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J!NX and Steelseries giving away loot on Facebook
Steelseries and J!NX have teamed up to give away some loot over the next three weeks -- hardware from Steelseries and some outer wear from J!NX, as well as other pretty cool stuff. The contest is open to Facebook users, who will be eligible to win one of six loot packs to be given away. Two loot packs will be given away each week, and each pack consists of the following: 1 SteelSeries World of Warcraft MMO Gaming Mouse 1 SteelSeries March of the Scourge QcK Mouse Pad 1 SteelSeries Zboard Wrath of the Lich King Gaming Keyboard 1 J!NX Talking Murloc Plush Toy 1 J!NX Horde or Alliance Hoodie 1 J!NX Frost Resistance Hoodie 1 J!NX Green Linen Shirt 1 J!NX Horde or Alliance Shirt 1 J!NX Horde or Alliance Wallet 1 J!NX Horde or Alliance Cut out Sticker 1 J!NX Horde or Alliance Keychain The first week simply asks Facebook users to 'like' or become fans on both the Steelseries and J!NX Facebook pages, with two winners to be determined randomly on May 5, 2010. The second week will require Facebook users to flex their social networking muscles a little bit as contestants are asked to post a screenshot of their favorite person, place, or activity in Azeroth on the J!NX Facebook page and garner as many "likes" for their entry until May 12. The screenshot with the most "likes" will win one loot pack, while a panel of judges from J!NX and Steelseries will determine who wins the second pack. The third week is a similar exercise in social network popularity, but contestants are asked to submit a video of an in-game dance party on the Steelseries fan page. As with the week before it, the video that ends up with the most "likes" at the end of the period, May 19, will win one loot pack. J!NX and Steelseries will select the winner of the second loot bag. If you're not averse to the whole social network experience, this promotion seems like a relatively painless way to try and score some cool swag.
A look at Aeria Games and their social network
When I was asked to do a write up about Aeria games, I smiled. Not only do some of my favorite FTP games come from the developer, but I have always liked how they present their products. While social networks are anything but brand new and uncommon, Aeria does theirs in a way that makes you want to play their games and to dive into their world. I decided to take a broad look at the two major areas: First, I wanted to try out the social network area of their site. It's standard stuff, really, but works well and is fun to fill out. I also wanted to try out some of their mini-games that are hosted on the site itself. Next I wanted to look at one of their games, Shin Megami Tensei: Imagine Online. There are a total of 16 titles to choose from, so I decided to go with one that I had enjoyed the most. It's been fun so far, and I'm glad I am going to be able to shine a little light on one of my favorite publishers!
Apple previews Game Center social gaming platform for iPhone OS
Apple just announced Game Center, which is a social gaming network for the iPhone -- it sounds a lot like Xbox Live, actually. It's has a friend system, leaderboards, and achievements -- and we're guessing it'll blow up out of the gate, given how many games are on the platform. It's being previewed in iPhone OS 4 right now, and it'll launch later this summer. We're hunting for more info, we'll let you know! %Gallery-90058% Make sure to check out the ongoing iPhone OS 4.0 liveblog!
