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SOE compensates players for All Access issues
Acknowledging that the recent switchover to the new All Access program has been "frustrating," SOE announced today that it will be compensating its playerbase for these issues. The studio will be handing out 50 replay badges to DCUO players, adding an additional week to seven-day Landmark closed beta keys, and triggering double XP weekends for Dragon's Prophet, EverQuest, EverQuest II, and PlanetSide 2. "The implementation of this new membership plan across SOE's game portfolio has been one of the most complicated updates to our billing system to date," SOE apologized in a post. "As fellow gamers, we know that this has been frustrating and we sincerely regret any inconvenience this has caused."
PAX East 2014: PlanetSide 2's Higby on weekly updates
It's been three months since PlanetSide 2 started updating once every week, if you don't count one update that was pushed back simply because it wasn't quite ready. As creative director Matt Higby put it to me at this year's PAX East, the schedule comes second to making sure that every update is the best it can be. But it's still been quite a ride, and it means that the game has kept up a schedule that's astonishingly fast. More than a year out from launch, Higby has a lot to say about the game's development process as well as the updates it's already undergone. It's not an unmitigated success story, but it's filled with a lot of lessons and improvements. And like any MMO, the game's development is far from finished. In PlanetSide 2's case, it's a complex process that requires supporting new players, veterans, casual gamers, and professional gaming, sometimes in unconventional fashions.
An oral history of the last 20 years of gaming, as told by PlayStation's Shuhei Yoshida
The three weeks out of every month that Shuhei Yoshida's in Japan, he has the same routine every day. He wakes up, opens a tablet, and gets back to work on PlayStation consumer feedback via his favorite interaction tool: Twitter. The man who heads Sony's PlayStation group is incredibly, perhaps detrimentally, accessible on social media. It's not his job, but a role he's taken on. "It's my personal time, but since lots of people tweet to me, I'm doing this almost official customer service," he says. After 20-plus years working on PlayStation, Yoshida's beyond overqualified for customer service. He's been with Sony's PlayStation arm from its creation, and helped shepherd franchises from idea to mainstream norms: Gran Turismo, Crash Bandicoot, Uncharted. The list goes on. Yoshida spoke with PlayStation 4 lead architect (and other game industry legend) Mark Cerny last evening in California, where he detailed his storied history in the game industry.
First Persona 3 movie heads West with English subs
Aniplex is bringing Persona 3: The Movie #1 - The Spring of Birth on Blu-ray to 50 countries including the US and Canada on May 20. However, it'll only be subtitled in English, so don't expect to hear the dubbed voices that you're familiar with from the PS2 game. Aniplex is releasing both the Collector's Edition and the Standard Edition of the movie, and you can pre-order them now for $80 and $60 respectively - their regular prices are $100 and $75. Both editions include trailers, commercials, and audio commentary in addition to the feature film, but these specifically won't be subtitled. The Collector's Edition adds a soundtrack CD, exclusive box art, stickers, illustration cards and an 48-page booklet that Aniplex is providing a translation for. The Spring of Birth is the first chapter of the movie series based on Persona 3, and it hit Japanese cinemas last year. The second film, A Midsummer Knight's Dream, opens in the country on June 7. [Image: Atlus]
PlanetSide 2 video takes you into the thick of the war
SOE has posted a new episode of its PlanetSide 2 War Correspondent series, this time showing a battle in the Indar and Amerish zones. Presented as a faux news report shot on locale, the video showcases some of the brutal ambushes and sieges that the game has to offer. You can check out the full report after the jump!
