Latest Gaming and MMORPG Updates

Latest Gaming and MMORPG Updates

NCsoft buys over Pangya and Trickster developer

Posted: 15 Feb 2012 08:05 AM PST


Earlier today in the financial call, NCsoft confirmed the purchase of 76% shares of Korean developer Ntreev. The deal is reportedly worth a cool USD 96.7 million. Ntreev is well-known in the English market for titles including Trickster and Pangya, and more recently is own English MMO portal, GameRage (link). 1 of the company’s most recent casual games include Alicia (link) as well, but what is the reason for NCsoft buying the company?

Well, casual gaming is one thing which NCsoft obvisouly failed terribly over the past few years (Dragonica Korea, Exteel etc), with the recent closure of Punch Monster (a MapleStory/ Grand Chase hybrid) as proof. Another core reason the takeover happened is due to Ntreev’s experience in developing Baseball Manager Online (below), which is a top earning game in Korea with sales hitting over USD 2.5 million on the record month.


NCsoft recently formed the 13th team (NC Dinos) in the professional Korean baseball league (link), hence there are links here as well. Ntreev has got deep ties with Japanese gaming company SEGA as well due to various baseball games collaborations, and NCsoft will not have a chance to deepen the working relationship. Ntreev is also an established online games publisher in Korea, with the most recent titles captured being Heroes of Newerth (HoN) and Age of Wulin Korea (link). To add on, Ntreev is also developing Power Rangers Online (link).

All in all, a big year ahead for NCsoft with Blade Soul confirmed to begin commercial service before mid 2012 later this year, and Guild Wars 2 confirmed to launch before the year ends. Good times indeed for NCsoft, definitely.

Sennheiser Launches “The Write Stuff” Competition

Posted: 15 Feb 2012 08:05 AM PST

Sennheiser Launches Gaming peripheral manufacturer Sennheiser and eSports website Cadred.org have launched an exciting new competition for budding games journalists. It's called "The Write Stuff" and invites gamers from all over Europe to apply for an internship at Cadred, detailing their gaming interests, reasons why they want the internship and any previous journalism experience.

The application process is open now, and closes on 1 April 2012 after which a shortlist of ten candidates will be selected to write about what Sennheiser's latest  product for gamers, the PC 320 headset, brings to online competitive gaming. These articles will be presented to the gaming community on Cadred.org for a public vote, which will have a strong impact on the decision made by the judging panel.

The winner gets a three-month paid internship (at a rate of £200 a month), a fortnightly column on Cadred and mentoring from Richard Lewis and Michael McGhee. The internship will start on 1 May with an expenses-paid trip to the i45 LAN gaming event and will go on to report on the most prestigious online gaming tournaments.

"For me it is vitally important to nurture the next generation of writing talent within the world of esports," said Richard Lewis, Editor in Chief for Cadred.org. "The journalists are the front line in promoting competitive gaming as a whole; without talented and dedicated journalists the world of esports would be an awful lot bleaker, and there's plenty of untapped potential out there."

"The competitive gaming scene has gone from strength to strength over the past decade, and is an incredibly exciting place to be right now," said Charlotte Gaskin, Sennheiser Channel Marketing Manager. "We strive to give gamers the best audio products on the market, and in partnering with Cadred we are able to continue our support for the gaming community; we can't wait to see what talent we find."

You can apply for the competition yourself on the official The Write Stuff webpage.


Posted by: admin in Gaming News
Find related article at: http://www.totalpcgaming.com/latest-pc-news/sennheiser-launches-the-write-stuff-competition/

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The Vita Launch Round-Up: Part Two

Posted: 15 Feb 2012 02:04 AM PST

Yesterday, we posted some reviews and capsule impressions on about half of the PlayStation Vita’s launch lineup. As you might have noticed, it was a pretty Sony CEA-centric half. Today, the embargo has lifted for pretty much everything else. Some other reviews and posts will go live as embargos lift, but in the meantime, here are our not-quite-reviews of a lot of third-party Vita games.

Army Corps of Hell
It’s not the Pikmin game we want… but maybe it’s the Pikmin game we deserve. Army Corps may wear the Square Enix name and make you want to bang your head and make devil horns with your fingers, but make no mistake: This is a game designed very much in the spirit of Nintendo’s RTS classics for GameCube (thanks in large part to sharing key creative personnel). Still, despite the similarity of play mechanics — you’re a dude who controls dozens of little minions divided into three different classes with distinct abilities, and you attack foes by chucking your servants at them — don’t go thinking this is just Pikmin with a Satan-colored coat of paint. It’s a far more linear kind of experience than its inspiration, more akin to a time attack or boss rush than Pikmin’s leisurely exploration was. That doesn’t make it bad; merely different. We’re still working on our full review of the game, but if you can stomach its rather high price tag it’s definitely one of the most notable and entertaining selections of the Vita launch lineup.

Asphalt Injection
Gameloft’s Asphalt Injection brings the charms of simple iOS racing series to Vita at a much higher price point than the App Store. It’s true that Asphalt controls well on Sony’s new portable, and offers fun touch control schemes that take advantage of the Vita’s many features. But on the visual front, Asphalt injects little effort — presenting a bland set of environments, cars, and game mechanics. It’s still a fun game to play, but the lack of worthwhile visuals makes the $29.99 price tag a questionable purchase.

