Torchlight
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New Torchlight MMO details come to light
Finally, some news on the MMO offshoot of Runic Games' exceptional (and popular) dungeon-crawler, Torchlight. Speaking with PC Gamer UK for its upcoming cover story on the game, Runic boss Travis Baldree confirmed that this free-to-play, massively-multiplayer apple won't fall far from its single-player tree. Saying that the game's creators are out to make "an MMO that plays as close to single player as we can get it," Baldree expounded by adding, "It will have the same focus on relatively fast action: carving your way through hordes of monsters with a large number of hugely devastating skills." Skills that "make [players] useful in a party and make them work together" when not going it solo. Baldree also flat-out stated that he "will never, ever buy a microtransaction item" -- the game's revenue system, by the way -- indicating that Runic has something unique up its sleeve when adding, "We don't want our monetisation stuff to offer ways to skip the game because the game is boring." We take it that means no paying to unlock everything in the game.
Travis Baldree talks Torchlight MMO
Runic Games and Torchlight designer Travis Baldree open up about their Torchlight MMORPG in the new issue of PC Gamer that hits newsstands this week. The hit single-player game will serve as inspiration for a solo-able massively multiplayer title. "Our vision is to have an MMO that plays as close to single player as we can get it. It will have the same focus on relatively fast action: carving your way through hordes of monsters with a large number of hugely devastating skills. The game has to be solo-able, but players will have to have skills that make them useful in a party and make them work together," Baldree says. The title will also feature a microtransaction payment model, which, ironically enough, its creator despises. "I will never, ever buy a microtransaction item," Baldtree states. "I'm that kind of player. And the game has to be enjoyable for me, too. We don't want our monetisation stuff to offer ways to skip the game because the game is boring." Check out the teaser announcement on PC Gamer's website.
This week on the MMO Report
The MMO Report this week is chocked full of pre-E3 goodness, and Casey Schreiner wants to tell you all about it! How are you preparing for E3? Casey and the rest of the MMO Report crew are staying up late and gaming early. Although, they took time out of their exhausting schedule of coffee and mouse clicking to fill our heads with the latest SWTOR Advance Classes propaganda and Guild Wars 2 world changing events. Because most of us are computer inept, WoW demanded Casey give pun-filled detailed instructions on how to sign up for the Cataclysm beta. If you play it back slowly, you can follow along. Casey expresses his soft-spot for Torchlight especially when Perfect World and Runic form a bond. Plus, viewers predict the future of MMOs and feel around in Casey's Mailbag. All this and more in G4TV's The MMO Report. Oh! Don't forget to snag your fart/laugh ringtone.
Torchlight sales surpass 500,000 units
Gamasutra reports that in the weeks preceding its launch on the shiny new Steam for Mac client, Runic Games' top-down RPG Torchlight hit a pretty substantial milestone. Since its launch last October the game, which typically sells for $20, has been purchased over 500,000 times. We imagine Perfect World, the game's publishing partner that recently purchased a majority stake in Runic, is pleased as punch about reaching the sales milestone. You should be, too -- in honor of hitting the half-million mark, and in celebration of the game's launch on Mac, you can grab Torchlight on Steam for $10 for a limited time.
Perfect World Entertainment invests in Torchlight MMO
Torchlight received quite a bit of attention last year when Runic Games announced that they would be releasing the game as a single-player, with an eye for MMO development in the next 18 months or so. Since then, Torchlight has done very well for itself: Runic Games recently announced that they had sold over 500,000 units. The success inspired confidence in publisher Perfect World Entertainment, who solidified their commitment by purchasing an $8.4 million majority stake in Runic Games. PWE -- best known for their Perfect World MMO and more recently Battle of the Immortals -- is the publisher of the Torchlight MMO and the game itself can be found under the Perfect World banner. PWE hopes that the combined expertise of the two companies will spell success for both: "By collaborating more closely with Runic's professional team, we seek to combine their creativity and expertise in game development with our deep understanding of the online game market to create global titles."
