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NCsoft offering wall prints starting with City of Heroes
Readers, look at your wall. Now look at City of Heroes. Now back at your wall. Now back at the game. Your wall is not the video game. But if you purchase one of the new wall prints being offered by NCsoft, your wall could look like the game. Or at least the box art for the games, which is almost as good. And if you don't feel like purchasing one sight unseen, you can take a shot at getting one as part of a giveaway. During the previously announced meet and greet for City of Heroes players, the team at Paragon Studios will be giving away a select few prints as raffle prizes. While the superhero MMO is the first game to get the wall print treatment, other NCsoft games such as Aion and Guild Wars will be receiving their own prints within the near future -- keep an eye on the Facebook pages for the other games to see when the wall prints will be available.
Global Agenda offering friends with benefits
Itching to get your frag on with someone you love (or at least, lust after?) Hi-Rez Studios has a deal for you in the form of its Friends with Benefits discount promotion for Global Agenda. If you've purchased the massively multiplayer third-person shooter, you now have a set of coupon codes that can be gifted to a friend, granting him or her 30% off the initial client cost. Your benefits accrue in the form of an in-game referral achievement score, which in turn grants reward items at specific levels (including a mini-warlord pet that resembles an angry Laurence Fishburne bobblehead doll). Todd Harris, Global Agenda's executive producer, outlines the new program on the game's official forums. "Referral achievements and new prestige items will be introduced and visible before the end of October in the 1.38 update. But we invite you to start recruiting now -- you'll earn credit for all referrals going forward as well as any referrals done prior to this campaign launch," he writes.
Aika expands enemy loot list to include NVidia video cards [Updated]
If there are two things that MMO players love, those things would probably be killing enemies and getting prizes. (The third would be cheesecake of either variety.) Aika seems keen to capitalize on this, and the game is running a promotion for players through the 13th of the month allowing those two passions to combine into one. For the duration of the event, every time you kill a monster, you have a chance of winning a brand-new graphics card from NVidia. The system for entry is simple. Any enemy fought within your level range will drop a token, which can produce one of two items. The first is an NVidia box which includes useful in-game items and certainly is nothing to sneeze at. The second is a raffle ticket, which automatically puts you in the drawing for one of the graphics cards, with more tickets meaning a better chance of winning a card. Aika players are also given a special page to track their entries, something that will no doubt become quite frequent as the event marches on. [Update: We've changed up the graphic with the most current one per the folks at gPotato. Note, the event runs through the 13th, not the 18th!]
Get Champions Online at a discount for a week
Champions Online put itself on the line during its anniversary by letting players have a full week of access to the game completely for free. The idea, beyond a doubt, was that once players had a taste of the metaphorical milk, they would simply have to purchase the equally metaphorical cow. But if you've been stymied by the fact that this month's cow budget is a bit on the tight side, there's good news on the horizon: for the next week, you can buy the game for only $6. The sale isn't being run at any brick-and-mortar stores, but is being run through two of the most popular digital distribution services, Steam and Direct2Drive. Both retailers will be offering the game at the discounted price for a week, with Steam getting a slight edge simply because it also has a free demo available for the game. Players interested in purchasing Champions Online at a steep discount can head to either service before September 22nd, perhaps encouraging the creation of a cow-themed superhero.
Fansites offering keys to the Final Fantasy XIV beta
If you're eagerly anticipating Final Fantasy XIV's release, can't wait through the next fifty-odd days until the collector's edition is available, and don't feel like playing prior games in the series to take the edge off... well, you might be in luck. Square-Enix is continuing to reach out to the fan community, and the upcoming third phase of beta testing coincides with not one, not two, but three different beta pass giveaways around the web. Eorzeapedia, FFXIVCore, and ZAM are all offering readers a chance at winning a pass to the next phase of beta testing, with each requiring a slightly different sequence for participation. While the exact date for the next stage of Final Fantasy XIV's beta has not yet been announced, it's known to be some time toward the middle of August, which means at worst a month or so before the special edition of the game goes live. Head on over to your site of choice and enter to win if you want in on the testing -- and let's be honest, what fan doesn't?
