Latest Gaming and MMORPG Updates |
- Capcom Reveals 3DS Spin-off to Lost Planet Series
- TERA Review
- Carmageddon Dev: Kickstarter ‘Not A Trivial Undertaking’ For UK Studios
- With Infinity Blade Dungeons, Epic Doubles Down on iOS
- Should We Expect Voice Acting In Every Game?
- Activision’s "Project Icebreaker" Could Hurt its Reputation Among Devs
- Big City Racer MMO Review
- Akai Katana Review: A Bleedin’ All Right Time
| Capcom Reveals 3DS Spin-off to Lost Planet Series Posted: 17 May 2012 09:46 PM PDT With Lost Planet’s roots firmly planted on consoles, it comes as a surprise that the series will soon be making a trip to portables in the form of E.X. Troopers for the Nintendo 3DS. Taking an anime-inspired look and featuring gameplay similar to its console brethren, it appears that the franchise will be bringing some familiar elements to Nintendo’s smaller screens. As sudden as the announcement is, Capcom seems to be taking an unexpected approach for the franchise on portables. The most jarring element of the whole trailer, though, can be found in the game’s distinct anime style; an attempt possibly made to attract the younger demographic of the 3DS’ audience, and to ensure the portable’s 3D features will pack as much of a punch as possible. Taking a Jet Set Radio aesthetic mixed with panels straight out of a comic book, the game is taking a new approach to presentation for the series that may be a good match for the platform. As random as this E.X. Troopers may seem, it could end up being a good match for the 3DS. With the title being developed for the 3DS (and with an anime-friendly art style at that), it’s easy to be reminded of the last big project Capcom developed for the 3DS, Mega Man Legends 3. With Legends’ cancellation, it may be presumptuous to assume, but one can’t help but wonder if E.X. Troopers could be the remnants of Legends’ canceled development. With Legends shuddered, something had to be done with all those assets and code, right? There’s no real way to know if this may be the case, but the title will probably be on display in some form or another at next month’s E3. Similar Article can be found at: http://www.1up.com/news/lost-planet-ex-video |
| Posted: 17 May 2012 03:45 PM PDT
Combat has often been the blot on the otherwise seamless fantasy presentation that MMOs inimitably have the ability to conjure. No matter how refined the mystical realm, how compelling a quest or how intrinsically allied the guild, a couple of clicks followed by a flutter of arbitrary numbers has always felt disjointed by comparison. TERA's combat system dispenses with such aloof mechanisms, instead replacing point-and-click manoeuvres with tactical, intuitive and diverse gameplay. Players direct action using a reticule – a concept seemingly far more preposterous in the genre than warlocks and ogres – enabling players to not only conduct action more accurately but gain an intense gratification from the system – which works both ways of course; death is rarely a result of anything other than the player's error. Straight away the game's prologue gives players a taste of the underlying potential of combat, dropping you in at level 20 with a variety of abilities depending on the class. It's a gracious way to sidestep the usual indecision that comes with picking classes – how do you know an Archer will suit your playstyle after ten-or-so hours invested into the game? You can't possibly, so it's a gentle introduction to a hefty time investment. It's also a great opportunity to have a toy with each of the classes. The more physical of which are well balanced, each mindful of the strengths and weaknesses of each other.