BlazBlue: Continuum Shift II Extend
BlazBlue serves as a fine 2D portable fighting game alternative to Ultimate Marvel vs Capcom. Consider this the “definitive” version of Continuum Shift — which has already undergone its fair share of re-releases. Learning the intricacies of 19 characters (plus new ones like weirdo puppeteer Rellius Clover) across 11 modes (including cross-platform play and a crazy hard “Unlimited Mars” mode from the arcade version) will likely keep you busy. The option to use touch controls exists, but it feels like a complete afterthought or a feature-by-obligation — you’ll just want to stay with using analog sticks and buttons. While diehard fans who have every previous version will notice how this one doesn’t add a whole lot new, it’s still a great to have a damn good (and gorgeous) 2D fighting game for the system.

Dungeon Hunter Alliance
Looking for a great co-op RPG experience on your Vita? Well… keep looking. Dungeon Hunter isn’t a terrible game, but it’s not particularly good, either. It certainly does nothing to show off the capabilities of your shiny new Vita; the game is a recycled port of a smartphone game, and its visuals look decidedly sub-par for a PSP, let alone Vita. Despite its smudgy textures and blocky characters, it chugs in places, and its teensy-tiny screen font is basically an exercise in eyestrain. For those desperate to do some loot-grinding on Vita, it’s a quick fix, but we’d rather save our pennies for a rainy day in the hopes that the rain will bring a PSN port of Torchlight or something.


Posted by: admin in Gaming News
Find related article at: http://www.1up.com/features/vita-launch-round-up-part-two

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Wizardry Online (JP)

Posted: 15 Feb 2012 01:26 AM PST


As you might have known, Wizardry, the gaming franchise from the 1980s’, was made into an online game by the current IP owner, Gamepot Japan. After a few Closed Beta tests, the game is now set for Open Beta in Japan on October 7th. This hardcore title with permanent player death will also be reaching English shores in the future (link). I am not sure if it will be under Gamepot USA, as the company’s game catalog is really… depressing at the moment (link).

However, players must first purchase the Wizardry Online client at a price of 3990 Japanese Yen (USD 52.09) to activate the game. This essentially make the title a Buy to Play (B2P) with a Cash Shop. The 2 Dwarven races will not be available for selection during this phase. More information about the game can be found here (link).


Posted by: admin in Gaming News
Find related article at: http://www.mmoculture.com/2011/09/wizardry-online-jp-open-beta-dated.html

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Touch My Katamari Review: Not as Clever as It Wants to be

Posted: 14 Feb 2012 02:03 PM PST

“Some say I’ve been lazy,” admits the King of All Cosmos in the opening sequence of Touch My Katamari. “Phoning it in.” This is meant to be hilarious — that crazy King, always so pompous, yet vain enough to be stung by criticism! — but the wittiness of the whole thing is badly undermined by the fact that Touch My Katamari is lazy. Namco is, in fact, phoning it in.

Of course, the best parody is that which rings of the truth. In that sense, sure, this game is pretty parodic. Damningly so, I’d say. The problem is that I don’t think it was meant to be self-satire; certainly it’s not an exercise in self-reflection. All this talk of apathy and flabbiness are meant to be loving, tongue-in-cheek pokes at the character, not a frank assessment of the software itself. So, it’s either a joke that reflects a jarring lack of self-awareness by the developers, or else it’s a snide middle finger to the player: Yeah, this game is warmed-over, recycled content, but we’re gonna fix that! By… making you do the exact same things you did in the last five Katamari games. Thanks for the 30 bones, suckers.



Posted by: admin in Gaming News
Find related article at: http://www.1up.com/reviews?cId=3186716

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F2 : Floating Fortress (KR)

Posted: 14 Feb 2012 02:03 PM PST


Do note that this is for the Korean server only. As reported yesterday, the development arm of Gala Net, Gala Lab, teased FlyFF’s sequel with an artwork poster. Today, F2 has been confirmed after the opening of the game’s main website, but it is known as “Floating Fortress” instead.Below are the few main classes players will get to choose. Looking familiar?


As quoted from various Korean websites, this supposed sequel of FlyFF will bring in almost all features found in the original, but each now enhanced to meet modern gamers’ needs. Castle sieges, aerial combat, mass PvP and PvE grounds… These are just some of the features confirmed.


Posted by: admin in Gaming News
Find related article at: http://www.mmoculture.com/2012/02/f2-floating-fortress-kr-brief-details.html

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Watch 1UP Play the Battlefield 3 Beta

Posted: 14 Feb 2012 01:26 PM PST

The Battlefield 3 Beta goes live for the entire world on Thursday, but a handful of individuals (including those who pre-ordered the game on Origin) are getting early access starting on Tuesday. 1UP will be playing the Beta starting at 11 AM PST and you can check out the game, and get our impressions live right here. Hop into the UStream channel to ask questions (or point out how much we suck at the game). You can also contact us on Twitter via @1UP.

To reiterate:

What: 1UP plays the Battlefield 3 Beta two days early.

When: Tuesday at 11 AM PST

Where: Right here at this very URL – http://www.1up.com/news/watch-1up-play-battlefield-3


Posted by: admin in Gaming News
Find related article at: http://www.1up.com/news/watch-1up-play-battlefield-3

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