iPad apps: Twitter and social networking essentials
As you might've notice, either here on the site or likely elsewhere on the internet, we at Engadget have somewhat of an affinity to social networking. With a new screen sitting here saving us some screen real estate, we decided to give a number of Twitter and other pro-social apps a go for perennially staying connected to our online friends -- so long as there's a decent WiFi connection nearby. Here's the highlights from what we've toyed with, and stay tuned for even more roundups on the horizon. Twitterific for iPad (free; $4.99 for Pro account) - Definitely the best Twitter app on the iPad so far (pictured above). It works great in portrait and landscape, contextual links conveniently pop out and photos even get special format treatment. No option to upload photos when tweeting, but we're guessing with a lack of a camera, it didn't seem as necessary an addition -- we like to show off our screen captures and saved browsing images, but hey, that's just us. The only deterrent for power users is that you can only view one column at a time, but with lists, saved searches, and all other thread options easily accessible from the leftmost column, we didn't find it too inconvenient whatsoever. [See in iTunes]
GDC10: Torfi Frans Olafsson gives details on Tyrannis, Incarna and more
For the last few weeks, EVE Online players have been getting excited about the up-coming Tyrannis expansion with its Planetary Interaction feature. We received our first taste of what Tyrannis will hold last month when the expansion was announced and since then we've speculated on how its planetary interaction feature might work. Although CCP haven't answered our interview questions on Tyrannis yet, we caught up with EVE Senior Producer Torfi Frans Olafsson at GDC 2010 to get the inside scoop. Torfi was keen to point out that a lot of what CCP are doing in Tyrannis is laying the foundation for future updates and expansions. He calls Tyrannis "a stepping stone toward something even bigger." In addition to providing some inside info on the upcoming Tyrannis and Incarna expansions, Torfi revealed that there are more people working on EVE today than ever before. In contrast to MMOs that cut down their development team sizes once the game is out, CCP's ranks have been increasing at a huge rate in recent years. The ever-increasing revenue generated by EVE subscribers allows them to fund a large development team dedicated to making the game better for EVE players. "We've never had as many subscribers as we have today", says Torfi, "330,000 subscribers, like actual paying subscribers, not counting trials." It's thanks to all those subscribers that CCP are beginning to realise dreams they were never able to achieve when the game was less popular. Skip past the cut to see what Torfi Frans Olafsson had to say about Tyrannis, Incarna and more.
Massively's EVE Online PLEX contest: "New Eden"
Massively's "Enemy at the Gate" contest for EVE Online was quite popular last week, and there were some very good entries. It was a contest where there could only be two winners (to be announced shortly), but as promised Massively is running a second contest this week. The contest is simply titled "New Eden," named after the social network for EVE Online that will extend the game experience beyond the game client. Ultimately the New Eden social network will bring aspects of EVE to mobile phones and the web, the hope being that it creates a number of new ways to access and experience the game. Just like last week, this will essentially be a writing contest, where we pose a question to you about EVE's Dominion expansion (and beyond). Your entry (limited to 200 words or less, details below) will be judged by the Massively staff on the merits of creativity and presentation. You'll have one full week to enter, by answering our question in the comments below this post. Two prizes will be awarded. The grand prize will be 15 Pilot License Extensions (PLEX), which is 15 months of EVE game time. First prize will be 10 PLEX, so 10 months of EVE game time. Got all that? Great. So here we go -- to enter Massively's PLEX contest, answer this question in the comments below, limiting your response to 200 words or less: How will the "New Eden" social network for EVE affect your playstyle? Will the ability to handle tasks when you're unable to log in change the game experience for you?
Chillingo officially launches Crystal SDK for iPhone game developers
Chillingo recently announced that it would be launching Crystal SDK, a service joining the increasingly crowded social network market for iPhone games. Xbox Live on the Xbox is an official social network, but the iPhone has no such official service. A crowd of contenders, from the popular OpenFeint service to ngmoco's Plus+ network, are jumping in and trying to get developers on board with them. Crystal SDK is one of those -- they've now launched the official website and are asking developers interested to sign up and see what their software has to offer. Like many of the other services, Crystal is offering to integrate challenges, achievements, leaderboards, and other social services into iPhone apps. The SDK seems like it's still pre-release, however -- there's only a signup, no information on cost or implementation or anything else on the site. Still, if you happen to be an iPhone developer still looking for a network to hook up with, they might be the one for you. While we're at it: what do you consumers think? Have you actually chosen a network to go with, or are you doing what I'm doing and still basically going game by game? The goal of these networks eventually is to have a unified stable of developers, where you'll jump into a new game simply because it's linked to the network you're signed up with (and your friends will be playing over there and encouraging you to join). But in reality, I haven't seen that -- most people I know are just playing the games they're interested in, and the network the games are connected to hasn't made a big difference.
