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Kickstarter tells users 'We are not a store,' tightens rules for hardware pitches
Kickstarter's founders are getting worried about what people think -- and in particular that the crowdfunding platform will be perceived as an Amazon for uninvented gadgets. As such, they're tightening the rules on product pitches to prevent anything too nebulous getting through the vetting process. Projects using simulations or renderings are prohibited from today, forcing creators to demonstrate working prototypes of their inventions. The site is also adding a section called "Risks and Challenges," where contributors have to demonstrate their business, tech and planning acumen by explaining how they'll cope with problems that arise further down the road. Finally, Kickstarter is also preventing job-lots of products being offered as a funding reward (except for things like Ardunio-esque sets, where it's reasonable to expect multiple units) -- ending the days of getting 30 nuclear-powered iPhone cases for the low, low price of $1,000.
How Wargaming.net launched itself to the top
Wargaming.net got its real start the day IBM's Deep Blue supercomputer beat Garry Kasparov at chess. Viktor Kislyi, Wargaming.net's CEO, came to the conclusion that civilization had moved on and that computers were the future. His first game, made over the course of two years with his brother and played by only two other people on the planet, was Iron Age, a turn-based strategy game in the traditions of Risk and Civilization. After that, Kislyi worked on translating the miniature wargame De Bellis Antiquitatis to the virtual (but still historically accurate) world. After the success of DBA, Kislyi and those around him created the Massive Assault games, Galactic Assault, and Order of War. After that, development for World of Tanks began, although in the early days, it was a drastically different game. The game began as a "fantasy arena style battle game," but circumstances intervened, and eventually World of Tanks as we know and love it was born. Want to brush up on your history? PC Gamer has the full details of the rise of Wargaming.net. There'll be a quiz.
Taikodom prepares for August closed beta
Earlier this year we were wondering what had happened to Brazilian sci-fi shooter Taikodom -- and if we'd ever see it at all. Happily, things are looking up in this department: Reloaded Games announced that the title is now on the verge of closed beta testing. CEO Bjorn Book-Larsson said that beta signups will commence shortly and the title will go into closed beta in August. If you're wondering what Taikodom is all about, Book-Larsson attempts to sum it up as thus: "The game is a cross between EVE Online, Risk, and a shooter/action game, and has some incredible first-person space vehicle battles, combined with the capability to build large strategic battleships. Players will be able to not only engage in some incredible head-to-head combat in space, but also control vast territory and engage in interstellar politics." Taikodom has taken so long in getting to beta because the team switched to the Unity3D engine halfway through its development. The title is slated to launch this year on the PC and Mac, with tablet and console versions to follow in 2013.
EVE Evolved: Risk vs. reward in lowsec
In EVE Online's early years, one of its core design philosophies was adherence to a strict risk vs. reward balance scheme. There were riches out there to be found, but to get them, you had to put yourself in the firing line. Police ships patrolled high-security space to keep players safe from piracy, but the only resources available there were low-bounty frigate NPCs and inexpensive ores like Veldspar, Scordite and Omber. In the lawless far-reaches of nullsec, huge NPC bounties and rare ores containing Megacyte and Zydrine tempted hundreds of pilots to head out and make their fortunes. Nullsec offered absolutely no protection against player attacks, and the only safety to be found was in sheer military force. The biggest and best corporations hoarded these gold mines for themselves, locking down the few entrances into the regions and patrolling the skies for unwanted visitors. Low-security space offered a middle-ground between these two extremes, a place where the everyday pilot could enjoy increased income and pirates were easier to spot. At some time in the past nine years, lowsec lost its place in the game and became simply not worth the effort. But how did that happen, and what can be done to fix it? In this week's EVE Evolved, I look at why lowsec systems are now ghost towns and suggest an alternative design philosophy that I think could revitalise these under-used areas.