Log into Aika, win fantastic prizes
If you're one of the lucky souls who doesn't need to work over the summer, or just a discerning player with an eye toward conserving your online time, there are a lot of games clamoring for your attention. Aika's newest event is hoping to entice players with a fairly routine but no less efficient approach: the team is offering players prizes. And all you have to do as a player to earn them is to show up for at least an hour a day. From August 5th until September 8th, players will be automatically granted rewards after logging in for at least one hour. Tears of Aika are the most common reward, with special prizes coming at each five-day interval. Players who manage to log in for an hour a day over the full run of the event will also be entered into a drawing for several powerful in-game rewards. It's not a bad spread for just showing up, so take a look at the full list of rewards, check the FAQ, and start setting aside some time for your Aika characters.
Rappelz offers player prizes for logging in
There aren't as many new MMOs coming out this year, but there are still plenty of games to compete for your attention over the summer months. The team at Rappelz wants their game to be your choice for the summer, and they've devised a straightforward way to encourage it: an event you enter via logging in. No random prizes, no ornate entries, nothing but the simple procedure of logging into the game's servers for prizes. And it makes sense that it would be called "Login to Win" as a result. Running from July 7th to August 14th, the event will automatically award prizes to each character after you log in for at least an hour a week. If you log in for at least an hour for a certain number of days, you also get additional prizes, and characters who log in for a grand total of 35 hours during the promotion are eligible for a drawing from several nifty presents. It's a great way for Rappelz players to get a little added incentive -- after all, if you were planning on logging in anyway, logging in to win seems straightforward.
An advance peek offered for the next City of Heroes Super Booster
The fifth Super Booster for City of Heroes has been the point of some debate. Players have known for a long time that it was going to be a mutant-themed pack, but that doesn't imply a great deal beyond having something vaguely organic going on. Luckily for players, the Facebook fan page for the game has been posting preview images to help players get a sense of what's going into the pack. And the best part isn't just that it has a set release date of June 24th -- it's that players might get to pick it up for free a day early. On June 23rd, the City of Heroes team will be giving away two codes per hour via their social networking outlets -- Facebook, Twitter, and the official forums. Where the codes will appear in the five-hour timeframe is a mystery until it happens, encouraging players to stay alert and keep their eyes on all of the above. For US players, the codes will be given away between 1 PM and 5 PM PST, while EU players will see the codes being announced between 5 PM and 10 PM British time. Keep your eyes peeled for your chance to get the newest booster a day early!
DirecTV, DISH offer "free HD for life" with a few strings -- anyone signing up?
Just in case you missed the ads airing on TV or splattered across websites (like this one) DirecTV and DISH Network have launched headlong into their latest war. DISH started things last week by offering "free HD for life" (ad embedded from YouTube after the break), eliminating the $10 service charge for new customers signing up for a two year contract with automatic bill pay, or existing customers who either pay $99 "HD upgrade fee" up front, or sign a two year deal and add auto bill payment to their accounts. This weekend, DirecTV began offering its own "HD free for life" deal that scrubs its $10 fee for new customers under similar requirements to the DISH offer. By comparison, HD service is usually included with digital cable packages but we're wondering if dropping the extra fees is enough to make you think of joining the satellite team, or switching your current agreement. %Poll-47589%
Jumpgate Evolution will get you into E3 -- if you can get there
While it's no longer quite the circus that it once was, E3 is still kind of a big deal. Of course, the result is that it's even harder these days to get into the actual convention if you're not part of the press. For those of you who don't get the sheer enjoyment of working bizarre hours and frantically writing up press releases on three hours of sleep, the Jumpgate Evolution team is giving you a pass into the show. If you can get to the location, they'll get you in. The team mentioned that they wanted to run a community meet-and-greet a while ago, and NetDevil has taken care of procuring a few extra passes for the fans. Unfortunately, if you're not already a registered member of the Jumpgate Evolution forums, you're out of luck -- registering now won't make you eligible for the giveaway. If you are registered, however, and you can take care of getting yourself to E3, a simple message might get you into the convention for all three days -- and give you a chance to play this anticipated game. It's a win-win!