GameX 2009: Mobile EVE Online app, codenamed NeoCom, and IM program in development
During their presentation at GameX 2009 on agile game development, Nathan Richardsson and Adalsteinn "Alli" Óttarsson revealed the slide above, showing EVE Online's many facets and how they all tie into one another. But what's this down in the corner? A mobile application and a instant messaging client? While information was scarce, we were able to confirm that CCP is certainly interested in the mobile market, especially with EVE. Neocom is planned to be a multi-mobile platform project, going beyond the iPhone to add "interaction with EVE Online in a meaningful way." The plan seems to be to extend EVE across multiple locations to give players the ability to access all sorts of information from places outside of the game. It was mentioned that Neocom could do things like use corporation chat, check and change trades, and introduce other methods of two way interaction. Later in the day, we'll be putting up our video interview with Alli Óttarsson and Nathan Richardsson on a variety of topics, Neocom included. Check back for more exclusive coverage of GameX 2009!
Shazam picking up investors, boasts 50 million users
Shazam is one of the first apps I actually used in context on the iPhone, and while we haven't heard much about the app since it debuted way back in the early days of the App Store, apparently the company itself has been blowing up, thanks to the free app. They've picked up a nice round of investment from venture capitalists, and the service itself now boasts over 50 million users (by comparison, Last.fm claims only 30 million, but they've gotten way more press than Shazam's service, including recent integration on Xbox Live). That's a heck of an achievement, and Apple is a huge part of it -- not only did Shazam make a big splash on their iPhone app, but they say that Apple actually helped connect the VCs and the company together. That's an interesting peek behind the scenes at what Apple is doing for one of the App Store's oldest and most popular free apps. As for why Shazam is so popular, the VCs say they can see the platform as a "springboard" for selling music, advertising, and a few other commodities. Currently Shazam's free app only lets you tag five songs a month (a limit I never hit and thus didn't know about, even though I would say that I do use the app regularly), but they're planning a paid version that will allow unlimited identification of songs through the iPhone's microphone. I don't know how well that will sell (it's hard to believe that people will pay $5 for a service they are already using for free, though perhaps I'm underestimating the amount of music that people want to "tag"), but it's clear that Shazam is a company that is making the absolute best of having an extremely popular free app on the App Store.
Sacred Seasons: The flash-based MMO
We're not entirely sure how this one slipped under our radar. Perhaps it was a quiet launch, or perhaps it was a flash based massively multiplayer game, but we somehow failed to mention Sacred Seasons.So now we're going to take the time to correct that error -- enter Sacred Seasons, an MMO that runs entirely in flash and entirely in your internet browser. The game tells the story of the Heartlands, a world that's much like ours except in hyperbole, where the seasons dominate so strongly that they resonate in humanity itself. The people of the world have broken off into four separate tribes, one each dedicated to one of the seasons. All of them ally together, however, to fight a plague spreading across the world -- the growing corruption of the badlands, areas of nothingness.
EVE Online achievements via Avatars United
CCP Games may not feel that an Achievements system (beyond the bragging rights with Certificates) really fits the setting of EVE Online, but it's something players can get via Avatars United, a social network for MMO gamers. More specifically, Avatars United is a social network for your avatars across a wide range of MMOs. We mentioned Avatars United and its growing EVE Online community a while back. The guys at Enemy Unknown -- the people behind Avatars United -- have built some EVE-specific apps for their users which might be of some interest our readers. These apps make use of a player's (full) API allowing the apps to access and display all sorts of character information within the Avatars United social network.