While BAMs come in many forms, this one's a giant enemy crab.For instance, Slayer is a predominantly offensive class (dealing hefty damage with a two-handed greatsword) but makes up for a lack of defensive capabilities with quick movements and a dodge ability. It also comes equipped with a useful attack that knocks down enemies, enabling other players to attack en masse. Other classes follow suit. Archers are proficient in long-range attacks, while Warrior is an even balance of offensive and defensive strength. Shame then that magical classes (Sorcerer, Mage and Priest) feel underpowered, seemingly designed to support at the concession of strong attacks. But a balanced team is crucial to a significant portion of TERA's design. Dungeons – especially those reached at higher levels – require an even balance of abilities and encourage healthy strategy discussions within your party. There's plenty of design flair in these cavernous pits, housing bad-ass monsters (the in-game term for bosses – BAM for short) from basilisks, frost giants and dragons. They are exquisitely designed, awe-inspiring creations, fuelling a huge amount of anticipation and trepidation as you embark on the next raid. In fact, you'll rarely find an MMO that features such a diverse and vibrant range of landscapes as TERA, with charming inhabitants ranging from the brutish Humans and Barakas, to cutesy bear-like Poppori and bunny-eared Elin that populate each district. Magical classes feel underpowered compared to the more physical characters.It's certainly a cut above the standard design whims of MMOs, so it's a shame that it drops the ball when it comes to the story. While it significantly picks up the pace as you near the level cap (and it's certainly one of the quickest MMOs in terms of progression), the lore is often too dense and the quests too mundane to fully engage players. Professions appear to be an oversight as well, with blacksmithing, alchemy and the like requiring far too high a price of gold and demanding excessive resources to be worthy of the investment – especially when you can acquire gear on the cheap with less effort elsewhere. It's easy to overlook such quibbles, especially as Bluehole Studios has crafted a hugely impressive and staggeringly ambitious MMO for its debut. Even small touches – such as servers having multiple channels so players can switch easily, supporting players who prefer some PvE time – is indicative of a confident studio with a firm handle on what players want. However, as impressive a feat as this is, the inevitable grind still chokes long stretches of game time. Fetch quests, kill x number of that monster and collect so many environmental items are some of the outdated missions that otherwise jar with the refreshing sensibilities of the rest of the game. At the time of review a few of the features were missing, such as the Political System (enabling players to vote other players as a ruler) and PvP battlegrounds, so perhaps these elements will help relieve some of the monotony. Ultimately, TERA falls short of greatness within the genre. While the deeply involving combat system is a huge leap forward, it stumbles over too many of the small fundamentals. Nevertheless, it excels in so many other forms that there's little question it's worthy of your time. It's fair to say that there's no other MMO quite like it. Similar Article can be found at: http://www.totalpcgaming.com/uncategorized/tera-review/ |
| Carmageddon Dev: Kickstarter ‘Not A Trivial Undertaking’ For UK Studios Posted: 17 May 2012 03:45 PM PDT UK-based Carmageddon: Reincarnation studio Stainless Games reveals how it got setup for US site Kickstarter. Carmageddon: Reincarnation developer Stainless Games has revealed the trick to getting on Kickstarter for non-US studios – setup a US-based company. "Kickstarter's really not ideally set up for anyone outside the US to start a campaign," Stainless Games co-founder Neil 'Nobby' Barnden told NowGamer. "It's because the site uses amazon.com payments, which require the person setting up their account to have the necessary accompanying US tax information required to receive the money pledged. To do this, we had to set up a US company, and a US bank account, which is NOT a trivial undertaking!" Stainless spoke to Kickstarter during the process, but it isn't something the developer would suggest to others. "At present, I wouldn't recommend trying it unless you have access to a US lawyer who can handle setting everything up for you Stateside, as we have. Hopefully Kickstarter will sort this out as the popularity of the site continues to grow worldwide, because it really has been a hassle to try and get it all set up. And it actually delayed us launching by three weeks or more." Carmageddon: Reincarnation's Kickstarter page generated way over half of its £252,578.46 ($400,000) target in a week, and still has 20 days to go. Notch persuaded the studio to release the game via a model similar to Minecraft. Similar Article can be found at: http://www.totalpcgaming.com/uncategorized/carmageddon-dev-kickstarter-not-a-trivial-undertaking-for-uk-studios/ |
