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X10: The Recap Post
.nounderline a { text-decoration: none; } Microsoft's X10 press event has come and gone, and with it came a stack of Xbox-related news, trailers, screenshots and more. It was so much content, we nearly broke the Internet! Alright, that's probably inaccurate but we have to assume we were close. In case you missed anything, we've wrapped it all up and have it here for you in one tidy, little package. Alan Wake | Dead Rising 2 | Fable III | Final Fantasy XIII | Halo: Reach Left 4 Dead 2 | Modern Warfare 2 | Splinter Cell: Conviction | XBLA Block Party %Gallery-85281%
TGS 2009: The Recap Post
Last week, the Tokyo Game Show brought in over 100 posts worth of news, previews, interviews, galleries, and videos. Clearly, a lot happened. If you're looking for a comprehensive list of all the goings-on during TGS 2009, Joystiq has you covered -- and organized! Click on a platform below to scan the highlights: (On the far right: that's "News" and "Culture" on the top and bottom, respectively)
Yesterday's PlayStation news, all in one place
Sony had itself quite a day yesterday, effectively reinvigorating the PlayStation brand with the $300 PS3 Slim and a host of upgrades and updates to the PSP, the PlayStation Store, and PlayStation Network. Now that the dust has settled, we thought we'd throw down a little recap in case you didn't catch it all -- it's clear that the lower-priced Slim has a lot of people talking about finally buying a PS3, but we think things like PSP Minis "snackable" games and the new PS3 firmware 3.0 might be equally important in the long run. Here's the full breakdown: Liveblog: Sony's GamesCom presser coverage live at Joystiq! Live from Sony's GamesCom Press conference (at Joystiq) PS3 Slim and PS3 classic: Sony unveils slimmer PS3: $300, lands in September (updated!) PlayStation 3 Slim unboxing and hands-on! PS3 Slim sized up: smaller, deeper, no Linux or PS2 compatibility Sony sneaks PS3 Slim through FCC under pseudonym, 250GB model discovered Sony finally hacks $100 from 'old' PlayStation 3 price, starting today Sony announces PS3 firmware 3.0, European PlayStation Video Store, Digital Reader comics viewer Editorial: A slimmer, cheaper, better PS3. Was that so hard? PSP: Sony announces 'snackable' 100MB Minis for PSN Store Sony announces three new PSP-3000 colors for Europe PSP Minis, Digital Comics get their own promo videos
Last Week on Massively: WoW-related stories
Our sister site Massively covers many different angles of the MMO universe - it's not all just World of Warcraft. This week's round up will try to give you a look at the best WoW-related content on the site from the last week. You can click on the links below or subscribe to a special WoW-only Massively feed. Explore the halls and amenities of Blizzard HQBlizzcon is this weekend, and journalists and bloggers the world over are descending upon California to report on everything from Diablo 3 classes to -- you guessed it -- World of Warcraft. MTV's Multiplayer blog counts itself a member of that gaming press Horde, and in addition to your usual Blizzcon coverage, it visited Blizzard's headquarters and took lots of photos. Chinese gamer sued for using WoW add-onWhat if World of Warcraft had no add-ons, would you still play? Worse yet, what if they had the add-ons, and you were aware of them, but it was actually illegal to use them? That's the state of the game in China right now, thanks to the country's licensed WoW distributor, The9. Behind the Curtain: Guilds are serious businessHow serious are you when you're either creating a guild, when you're inviting people to join, or when you're looking to join one yourself? LucasArts and BioWare confirm impending announcementLucasArts and BioWare have invited members of the press to attend an event later this month at which the two companies will finally officially announce the game they've been working on together. They did not say what the game is, of course -- then how could they officially announce it at the event?