Lunia releases Chapter 7 and doubles their affection
It's always a little frustrating to have to wait for installments of a story you're enjoying, but at the same time it makes it that much more satisfying when each part comes out. Fans of Lunia have plenty of reason to be satisfied, as Chapter 7 of the heavily anime-influenced and cel-shaded title has just been released. And if that weren't enough reason to be happy, players are being given the opportunity for increased experience via the new Double the Love event running through June 23rd. The chapter update adds ten new stages to the game, as well as a new level for raid stages and a new set of equipment for players. It also continues the game's central plotline, with level 60 and up players continuing to search for a way of reviving the princess Eir. Players can experience both the Double the Love event and the full update on Lunia right now, so if you're a current or former player, take a look at the patch notes to see what's changed.
1C Games: 'Retail is forcing PC games out'
Russian publisher 1C Games is the latest in a long line to declare that the PC games market is dying, and its international publishing director Darryl Still tells MCV that retailers are holding the murder weapon. Still says that the drive to digital distribution these days isn't just due to gamer preference, it's due to the fact that retailers aren't supporting PC games the way they should. "You just have to head into a games store and look for their PC titles," he says, "and you'll see there is no focus, listings or promotions for them." Still says that he predicts the PC market will be completely digital as soon as 2011, two years ahead of estimates that say 50% of PC games sold in 2013 will be digitally delivered. He says that there's more profit to be made with PC games at retail, but that with all of the different providers aiming to release PC titles digitally, retailers very soon won't bother carrying them at all. We're torn -- for every treasured cloth map in a retail box, there are good reasons to stick with digital as well.
Flying Lab offers 6 months of Pirates of the Burning Sea to military personnel
Flying Lab Software announced this week that they're offering six months of free Pirates of the Burning Sea gameplay to military personnel and exclusive in-game items. In addition, the promotion waives the standard $19.99 purchase cost of the game. Sign-ups for the promotion require a military email address to qualify and will last through November 30, 2009. The promotion is open to all branches of the military. Current Pirates of the Burning Sea subscribers who are in active service are also eligible to get six months of free play time. Flying Lab Software CEO Russell Williams issued a statement about the Care Package, which was originally proposed by community members on the game's forums. Williams wrote: "One of our players posted about serving in Afghanistan, and it got us thinking about the challenges of trying to play an MMO in an unpredictable situation like active service. We feel a special gratitude towards the members of the armed forces who take the time to get involved and play our game, in the face of the very difficult job they have to do to keep us all safe." [Via Gamers Daily News]
Officers' Quarters: An exclusive party
Every Monday Scott Andrews contributes Officers' Quarters, a column about the ins and outs of guild leadership.I get a lot of e-mails, many more than I could ever cover in this column. I hear about a lot of drama, drama of all different kinds, for all different reasons. So it always piques my interest when I read an e-mail like the one below, with an entirely new kind of guild drama. This one sounds more suited to a middle school class than a guild, but here it is: secret party drama. Read on for the details!I am a member of a fairly progressed raiding guild. I am a member of the main raid. I am not an officer, but almost all the regular raiders are officers. In many ways the guild is good. Raiding rules and loot are fair. However, it has become clear that the guild is dominated by a clique and that promotions to officer and most raid invites are largely based upon becoming part of the in group. Recently it was announced during raid that we would be taking a week off as many would be out of town. After the week off, during Vent chat, it became clear that the many out of town were all out of town together. That is, the guild officers were invited to an in person party (some traveled to go to it, others didn't but all were invited). I also learned that the officers intentionally tried to keep the party a secret beforehand.
Requiring authenticators for guild bank access
m0rtis has an interesting question over on WoW LJ: should guilds require authenticators on the accounts of everyone in the guild with bank access? Authenticators are relatively cheap, if not free (and still in stock most of the time nowadays), so if you're running a guild and in a position where your bank is important enough to protect, should you be able to require authenticators to keep guildies from getting hacked?There are a few caveats here that m0rtis doesn't mention, but we will: first of all, there's no way to guarantee whether someone is using an authenticator or not, so while you can make guildies promise, there's no real way to check up on them. Second, not all guild banks get emptied out due to hackers -- many guild banks get ninja'd by someone within the guild, and there's no authenticator that can protect against that. So having authenticators on bank members (or at least having them promise they've got them) isn't 100% protection. But it is something.