Perfect World grabs majority share in Torchlight developer
Perfect World, a China-based developer and publisher of several MMOs, revealed today it has acquired "a majority stake" in Runic Games for approximately $8.4 million. Runic is the studio that spawned from the ashes of Hellgate: London's Flagship Studios and is best-known for Torchlight, its single-player Diablo-inspired action-RPG. Previously, in April 2009, Runic had entered an agreement that made Perfect World the exclusive worldwide publisher of Torchlight. Considering Perfect World is primarily an MMO publisher, it's fairly obvious the company gobbled up the majority stake in Runic in anticipation of the developer's Torchlight MMO, which is reportedly about two years away. With this acquisition, Perfect World has stated that it seeks to "create global titles" -- so more Hot Dance Party MMOs then?
Steam for Mac now live, Portal free, Lucasarts adventures included
The Steam for Mac store is now live, and Mac users can not only download the Steam client, but pick up a number of new-to-Mac games. As I said yesterday, both Portal and Torchlight are available, and both of them are brilliant. In fact, until May 24th, Portal is actually completely free. You have zero excuses at this point -- go download the client and get that game. LucasArts also announced this morning that a bunch of their old adventure titles, including Indiana Jones and the Fate of Atlantis, as well as the excellent Loom, are also available via Steam for Mac. There's also a great pack of indie games available if that's more your speed, and Telltale also has a bundle of their Tales of Monkey Island games, along with the latest Sam and Max episode. All of these titles are releasing under the new Steam Play program, too, which means that if you buy them on one platform, you can play them on any others as well. So if you already own Portal or Torchlight, odds are that you can simply install the Steam client (right here), and then download them to play on your Mac. Finally, after all of these years, it is an amazing day to be a Mac gamer.
Steam for Mac, Portal, Torchlight out tomorrow
Tomorrow's the big day: Valve's Steam platform is officially coming to the Mac, and it's bringing two of my favorite games along with it. Portal is the first one -- hopefully if you're a gamer you've already played it, but it was my absolute favorite game of 2007 and one of the best games I've played in the last five years. Runic Games' terrific Torchlight is also along for the ride. It's a Diablo-style hack and slash game (created by a few ex-Blizzard guys) that is another must-play. The best part is that both of these are "Steam Play" titles, which means that if you already own them on Steam for Windows, you own them on Steam for Mac as well. Engadget posted a nice roundup recently of Steam for Mac impressions, but the bottom line is that it's exactly the same as the PC version, so if you've used it on Windows, you'll know what you're in for. And on the eve of the occasion, Wired has a funny little writeup of how these games will differ on Apple's platform. For instance, Portal's GLaDOS voiceover will actually replaced with Steve Jobs, and the portal guns available in the game will only create entrances, not exits. At first, Steve will tell you that exits aren't really necessary, but then they'll later be patched in via software in three to six months. Funny.
Steam for Mac rolls out tomorrow, Portal and Torchlight in tow
With PC games continuously losing retail shelf space and Mac games having little shelf space to begin with, Steam presents the first significant distribution platform, digital or otherwise, the Mac gaming platform has seen in years (ever?). It remains to be seen if Steam for Mac and Steamworks – the platform's suite of tools covering everything from copy protection, anti-cheat support, and key-based authentication to Steam community, Steam Cloud, and microtransactions – will be enough to encourage publishers to incur the added expense of porting games to the Mac OS X platform but tomorrow's launch offerings are certainly promising. Valve says that, in addition to the games launching tomorrow, on "subsequent Wednesdays, additional collections of Mac titles will become available, each designed to highlight specific functionalities of Steam on the Mac." The first collection will highlight "Steam Play," meaning games that work on all "Steam supported platforms," currently Windows and Mac OS. Valve identified its own Portal and the Diablo-esque Torchlight as launch titles, the only two to be officially announced. The Steam for Mac beta client reveals over three dozen "Mac games," all currently available via Steam on Windows. Notable entries include LucasArts classics like The Dig, Indiana Jones and the Fate of Atlantis, and Loom, some of Telltale's episodic offerings, including the most recent installment of Sam & Max and the entire first season of Tales of Monkey Island, and several PopCap titles, like Peggle Deluxe, Peggle Nights, and Bejeweled 2. Also listed and currently playable (unlike every other listing in the Mac beta, short of Portal) is Team Fortress 2, though it's curiously not mentioned in Valve's press release which heralds Portal as "the first of Valve's Source engine based games available on the Mac." Notably still missing from this list are Valve's Half-Life and Left 4 Dead series, PopCap's already-Mac-compatible Plants vs. Zombies, and plenty of other Mac-compatible titles currently on Steam. This forum thread has a nice list of potential Steam Mac games, and we've asked Valve to comment on how many of the currently listed games will be available tomorrow. Check out of a screenshot of the Mac store, as it looks today in its beta state, after the break.
