super-hero
Latest
City of Heroes Issue 15: Anniversary open beta begins
NCsoft has announced that City of Heroes Issue 15: Anniversary has entered open beta. They write, "We are pleased to announce that City of Heroes content Update Issue 15: Anniversary has gone straight into Open Beta phase. Now is your change to celebrate the return of The 5th Column by playing and giving feedback on the new Task Force and Strike Force."But what will Issue 15: Anniversary introduce to City of Heroes? They've put together an overview of the update that gives more info on the Villain Strikeforce and the Hero Taskforce (both Levels 45-50), new costumes and costume change emotes (colorful transitions between costumes on a given character), as well as greater character customization options. If you're interested in checking out the Issue 15: Anniversary open beta, they've got a forum thread that will walk you through getting set up to play on the Training Room test server.%Gallery-64392%
Rampant farming forces Paragon Studios to remove City of Heroes badges
When City of Heroes brought us Issue 14, they also brought something rather unique to the MMO space with the Mission Architect -- the ability for players to create their own mission scenarios and share them with other players. Unfortunately, when many games offer achievements of some sort, there are people who figure out ways to cheat the system and farm them out... which, sadly, has proven to be the case with City of Heroes. Synapse (aka Phil Zeleski) from the City of Heroes development team addresses this in a recent blog post. He writes: "We really didn't want the Mission Architect to be an environment that encourages farming for XP, Rewards or Badges, and we thought long and hard about the current Architect badge situation. Ultimately we'd like it to be a place where you go to play great player created content." To keep the Mission Architect system in keeping with their initial goals, Paragon Studios is removing the badges commonly farmed from the game, 90 of them in all, which he lists in his post.
InFamous commercial to debut alongside Terminator Salvation screenings
SCEA's post-apocalyptic, super-hero sandbox title, inFamous, is only a week away from release. Leading up to launch day next Tuesday, Sony has announced that it will premiere a new 30-second commercial to run in theaters alongside another post-apocalyptic thriller, Terminator Salvation (the movie, not the game) starting Friday. Also, don't forget, you can catch more of inFamous this week when the official demo hits PSN on Thursday. Stay tuned tomorrow as well; we'll have our inFamous review ready for your reading pleasure!
Champions Online dev diary by comic book writer John Layman
The next major superhero MMO to be released will be Champions Online, based off of the pen-and-paper RPG system and in development at Cryptic Studios, slated to be released in mid-July 2009. To add even more superhero cred to the game, Cryptic has hired writers well-versed in the comics industry like John Layman, of both Marvel and Wildstorm fame. IGN is hosting a Champions Online developer diary written by Layman that focuses on his work at Cryptic Studios. Layman introduces what he does,"I'm the writer-guy for Champions Online, a comic book writer imported specifically to write a comic book themed game. And, just like writing comics, coming up with the right words, concepts, and plots is the very first part of a very long chain of work." He writes about the process of hashing out the best ideas with other Cryptic notables like Jack Emmert, Randy Mosiondz, and Brian Gilmore, and then working to tailor those concepts to 'comic book-ese' that works for Champions Online.