Highlights from Nintendo's big news day
The last 24 hours have been pretty amazing. We've gotten a dream sequel, a new Punch-Out!! and a new handheld to geek out to. There was a lot of news coming out of Nintendo's Japanese and American fall press conferences. As a recap, find all of the news from the show below, in case you missed something.Highlights from the American show Cave Story coming to WiiWare this year Sin & Punishment 2 coming to US in 2009 Punch-Out!! coming in first half of 2009 Nintendo dates Pikmin port, names other Play on Wii titles North America gets Club Nintendo Nintendo sneaks Wii Speak Channel announcement out Rhythm Heaven, Mario & Luigi 3 vaguely dated for US Fire Emblem dated for US, fantastic Wi-Fi mode detailed Nintendo DSi not to reach North America until 'well into 2009' Brain Age getting retooled for DSi launch Highlights from the Japanese show Nintendo encourages friends to help each other get Wiis online Nintendo conference reveals one billion new games Sin & Punishment 2 and other third-party gems confirmed Pikmin leads off Wii collection of GameCube masterpieces Nintendo unveils new Punch-Out!! for Wii Nintendo's storage solution: Load items direct from the SD slot Wii Points officially being renamed to Nintendo Points Let's tap into the site for Yuji Naka's latest New DS games make their Stage Debut Nintendo unveils pedometer for upcoming DS fitness title Nintendo announces Nintendo DSi And don't forget to check out all of the new screens from these DS games and Wii games! Gallery: Nintendo DSi
This week in Massively news
It's been an interesting news week with Flagship Studios' properties being bounced around like ping-pong balls, news about Warhammer Online starting to come faster and faster, and the unveiling of Star Trek Online as a definite Cryptic property. If you missed out on anything, have no fear -- we've got the highlights of the last week right here for you! News Cryptic officially announces Star Trek Online Blizzard: Yes, some players left for AoC Mythic's stance on monetizing cut WAR content The hidden art of Star Trek Online Age of Conan rep talks Kingship, new zones, and more Microsoft's Shane Kim on Xbox 360's MMO failures ArenaNet will not show Guild Wars 2 at PAX Warhammer Online minimum system specs revealed City of Heroes respecs now available for purchase with real cash WAR Creative Director on avoiding the 'corrupting' influence of WoW Discussion Comic-Con 08: Hands-on with DC Universe Online Comic-Con 08: Hands-on with Warhammer Online A World of Warcraft player's guide to Guild Wars The Digital Continuum: On WAR comparisons The Daily Grind: Name your MMO dream team
The Daily Recap
The hidden art of Star Trek OnlineThere is much buzz in the MMOG universe this morning about the upcoming title Star Trek Online. Being absolute fanboys and fangirls of Star Trek ourselves (much like our friends at STO Zone who had the same idea) we wanted to show you a couple of nuggets of interesting art that we've extracted. Age of Conan rep talks Kingship, new zones, and moreThe folks at Ten Ton Hammer met with Funcom Product Manager Erling Ellingsen at Comic Con over the weekend. Ellingsen described many of the planned updates to Age of Conan. Official Asheron's Call blog is nostalgicAsheron's Call's 100th update is imminent, and to celebrate, Turbine has started a "Nostalgia Blog" in which old designers of the game reminisce about their experiences of elation and tribulation. Microsoft's Shane Kim on Xbox 360's MMO failuresEDGE spoke with Microsoft Game Studios corporate VP Shane Kim about the MMO genre's failure to come to fruition on the Xbox 360 game console. Two MMOs that were planned for the platform -- Marvel Universe Online (an in-house project) and ... Comic-Con 08: Hands-on with Warhammer OnlineLast week at Comic-Con in San Diego, I sat down with Warhammer Online producer Jeff Skalski and got my hands on the beta for the first time. I could go in-depth on all the new features and functions of the game, but ...
Massively Week in Review: E3 edition
As the Massively crew has been at E3 along with the Joystiq crew, our update this week comes a little late. (Those of you who were at last night's meetup can understand the epicBut for those of you who are curious as to what's going on in the wide world of MMOGs both at E3 and in general, here's a quick and dirty overview of the week's events! News How to beat game piracy according to David Perry Pre-orders now available for The Guild DVD Exclusive first look at Star Wars Galaxies TCG loot cards Blizzard victorious in WoW Glider case Mythic offers FAQs for Warhammer's loss of cities, classes E308: Jagex teases sci-fi successor to Runescape, Mechscape E308: Disney Interactive Studios shows off Club Penguin on the DS E308: Erling Ellingsen talks patch timeframes for Age of Conan E308: DC Universe Online already 'released' inside SOE KOTOR MMO confirmed by Electronic Arts Discussion Ask Massively: You make the call The Digital Continuum: Diet WAR MMOGology: Will mobile MMOGs evolve genre expectations? Nitpicking WoW to death The tyranny of skill training Behind the Curtain: Gone for good?