Hands-on with End of Nations
Real-time strategy games aren't exactly in vogue at the moment. The genre is far from dead, but modern RTS games, with the notable exception of StarCraft, don't tend to appeal to as broad an audience as do MMOs. Trion Worlds and Petroglyph's proposed answer to genre stagnation is the upcoming MMORTS End of Nations. In fact, Trion thinks that what's really lacking in the RTS genre is a persistent world, one filled with robots and post-apocalyptic fascism. The team behind End of Nations has some serious industry cred. Publisher Trion Worlds is notable for its remarkably smooth-launching MMO, RIFT. Developer Petroglyph's pedigree is no less respectable (if a little dated), with titles like 1992's Dune II (widely credited for having inspired the Warcraft series of RTS games) and the original 1995 Command and Conquer under its belt. My time with this game was spent during the alpha testing phase, and many things might change between now and launch. Still, the bones of the game were there, and I'm happy to share my findings with you, discerning readers. From what I saw and experienced, End of Nations just might have what it takes to become the first "triple-A" MMORTS.%Gallery-96732%
Monopoly: World of Warcraft, Risk: StarCraft available this year
For years, WoW had a monopoly on the MMO market, so why not celebrate that with a board game? Blizzard Entertainment and USAopoly will launch Monopoly: World of Warcraft and Risk: StarCraft before year's end. A Facebook vote will determine what tokens make it into the final version of the Azeroth real estate simulator, which will retail for $39.95 "in specialty stores across North America."Risk: Starcraft will include 290 custom playing pieces, featuring the Terran, Protoss and Zerg factions, along with six unique heroes. It rushes into specialty stores in North America this summer for $49.45.For those looking to diversify their Risk portfolio, there are also Metal Gear Solid and Halo adaptations of the game about global conquest. Sadly, the best Monopoly jobs we've seen over the years are custom one-off crafts honoring Mass Effect and Fallout.
Nokia: 'We don't have a Plan B'
Wander into Nokia's corporate HQ and, if Victor Saejis is to believed, you'll be hard pressed to find any manilla folder bearing the legend "Plan B." The handset maker's European Manager told Swedish financial daily Dagens Industri that the company has no contingency plan in the event that Windows Phone loses out to Android and iOS saying that "Plan B is that Plan A is to succeed." It's a pretty unequivocal statement that Espoo's betting the farm on consumers embracing Microsoft's OS. Commenting on the company's recent troubles, the winding down of Symbian and the demise of MeeGo, he said "it's like starting all over again. But we must succeed in the U.S. if we are to succeed in the world" -- pretty honest, if a little disappointing to anyone who hoped there was an Android-powered white N9 lying in a Finnish skunkworks.
The Soapbox: Applying Neal Stephenson's Innovation Starvation to MMOs
Disclaimer: The Soapbox column is entirely the opinion of this week's writer and does not necessarily reflect the views of Massively as a whole. If you're afraid of opinions other than your own, you might want to skip this column. You've probably heard of Neal Stephenson. The celebrated sci-fi author recently released his 13th novel, Reamde, and while it treads a little closer to traditional thriller territory than some of his more cerebral efforts, it still packs a futurist punch (and even led the author to comment on MMOs, virtual worlds, and World of Warcraft in a recent interview). In addition to speculative fiction, Stephenson is also prone to the occasional essay, the latest of which found its way onto the intarwebs a few weeks ago. While not directly related to the gaming or massively multiplayer industries, the piece does feature some interesting observations about the stagnant creative culture to be found in contemporary corporate America, and Stephenson also offers plenty of food for thought that can be applied to the current state of the MMO space.
Risk: Metal Gear Solid sneaking out sometime soon
Metal Gear Solid and the board game Risk are fusing in some intricate collaboration that we'd fully explain to you, but it would require a 90-minute cut scene. Here's the basic premise of Risk: Metal Gear Solid: players control one of five Private Military Companies vying for global dominance, by using a variation of the Risk 2008 rules update. The game board consists of the standard six zones and 42 territories, along with an Outer Haven battleship addition. There are also 275 custom plastic pieces representing the five PMCs, neutral armies and cities; 8 Boss Cards, 40 Drebin's Cards, 42 Territory Cards and 8 Rewards that can be earned. The board game will be available exclusively through USAopoly.com, beginning "presale" on October 3 for $50. No official launch date has been given. In the meantime, you can always play Risk: Halo Wars.
AOptix e-Gate could improve global airport security, replace ID checks with iris scans
You're certainly not alone if you think that the current airport security process is far from ideal. AOptix hopes to streamline and speed up security procedures by replacing manual boarding pass and ID checks with a biometric kiosk called e-Gate. The new system, which verifies passenger identities by matching an iris scan with a boarding pass, just received (IATA) approval, and is currently being tested in three airports around the world. It's not as slick as a similar concept we saw earlier this summer, but e-Gate could be implemented with a trusted traveler program, creating special lanes for pre-approved frequent fliers -- similar to the US Customs Global Entry system in place today. We don't see it replacing X-ray machines and check-in interviews, but it could remove human error from the equation -- at least when it comes to verifying your identity. Jump past the break for the full scoop from AOptix, or you can check out the system for yourself at the Future Travel Experience in Vancouver. Update: e-Gate is in fact a potential component of Checkpoint of the Future, which we saw conceptualized in June.%Gallery-133007%
Risk: Factions coming to Facebook, bringing special faction-based weapons
EA just announced at its Summer Showcase that it will bring its downloadable version of the timeless strategic board game, Risk: Factions, to Facebook this summer. The title will feature the same competitive multiplayer components of its XBLA, PSN and PC counterpart, and will add "special weapons" to help distinguish each of the different factions therein. For instance, humans will have an ability that boosts their attack, while zombies have a weapon which makes them "better brain-eaters." (Sharper teeth, we guess?) Risk: Factions is currently in closed beta, meaning we should find out how these new special abilities influence the game's tightly-balanced strategy soon enough. All the tactics in the world can't overcome razor-sharp zombie molars, you know?