DC Universe Online showcases Solomon Grundy
Sony Online Entertainment has released some screenshots of their latest super villain for DC Universe Online, Solomon Grundy, a DC character that first appeared in print back in 1944.In the comics Grundy started life as a wealthy merchant named Cyrus Gold who was murdered in the late 19th century and dumped in a swamp near Gotham City. Fifty years later he rose from the dead and became an immortal who is part plant, part zombie and possesses immense strength. He can only remember snippets of his former life, such as that he was born on a Monday and this gives him his name, which is taken from a 19th Century children's nursery rhyme of the same name which has the line "Solomon Grundy, born on a Monday".The character in DC Universe Online is said to be centuries old and filled with confused anger that causes him to be a rampaging monster at times, but can also be a calculating and cold blooded killer. Sometimes he can also seem almost childlike as he hunts for clues to his identity. He can be found in the swamps, sewers and abandoned buildings in Metropolis and Gotham City.The character has also appeared in various animated DC shows, including The Batman, Justice League and Justice League Unlimited, the latter two being voiced by Mark Hamill.%Gallery-50201%%Gallery-34118%
Crapgadget: USB abomination edition (with a pinch of superhero)
Seriously, just listen at this and try to stifle your sighs. "Bling Bling USB optical mouse." "Jewel Necklace USB flash drive." "Turtle-Look USB 2.0 Hub with a tray." "Magic Sensor LCD Alarm Clock." "Insect USB Mini Fan." Yes, friends, this is the type of utter garbage we're dealing with in this episode of Crapgadget. Honestly, we're simultaneously astounded and deeply depressed that anyone would even consider dishing out their hard-earned cheddar for any of this rubbish, but we're doing our darnedest to pretend that these were simply created for us to have a laugh at.The week's strongest contender? Some superhero magnet pixels... and that's saying something.Read - Bling Bling mouseRead - Jewel necklace USB driveRead - Turtle USB hubRead - Sensor alarm clockRead - Insect fanRead - Magnetic pixels %Poll-28983%
Paragon City streets unusually quiet as meta-humans flock to Architect Entertainment
So far, it seems, NCsoft's City of Heroes/Villains Issue 14 Mission Architect feature has been a cracking success. The zones containing Architect Enterprises have been stuffed to overflowing with users learning the system, creating missions and trying missions out. The Mission Architect system isn't exactly all-singing and all-dancing, as it has to work within the constraints of the existing engine, but it does the job quite nicely, and doesn't have a gigantic learning curve. Users have created and published literally hundreds of missions since Issue 14 went live a few days ago.
City of Heroes Issue 14: Architect is live
Much of our recent coverage of City of Heroes has focused on the Mission Architect, and with good reason. Issue 14 brings player-created content into the superhero MMO, placing the tools the developers have used to create missions in the hands of the players. Essentially, players can create their own playable content and tailor these missions to their liking, right down to the characters and the story itself. In some respects, it takes the UI of the character creation tool and applies it to the creation of actual game content. We had a good look at the potential for user-generated content with the Mission Architect at GDC 2009, while it was still in beta testing. Mission Architect is clearly ready for primetime though; NCsoft has announced that Issue 14: Architect is now live, giving City of Heroes players more control over their gameplay than ever before. The Issue 14: Architect release notes are up and detail the many features the update brings to City of Heroes and City of Villains.%Gallery-45908%%Gallery-48661%
Gazillion VP shares plans for Marvel Universe, Lego Universe, and beyond
If you've been reading Massively over the past few weeks, it's likely you've heard us mention Gazillion Entertainment. They're a company that seemingly came out of nowhere and revealed that they've acquired NetDevil (thus Jumpgate Evolution and LEGO Universe) and have two MMOs based on Marvel Comics IPs in development; Super Hero Squad is geared towards kids while Marvel Universe is aimed squarely at older comic fans. Our parent site Joystiq managed to get some face time at GDC 2009 with Gazillion's VP of Marketing Paul Baldwin who explained a bit about the company and their plans for the MMO industry.
Marvel Comics to share writers and artists with Gazillion for MMO
We were disappointed back in 2008 when we learned that the Marvel MMO project was being shuttered. But, roughly a year after the bad news broke, Gazillion Entertainment announced that they're working on a Marvel Comics MMO. Two, in fact. While a number of comics fans who play MMOs are excited about DC Universe Online (which is slated for release in 2010) comics fans often have their particular allegiances to a certain IP, and not everyone is a huge fan of the DC Comics universe. Marvel purists should have even more to look forward to from the upcoming MMO. Joystiq reports that Marvel Comics will lend its writers and artists to the project. That comes straight from Ira Rubenstein, who holds a senior position with Marvel's global digital media group. Rubenstein made the announcement during the GamesBeat 2009 conference in San Francisco.
