agency that turns social networkers into ad stars
Twitter thrives on celebrities with legions of followers, and it just took a big step toward making a pile of money from those big names. The company has bought Niche, an agency that links social media stars like Zach King (above) to advertisers who want to capitalize on their popularity. Twitter isn't being specific about its plans, but it's not hard to figure out what comes next -- the service now has an easier way to get your favorite Twitter and Vine celebs into ads, raising the chances that you'll notice promo pieces in your feed. It's hard to tell if this will work, but Twitter may feel that there isn't much choice. It isn't having a great time scoring new users, so it might as well get more ad revenue from the people who are sticking around. [Image credit: Zach King]
Crowfall creative director: Game is not for everyone
ArtCraft's head honchos have posted a two-pronged dev update on the Crowfall forums. Executive producer Gordon Walton says that work on the title has been ongoing for six months, and the studio currently employs 17 full-timers. Creative director J. Todd Coleman says that Crowfall is about to cross the 20,000 registered players threshold, which he calls "staggering" and "completely humbling." He also says that beginning tomorrow, the team will be ramping up details and information drops, some of which will lead people to the conclusion that "this isn't the game for them." "This game won't be for everyone, and we're OK with that" Coleman writes. "We've done big, mass-market games before. With Crowfall, we wanted to make something different."
The Daily Grind: What constitutes a 'niche' MMO feature?
In the wake of WildStar's rocky first half year, some players have defended the game's self-destructive gameplay decisions by declaring traditional gameplay tropes "niche." It's meant to be a niche game for that tiny niche of hardcore raiders, defenders argue, and therefore criticism is unwarranted. And in the sense that apparently a very small proportion of MMORPG fans actually participate in raiding (unless forced?), they're right. But that hasn't stopped most themepark MMOs since EverQuest from brandishing raids as a mostly inadequate talisman to ward off playerbase churn. Even if we outright refuse to raid, most of the MMOs we play are designed around raiders and raiding. It's easy to not raid, but raiding is hard to ignore because it's not being treated as niche by so many of the biggest titles and studios. The disconnect between development plans and playerbase desires is reflected in this same disconnect between what we think of as a niche MMO feature and what actually is niche by the numbers. How would you sort it out? If raids, one of the core and defining features of so many themeparks, are niche, then what isn't niche? What exactly constitutes a niche MMO feature? Every morning, the Massively bloggers probe the minds of their readers with deep, thought-provoking questions about that most serious of topics: massively online gaming. We crave your opinions, so grab your caffeinated beverage of choice and chime in on today's Daily Grind!
Working As Intended: Niche MMOs vs. the everything box
The MMO industry has lately focused on niche titles, niche communities, niche gameplay. It's not one particular niche, mind you. It's lots of different niches, all being catered to in different titles: PvPers, sadistic gankers, raiders, dungeoners, roleplayers, crafters, explorers, achievers, soloers, storygoers, casuals, hardcores, builders, destroyers, the I'm-skipping-class-for-a-week-to-play-games kids, the I've-got-five-minutes-what-can-I-play parents. There's an MMO or two out there for pretty much every one of us -- and for almost no one else. So we dutifully buy the one that beckons directly to us, one of these small-minded "MMOs" that offer rewards for a certain playstyle or two but wilfully disregard every other imaginable playstyle. We applaud these games for having the guts to embrace being "niche" because we are convinced that having lots of little niche games is diversity. And then we wonder where all the players are.
Riding High might be the horse-riding MMO you've been waiting for
So how would you rate the horse situation in the games that you've played to date? Abysmal? Deplorable? Have you longed for the day when you could finally have your dream game that allowed you to take on the role of a horse in a third-person cover-based online experience? Riding High promises to let you do just that. Except for the third-person cover-based part. You won't be shooting anything here; you'll just be owning a virtual horse. While the official site is a little bare, the game's Facebook page has recently posted answers to a number of questions, confirming, for example, that the game will feature distinct personalities for each horse and that players will be able to engage in PvP activities. (Probably not horse fights.) If this really is all you ever wanted from online gaming, you can register for the future beta test on the official site. [Thanks to Zenaphex for the tip!]
The Tattered Notebook: It's OK if EverQuest Next is a niche game
I'd like to open today's column with my favorite quote from SOE's EverQuest Next reveal: "Enough is enough. Enough of the same game already. It's time to get some new ideas into the genre." Now, you would think that this sort of unambiguous mission statement would be picked up on and understood by everyone who has even a passing interest in EverQuest Next. After all, the quote rolled off franchise director Dave Georgeson's tongue during the first two minutes of the EQN reveal speech. And if it wasn't clear from that opening monologue that EQN isn't going to be your daddy's combat lobby, the rest of the reveals that focused largely on the game world, the building tools, and a wee bit of the ol' ultraviolence should have been the second clue.