SOE Live 2014 begins registration, offers early bird deals
The registration for this summer's SOE Live is now open for business! The convention, which will take place from August 14th through 17th in Las Vegas, will feature panels, parties, contests, and more. If you register before May 12th, you'll be eligible for the early bird deal of $129 for the premium pass. Evening passes are $99, day passes are $49, and kids under 12 may attend the convention for free. There are also options to pay more for a Sunday brunch with the developers and reserve an entire table for a group. SOE will mail badges to folks who register by May 12th and has made a deal with Planet Hollywood Hotel to offer discounted room rates. Call Send SMS Add to Skype You'll need Skype CreditFree via Skype
Persona 4 bearing down on PS3, out next week as PS2 Classic
Confirmed: The Year of Luigi is over, and The Year of Persona 4 starts next week. Alright, Atlus hasn't announced a year dedicated to its revered RPG, but let's face it, an April 8 PS2 Classic re-release on PS3 for North and South America, priced at $10, is the start of a pretty busy period for the Investigation Team. After all, it preludes the ever-nearing arrivals of P4: Dancing All Night, P4 Arena Ultimax, and Persona Q - which stars P4 characters. If you like Persona 4, then the next year or so should have plenty to keep you satiated ahead of the main course that is Persona 5. To celebrate the news, here's six minutes of the Persona 4 Anime's take on the King's Game scene, except in this version the protagonist, Yu, is even more of a player... [Image: Atlus]
Player Studio goes international in Landmark and more this spring
You've already seen a number of the amazing player-designed creations in Landmark; come Spring, you will be able to own some as well! SOE has announced that Player Studio will be live in the sandbox game on or before May 1st, 2014. But the even bigger news is that Player Studio will expand internationally for all the studio's games that support it! Designers in select regions outside the United States will be able to submit items for consideration to be sold to their peers in EverQuest, EverQuest II, and PlanetSide 2 as well as Landmark. Approved items will then be added to the marketplace and the creators will make a real-life profit from each sale. In Landmark, Player Studio is a vehicle by which players will submit templates for various building contests, and winners could see their creations end up in EverQuest Next. [Source: SOE press release]
Persona 4 rated for PlayStation 3 by ESRB
A content rating for an unannounced PlayStation 3 version of Atlus' PS2 JRPG Shin Megami Tensei: Persona 4 has appeared on the ESRB's website, hinting at a future re-release via the PlayStation Network. A PlayStation 2 Classics version of Persona 4 would complete the series on the PlayStation Network, joining downloadable PSOne versions of Persona and Persona 2: Eternal Punishment, the PlayStation 2 game Persona 3 FES, and PSP remakes of Persona, Persona 2: Innocent Sin, and Persona 3. Persona 4 previously saw an expanded re-release on the PlayStation Vita in 2012. Atlus announced that a quartet of new series entries -- Persona 5, Persona 4: Dancing All Night, Persona 4 Arena Ultimax, and Persona Q: Shadow of the Labyrinth -- will hit consoles and portable platforms throughout 2014 and 2015. [Image: Atlus]
PlanetSide 2 rolls out new missions system
Players logging into PlanetSide 2 today will find a brand-new missions system perfect for their trigger fingers. The missions system is designed to help funnel players to specific offensive or defensive objectives. These include attack and defend missions and will assist coordinating squads and platoons to finding the best action. This is only the first phrase of the system, however. A future phase will include player-created missions and new mission types. PlanetSide 2 is also giving increased incentive to subscribe with a monthly members-only double-XP weekend. Even if you aren't subbing, significant store sales during this weekend could entice you to check out the game.
Choose My Adventure: My final week with PlanetSide 2
I'm sad to say that this is my final week in PlanetSide 2 for Choose My Adventure, but I did come away with some new thoughts on the game. Playing the Heavy Assault, Light Assault, and MAX opened up my eyes to the other side of the fence and showed me that these are more than just run-and-gun classes. And with more information on the Valkyrie aircraft revealed over the weekend, we can certainly see that Sony Online Entertainment is still dedicated to supporting the game. This is a good thing considering so many MMOs with PS2's ambition often fall flat merely months after launch when the numbers inevitably drop. Not so for this one, it seems.
PlanetSide 2 video reveals the Valkyrie
SOE Creative Director Matt Higby and his dreamy blue eyes are at the forefront of a new preview video for PlanetSide 2, running down the upcoming features as well as an exclusive look at the Valkyrie aircraft. Higby said that in April, the team will be doing a "large-scale balance pass" and bringing in the missions and implant systems. May will see a Combat Medic update, improvements to outfits, and a resource revamp. The video concludes with a sneak peek of the Valkyrie fast-attack aircraft that will allow a small squad of four to quickly hop from fight to fight. This vehicle will be coming out in the summer, and you can check it out after the break! [Thanks to BabaGraPL for the tip!]