Direct2Drive's Spring Sale: Star Trek Online, Civ 4, Torchlight and more discounted
Once again, downloadable gaming retailer Direct2Drive has chosen to reduce the price of a whole gaggle of its offerings. Encheapened titles as part of the "Spring Sale" include interstellar MMO Star Trek Online ($29.95), Nazi-vanquishing sim The Saboteur ($14.95), mine-raiding RPG Torchlight ($9.95), world-dominating strategy title Civilization 4: Complete Edition ($9.95) and every X-Com game ever made, except for, you know, the new one ($4.95). To see the complete list of discounted games, click past the jump. Now look, Direct2Drive. You really, really need to chill out with all of these sales. If you keep discounting the prices of your games with such regularity, then people are going to start thinking that these are your normal going rates for these titles. During the off-times when you're not holding a sale, they're going to start thinking that you're just having a temporary ... expensiveization. That can't possibly be good for business.
First Impressions: Pocket Legends
On paper, Pocket Legends is just one of many free-to-play fantasy MMOs that litter the gaming landscape, a little blip that is otherwise drowned out by the noise of its peers. On paper, Pocket Legends is skimpy in standard MMO features: only three classes, no customizable avatars, completely instanced, and a maximum of four skills on your hotbar. On paper, it might be a passing diversion, except for one little detail: Pocket Legends is the first truly successful 3D MMORPG for mobile devices. And that makes all the difference, my friends. Several of us here at Massively have been devouring Pocket Legends since it was released this past week, first for the iPad, then for the iPhone and iPod Touch. The general consensus is that for what it lacks, this micro-MMO has the most important quality of all: it's genuinely fun and addictive. Hit the jump for more detailed first impressions!
Torchlight only $5 on Steam, you should buy it
Joystiq editors generally agree, Torchlight is one delightful little game. Anyone who enjoys a good dungeon-crawling action RPG should really give it a try, especially those looking for something to pass the time between now and Diablo 3. While it was already reasonably priced at $20, Steam has slashed the price to a ridiculously low $5 until Monday. At that price it's a definite, solid buy. Seriously, there's no need for deliberation here. Just go buy it.
Runic Games 'putting serious effort' into console Torchlight
Speaking to The Rumble Pack, Runic Games CEO Max Schaefer declared that his company is actively pursuing a console port of its PC action RPG, Torchlight. "We're going to put some serious effort into it -- pretty quick -- getting Torchlight onto consoles," said Schaefer. "There's a lot of really cool things about the console world, too, that would work well with our game," he added, "So, we are definitely going to be going in that direction." He offered no specifics on the project, saying only that the company is "talking to a million people" and that it's "something we definitely want to do. We were quite taken with Torchlight when it released on PC last year -- the game landed more than a few of our staff's best of 2009 lists -- so here's hoping we'll get some more details soon.
The Daily Grind: Characters go around again?
One of the features that's become more and more de rigeur for single-player games is the concept of a "new game plus," a second go-through of the game with all of the abilities and equipment you picked up the first time around. In some cases, you can't even actually play the full game until you've managed to beat it once, at which point you earn a number of rewards that would have been useful to beat the game the first time around. (Insert your own jokes about boss loot here.) Kill Ten Rats recently suggested the idea of allowing a similar mechanic in MMORPGs, borrowing from games such as Torchlight that allow you to retire a character and pass benefits on to a new one. Certainly it has advantages -- we've all had a character or two that's sat at a level too high to be deleted that we don't want to play any longer, and it'd be nice to pass along something useful for the playtime. On the other hand, a forced cycle of leveling followed by retirement followed by another level grind could get tedious quickly. What do you think? Would this sort of feature be an enjoyable way to expand your character stable, or a searingly obnoxious grinding treadmill?
