web
Latest
Star Wars: The Old Republic goes Web 2.0
It's never been easier for an MMO to promote itself with the growing prevalence of social networking plaforms. Star Wars: The Old Republic, only officially announced this week, has already established a following on Facebook. It's also on the usual suspect MySpace, and you can follow BioWare's frequent Twitter updates on the game. Star Wars: The Old Republic also has a Flickr photostream up and running. BioWare has stated that even more is on the way, with plans for a YouTube Channel as well as Digg and Delicious integration. It seems that most in-development MMOs are seizing onto the fact that Web 2.0 and all that it brings are crucial to making gamers aware of what they're doing. Is it overkill? You decide. But it should be interesting to see how MMOs leverage social networks as time goes on. A good example of what's possible may very well be what's happening right now in Superstruct, a multiplayer game played out almost entirely over social networks and the web. Interesting times. BioWare has finally unveiled Star Wars: The Old Republic, their new MMO! Massively's got you covered on all the details -- from liveblogging the announcement to screenshot galleries and more. Join us in the Galaxy far, far away!
Mobile Firefox (Fennec) alpha officially goes live
We knew the Fennec alpha was but moments away from release, but at long last, the wait is over. Mozilla has crafted a dedicated page for the early, early version of Mobile Firefox along with release notes, known issues, tips / tricks and installation instructions. Speaking of which, this release was made to be used solely on the N800 or N810 Internet Tablet from Nokia, though there are versions available for Windows, OS X and Linux computers in case you want to dabble from the comfort of your desktop / laptop. We won't bother keeping you any longer -- feast your eyes on the links below for all sorts of long-awaited mobile browsing goodness.[Via NetworkWorld]Read - Mozilla Fennec pageRead - Fennec video walkthroughRead - Fennec on Windows Mobile screenshot
Firefox Mobile for Windows Mobile screenshots emerge, excitement builds
What else can we say? Sure, 2010 is a long ways out, but you knew good and well alpha / beta versions of Firefox Mobile would emerge long before then, right? Here we have the first living proof that Firefox Mobile (or Fennec, as it were) is alive and well for Windows Mobile, albeit in decidedly alpha form. Currently, the browser is managing an 88 out of 100 on the strenuous Acid3 test, which surely ain't bad for a handset-stricken browser. Hit the read link for a few more looks, and cross your fingers for a beta release sooner rather than later.
Digia @Web goes gold, UIQ gets serious browsing power
As smartphone platforms go, UIQ is a pretty underserved one; it just doesn't command enough of a following (by either manufacturers or end users) to justify boatloads of serious third-party development. That's why we're especially delighted to see that Digia's @Web, a Webkit-based browser with touch control and desktop-grade rendering capabilities, has emerged from beta and gone live. The full version's not a free download -- you'll pay 8 (about $11) for the privilege, in fact -- but for diehard UIQers looking for a way to rock the interwebs, this is probably the ticket. [Thanks, All About Symbian]
AGDC08: Devs on why MMOs have a web-based future
A write-up at Gamasutra of an AGDC panel featuring MMO developers who have begun working on web-based projects gives us an opportunity to explore the new (some would say it's actually the old) frontier of massively multiplayer gaming.There are many MMOs that are experienced via a web interface (such as Sherwood), but traditional gamers have largely shunned the trend. Why, then, did some of the most hardcore MMO developers (including Dan Ogles, Raph Koster, and Scott Hartsman) abandon the traditional MMO in favor of this new frontier? Some of their work, like Ogles' Loudcrowd, is barely recognizable to traditional gamers.They offered some answers on the panel. For example, Koster (originally of Ultima Online and Star Wars Galaxies fame, now working on the creative platform MetaPlace) said that game devs have more to learn from web devs than vice versa. Ogles talked about using Adobe Flash so anyone can embed elements of the game anywhere on the web they like. It's worth a read if you're able to work through some pretty technical development speech.