What's your guild's niche? Help players find your specialized group
What is your guild all about? Many guilds are fairly easily described by their schedules and raid progressions (or their lack of either). More likely, though, the essence of your group -- the part that gives it its flavor and makes it stand apart from other guilds -- is somewhat trickier to describe. "Social," "casual," "raiding" ...These terms pretty much describe most guilds. Even terms that seem fairly self-explanatory at first glance can be problematic for players trying to evaluate a potential fit. "We're a dedicated roleplaying guild." OK, so what's the spin? One RP guild might maintain a military structure and campaign, while another plays out some very adult-themed interpersonal dramas -- definitely not interchangeable concepts! Our experience is that player and guild drama becomes inevitable when members end up unhappily guilded in a group that doesn't truly fit. The Drama Mamas frequently get mail from players who find their guildmates nice enough but still have that itchy feeling that something just isn't clicking. So as we prepare a guide to help players target the qualities they're looking for in a guild and figure out where to find them, we're turning to you for feedback plus a chance to let other players know about what your own guild's niche has to offer. Click past the break for more details on how to participate.
Second-generation Razer Blade laptop sharpens its edge with GTX 660M, unannounced Core i7 CPU
The 17-inch behemoths that call themselves gaming notebooks are traditionally quite large, trading extreme performance for substantial bulk. These machines routinely flirt with double digit weigh-ins, and flaunt meaty 1.5-plus inch bezels. They represent a unwieldy reality in portable power that most gamers have learned to expect. Not Razer CEO Min-Liang Tan, however -- he's still chasing the dream: thin, powerful and sleek. Tan caught up with us this week to brief us on the next generation Razer Blade, a rig that still boldly claims to be the "world's first true gaming laptop." Razer's first laptop hit shelves earlier this year, packing a 2.8GHz Core i7-2650M CPU and a GeForce GT 555M GPU into a svelte 0.8-inch aluminum shell. Tan explained that the rig's attractive hull hadn't changed much, but its internals sure have. "The Blade was our first laptop, and we've taken feedback really seriously since then," the CEO told us. "We've been listening to gamers and made a chart of all the pros to keep, and all the cons to address. Every single one of them." That chart eventually mapped out the refreshed rig's internals, which include an unannounced Core i7 processor, NVIDIA GeForce GTX 660M graphics, 8GB of 1600MHz DDR3 RAM, a 500GB 7200RPM hard drive and 64GB of fast-booting solid state storage. All this comes in the same aluminum shell as the first Blade, of course, sporting a 17.3-inch high definition display and the firm's exclusive multitouch LCD Switchblade interface. Tan says the new build addresses some of our own complaints too, noting that the sticky hinge that plagued our review unit has been tweaked to bend to a lighter touch. The machine's internal speakers have been upgraded as well, and are said to be 250% louder with no distortion. The new Blade's sharpened specs will come with a price cut, ringing in at a penny under $2,500 -- and gamers who picked up its predecessor (which will be getting its own price cut, to $2,299), we were told, can snag one for $500 less. Pre-orders are slated to start on September 2nd, and should ship within 30 days. The new laptop is being unveiled for the first time at PAX Prime this weekend. Not in Seattle for Labor Day? Check out the official press release after the break. %Gallery-163950%
Razer Blade review
Typically, when a company wants to meet, you expect more of the same -- not a change in strategy, nor a decision to enter an entirely new product category. So when Razer wanted to meet us one bright, oddly cold San Franciscan morning last August, we certainly weren't expecting to meet its CEO, Min-Liang Tan, and we definitely weren't prepared to find a 17-inch prototype laptop, henceforth known as the Blade. Shaving puns aside, we listened to Tan proudly wax on about the results of nearly three years of development, much of which involved recruiting a bevy of talent from the now-defunct OQO. What they'd accomplished, according to Tan, was the "world's first true gaming portable." An audacious statement, sure, especially considering the Blade was to be Razer's foray into the PC market. No matter. Tan's impetus was clear: the outfit would cater to gamers who'd been left in a vacuum after formerly gaming-obsessed companies sold out, leaving the segment to languish. His angle, however, would be different. The Blade wasn't going to be a gaudy, gargantuan, no-holds barred device with outright performance in mind. No, instead the 0.8-inch thick aluminum beaut would attempt to straddle the worlds of portability with performance, seeking to hit a perfectly balanced middle ground. That sounded reasonable, but judging by reactions from most of you, the decision to stuff this $2,799 rig with a mid-range GeForce GT 555M card wasn't. Nor was the call to kit it with a paltry 320GB of rotational storage. Razer would rectify the latter in December, promising 256GB SSDs for all -- a concession that would push shipments back, well, until now. Still, even after toying with it briefly at CES, our impressions were ultimately shallow, as we couldn't get much of a feel for it in that controlled environment. Which brings us to the present day, and with Razer graciously airdropping a Blade onto our doorstep, does this experimental laptop stand up to its maker's gutsy claims? Or will those who've shelled just shy of three grand be sorely disappointed with its execution? Well, there's only one way to find out, and that's to join us past the break.