Cellphones are dangerous / not dangerous: cancer experts say 'What, me worry?'
If you haven't already gotten whiplash from the ongoing cellphone-cancer debate, a freshly released scientific review might just do the trick. In the paper, published Friday, a panel of experts from Britain, Sweden and the US conducted a thorough survey of previous studies, before concluding that existing literature is "increasingly against" the theory that cellphone use causes brain tumors in adults. The researchers also questioned the biological mechanisms underpinning this hypothesis, while acknowledging some lingering uncertainties, since data on childhood tumors and longer-term research are still lacking. The results come just a few weeks after the World Health Organization released its own literature review, in which it claimed that cell phones should be considered "potentially carcinogenic." But Anthony Swerdlow, a professor at Britain's Institute of Cancer Research and leader of the most recent investigation, said his group's work doesn't necessarily contradict the WHO, since the latter was simply seeking to evaluate cancer risks according to its own "pre-set classification system" -- under which things like pickled vegetables and coffee are also considered "potentially carcinogenic." Unfortunately, this doesn't mean that the debate will die down anytime soon, though Swerdlow expects more definitive conclusions within the next few years -- assuming, of course, that all of our brains haven't turned to oatmeal by then.
World of Fourcraft makes New York 'hood loyalty fun again
When Napoleon tried to invade Russia in 1812, his armies froze to death and he suffered a terrible, morale-crushing defeat -- and now you can too, all from the comfort of your favorite New York neighborhood! World of Fourcraft is an innovative app that turns New York's five boroughs into a giant game of Risk through the clever use of Foursquare. Users pledge loyalty to a team and check in to their chosen boroughs, which is similar to moving a plastic Risk soldier to that area, to build up their armies. An algorithm then decides who owns what based on these check-ins. As of the end of June, USA Today reported World of Fourcraft had roughly 100 players and Manhattan was winning. But as Napoleon knows, winning streaks can change rapidly and without warning. Or maybe he just couldn't see the signs. (Because they were high up.) (And he was short.)
World of Fourcraft brings battle of the boroughs to Foursquare
There's a war on in New York City. The lines of loyalty were drawn way back in 1898 and, ever since, it's been battle for borough superiority. A team of hackers has ushered this county rivalry into the internet age, turning the Big Apple into a giant Risk board where check-ins replace dice rolls and armies are gathered on Foursquare. In World of Fourcraft users pledge fealty to a particular locale then, for the honor of their homeland, check-in to wrest control of neighborhoods from their residents and defend their own turf from potential usurpers. The whole project was whipped up last weekend during a hackathon at New York's General Assembly. At the moment it does little more than tally check-ins, but the creators plan to add new features in the future. Now, go forth and do battle for your block but, don't stray too far -- to the north and east of the Boogie Down Bronx, and the south and west of the Slums of Shaolin, lies The Waste Land.
IATA's Checkpoint of the Future uses biometric IDs to separate do-gooders from terrorists (video)
This, ladies and gentlemen, could be your Checkpoint of the Future -- a new airport security prototype that promises to move away "from a system that looks for bad objects, to one that can find bad people." Unveiled at the IATA's annual conference in Singapore yesterday, the setup is comprised of three, 20-foot long detectors -- one for "known travelers," one for high-risk flyers, and one for everyone else. Instead of funneling passengers through the same checkpoint, then, the prototype would use eye scanners and biometric chips to verify their identities and analyze their personal history, before dividing them into groups. People who complete and pass government background checks would waltz through the fast pass lane with their carry-on luggage in tow, whereas those deemed particularly risky would have to undergo a more intensive, full-body scan within the "Enhanced" security lane. The rest of us, meanwhile, would be directed to the "Normal" detector, which would automatically scan us for liquids, metals and everything that is evil. The IATA says this risk-based approach would reduce security lines and lower airport costs, but it would still require governments to share data on their own citizens, which could pose a major hurdle to widespread adoption. For now, the IATA and governmental agencies are still hammering away at the details and have yet to announce a pilot program, but you can check out an audio-less demo video of the prototype, after the break.