The Daily Recap [Updated]
E308: Warhammer Online is pretty much doneWe had a chance to chat today with Josh Drescher and Adam Gershowitz, two of the leading lights behind EA Mythic's Warhammer Online. Even just two months after our huge Massively goes to WAR series Society system planned in 100th Asheron's Call content updateEarly Asheron's Call adopters are quite accustomed to the epic storylines that unfolded in the world. Some endless sojourns taken through Asheron's Call are still legendary among players. Behind the Curtain: Gone for good?I've been thinking recently about loss. Having been incredibly lucky with my own brush with the possibility of losing my World of Warcraft characters, I got to thinking. Not-in-the-notes for AoC's 17th July patch: invisible hotfix editionYesterday's Age of Conan patch was one of the better ones we've seen in recent times, but it did bring back an old tradition: a longish list of changes that were not mentioned in the official patch notes. Aeria adds Diablo-like Cronous to its libraryMMO portal Aeria Games has acquired a new game called Cronous, which was originally developed by Lizard Interactive. Cronous' gameplay is similar to that of Diablo, Mythos, or Dungeon Runners. [Updated] Our apologies. This is what happens when you try to post while hung over after attending the Joystiq party. The offending lead has been taken out back and summarily flogged with wet-naps from D3's E3 booth.
E308: Joystiq Hands/Eyes-on recap
Our BFFs at Joystiq are hard at work playing through upcoming games so they can drop expert knowledge into your waiting arms. Like our own Fallout 3 and Banjo Kazooie: Creation Tools hands-on features, expect an in depth report sprinkled with some wacky humor. Here is a recap of all the features Joystiq has been working on. Expect more expert analysis as E3 continues throughout the week and beyond.Joystiq Hands-on Left-4-Dead Gears of War 2 (Multiplayer) Joystiq Eyes-on Bayonetta Joystiq Impressions This Is Vegas The Wheelman
E308: Highlights from Nintendo's keynote
This year's Nintendo conference at E3 felt much too short, but was packed with some really great announcements ... like Wii Speak! But in case you missed the show, or simply prefer an abridged version, here are the highlights. Read our live reactions here, or check out Joystiq's live blog if you're feeling adventurous. Shaun White Snowboarding demonstration (with Shaun White!), and a lot of stuff we already knew about the Ubisoft title, such as release window and the fact that it uses the Balance Board. Unsurprisingly, no mention of the abhorrent graphics. Animal Crossing: City Folk! With multiplayer, auctions, Mii masks, and voice chat. Wii Speak: megatonik peripheral that adds voice chat to the Wii. Wii Sports Resort takes you to the beach ... with Wii MotionPlus. Wii Music to release this year, with Balance Board support and a metric ton of instruments. No Zelda, no Kid Icarus, no Pikmin ... how sad. But we did get voice chat, and it's hard to complain about that addition.
Massively Week in Review: June 11-17
It's been a mixed bag in the MMOG world this week, with wide-ranging news from Age of Conan, Lord of the Rings Online, the huge DCMA takedown by Linden Lab (and the folks who got screwed) and more. Perhaps one of the biggest highlights in the Massively staff week was getting to jump into SOE's PlanetSide MMOFPS. We were able to take on regular players (and die quite a bit when large numbers of them figured out where we were) as the evil "Black Ops" faction in a wildly fun GM-run event. If you missed out on any of the headlines (or the fun) have no fear; we've got the scoop for you! News Are female characters really penalized in Age of Conan? First glimpse of Age of Conan PvP gear! AoC grinds out the fixes Linden Lab's big content takedown New Final Fantasy XI update drops big changes into Vana'diel AT&T says internet data caps and overage fees 'inevitable' Is Cryptic hinting at Star Trek Online The Agency under the scope, RMT not a part Dredging up the past - the Star Wars Galaxies NGE re-examined Discussion Player vs. Everything: The quirks of D&D Online Cinemassively: AoC vs. WoW Anti-Aliased: It will all be fine in ten minutes Why exactly is Hellgate:London so bad? Behind the Curtain: Why bother? Should EA Mythic offer an all-in-one pass for its games? Player Consequences: Pervasive Map Features MMOS X: How the MMOs and the iPhone can meet. The Digital Continuum: Live event adulation
Massively Week in Review: June 4-10