Final day of Steam Holiday Sale wraps up the best-sellers
Okay, this is it: The penultimate batch of offers in the long-running Steam Holiday Sale. For the final day of the long-running promotion, Valve has elected to re-encheapen some of the games that sold like hotcakes in the sale's earlier one-day discounts. Until 9 a.m. PST tomorrow, the following games will be available for the following prices: BioShock - $4.99 Grand Theft Auto IV - $7.49 Torchlight - $4.99 Left 4 Dead 2 - $33.49 Killing Floor - $4.99 Defense Grid: The Awakening - $2.49 S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Shadow of Chernobyl - $2.00 (Yes, two American dollars.)
Best of the Rest: Kevin's Picks of 2009
Halo Wars Yeah, that's right, Halo Wars. I've already caught enough flak for putting this on my best-of list for 2009 (it's hard to even remember that it came out way back in February), but it deserves to be recognized ... so pay attention once your laughter has died down. Ensemble Studios (RIP) proved that you could bring a real-time strategy game to a console, and still make it enjoyable. Sure, you'll never have 1:1 parity mapping everything a full-sized keyboard offers onto a controller, but this game came close. It's a pity Ensemble closed, since we'll never see any expansion packs or a sequel. The good news is that, since it wasn't received with blaring trumpets and the sounds of cash registers ringing, you can pick this up for under 20 bucks for some good fun.
Best of the Rest: Richard's Picks of 2009
Halo Wars Say what you will about the game's simplicity, or the brevity of the single-player campaign, but Ensemble Studios absolutely nailed console real-time strategy with Halo Wars. The controls work beautifully, allowing for the kind of granular management required in RTS games, and yet they remain simple enough for almost anyone to get the hang of the game. Add great online multiplayer and it's one tasty proposition. Frankly, I was so addicted to the Skirmish mode when reviewing the game that it ate into my work hours. Remembering that makes it harder to face the fact that Ensemble was shuttered once work on the game was complete. I can only hope that Robot is given the chance to further the series, or at least work the controls into an entirely new game.
Best of the Rest: Xav's Picks of 2009
Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars Upon release, Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars immediately found its way on my top five games of 2009. With its style, humor and variety it's clear Rockstar was trying to shine a new light on the popular franchise. Not only that, Rockstar took chances in hopes to attract a similar audience to a handheld GTA as it has on consoles. From a new class of criminal, fighting for honor and turf in Liberty City to an addictive (albeit, mostly cloned from Drugwars) illegal narcotic mini-game, Chinatown Wars felt like a breath of fresh air. Sadly, the game was a commercial disaster, relative to its console-based siblings. Be that as it may, Chinatown Wars was not only my favorite on-the-go game of the year, it was easily one of the best games to release across any platform in 2009.
Best of the Rest: Dave's Picks of 2009
Resident Evil 5 I've long been a fan of the Resident Evil series, and while the campaign here has problems and should never be played solo, the Mercenaries mode is what kept me coming back. Those action-packed levels spent trying to survive while running low on ammo and health were some of my most chaotic, yet highly enjoyable, experiences of 2009.
The psychology of a gamer's search for phat loot
Have you ever wondered what keeps gamers forever in search of the next great piece of loot, why WoW players have to find the last piece of that epic armor set, why Borderlands fiends constantly quest for a better gun? The answer, according to website pscychologyofgames.com, is all in the brain's neurotransmitters, specifically dopamine neurons. Put simply, dopamine neurons monitor dopamine, a chemical that accompanies good or pleasurable things -- like, say, finding some rare loot in Diablo. Dopamine neurons subsequently try to predict when good things will happen in the future. The site further notes that dopamine neurons "really go nuts when an unexpected, unpredicted gush of dopamine shows up, giving you an even bigger rush." In other words, unexpectedly stumbling on that rare item brings even more pleasure and causes the brain to want to repeat the process. To put it even more simply, the site states that the reaction is similar to the one many people get when playing a slot machine. Winning is entirely random, but that doesn't stop the brain from trying to figure out a pattern. Just be glad you're not popping a quarter into the disc drive every time there's a loot drop. Not yet, at least. [Via GamePolitics]