Sandvox 1.5 is now available
Sandvox is the WYSIWYG web editor from Karelia that's won praises from users and the design community (including an Apple Design Award) alike. You can read our previous coverage here.This week, Karelia has released version 1.5, which offers a slew of changes. You can use Sandvox to publish to any webhost (including FTP, SFTP and MobileMe) or create a blog. The pro version lets you edit the HTML and both the pro and basic version include attractive templates that you'll actually want to use. Changes to version 1.5 include Major improvements to media processing, making it easier than ever to create and publish multimedia and media-intensive sites Improvements to all pagelets, including an enhanced Contact Form and a brand new YouTube pagelet Seven all-new designs, plus enhancements to other designs, bringing the total to 50 New blogging features, including a Collection Archives pagelet to better manage and display older entries, automatic navigation links between entries, and "continue reading" links to better manager longer entries There's much more, and you can read the full release notes here. As we said, Sandvox is a very nice tool for people who want to put up a page or site with no fuss. Sandvox requires Mac OS 10.4 or later, is a Universal Binary and comes in both pro ($79US) and standard ($49US) versions. Version 1.5 is a free upgrade for registered users.
Scattered Shots: Pet talent trees in the Wrath Beta
Welcome to another edition of Scattered Shots, the other WoW Insider weekly Hunter column. Daniel Whitcomb is your guest host again this week. So, we theorized about talented pets a bit quite a few installments of Scattered Shots ago, but now we have the actual trees live and testable on the Wrath Beta, and they seem to be firming up nicely. There's a few promised changes yet to come, such as the removal or lowering of focus costs on many major abilities and talents, and it's still very possible that Blizzard may make changes here and there before live, but I think they're solid enough at this point that we can look at each tree and make some solid predictions about how people will use them and how various talent builds might look.
Will web-based interfaces become more popular on HDTV gear?
For those of us who have been around the block a time or two, we can distinctly remember just how hard WebTV fell. Granted, it is still around as MSN TV, but when is the last time you actually saw one being used? A new report put forth by ABI Research is asserting that web-based interfaces will soon become more popular than ever, potentially finding their way into set-top-boxes, standalone players, media streamers, etc. We've already seen RSS feeds and the like appearing on HDTVs, and the integration of Ethernet ports is certainly noticeable. Still, there seems to be a good deal of disconnect even now between bona fide internet content and HD programming, leaving us to wonder how accurate these suggestions really are. And furthermore, to what extent will being connected to the internet affect the way you utilize your living room TV?[Image courtesy of Ruel]
Skyfire for Symbian now in beta
While Skyfire continues to promise big things on the Windows Mobile front -- a front that needs as many high-quality browsers as it can get -- there's another beta getting underway at the company for a S60 version of its Flash-enabled web viewer. Like Opera Mini and Deepfish, Skyfire renders content server-side -- and in addition to Flash, it's packing support for Quicktime, Windows Media, Silverlight, and AJAX, so it should serve up a pretty PC-like experience. Unfortunately, that's an experience that only a select few in the private beta can enjoy at the moment, but Skyfire's now taking signups for Beta 2, so get in (or at least try to) while the gettin's good.[Via IntoMobile and Symbian Freak]
Wowhead unleashes Achievements, pet calcs, models
A full Achievements database is now live on Wowhead's Wrath of the Lich King site. When first I heard about this, I said (as you may be saying to yourselves now) "big deal, other sites have had achievements lists for a few days now." But you owe it to yourself to go check this out. They've taken their time to do it right as only Wowhead can, and it looks great, with complete information on achievement chains, meta achievements, point values, and just about anything you might want. "Shop Smart. Shop Pet... Smart" is a good example – it lists every pet that's valid for the achievement, all 103 of them. Attention to detail for the win.Blizzard has shown their usual flair in naming these things, too; my favorites include: Why? Because It's Red The Cake Is Not a Lie Bring Me the Head of... Oh Wait Make Love, Not Warcraft The Achievements listing includes Feats of Strength, zero-point achievements that may be unachievable in the current game (like old honor system ranks), or at least unachievable by most people. Among these are several "server firsts", such as being the first on your server to reach level 80 with a given class, or the first to kill a given boss. It's nice to see that this information is going to be memorialized somewhere besides blogs and realm forums. In other Wowhead news, talent calculators for the new Hunter pet talents are now available. Additionally, new weapons and armors now have 3D models viewable on the site (just click the "View in 3D" button on item pages), so you can check out what we'll all be seeing in a few short months. So far I haven't found anything that looks totally amazing, though I did come across something that looks rather like the walrus hat that Blizz seems to be fond of showing off in Death Knight promo pics.