It has been an exciting week for fans of EVE Online -- and for fans of Sci-fi MMOGs in general. First, the Sci-fi channel dropped the word that they're working on an MMO that will be combined with an unnamed-as-yet series. Now all the hungry EVE fans are finally getting to sink their teeth into new fierce Factional Warfare in the free expansion released today, The Empyrean Age. Miss out on any of the other goings on? Set your phasers on "awesome" and read on for all the latest from Massively! News Massively interviews Jon Van Caneghem about the Sci-fi Channel MMO G4 claims the Trion/Sci-Fi project revolves around Stargate [UPDATED] Horse goes homicidal in Age of Conan EVE Online blazes into The Empyrean Age Massively goes to WAR: Every Warhammer class explained Massively goes to WAR: Wrap-up EVE Online meets Half-Life 2 in machinima masterpiece Zon: the MMO that teaches you to speak Chinese Rumor: Dungeons and Dragons Online coming to consoles Come frag Massively in PlanetSide! Discussion Anti-Aliased: There's other people there too, ya know. Porn addiction more accepted than WoW? Why aren't there more console MMOs? MMOGology: There's no place like Azeroth EVE Evolved: EVE Online PvP vs Age of Conan PvP Massively goes to WAR: What worries us about Warhammer
Massively Week in Review: May 28-June 3
This week Massively's own co-lead Michael Zenke headed out to EA/Mythic headquarters to get the inside scoop on Warhammer Online: Age of Reckoning. From guilds to crafting to conquering other cities, we've got all kinds of hot new information for this exciting upcoming title. Read on for the highlights of a news-packed week from Massively! News Massively goes to WAR: Your Warhammer questions answered Age of Conan update re-adds Traders, fixes another leveling exploit June 10th marks the dawn of EVE's Empyrean Age White Lion confirmed as final High Elf career The top 20 most influential people in the MMO industry Age of Conan: Senior CSR responds to the recent mass banning Grimwell on fearing the silence of the majority Discussion The Gaming Iconoclast: Old (Un?)-Faithful Player vs. Everything: Why won't you just take a break? Anti-Aliased: Crime and punishment in MMOs The death penalty and you The Digital Continuum: Crafting conundrum Player vs. Everything: Online Games and Sex Maybe one has to be immature to enjoy mature content
Massively Week in Review: May 6-12, 2008
This week has seen news across the MMOGosphere -- Age of Conan information, lots of City of Heroes and City of Villains information on upcoming Issue 12, the skinny on APB, and exclusives in Vanguard. Of course, added to this was the not-so-small media blitz by Blizzard with both Wrath of the Lich King information as well as the news that there will indeed be a Blizzcon '08 in October. If you missed any of it, don't worry; Massively has got you covered! News Exclusive Vanguard Game Update 5 mounts video Blizzard unleashes a storm of Lich King information Exclusive Vanguard Game Update 5 interview with Lenny "Tiraslee" Gullo CoX Issue 12: Journey to Cimerora The top five subscription MMOs in the US Massive PvP battle to end the Age of Conan Open Beta Funcom addresses Age of Conan beta concerns BlizzCon 2008 announced Discussion Anti-Aliased: Don't worry, no one will read it anyway... EVE Evolved: EVE's skill system demystified Ask Massively: The Alpha and the...um... Beta? of MMORPGs Have Clone, Will Travel: Ambulation in the EVE tutorial Player vs. Everything: Pointless mini-zones Behind the Curtain: Are you frightened? MMO MMOnkey: MMOs as conditioned learning engines Player vs. Everything: Putting raiding on your resume
Raid Rx: Analyzing your healers Part 1
Raid Rx is designed to encapsulate and cure the shock and horror that is 25-man raid healing. Ok, so it's mostly horror... Anyways, if you're a big fan of X-TREME Whack-A-Mole (or are being forced into it against your will) this is the column for you. Holyrizz, a Dwarf Holy Priest on Thrall, sent in this screenie of RoS. You know the best part? The tiny mage peeking out from under all of the raidframes. Click on it for a bigger version. Doing the assignments is the glamorous and most visually apparent part of being a healing lead. Every boss fight you dish out tasks with a hefty side of sage advice like "If it's on the floor, stand in it no more." and my favorite "Ok, one more time with feeling." after some rather nasty wipage. The healers look to you for guidance and the ability to use each class to their fullest potential. Well, in order to do that last part, you need to be serious about the real purpose of you position: setting the bar for performance expectations and helping every healer reach or exceed them. This isn't an easy task by any means, but it's definitely something that needs to be done to maintain the well-oiled machine that is your healer group. In this series, I'm going over how to analyze your healing team, including various tools and techniques, plus how to relay that information back in a way that motivates a healer to change. Note that I didn't say it'll motivate them to like you and bake you cookies. If that's what you're going for, you need to switch to Guild Nice Person and save yourself the heartache. Today I'm going to talk about my philosophy when it comes to analyzing classes you haven't played, plus what you need in place to perform a solid, thorough critique of you healers.