Marvel signs 10-year contract, sees an MMO in its future
After the deal with Cryptic and Microsoft fell through, we weren't too terribly sure we'd ever hear another peep out of Marvel insofar as getting a game into the MMO space. However, it would seem that they've given it some thought - or more likely, thought about all the money that's here to be made - and decided to proceed on getting their own MMO into the market anyway. According to a story from the Wall Street Journal, Marvel has signed a 10-year deal with Gazillion Entertainment (previously NR2B Research, per VentureBeat) that will encompass not only a Marvel Universe online game that will tie into a Cartoon Network series, but also a renewal of the Marvel Universe MMO project for PC and consoles with Gazillion's subsidiary, Gargantuan Studios. Considering that Champions Online is in closed beta already, DC Universe Online is showing some pretty solid previews, and City of Heroes is still chugging along with a devoted player-base, it's going to be an uphill battle from the word go for this Marvel MMO. Sure, there will be comics loyalists who prefer the Marvel universe to the DC universe, but with four superhero MMOs to choose from? Everyone involved should remember that in MMOs, no amount of retconning will help a game that doesn't bring its best from the start. [Via Joystiq]
Champions Online dev Randy Mosiondz on storytelling and gameplay
Writing for Examiner.com, Daniel Nations recently interviewed Champions Online lead designer Randy Mosiondz about the balancing act between providing guided gameplay and exploration. The interview also touches upon Champions Online's gameplay across different environments. Namely, Mosiondz explains a bit about the challenges that players will face in the underwater area of Lemuria with its full 3-D movement capabilities, and how some player powers will be modified for use underwater. Also a nice touch is that the discussion heads into his roots as a writer for pen and paper games. Mosiondz explains the differences in storytelling between pen and paper games and MMOs, and why it can be tricky to bring a story with lasting consequences to a massively multiplayer online game. Check out the Champions Online developer interview over at Examiner for more about what the Cryptic Studios super-hero title will offer.
Comics legend Marv Wolfman on his involvement with DC Universe Online
MTV Multiplayer's Stephen Totilo caught up with DC Universe Online writer Marv Wolfman last week, to discuss what he's bringing to the table on SOE's upcoming super-hero MMO. (Despite Totilo's good-natured ribbing, the comics-industry veteran is certain his writing on DCUO will be able to top his resurrection of Optimus Prime in the original Transformers animated series, which some of our readers may remember.)Details about the game's storyline are scarce, as Wolfman hasn't begun working with the developers yet. As of last week, he was delving into the storyline written by Geoff Johns in preparation for turning that story into the missions (and capers) that players will run in DCUO. Wolfman hopes to create a sense that each mission or battle isn't a stand-alone event, and rather has some integration into a much larger story. Another challenge Wolfman is tasked with is striking a balance between keeping fans of DC comics titles happy, while keeping the game accessible to those who aren't necessarily well-versed in DC comic book canon. Check out the MTV Multiplayer piece on Marv Wolfman and his role in fleshing out DC Universe Online. Did you enjoy this? We've donned our capes and tights to explore SOE's DC Universe Online in-depth. Come explore more of Metropolis and Gotham with your friends at Massively!
Cryptic Studios profiles Champions Online artist Brad Stokan
Cryptic Studios has been running a "Meet the Team" series of profiles of their developers working on Champions Online. The latest Q&A is with Brad Stokan, the Lead Character Artist for Champions Online. He discusses what he does at Cryptic Studios and what led him to the industry in the first place. Although it's a rather lighthearted interview, Stokan offers some solid advice for artists who want to break into the gaming industry. He points out what he sees as the pitfalls many fall into when honing their skills and trying to get their work recognized by potential employers. His final piece of advice? Stokan says, "Play Champions, because we need to eat. Also, never give up your dream of working in games, kid!" Check out "Meet the Team: Brad Stokan" for more about the Champions Online Lead Character Artist.[Via MMORPG.com]
DC Universe Online and its appeal to female gamers
The days when comic books and video games were predominantly male pastimes are thankfully fading into memory, and the growing number of women gamers in the MMO space drives this point home. But are these games "female-friendly?" According to MTV Multiplayer, we may see Sony Online Entertainment reach out to women with DC Universe Online. Tracey John recently interviewed DCUO creative director Jens Andersen and senior producer Wes Yanagi about what the upcoming title may have to offer women beyond some of the in-your-face combat we've been seeing lately in the DCUO footage. Andersen says DC Universe Online won't just be about clobbering the hell out of your opponents. Rather healing, buffing, and support in the game are designed to be far more engaging, not simply stats shown in the interface. Andersen believes that these elements of gameplay, combined with extensive character customization will draw more women to the super-hero title.