Choose My Adventure: MAXing out in PlanetSide 2
Back in PlanetSide 2 for this week's Choose My Adventure, I found myself strangely drawn into the game every chance I got. And that's really part of the beauty of PlanetSide 2: You can jump in and out of the action without any unnecessary foreplay. I continued to play my Heavy Assault for most of the week but did flirt with both the MAX and the Light Assault trooper to see what I'm missing. My verdict? I miss my Engineer.
PlanetSide 2 players make thousands from Player Studio
A new video from SOE discussing PlanetSide 2's Player Studio showcased three players who have made $4,000, $7,800, and $12,000 from the program respectively. The video lightly touches on why the players started creating items, such as decals and helmets, and tips for others to make and promote their own items through the revenue-sharing system. According to SOE, Player Studio items represented more than 10% of total in-game item sales and 35% of all cosmetic items in PlanetSide 2 during January and February. There have been 2,000 submissions for the program in less than eight months, with 469 of those accepted into the marketplace. You can watch the full video after the jump!
Rental options spotted (but not working) on the PlayStation Store
A list of non-functioning (for now) links point towards the kind of rental options users can expect from the PlayStation Now streaming service. MP1st and PSNStores spotted links for 1-day, 7-day, and 30-day rentals of Atlus' romantic puzzler Catherine, and when PSNStores tried to purchase one of the rentals, it found "Catherine PS Now" in its transaction history. The links follows the clues laid out on a PS Now concept image published by Gaikai (via VG247) earlier in the week. Certain tiles displayed low prices for PS3 games - Uncharted 3 at $5, Far Cry 3 at $6 - perhaps an indication of the service's base prices for rentals. PlayStation Now is expected to see a full rollout sometime this summer, letting users rent games individually or pay for a subscription to the service. Developed by Gaikai, who Sony acquired for $380 million two years ago, PS Now lets users stream PS1, PS2, and PS3 games on PS4, PS3, Vita, Bravia TV, and other unannounced devices. [Image: PSNStores]
Choose My Adventure: Heavy Assault with PlanetSide 2
Jumping back into PlanetSide 2 is always fun because, as they say, war never changes. Sure, the maps might get tweaked and new vehicles might be introduced here and there, but it's still a contest of shooting one's enemy in the face repeatedly. For this edition of Choose My Adventure, you voted for me to play a gutsy heavy soldier fighting for the Terran Republic, someone who's not afraid to run into the thick of battle with guns blazing. This goes against every fiber of my nature, but you might be pleased to hear that I'm really enjoying the polar opposite of what I usually play.
Watch PlanetSide 2 devs create content live on Twitch
While developer livestreams are commonplace these days, less common is a livestream where the devs are actually developing. SOE is trying something a little different with its PlanetSide 2 team starting on March 11. According to a blurb on the game's official website, "you'll be able to take [a] look at how PlanetSide 2 creates content on our Twitch channel." Scheduled sessions include the making of Hossin environment art and base design.
Here's the sixth episode of PlanetSide 2's war correspondent video series
Have you watched SOE's latest war correspondent video for PlanetSide 2? If not, you'll want to click past the cut for a look-see at some heart-thumping MMOFPS gameplay presented in a news documentary format. Cinematic designer Robert Stoneman narrates the action which includes footage of The Crown and a handful of PS2's 36,000 player outfits.
Choose My Adventure: PlanetSide 2
Welcome to this all-new edition of Choose My Adventure! We've made some changes to the way this veteran Massively column works, so I wanted to take some time to explain how things will work from here on out. In the past, you chose mostly everything for the column's writer to do in a particular game (that you also chose). We've decided to streamline the process and make it more of a three-part "review" of sorts with a fourth part set aside for voting. I will select the game to prevent the recent problems we've had with cheating, and you will choose my path within it. That means there will be one week of voting and three weeks of my impressions of those choices for each game. So let's go ahead and get into the polls for this PlanetSide 2 edition of Choose My Adventure.
February will be a big month for PlanetSide 2
PlanetSide 2 continues to gain updates and new content. It's still pushing itself to be the best place to find massive battles with the most players, and a recent host of tweaks, fixes, updates and changes have made many MMOFPS fans very excited for the rest of the year. So what's happening to the MMOFPS in the month of February? We asked Matt Higby, Creative Director for PlanetSide 2, to explain just that.