Yakuza run on instant noodles, you can too
Beating up people with the most unlikely objects, collecting debt and cutting off pinkies are all rather taxing elements of any young, struggling gangster's life. As one can imagine, these guys don't have much time for anything else, but they need to keep their strength up. So how do they do that? What do they eat? Sega suggests they eat instant noodles; but not just any noodles ... Yakuza 3-branded noodles. It's been a long standing tradition for these tattooed ruffians to eat the incredibly easy-to-make, readily available, MSG-laden snack. And starting on March 2, you too can spice up your own soup bowls with some Yakuza 3 ramen. That is, if you happen to live in Japan and have ¥231 ($2.50) to spare. [Via Kotaku]
Is Recruit-A-Friend a game-killer?
After reading Outland Bound's amusing tale of an encounter with a level 59 "Recruit-A-Friend" player wearing level 26 pants because of the triple-leveling benefit, I got to thinking about the gameplay ramifications of this promotion. As a marketing professional as well as a student of game design, this promotion seems to me at best a bad idea and, at worst, a game-killer. As tight as the Blizzard team claims it is, and as much as it professes to act only in the best interest of gameplay, this promotion may have been poorly conceived. It seems like the Marketing Department had a great idea to accomplish two goals: (1) acquire more accountholders and (2) encourage current accountholders to stay. However, I wonder how well this idea was vetted by the game design team. My guess is: not well at all.
Europe: help MS sell 360s, get 10 free XBLA games
Todo Juegos (translated) is reporting that Microsoft is planning a new promotion for Europe. Said promotion should run between November 1st, 2007 until January 31st, 2008. The gist of it is pretty simple. Just get a friend to purchase a new 360 at some point during the promotion, attach a copy of the receipt to a special coupon (PDF link), mail it in, and both you and your friend will receive ten free Xbox Live Arcade games. The games reportedly offered are: Sensible World of Soccer Sonic the Hedgehog Street Fighter II: Hyper Fighting Bomberman LIVE Marble Blast Ultra Spyglass Board Games Small Arms 3D Ultra MiniGolf Adventures Assault Heroes Zuma Deluxe Not a bad deal at all, especially if you're on the convincing side and not the purchasing side. We can't guarantee that the offer is real, but the coupon certainly looks legit. If any of our European readers have heard rumblings of this offer -- especially if you can find an English version of the coupon -- please let us know in the comments.
Get DirecTV, play WoW free for 11 months
For those of you who are interested in satellite television (and in the USA), DIRECTV is currently running a promotion for new customers: if you subscribe to DIRECTV and activate your account, you get a code good for 11 months of game time. In case you don't already have a copy of the game, they'll also give you a code good for upgrading a trial account into a proper account, which also comes with a free month of game time. So that's 11 months for existing WoW players, or a copy of WoW and twelve months for new players.Note that this offer doesn't apply to existing DIRECTV subscribers, and also that they won't give you a BC upgrade code, so you'll have to buy that yourself ($40) if you don't have it already. But if you're looking to set up satellite TV service, you should jump on this -- even at the cheapest subscription rate (buying six months at a time), 11 months is worth $143. What's better than WoW? Free WoW.
Lease an Xbox 360 for only $1,917*
*Price includes Tom Clancy's G.R.A.W., NHL '07, Live Arcade Volume 1, three-month Xbox Live Gold membership, 1,250 Microsoft points, a wireless modem, and three years of Sympatico high-speed internet from Bell Canada.With "next-generation" consoles being released every three to four years nowadays (save for Sony's PlayStation 3, which has a stated 10-year life span), some people (read: parents and spouses) are a little hesitant to throw down upwards of $300 for a system that will probably be gathering dust in the attic even before the wireless controllers need replacing. Well Canadian children will soon have a new angle to work when begging their folks for an Xbox 360, thanks to a package that Bell Canada will be offering from November 5th through sometime next year which includes Microsoft's latest console, a handful of games, and broadband service for CAN$59.95 a month (or CAN$54.95 for you lucky Quebecers). The catch here is that you need to sign up for an unusually long three-year commitment; furthermore, it's unclear if you'll be able to purchase the nearly-worthless console at the end of the contract or be given the opportunity to upgrade to an Xbox 361 once it hits stores. It's also not clear what kind of upload / download speeds you're getting with this offer -- an important piece of the puzzle in deciding whether or not this bundle is a good value. Still, if you're the type who's already renting your apartment, leasing your car, and paying way too much money to Rent-A-Center each month for your home theater gear, this promotion may be right up your alley.[Via digg and HappyBeggar]