EVE social network COSMOS roadmap revealed, some features delayed
COSMOS is the social network for EVE Online slated to arrive with this winter's Dominion expansion, which CCP Games describes as "EVE away from EVE". Ultimately, it's a way to extend the game experience into new platforms such as web and mobile, along with voice integration -- but this is the long-term plan. In the short term, they've announced a delay with rolling out some of the previously mentioned features when Dominion launches. The initial release will focus on the new in-game mail system being tied into COSMOS and laying the groundwork for other features to come in early 2010. EVE Online developer CCP Caedmon explained the reasons behind this delay: "We think that this delay for the web application is the right move because we have always had our sights set on the long game for COSMOS. The first release, while crammed with good stuff, was always intended to lay the basis for the ground-breaking innovations to come. Rushing COSMOS out with less polish didn't make sense in this context, we want to impress from day one."
Alganon sets October release date
Alganon is an upcoming fantasy MMO that we here at Massively have our eyes on. It is said to integrate more of an expansive social network than we may already be used to, as well as a new look at on and offline skill advancement.But the real news here is that Quest Online, the makers of Alganon, have announced a launch date of October 31 of this year. In preparation for this launch, the forums have been completely revamped. Preorders will also be taken later this month, featuring a digital download option and special preorder bonuses, to be announced later. Check out the official Alganon website for more details.
Can it be? New in game web browser arriving for EVE Online
The developers at CCP Games just dropped some good news about the new in-game web browser (IGB) for EVE Online they've been working on, codenamed "Moondoggie", one that will deliver a "tenfold performance boost" over what exists today. We've checked CNN and BBC, and even Fox News, but hell is not freezing over... pigs are not in flight. The long-awaited new browser is on the way. EVE Online players have been screaming about wanting a revamped in-game browser since well before Massively was even born, particularly as so many useful third-party sites function as in-game utilities for players to use without the need to alt-tab out. Of course, despite the frustrations players have felt with the IGB, delivering a better one is no simple matter. CCP Games has periodically stated that it's something they're looking into or working on, but today's dev blog written by CCP Pleognost, "The Second Coming of Moondoggie", confirms the details of the project. And that it's close to being ready.
Video interview focuses on emergent gameplay in EVE Online
Part of what's so interesting about video games, and MMOs specifically, is that players often do things the game designers never envisioned. This is especially the case with a sandbox MMO like EVE Online where the developers provide a setting and the players establish their own virtual society of sorts. The topic of emergent gameplay in EVE came up in a recent video interview from the Nordic Game Conference, where our friend Petter Mårtensson from Gamereactor spoke with CCP Games Executive Producer Nathan "Oveur" Richardsson. Their conversation touches upon what the players are doing with wormhole exploration (with around 2500 uncharted solar systems) and CCP's excitement when player alliances clash and create their own stories of conflict. The interview also covers Walking in Stations (avatars), the COSMOS social network that will tie in with EVE, and the company's intent to alter 0.0 space with more tools to build empires and more incentives to get people out there into these lawless regions. Stick with us for a video embed of the Gamereactor interview with CCP's Nathan Richardsson.
Booyah releases Booyah Society, an app/game that tracks "life achievements"
Booyah is a company I've had my eye on for a while -- they're a couple of veterans from Blizzard Entertainment (makers of the popular Diablo and World of Warcraft games, two of my favorites) who have been teasing a big-time iPhone app. Just today, they've finally showed their cards, and have released Booyah Society, a 3D, interactive, social network-connected "achievement system for life." If that sounds like an idea that's pretty floaty, you probably heard it right. Basically it's a game system that more or less overlays on what you're already posting to Facebook and Twitter. If you do anything from conquering a new videogame to doing a new exercise to visiting a new restaurant, you can earn achievements and points for an ingame avatar and scoreboard. In essence, they're aiming to take the things we already tell each other we're doing, and put this game/scoring system on top of that. There are plans to use the iPhone's hardware to do some self-reporting (GPS to track where you've been), but for now, everything's basically on the honor system. Will it work? Who knows. The app is available for free right now, and they're planning to include microtransactions in the future to let you buy things to dress up your avatar with, as well as looking at partnerships with other businesses (i.e., you can get a certain achievement by going to Wendy's and ordering some fries). Very interesting -- as with most social app ideas, this one seems like it'll make or break it based on who chooses to play it faithfully. They've got quite a pedigree with the Blizzard background, and built-in audiences with Facebook and Twitter integration, but whether or not people will find themselves invested in tracking these achievements and scoring points for their avatars, only time will tell.