Eizo industrial monitor does 4K resolution at 36-inches, start saving now
Looking for a display that can do justice to all that 4K footage you've been shooting on your Red One or Arri Alexa lately? Okay, perhaps not. But if you were, then the DuraVision FDH3601 from Eizo Nanao could handle it easily with 4096 x 2160 pixels spread over 36.4-inches of LED-backlit real estate. It comes with another big number too: a price tag of ¥2.88 million ($36,000), which gently hints at the fact that this beast is primarily aimed at specialist industrial applications. Eizo claims it's perfect for air traffic control, where staff can make full use of specs like "Digital Uniformity Correction" circuitry to compensate for uneven color or brightness, motion sensors to power the monitor on or off as needed, and a stand that can be minutely adjusted to get the perfect angle. Suddenly, despite the heavy burden of responsibility and the fact that you have to keep your phone switched off all the time, that career choice seems almost worth it.
Switched On: A legacy from the Flip side
Each week Ross Rubin contributes Switched On, a column about consumer technology. Last week's Switched On discussed some of the challenges the Flip camcorder faced trying to grow in the marketplace, an effort abruptly scuttled by an indifferent Cisco. But while Kodak, Sony and others are now poised to fill the Flip void, no competitor exactly matched Flip's combination of simplicity and sharing. With point and shoot cameras, camcorders, traditional MP3 players and standalone GPS units in decline, the jury remains out on how long portable electronics can fight the smartphone, but Flip's success taught the industry some valuable lessons that may have relevance going forward.
The Game Archaeologist and the NeverEnding Quest: The highlights
To many veteran MMO players, the opening horns of EverQuest's score are enough to trigger vivid memories, violent hallucinations, and an unstoppable desire to leap through the computer screen to return to Norrath. It all depends, of course, on which MMO you first cut your teeth, and while many gamers would claim titles like World of Warcraft as their first, there is a large contingent who will confess that EQ was their first MMO lover. In fact, before WoW came on the scene in 2004, EverQuest was the gold standard of MMOs for a half-decade -- it was insanely popular, perfectly addictive, and absolutely revolutionary. It was a giant that roamed the virtual lands of those days, a giant that continues to forge new grounds well over a decade from its inception. It was 1995 when John Smedley realized the potential for online gaming and roped in Brad McQuaid and Steve Clover to start putting together an online RPG for SOE. What began as a small project ballooned into a crazy endeavor as the growing team created a monster RPG the likes the world had never seen before -- a game that would forever shape the MMO genre. This month, the Game Archaeologist is going after one of the biggest treasures of recorded history as we unearth the secrets to EverQuest's popularity, legacy, and longevity. The first step on our journey is to look at some of the highlights that made EQ what it is today.
The Daily Grind: Do MMOs belong in the mainstream?
Age of Conan on The Big Bang Theory. Second Life on The Office. World of Warcraft on South Park. The Guild transforming into an internet phenomenon. The Simpsons and FoxTrot creating parodies of virtual worlds. It seems as though everywhere we turn, MMORPGs are toeing the line between niche and mainstream, especially thanks to the whirlwind of WoW. As MMOs become less of a fringe activity and more accepted in popular culture, I have to ask -- is that a good thing? After all, geeks are highly protective of their territory, often seeing themselves as the faithful guardians of That Which Society Rejected. To suddenly see that pastime become accepted and embraced by the crowd may prove disorienting -- and even disturbing. So do MMOs belong in the mainstream? As they become more widespread, is there something essential that's being lost in the translation? Are the faithful guardians resentful of MMO devs who may cater to the casual crowd over them? Is there a risk of overexposure and backlash? Won't somebody please think of the children?
Is Blu-ray destined to become a "videophile niche?"
We can already tell you that there's not enough water in the intertubez to put out the flames that this one will spark, but we digress. Analyst Robin Harris has blurted out what we can only imagine is being secretly thought by at least a few others: Blu-ray isn't going anywhere. We'll be frank -- we politely disagree with his assertion that BD will be relegated to a "videophile niche" within 12 months, but he does make some great points about the format's inability to truly catch on. For starters, consumers are having a tough time finding a value proposition in the format, which doesn't look phenomenally better than upscaled DVD in most eyes. Second, the sheer cost of licensing involved keeps all but the biggest studios from enjoying the spoils of Blu. Lastly, he suggests that the BDA should realize that Blu-ray isn't needed in the world of HD streaming and upscaled DVD, and it must be priced accordingly. Again, some of this just seems way off base, but it's fantastic fodder for discussion, no?