Malware, Macs, and crying wolf: Doing the math
Love Apple gear? Like math? TUAW's Doing the Math series examines the numbers and the science that lie behind the hardware. The contentious subject of Mac security has been back in the news in recent weeks following the emergence of a fake antivirus package called MacDefender (also known as Mac Security and Mac Protector) that managed to steal a number of users' credit card details, and a new piece of "crimeware" called Weyland-Yutani BOT which allows non-technical hackers to easily create password grabbing webpages that specifically target Mac browsers. This prompted a fresh round of "the Mac is under attack! Malware will drown us all! Exclamation!" blog posts, followed by the usual backlash against them. On the alarmist side, Ed Bott wrote "Coming soon to a Mac near you: serious malware", predicting doom, gloom, and dogs and cats living together. The case for the defence was eloquently made in an article entitled "Wolf!" by Mac uber-blogger John Gruber where he simply collected assorted "Mac malware is inevitable" quotes from prominent analysts... going back to 2004, and all clearly unfulfilled in the sense of widespread attacks or exploits in the wild. Bott responded with a thoughtful post where he made a more reasoned case that malware for Macs really is inevitable in the long run, regardless of how inaccurate previous predictions have been. So who's right, and who's wrong? Is it time to run to the hills or are people just sounding the gong of panic unnecessarily? In this post I'm going to try and dive a little deeper into the issues surrounding Mac malware, hypothetical and real, and separate the headlines from the facts.
Massively conquers two Empire and State developers
Massively sat down with Empire and State developer Toby Ragaini not so long ago, and we were excited to see exactly how the team's promised game of political intrigue and power-grabbing would play -- so excited that we nabbed a second interview not only with Toby, Director of Game Development at Novel Inc, but also with Mike Marr, the company's Creative Director. Both of them offer a combined experience from MMOs like Asheron's Call and RTS games like Supreme Commander. We were able to get our hands on the game, as well, and were pretty surprised at what we found. If you are familiar with many browser games, you will not be shocked at how the game is delivered to you. What will catch you off guard is how the game plays and feels, as it combines a lot of different elements from some very popular genres and game styles. Click past the cut to check out some of the details from our interview!
SimCity Deluxe for iPad, Risk for iPad out today from EA
First mentioned back in October, Electronic Arts has finally released SimCity Deluxe for iPad, and oh my, how far we have come from the original SimCity game, which came out in 1989. Available for the first time on the iPad, SimCity Deluxe allows players to act as Mayor and City Planner to build and control their very own cityscape. Using multi-touch controls optimized for the iPad, players can build, destroy, rebuild and manage cities inspired by famous locations around the globe. Having played SimCity Deluxe for iPhone, I can imagine that the iPad version would be a more immersive experience with the much bigger screen. Available on the App Store now for US$6.99, SimCity Deluxe for iPad certainly makes me wish I had an iPad to take with me on my long trip coming up later this week. Also out today from EA, and available on the App Store, is RISK for iPad ($6.99), the popular game of strategic conquest and world domination. With the ability for up to six players to play simultaneously and head-to-head against others via Wi-Fi or Bluetooth, RISK fans with an iPad may want to check it out. You've probably already got plenty to play this holiday season, but in case you don't, there are two more good titles to try.
Ballmer: next release of Windows will be Microsoft's 'riskiest product bet' (video)
Windows 7 might be a massive commercial success and an undeniably rock solid piece of software, but Microsoft is apparently unwilling to rest on those soft and cozy laurels. Asked about the riskiest product bet the Redmond crew is currently developing, its fearless leader Steve Ballmer took no time in answering "the next release of Windows." His interviewers sadly failed to probe any deeper on the subject, but it might be notable that Steve calls it the next release rather than simply Windows 8, while the idea of it being risky also ties in with previous indications that Microsoft is aiming for a revolutionary leap between iterations. We'll have to just be patient and wait for more on that, though if you'd like a peek at Steve dodging question on tablets and the potential for Windows Phone 7 appearing on them, you need only jump past the break for the video. Update: It's also worth noting that Ballmer may not have been talking about revolutionary leaps as much as he's referencing the past issues the company has had when it's issued a major OS update (hello, Vista). The idea that making any big change to the operating system most of the world runs would invite a certain amount of high risk makes sense to us.
Apple offers first generation iPod nano replacements in Japan
After two years of pushing and shoving by the Japanese government, Apple has finally relented, agreeing to replace those first generation iPod nano music players sold in Japan at risk of overheating. The player exchange goes beyond the battery replacement program already in effect for consumers concerned enough to complain directly to Apple. According to Japan's Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry, of all the plastic black and white iPod nano players sold between September 2005 and December 2006, it confirmed 27 overheating incidents that occurred during recharging, including 6 fires that left four people with minor burns. On Sunday, Apple added 34 other "non-serious" overheating incidents to the tally -- a delay in disclosure that Japanese officials called "truly regrettable." Of course, today's news begs the question of how Apple will handle this issue for all the affected iPod nanos sold outside of Japan.