E308: Social networking and web-games in Free Realms
For a game that's not actually browser-based (though it will only require a small download and stream content in the background, Free Realms is a client-based game), Free Realms will have an unprecedented amount of browser-based content. Free Realms will have all of the web content you would expect from a modern MMO... and some of the web content you would expect to see in a social networking application like Facebook. Each player will have an online player profile listing all of their in-game friends (with links that will launch the game client and take you right to your friends' location) and newsfeeds that give you information about what's going on with your character. Not even Free Realms' game elements are restricted to the client. Many mini-games will also be playable via the web -- and give you in-game benefits for doing so (as long as you're logged on). So if you played the Bejeweled-esque mini-game via the web during your lunch break, your character in-game would gain ore and experience.In-game, characters will connect through a non-traditional guild system. When we asked Lead Designer Laralyn McWilliams about guilds at E3, she informed us that SOE is "exploring other kinds of social arrangements, like different types of friends. So you could have your BFFs, your regular friends, and your family." They're also exploring a "club" system. McWilliams said, "Guilds are exclusive -- so we'd like to really recognize the fact that someone might want to be in the gardening club and the dog-lover's club and the ninja club. Those would all have collections associated with them because Free Realms is ultimately a collection. There's a collection of jobs, a collection of clubs... we're all about letting you collect things in the game and show off your achievements."%Gallery-27758%%Gallery-27753% Interested in Free Realms? Then check out all of our E3 coverage of SOE's latest free-to-play online game!
IBM project lets users make their own mobile versions of websites
Tired of waiting for your favorite bowling enthusiast website to finally release its long-awaited mobile optimized version? Yeah, we hear that -- but if a new IBM research project ever sees the light of day, maybe we can just fix that glitch ourselves. "Highlight" is a Firefox-based plug-in that allows end users to script common tasks on sites and boil them down to super simple mini-sites that are more easily digested on mobile browsers, at which point the new sites are copied up to a proxy server that would theoretically be hosted by IBM or another company. There could be some resistance from sites that aren't so keen on having their content re-hosted somewhere outside of their control, but it sounds like IBM is ready to push forward with the project if it generates enough interest. [Warning: PDF link][Via textually.org and PC World]
Digia @Web outed in beta form
Get your browsin' finger in championship condition, because it's about that time -- if UIQ's your weapon of choice, anyhow. The first beta of Digia's @Web finger-controlled browser for UIQ handsets has now been delivered as promised, though free registration is required on the company's site to get hooked up. If you have a chance to check it, do let us know how it goes, won't you?[Via All About Symbian]
The geography of WoW space
World of Warcraft has seen the rise of a massive community of diverse players. Most of us do not simply log into WoW, but visit a number of news sources, fan sites, and web-bases resources to stay on top of new developments in the game. Tim Howgego has created a map of the virtual WoW community. In this image he has categorized some of the most popular spaces that players visit outside of Azeroth. His map is divided into several areas:
Digia @Web brings finger-controlled web browsing to UIQ
If there are two words that are music to the ears of anyone looking to browse websites effectively on their phone, they've gotta be "WebKit" and "finger control." S60 Touch is moving Nokia squarely in that direction, and the other half of the Symbian puzzle, UIQ, is getting some love now as well. Digia is preparing its @Web browser, which claims to allow effective finger-based control of its WebKit-based browser -- though we're not lighting the fireworks and popping the champagne just yet since the effectiveness of finger control varies widely from implementation to implementation, and @Web's public beta won't be ready until some time later this month. Stay tuned, G900 owners (and G702 hopefuls).[Via PHONE Magazine]
Cyberlink Live to add web access to any DLNA device
Have all manner of DLNA-enabled equipment laying around, but want an easier way to access it whether at home or on the road? Cyberlink Live's personal web service plans an upgrade that will combine its existing remote access to content stored on a PC, with direct media access to your entire home media network, from a TV, NAS, DVR or anything else via your web browser. Slingboxes, PS3's remote play and other systems have helped enable media access from the next room or the next state, but we'll keep an eye out to see if our disparate hardware will be flying one flag when direct media access becomes part of the package in Q4 of this year.
