serenity
Latest
EVE Online hits 500,000 subscribers, heads into second decade
Most modern MMOs launch to an initial flurry of sales followed by a steady decline in player activity, but sci-fi MMO EVE Online has lived life in reverse. The game initially failed to secure a large number of launch sales but has since grown organically into one of the most successful subscription MMOs on the planet. EVE developer CCP Games told Massively today that the game has now officially broken the 500,000 subscription barrier. Subscription numbers hit the 450,000 mark following the relaunch of EVE's Chinese server Serenity in December of last year, and they have continued to climb ever since. This new subscription milestone is attributed to the success of EVE's recent Retribution expansion and the anticipation building over upcoming console MMOFPS DUST 514, which is set on actual planets in the EVE universe. EVE is due to hit its 10th anniversary this year on May 6th, and developers have been taking the opportunity to look forward at what the coming decade will bring to the game. We caught up with CCP for a quick peek at the studio's plans for the future and to find out what kind of announcements we can expect from EVE Fanfest in April of this year.
Multiverse shuts down: Firefly, Buffy MMOs officially dead
It may be 2012, but 2011 isn't finished claiming its victims just yet. As discovered by Ten Ton Hammer, the team behind the Multiverse development platform has officially pulled the plug due to lack of funding. If that name doesn't ring a bell, we're sure you've heard of the two IPs most closely associated with it. Multiverse was slated to be the engine powering both the Firefly and Buffy the Vampire Slayer MMOs, but as of December 7, 2011, fans will have to look elsewhere for their Whedonverse fix. There is always Firefly Universe Online, but due to the unauthorized nature of the project and the lack of updates, we're not holding our breath.
CCP partners with Nexon to release EVE Online in Japan [Updated]
The Japanese games market can be difficult for western companies to break into, with accurate client localisation and translation acting as a huge potential roadblock. In an unexpected press release today, EVE Online developer CCP Games announced a strategic partnership with Japan-based MMO publisher Nexon to bring both EVE Online and DUST 514 to the Japanese market. EVE is currently available in English, German and Russian, and Japanese players have so far found considerable difficulty in playing the game. Unlike EVE's Chinese release, the Japanese client will connect to the main Tranquility game server. Nexon will add the game to its portal website and use its own billing system for Japanese subscribers. As we've seen with EVE's sizeable Russian playerbase, it's likely that entire alliances and communities will build up within the game once it hits the shelves in Japan. While the language barrier between players from different parts of the world can limit social interaction, it turns out that everyone understands the language of smashing internet spaceships to bits with lasers. The PC release of EVE Online in Japan will appear later this year. [Update: CCP has informed us that this deal with Nexon does not apply to anything DUST-related.]
Intel's Sandy Bridge hits the desktop realm: Dell, CyberPower, Digital Storm and more
For the most part, Intel's Sandy Bridge introduction at CES made a giant impact in the outlook of future laptops, but not as much was said over in the desktop world. Quietly, a slew of custom PC makers have slid out revised towers with the second generation Core lineup, with Dell's XPS 8300, Digital Storm's entire family, Cyber Power's Gamer Xtreme 1000 / 2000 and iBuyPower's Chimera XLC seeing the new Core i5 and Core i7 chips. Care to dig in deeper? Hit the source links below, and be sure to bust out your credit card -- Intel's fastest doesn't come cheap, you know.
CCP responds to rumour of server merger with EVE China
Back in 2006, CCP Games decided to move EVE Online into the Chinese MMO market. To comply with China's strict laws regarding online gaming, a second server named Serenity was created. Although the game itself is the same, Serenity doesn't really interact with EVE's main game server. The people over at mmosite today reported that CCP Games had announced plans to merge the two servers. They pointed to a talk given by CCP's CEO Hilmar Petursson at the recent Chinese Game Developers Conference, asserting that Hilmar discussed the company's plans to "connect the Chinese server of EVE Online with its world server." This news came as a bit of a shock, as the Chinese gaming laws which necessitated a separate game server are still in place. We contacted CCP for more information, who promptly informed us that they are not planning to merge the two servers, and that the writer at mmosite had likely misunderstood what Hilmar said during his talk. Hilmar issued us with the following statement: "Ever since the Chinese version of EVE Online was announced at EVE Fanfest 2005 then CCP has consistently stated that according to CCP's design philosophy and single shard one world strategy then it would make sense to merge the two servers at some point in the future. Currently this is not possible, for various reasons and we have no current plans to do this merger as a results of those reasons. We will continue to communicate our vision and aspirations regardless."
Universal bringing Serenity to Blu-ray with upgrades and extras
Well over two years ago, Universal hit a home run with its decision to release Serenity on HD DVD. Now, the studio is finally giving Blu-ray aficionados the privilege of buying the film, and it's even tossing in a few nice upgrades to boot. Given that this title would likely sell on Blu even without any extras, we appreciate the touchups. Those who take the plunge will be treated to a 5.1 DTS-HD Master Audio track, a 2.35:1 1080p video transfer, BD-Live support and a whole slew of bonus features that can't all be listed in this space. Make sure you don't spend all of that holiday cash before December 25th, as you'll need $29.98 (MSRP) in order to snatch this one up on December 30th.