| With Infinity Blade Dungeons, Epic Doubles Down on iOS Posted: 17 May 2012 03:45 PM PDT Religion and civilization have gone hand-in-hand throughout human history, with gods and their mouthpieces alternately hindering and inspiring humanity every step of the way. That’s why Civilization V felt a bit off when it hit us about a year and a half ago and was missing a few things we’d come to take for granted in the previous iterations. Religion and its best buddy subterfuge were either absent or folded into the Piety branch of its social policy tree, with temples and whatnot contributing to the ever-more-broad “culture” statistic. Religion always existed in the background of Civ V, from cathedrals to a huge number of biblical verses doled out for researching everything from animal husbandry to frickin’ laser beams, but it was no longer present as a distinct element of strategy. When it came to religion as a tactical tool, the relevant quote seemed to be, “God is dead.” Well, now we’re getting a chance to make him in our own image. Faith is the new currency, and once we have enough we’re given a Great Prophet. The first one we’re graced with can found a pantheon, be that a war god that grants more faith when we win battles, a namby-pamby healing god that restores units that end a turn next to a friendly city, or a whole slew of other crazy stuff people are raring to fall on their knees in front of. Our second prophet can turn that half-assed belief into a true religion, tacking on tenets like tithing (if you’re into accumulating more gold) or holy warriors (which grant the ability to purchase pre-industrial land units with faith). Followers passively pressure neighboring cities to join their particular theological club, but for a more direct approach we can send those prophets and missionaries to neighboring cities to directly convert the population. Nobody really likes that, so expect diplomatic repercussions, and prepare your own cities with inquisitors to keep the faith pure… or just fill the besandaled heretic with arrows when he starts down the palm-leaf-covered road to your own holy city. It’s an act of war, sure, but at least the simulation isn’t detailed enough to take martyrdom into account. That’d really make a mess of things. Similar Article can be found at: http://www.1up.com/previews?cId=3187150 |
| Should We Expect Voice Acting In Every Game? Posted: 17 May 2012 03:45 PM PDT supposed to care about the story?Posted: 46 minutes ago by NinjaKaos voice acting takes away control from the player, and put limits on the storyline. video games more and more are making the players passive in everyting. A good makes a good story, not some shakespearean reject. Voice acting costs money and dev time instead of working on good gameplay.
Look what happened to the Knights of the old republic MMO: alot of voice acting, dreadfully boring endgame, and dull linear non interactive worlds. Similar Article can be found at: http://www.1up.com/features/should-we-expect-voice-acting |
| Activision’s "Project Icebreaker" Could Hurt its Reputation Among Devs Posted: 17 May 2012 03:45 PM PDT More than two years after Infinity Ward founders Jason West and Vince Zampella first sued Activision, their case is finally set to head to trial on May 29. But before the case can be heard, documents have been released which shed light on some unsavory moves Activision made prior to firing West and Zampella in March 2010. Prior to the start of the case, there have been some developments of note. Electronic Arts, the publisher of the game being produced by West and Zampella’s new studio, Respawn Entertainment, was added in late 2010 as a defendant in Activision’s counter-suit; Activision alleged EA conspired with the former IW heads to derail the Call of Duty franchise, among other things. Bloomberg reported yesterday the two publishers have reached a settlement, details of which were not made available. In addition to West and Zampella’s lawsuit against Activision, a group of Infinity Ward employees — many of whom left the Modern Warfare developer and were hired by Respawn — sued the publisher over unpaid royalties, with the Infinity Ward Employee Group’s lawyer estimating these royalties to be in the neighborhood of $75 to $125 million (not counting punitive damages). Polygon reported earlier this week that Activision paid the former developers $42 million, the amount it determined was owed during the discovery phase. This was not as part of a settlement; the group’s attorney, Bruce Isaacs, confirmed the payment was made on Monday but described it as a “cynical attempt to look good before the jury trial,” noting it is only a fraction of the amount being sought. Where this all becomes particularly juicy is in a recent court filing in the case between West/Zampella and Activision. Public relations reps for the duo’s attorneys sent the filing to Giant Bomb, no doubt hoping the information would be distributed and make Activision look bad. This is only one part of the court filings that have been made, so they fail to paint a complete picture, although they certainly do Activision no favors. Project Icebreaker, despite the seemingly silly name, was the name used for an investigation launched by Activision management in order to discover something — anything — which could be used as grounds to fire West and Zampella. Former Activision director of information technology, Thomas Fenady, testified he was told to “dig up dirt on Jason and Vince” because “we’re sick of dealing with these guys, their ego … we just want to get rid of them.” This directive came from George Rose, who then served as Activision’s Chief Legal Officer and assured Fenady, “[Activision CEO] Bobby [Kotick] will take care of you. This comes from Bobby directly … Don’t worry about repercussions.” Fenady found himself unable to access the desired information himself, at one point turning to third parties like Microsoft and InGuardians, a security consultancy company, for help. Both refused to assist, leading to Fenady requesting Activision’s Facilities Department help in “gaining covert physical access to Infinity Ward.” As if that doesn’t sound incredible enough, Rose is said to have approved of discussions where ideas such as “staging a fake ‘fumigation’ and a ‘mock fire drill’” were conceived in order “to get Jason and Vince away from their computers long enough to image their contents.” To Fenady’s knowledge, none of these plans were ever actually carried out. The purpose of this filing is to show both why Fenady’s deposition should not be treated as privileged information (because he was speaking with a lawyer in Rose, Activision wants the evidence excluded) and that Activision had plans to fire West and Zampella well in advance of Modern Warfare 2 (pictured above)’s release, and months prior to them ever having contact with Electronic Arts. Aside from making for some fascinating reading material and potentially hurting its court case, the Project Icebreaker business could have a negative impact on Activision going forward. As I mentioned, there is undoubtedly more to come from both sides as the case goes to trial, and it may be shown that the duo’s firing was justified and they are not owed a thing. But as far as Activision’s reputation among developers, the damage may have already been done. Even prior to this filing being made public, there were a number of things which did not make Activision look good. The heads of a studio responsible for creating the biggest franchise in the industry today were fired, and dozens of their former employees left in the wake of this move in addition to filing a lawsuit. Double Fine head Tim Schafer once famously called Bobby Kotick “a total prick” (before framing the comments as an accident), this coming two years after Kotick and Activision had decided to pass on publishing Double Fine’s Brutal Legend following the Activision and Vivendi merger. There would have been nothing wrong with Activision passing on the game (and others, like Ghostbusters), save for the later-cited reasoning of the games lacking the potential to be “exploited” on an annual basis across all platforms, except it then chose to sue over the game’s rights when EA decided to publish it. Activision did sign Bungie to a ten-year exclusive deal to publish the new franchise it has in the works, but that was announced just as the Infinity Ward business began to take place — it was before we heard allegations of unpaid bonuses and a “police state-like atmosphere.” None of this makes Activision come across as particularly endearing, and that could prove to be costly if and when developers in the future look back at all of this and decide they’d rather do business with another publisher. There will undoubtedly be those who decide to look past all of it and focus on Activision’s ability to support massively successful franchises, of which two of the past decade’s biggest (Call of Duty and Guitar Hero) came from Activision. The company’s focus on a smaller number of titles, each with the potential to be much larger than your average title, may help to spare it from suffering as a result of the reputation it has garnered. However, one has to wonder if failing to settle this West/Zampella lawsuit, and thereby preventing Project Icebreaker from ever becoming public knowledge, could have been the right long-term move. Similar Article can be found at: http://www.1up.com/news/activision-project-icebreaker-hurt-reputation |
| Posted: 17 May 2012 11:58 AM PDT Big City Racer is a 3D racing MMO where players can race around various European cities. Play on different weather settings, race against other players or train in single player mode. Big City Racer is a an easily accessible MMO with simple keyboard controls.
Publisher: Vanilla Live Games Website: http://www.bigcityracer.com/ Pros: +Three weather conditions for each track. +Round and Sprint version available for each map. +Small download, easy to get started. Cons: -Very low player base, difficulty to find a game. -Dated graphics. -Poor crash and overall physics effects. -Only 4 maps.
Big City Racer is a simple racing game published by a European studio. The game doesn't have the same depth as Need for Speed World Online or Heat Online, but offers simple gameplay and has low system requirements. Players can race across the cities of Europe with up to eight participants per match. While the total number of maps is sparse, Big City Racer allows each one to be played under three weather settings. Each track also comes in two forms. The standard lap based game mode is the most common, but players can play sprint mode where cars must race from one end of the track to the other. Big City Racer has an assortment of cars for purchase and players can customize them using decals, rims, windows, and neon lights. Tracks - Vienna, Paris, London, Berlin Weather - Sunny, Rainy, Sunset
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| Akai Katana Review: A Bleedin’ All Right Time Posted: 17 May 2012 09:45 AM PDT It wasn’t too long ago that The set-up is about as pure as Similar Article can be found at: http://www.1up.com/reviews?cId=3187145 |
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