Allakhazam gets a refresh
Well, this was certainly unexpected. Allakhazam, one of the WoW database sites that has been around the longest, has undergone a complete revamp. There are all sorts of new features, including: User-editable pages Tagging Profiles, with 3D model viewer and upgrade searching Not to mention a re-skin which makes it look much more up-to-date. That's not all – they're currently running a contest, wherein every contribution to their wiki, forum, or comments, for the entire month of June, has a chance to win one of the following: One of 72 60-day game cards One of three Wii Galaxy bundles Grand prize: a gamer-friendly laptop So go forth, and make Allakhazam a more complete site. Overall, I like the redesign; it makes Allakhazam feel much more relevant, and helps answer the quest of what's going to differentiate it from sister sites Wowhead and Thottbot. I'll still probably go to Wowhead most of the time, but that's just me.
A sketchpaper version of the iPhone
I don't design websites very often (I've done maybe five or six total), but whenever I do, the first thing I do isn't anywhere near the web: I grab a pad of paper and a pencil and sit down somewhere away from the computer to sketch out my ideas for how the design will go.Lots of developers will do the same thing with applications, and so, to help those developers, the folks at Labs.Boulevart were kind enough to put together sketchpaper versions of the iPhone. It's a free download (in PDF or Photoshop flavors) of just a bunch of images of the iPhone, left completely blank (sometimes with the MobileSafari and/or carrier bar on there) for designers of all kinds to sketch on and imagine with as they will.Very cool idea, and the number of different setups and implementations they've thought of is impressive -- just the kind of thing to get the iPhone creative development juices flowing. If you're doing any kind of design for iPhone applications, native or on the web, this should be a cool tool to use.
Blizzard web services down for maintenance
Blizzard's US websites and all related web services are currently down for a scheduled maintenance and should be up at around 5am PDT. This means that all US versions of Blizzard sites such as World of Warcraft, Starcraft 2, and web-accessible services such as account management and the Armory are down. Maybe when they come back up, we'll see some more visible changes to the site such as the aberrant switch to a Wrath of the Lich King theme of the official forums. Or maybe there'll be an abundance of small changes such as the minor tweaks to the Death Knight information page. Then again, it could just be nothing but a regular maintenance. We'll see in a few hours. At least Blizzard was nice enough this time around to actually put up a sign to say they'll be back.
Hobbits will enjoy the new Mines of Moria web game
Turbine has been rolling out web-based games to promote The Lord of the Rings Online's upcoming expansion, The Mines of Moria. The first two games -- King Under the Mountain and Swig and Toss -- had a Dwarven theme. Now, a brand new, Hobbit-themed game called Eleventy Seven Morsels has been unveiled.Eleventy Seven Morsels is sweet for its simplicity; all you do for the most part is pick up a morsel from the board -- simple, right? Well, there's a bit of strategy involved. Morsels you pick up are distributed around the board with a certain pattern, and you have to try to distribute them in your favor instead of your opponent's. If you visit the website, you can read the rules to see exactly what all that means.As was the case with the previous two games, avid players will receive a little something -- a poster featuring art from the expansion, in this case.