DC Universe Online video shows open PvP gameplay as a villain
Most of the video footage seen of DC Universe Online to date focuses on the setting's iconic heroes and the role a player can take in assisting them. While taking down the bad guys in a game is fun, sometimes it's good to be bad, as the newest gameplay footage we've seen of DCUO from New York Comic Con shows us.We were pretty excited when we noticed this over at Limited Edition today and it's certainly worth a look if you're into the superhero games genre. The GameTrailers video is a walkthrough of an open PvP area, from the perspective of a psychotic clown with psi-blasts, blazing speed, and freakish strength. Need I say more? Check out the video embed below for a look at DC Universe Online's PvP mixed in with developer commentary on what you're seeing.
Cryptic Studios tweeting from New York Comic Con
Among the MMO developers who will be at this year's New York Comic Con is Cryptic Studios, who are producing the much-anticipated titles Champions Online and Star Trek Online. Their studio's site announced that they'll be using Twitter at NYCC, so those of you out there who can't make the trip to New York (or simply aren't willing to deal with the East Coast winter) can follow what they're doing or announcing at their booth, and of course during the panels. The main twitters coming from Cryptic Studios are through http://twitter.com/CrypticStudios, but other members of the studio's team can be obsessively monitored as well: CrypticZinc Cryptic_chrono CrypticAwen CrypticFireCait Remotely stalking your favorite devs has never been easier! But if you're in town, you can check out the Cryptic Meet and Greet at NYCC on Saturday, February 7th, between 1pm and 2pm EST.
Comic book legend Marv Wolfman joins DC Universe Online writing team
When you think of notable people in the comic book industry being involved with DC Universe Online, the first names that jump out -- probably in this order -- are Jim Lee and Geoff Johns. But another comic book legend has joined the DCUO team: prolific writer Marv Wolfman. Wolfman's career in comics spans decades, in fact he broke into the industry at DC Comics in 1968. Since that time he's been involved with numerous comics (and characters) that have made it into mainstream entertainment, such as Blade and Teen Titans. According to our sister site Big Download, "Wolfman's job will be to expand and add onto the storylines and plots that have been created for the game by fellow comic book writer Geoff Johns." Did you enjoy this? We've donned our capes and tights to explore SOE's DC Universe Online in-depth. Come explore more of Metropolis and Gotham with your friends at Massively!
Jim Lee on his influence over DC Universe Online
When it comes to the super-hero genre in massively multiplayer online games, two new names seem to be on the lips and hearts of all man-children (and we're hoping a fair number of women, too): Champions Online and DC Universe Online. The latter title is of particular interest, given how it builds on the DC Universe comics legacy which is significantly older than your average gamer. Given how much comics legend Jim Lee is involved with fleshing out the DC setting into an online world as the title's Executive Creative Director, Gamasutra's Brandon Sheffield interviewed Lee about the extent and scope of his influence over the game. The interview is a good read, showing us a bit about Lee's approach to DC Universe Online, both in terms of his overarching view of how the game should be, and his attention to detail. It also touches upon what it's like for Lee to step away from the flexibility he's always had with 2D, and into the more concrete 3D of game design. Did you enjoy this? We've donned our capes and tights to explore SOE's DC Universe Online in-depth. Come explore more of Metropolis and Gotham with your friends at Massively!
Jim Lee on how he came to work on DC Universe Online
Comic book fans and gamers looking forward to DC Universe Online are likely familiar with the work of Jim Lee. What some comic fans may be less familiar with is Lee's interest in videogames, even before he got involved with DCUO as Executive Creative Director. Indeed, Jim Lee's twin passions in life are comics and videogames, he said in an interview with 1UP's Billy Berghammer. Lee discusses how he came to work on a project that brought those passions together -- DC Universe Online -- and what he's doing to breathe life into the game. The interview ranges from Lee's first steps into the comic book industry to creating the best-selling comic book in history, and beyond. Lee also brings up some of the goals he and the DC Universe Online team have in terms of storytelling, including the introduction of tertiary characters from the DC universe that haven't ever been featured in videogames before. (Ambush Bug and The Metal Men, we're looking at you.) "Introducing this to a crowd of gamers that never has seen these characters before is really exciting. Putting them in context and creating storylines with these characters is really the fun part of working on this game, and we're in the meat of it," Lee says.