Wising up to the Firefly MMO's unique challenges
It's been about a year and a half since Wired reported that the Firefly license would be MMO-ized by Multiverse. Since then, there's been a vacuum of news -- nada. The game is looking vaporware-esque at this point, but MMORPG nevertheless ran a feature article speculating as to what sorts of challenges the developers of the Firefly MMO will face.The author goes through all sorts of possible approaches, from a Star Wars Galaxies-inspired ground game to an EVE Online-inspired space game -- even a mostly-social, barely-RPG, casual-type experience. We suspect the last of those is the most likely, if the game gets made at all. As the article notes, the project is not likely to have much funding, and while the audience is passionate, it's also small. That was FOX's problem, too. As we know, the challenges don't end there.One concern MMORPG didn't bring up at all; Firefly was a character-driven series. Its setting was kind of interesting, but the characters were what made it all worthwhile. If Mal, Jayne, Inara, and Kaylee aren't a part of it, will anyone want to tune in? Turning this franchise into a successful MMO seems almost impossible. Regardless, Captain Mal Reynolds said "we have done the impossible, and that makes us mighty." If the folks at Multiverse pull off a Firefly MMO, that quote could be their mantra.
Grimwell gives one reason fantasy pwns sci-fi, we go "Huh?"
Watch your head, you don't want it hit by return fire in the ever-present MMO blogosphere discussion of fantasy vs sci-fi. The most recent discussion started up with Massively's own Michael Zenke and his "Five Reasons Sci-Fi Pwns Fantasy" which prompted the return fire in question from Grimwell. Both of the posts are certainly worth reading, especially if you have any kind of lingering interest in the subject matter. As far as we can see, there's truth to be had on both sides of the fence. However, we do have one point of contention to make with Grimwelll's argument. He states that the reason fantasy "pwns" sci-fi is that it's accessible, which is a constant argument on the matter. While we think he may have a point in that less people are inherently familiar with sci-fi, we very much disagree with his assessment that you need to be a math nerd to enjoy good sci-fi -- his example in this case being Star Trek and its now-infamous technobabble.
Jam Sessions lets you play show tunes
Fans of Firefly and Serenity (which, is all of you ... or else), we've got a nice little video for you. If you've picked up Ubisoft's Jam Sessions, then you too can play the theme song to Firely. It's actually quite simple. And, you don't even need to have a ridiculous haircut, either!
Firefly: Streaming to iTunes with DAAP
Make blog recently posted about how to run an iTunes DAAP server in Linux with Firefly. Firefly (né mt-daapd) provides an open-source digital audio server that supports iTunes-compatible streaming. With it, you can stream your media from a Linux platform to any other computer that's running iTunes. Best of all, it transcodes in real time. This allows you to stream file formats not normally supported by iTunes, such as OGG and FLAC. Full disclosure: I occasionally write for Make.
Why the Firefly MMO won't work
Michael Zenke, the editor of Slashdot Games, explains on GameSetWatch why he believes a Firefly MMO "just won't fly." The Firefly universe isn't violent enough for an MMO. There just isn't enough fighting going on and killing rats won't cut it. Because "life is precious" in Firefly, it's going to be strange that an emphasis needs to be put on combat, which is important to an MMO -- thus the non-combat portions will be "waylaid and pushed outside the scope of the original launch." Joss Whedon's Firefly was clever and witty. How do you put that into something "narratively dead as a quest in a MMOG"? Um, you aren't one of the Serenity crew. Here's hoping that Firefly ends up working, for the simple fact that it would be nice to have a successful sci-fi MMO where your existence isn't ship-bound. Joss Whedon's "'verse" didn't even get a full season to develop, not to mention that although the series was incredible, the movie Serenity is a mixed-bag for fans. In the end, maybe Buffy: The Vampire Slayer, with its seven seasons of potential plotlines and characters, would have been a better option for an MMOG. See also: Firefly returns as MMORPG
"Easter Egg" spotted in Serenity HD DVD
We like high-def Easter eggs around here and they can be from TV shows to the Serenity HD DVD -- we don't care. This one comes in the form a 90 second featurette called "Fruity Oaty Good Time" and to navigate to this extra-extra, highlight "Extra" on the main menu of the disc and then press LEFT twice. This will trigger the Serenity logo that will take you to the said "Easter Egg." By the way, this Easter Egg can be found on the standard DVD the same way. We don't know what exactly is featured in the 90 sec video but we're sure it will be worth your time...we hope so at least.
Firefly reruns going high-def on UHD
Thanks to series creator Joss Whedon's insistence in shooting on film and in widescreen cult favorite Firefly has made an excellent candidate for the HD treatment and it is finally going to get it. The entire short-lived series, originally shown on Fox, will begin airing in 1080i September 24th on Universal HD. The movie adaptation Serenity was one of the first HD DVDs available, now we just want to know how long until we get a boxed HD DVD release?After this addition you may want to re-evaluate your most wanted network, we can see Universal HD moving up a few lists right now. This show brings it just a little closer to that HD Sci-Fi network so many people would like to see.[Thanks, Edgar]
HDTV Listings for July 24, 2006
What we're watching: Saved and The Closer are on as always. Renee Zellwegger makes an appearance profiling Christiane Amanpour on Discovery HD's Iconoclasts while Serenity hits prime time on Cinemax. Owners of the HD DVD release can take a look and see if there is any difference in quality or aspect ratio.Our traditional high-def listings continue below.