WoW Insider Weekly
Here's our most popular weekly features from the last seven days. Just in case you missed them, click on the links below and see what our writers posted this week. Guildwatch: We're $&*#ing good at this game, tooGuildwatch is pretty classic this week -- there's a nice vent recording that's made even better with some classical piano. Blood Pact: Destro the only way to go?Our Warlock column wonders if Affliction 'locks are underselling their class -- maybe it's Destruction or no go. Ready Check: BrutallusReady Check takes on an early Sunwell Plateau fight. Is your guild wondering how to make Brutallus less brutal? Look no further. The Art of War(craft): Planning for season 4The PvP column helps get you ready for all that sweet Brutal Gladiator gear coming in season 4. Insider Trader: Getting your mote onOur profession column has everything you need to know about motes, and then some. Five more great weekly features after the break.
Daily WoW News
Report Card: How do the new phase 1 dailies measure up?Having had a chance both on the live and test servers to do the Shattered Sun Offensive dailies, I think I can safely say that Blizzard has thoroughly outdone themselves. There's variety, there's travel (instead of staying in the same small area all the time), there's excitement, there's good loot, there's all kinds of varied quests ... WoW, Casually: Welfare epicsAlmost every column, I talk about Welfare Epics since they are specifically designed for casuals to get their purplez on and I just assume that you all know what I'm talking about. But Dave recently sent in a question asking what they are and I realized that if I didn't write for WoW Insider, I probably wouldn't know either. Patch 2.4 without the expansionReader Sebastian wrote in to us with an interesting question: what good is patch 2.4 if you don't have the Burning Crusade expansion yet? He has a lower level character that hasn't hit 70 yet (he's on level 46), and wants to know exactly what 2.4 is doing for him. MT, MrT, MagT, MST, Magisters' TerraceWe hit on this a while back, but now that Magisters' Terrace has finally landed on the live realms, it's time to choose an official abbreviation. Players are apparently all over the place, but the time for debate and discussion is over. Let's come up with the real choice for Magisters' Terrace abbreviation. 2.4 leaves hunters low on mana Since patch 2.4, hunters have been having some problems. Aside from the outrage over the fact that our traps are now announced, we seem to be having issues with mana.
Massively Week in Review: March 18-24, 2008
It was a mixed bag in the MMO world this last week. We saw drama break out as the admin of EQ2Flames leveled a series of accusations at SOE, and then we heard even more rumblings about it later in the week. Elsewhere on Planet Earth, we picked up an awesome video tour of Blizzard's swank new digs. With Holidays and bad guys and even a player council in EVE, there's a little something for everyone this time. News Losing influence with SOE: EQ2 Flames admin "LFG" tells all Online shooters have discovered MMOs' secret formula Blizzard studio tour makes jaws detach from faces Elections for EVE's player council begin in May Preview WAR's Elven starting areas Smedley: PS3 has "massive advantage over PC" for MMOs German WAR box confirms CE and preorder info Jack Emmert emphasizes story in Champions Online Massively surveys MMO Easter events Discussion The Daily Grind: Devs behaving badly TurpsterVision: Battle of the Beards More games that shouldn't be MMOs: Classic Edition Behind the Curtain: How nice are you? How EQ3 could change Norrath forever The Digital Continuum: MMO features in the year 2013 Interesting idea: Your very own crafting supplies NPC WAR's must-have expansion races: Lizardmen
Massively Week in Review: March 11-17, 2008
This week not only did we get to welcome back an old-school blogger to the fold (the awesome Jennie Lees) but we immediately set her to work covering all the great news at Connect08. While there, she landed one hot piece of news right after the other, starting with the big announcement that Turbine will be publishing their first paid expansion for Lord of the Rings Online, and continuing on to land excellent news on Jumpgate Evolution and a preview on some of the new things coming to Dungeons & Dragons Online. Of course, the rest of the team has also been tearing up the coverage on the home-front with lots of great news from PMOGs to Blizzard's Invitational. Check it out! News Connect 08: LotRO expansion announced: "Mines of Moria" Connect 08: Kate Paiz discusses DDO's Module 7; Monk demo at Connect 08 Connect 08: First LotRO: Mines of Moria images unveiled Connect 08: More on Moria: Massively interviews Turbine's Jeffrey Steefel Connect 08: Jumpgate revelations: Massively interviews NetDevil's Scott Brown Connect08: LotRO Q&A with Jeffrey Steefel PMOG beta opens up for passively multiplayer fun Philip Rosedale stepping down as Linden Lab CEO Blizzard Invitational tickets on sale this week! Gaia Online costs $25 million a year to run Discussion Connect 08: First Impressions: Jumpgate Evolution TurpsterVision: Don't tell Adam but I've been fooling around with EVE How many times do you have to prove it? The top ten features of MMOs Under The Hood: The Depths of Space MMOG Podcast Roundup: Feb. 15th - Mar. 14th MMOGology: A touch of class Should MMO developers try not to get us hooked?