EVE Online social network 'COSMOS' coming with Winter expansion
The EVE Online developers have released the first solid bit of info regarding the game's Winter expansion, which will include a social network called COSMOS. Unfortunately, the as-yet-unnamed Winter expansion won't bring Walking in Stations (3D avatars), to the best of our knowledge. Any announcement of the next expansion's features is still a long way off, but a dev blog from EVE developer CCP Caedmon focuses on COSMOS and what it will bring to the game. COSMOS will debut with a limited feature set, with more added to the platform over time. However, if CCP Games can deliver on what Caedmon mentions, it should go down well with the playerbase since these features will be tied in with the game.
OpenFeint drops dev fees as Chillingo announces social gaming network Crystal SDK
The social gaming market on the iPhone has taken two sharp turns recently. First up, right after announcing that their system hit a full million users, OpenFeint announced that their social gaming platform has gone completely free for developers. Originally, the SDK was free to download, and then there was a small cost-per-user fee for developers, but with this new change, that cost is gone, and OpenFeint will now make all of their money, as we were told by Peter Relan, from referring users to other games and in-app purchases, and then taking that cut from Apple.The popular publisher Chillingo has also announced a newcomer to the social gaming scene: they're planning to introduce another system called Crystal SDK, that will presumably both be free to all developers, and automatically included in most of Chillingo's games. Their release specifically tells us that "Crystal is iPhone's answer to Microsoft's Xbox Live," so they're officially throwing their hat in an already crowded ring.With a million users, OpenFeint is still the biggest network going, but obviously Chillingo believes there's still many more to pick up. Should be interesting to see, as always, what users decide to do.
World of Warcraft is for "hardcore" young male gamers
Yes. That's right. The most accessible MMO is too hardcore for the standard audience, according to Forbes.com and Rob Hutter of the recently unveiled Gazillion Entertainment. In a recent interview with Hutter, he was quoted as saying that the MMO market could expand outside of "targeting the hardcore gamer demographic," using World of Warcraft as his main example.Forbes.com paraphrased him as saying, "...Most people unaccustomed to MMOs might be intimidated by complex games like 'Warcraft,' Hutter says trends in technology suggest the audience for simple, well-designed games will grow quickly. The runaway success of Nintendo's Wii proved virgin gamers will try new titles if they are easy to play, while the boom in social networks like Facebook suggests people of all ages are looking for new ways to interact online, he says."While we understand what he's getting at and can appreciate trying to target gamers outside of the main demographic, we think he might need to pick a better example next time. WoW can be intimidating for first time users, but something must have clicked with the non-hardcore gaming crowd as many of them have stuck around in Azeroth. Unless, of course, all 11 million of the World of Warcraft subscribers have suddenly become hardcore male gaming nerds, and those newbies in our guilds are simply the stuff of illusion.[Via Hardcore Casual]
Multiverse reveals a peek at their upcoming flash development platform
Imagine booting up your computer to play your favorite online game with your friend, except he's in an airport waiting for a flight and you're at home in your office chair. You see a glorious 3-D world from the comfort of your computer monitor, and he sees a two dimensional isometric view from his hunched view over his mobile phone. You use your mouse to click your action buttons and fight monsters, and he just taps the screen with his finger. You're questing together, winning battles together, except you see the world entirely in 3-D and he's seeing it in 2-D.If you're thinking that this scenario is entirely implausible, you would be wrong. MMO tools developer Multiverse has recently unveiled a sneak peek at their upcoming flash toolset by launching the flash based game Multiverse Battle.