EVE Online player establishes new profession
Players in EVE Online pursue a wide variety of professions or careers, but are not locked into any given role at character creation. This flexibility allows a character to change their play style over time, or to capitalize on niches no one else has filled. This is the case with Dylon Xavier, an enterprising Caldari pilot with Ascendant Strategies, Inc.ISD Magnus Balteus reports that Xavier "has decided to try something different; create a product that is both time and resource consuming to build, and offer it for auction to the alliance that has the funds and space to deploy it." The niche item in this case is an Outpost Platform. When launched, it will create a space station for an alliance that can handle the minimum 20 billion isk bid on his auctions. This substantial pricetag includes a freighter for transporting the Outpost Platform and materials, and turns what is normally a time-consuming collective effort into a (comparatively) rapid-deployment. He's also willing to have Chribba, perhaps EVE's most trusted player, broker the transactions, mitigating the risk involved with such large amounts of currency. With the neverending ebb and flow of territorial control in New Eden, and if alliances continue to express interest in Xavier's venture, he may well have created a new and lucrative profession in EVE Online
Stringer: Wii is 'expensive niche' console
How does one reply to such a comment? Point out that Stringer is obviously incorrect, or just ignore it and hope it goes away? Unfortunately, big Howie S. won't be going anywhere as head honcho of Sony, appearing last week at the Allen & Co Media Conference.Stringer simply said "I've played a Nintendo Wii," -- betcha he bought one for his grandkids or something -- and he followed that up by stating "I don't see it as a competitor. It's more of an expensive niche game device." Cue inevitable spiel about Blu-ray, and you've got another carbon-copy Sony statement in a nutshell. It's difficult to take anything he says seriously, especially since we've heard it all before.We could explain that the definition of a niche wouldn't have anything to do with the biggest and most popular console on the planet, or point out that the PS3 is still way more expensive (and will be for yonks), but that would make too much sense.[Via Gameindustry.biz]
Why do you pay for your games each month?
How much game do you need to support a monthly fee? That's a question Tobold asked in his blog, noting that there are a number of games charging for monthly subs that would be better off with alternative business models. He cites the example of the in-beta Football Manager Live, which he feels is niche in the first place, and coupled with great complexity and minimal graphics, wouldn't exactly draw crowds of subscribers. Tobold thinks that a higher cost to purchase the game and then offering a free basic version would be a more appealing option for some players. And for those who are hardcore about the game, a subscription that would include more detailed statistics would be a better fit. He notes titles like Diablo, Hellgate: London and Guild Wars -- games which eschewed the standard subscription model for either box sales or partial subscriptions. This led him wonder what exactly we expect from a game we're willing to subscribe to. Tobold asks: What are you willing to pay a monthly fee for, and where do you balk at the cost? Are there specific features which you think justify a monthly fee? Sound off if you have some ideas about what makes your game of choice worthy of your sub money each month. Or if your preferred MMO isn't a subscription title, what drew you to that game?
Forum post of the day: Faith in healing
The community seems to be in agreement that Paladins need a little love. At one point the champions of light, along with Warriors dominated the arenas. It's pretty clear that Paladins have been left behind in PvP. This class has found a niche alongside Druids and Warriors in the tanking corps. But is this the only place for a Pally any more? Lolbubble of Ysera opened a discussion about how well Paladins fair as PvE healers. The thread continued with some of the pros and cons of holy heals. Pallies have the ability to bless their party members, which is always pleasant. They are also mana efficient, especially when there's a knowledgeable player behind the keyboard. They tend to be focused healers, falling short of Prayer of Mending or Chain Heal. This is not necessarily bad if the player is assigned a tank to heal, but not great for overall raid heals. Paladins also have a noticeable lack of reusable instant healing spells.
Atlus bringing DS roguelike Izuna 2 to North America in July
Last year's Izuna: Legend of the Unemployed Ninja for the DS was an irresistible treat for fans of dungeon crawling, particularly those fond of roguelikes and their trademark randomly generated mazes. Now fans of the original -- all three of you -- will soon be able to re-step into the tabi boots of the game's arrogant teenage ninja, as Atlus has confirmed plans to release the aptly-titled Izuna 2: The Unemployed Ninja Returns for the DS on July 22.Atlus promises that the sequel will include more content and options than the original, as well as a larger collection of those pesky random dungeons and the ability to use two party members at a time for combination attacks. The game still looks incredibly niche, though it will be interesting to see if these additions will be enough to push the series' fan base into uncharted territory -- perhaps even into double digits.%Gallery-20711%
