General Gaming Article

General Gaming Article

Netflix Original Content Kicks off in February with "Lillyhammer"

Posted: 03 Jan 2012 02:55 PM PST

lillyhammerCome next month, Netflix will officially be in the original content game with the premier of its first series, Lillyhammer. The show stars Sopranos alum Steven Van Zandt as a former mobster in witness protection. Van Zandt's character is moved to Lillehammer, Norway, and as you can imagine, shenanigans ensue. 

The first season will consists of eight episodes, with airing beginning on February 6th in the US, Canada, and Latin America. The series will only be available via streaming, not through the DVD by mail service. A seconds season has reportedly already been planned. Netflix last spring announced that it had acquired the rights to House of Cards, a remake of the 90s UK miniseries. This Kevin Spacey project is expected to arrive in late 2012. 

Netflix has also begin work on a new season of the cult comedy Arrested Development. It's distribution mechanism means that programs don't need to deliver huge numbers weekly to remain successful, and if Netflix ever does run into cash-flow issues, there's always money in the banana stand.

Trailer can be viewed here.

RIM Hopes to Hold Off Shareholder Revolt with Management Shake Up

Posted: 03 Jan 2012 02:37 PM PST

RIM CEOsBlackBerry maker Research in Motion has been on the skids lately, and many observers point to its co-CEO management structure as a major cause. According to multiple sources, the company is preparing to shake things up by removing co-CEOs Jim Balsillie and Mike Lazaridis from their additional roles as co-Chairmen of the board. They would remain as CEOs.

RIM board member Barbara Stymiest is rumored to be the likely successor in the role of Chairperson. It's unclear if this move is being taken without the direct input of Balsillie and Lazaridis. Should this actually come to pass, the current CEOs will continue to run day-to-day operations at the company, but the board would presumably have more oversight.

Shareholders have been making noise about the company's poor performance as of late, but troubling news continues to come out. Lazaridis announced recently that BlackBerry 10 phones may be delayed until late 2012. Do you think new board leadership will be enough to snap RIM out of its slump, or do the CEOs need to go?

BryteWerks Mashes HTPC and Hi-Def Digital Projector Together, Makes The Model One

Posted: 03 Jan 2012 02:08 PM PST

Some duos seem tailor made for one another: PB&J, Jack and Coke, and eggs and toast all spring to mind. A new company by the name of Brytewerks just came up with another one, and amazingly, it doesn't involve food! The company's upcoming Model One line of high-def digital projectors aren't just digital projectors; they're digital projectors with an Intel Core-powered HTPC built in. Why didn't someone think of that sooner?

On the projector side of things, the Model One sports a 1920x1200 resolution, 6,000 - 11,000 lumens of brightness (depending on your configuration) and a 1000:1 contrast ratio. It should work equally well in both cramped quarters and expansive cinema-like home theaters; Bryteworks claims the units have a 1:1 throw distance anywhere between one and 50 feet. Plus, it uses a standard metal halide lamp, so finding replacement bulbs shouldn't be a problem, and swapping out bulbs is entirely tool-less.

On the HTPC side of things, you'll be able to pick up Model Ones with anywhere from a Core i3 to a full Core i7 processor (which is cool, but seems a bit excessive for a HTPC), a Blu-ray player, a custom version of XBMC, and up to 2TB of storage, 500GB of which is in SSD form. Wi-Fi, Ethernet and Bluetooth are all onboard, and BryteWerks promises a host of connectivity options, although they only specifically mention dual USB/HDMI ports and 5.1 surround sound outputs. Controller options abound, too, thanks to an Android/iOS app, an included RF remote, and a nearly 9-inch touchscreen on the back of the box. Speaking of the box, the concept art for the Model One shows it to be exactly that; a 28 lb. 17-inch cube.

Is your interest piqued? Here's the bad news: the Model One isn't launching until May 10th. It's also fairly expensive, as you might have guessed; models range in price from $2,450 to $5,000 depending on the configuration you choose. In fact, this is so far in the future that the BryteWerks website isn't even fully up and going yet. If you want to get ahold of the company before January 9th (the website's launch date), you can reach them at sales@brytewerks.com or call (414) 892-4004.

10 Reasons to Root Your Android Device

Posted: 03 Jan 2012 02:01 PM PST

If you're a member of the little green army, chances are you've either rooted your phone or tablet, have thought about rooting it, or have no idea what we're talking about and will not click through to read more. This one goes out to that middle group — take the plunge! — but rooted users will also find some useful nuggets of info for enhancing their Android experience.

In case you're wondering, when you root your Android device, you gain access to the entire file system, with full admin rights. You can customize your own boot image, create a full backup of your phone, or install a full-blown Linux distro. But even if you don't want to get that geeky with it, there are a plethora of everyday reasons to root your Android, and thanks to many smart developers, we have rooting processes that are fairly accessible to the average computer-savvy Joe.

This is not a guide to rooting your phone. Such a thing is hardly possible, since the process varies a bit from device to device. You should know first that there are many risks to rooting, including possible bricking of the device and definite voiding of the warranty. That said, we do want to emphasize that it is usually not that cryptic of a process, and as long as you are careful to follow the instructions exactly, the success rate is high. Also, not all unsuccessful attempts result in damage to the phone.

bricks

There are a couple of excellent forums that provide up-to-date information on just about all popular Android devices. Go to Android Forums or the XDA-Developer Forums, find your device, and then drill down for the rooting guides and other resources that will be there for most models. And for a couple of sample guides that should show you that rooting is not that crazy of a thing, see Maximum Tech's How To Root Your Android Phone Without Bricking It.

And now, on to our reasons to root, in no definitive order.

10. Bloatware

Also known as crapware and some other choice euphemisms, bloatware infects the vast majority of Android phones. You'll recognize Samsung Touchwiz, HTC Sense, and Motorola MotoBlur as the custom UIs and feature packages that those makers throw on top of stock Android. While some of that bloatware is actually useful, most of it offers nothing that you couldn't arrange on your own with other apps, and it can bog down performance or even block features from your device. Worse yet is that much of the time, bloatware apps are blocked from uninstalling, unless of course, you root your phone.

9. Overclocking

nexus

When you root your Android, you gain some control over the hardware components, making overclocking and undervolting possible. It's not uncommon to overclock a 1GHz Android CPU up to 1.6GHz, of course with a greater tendency toward instability. Several root-only apps available in the Android Market handle both overclocking and undervolting, such as SetCPU ($1.99) and Voltage Control (free or $3.36 for the Extreme version).

8. Performance

Besides mere overclocking, rooted users can gain other performance enhancements through kernal tweaks performed by some of the apps we've mentioned here, custom ROMs, or through your own means, if you know what you're doing. Such tweaks in combination with overclocking have been known to increase overall performance on a Nexus S by 250 percent.

Also, as we've previously reported on Maximum Tech, "most Android devices incorporate an EXT3 filesystem with considerable overhead to ensure safe file I/O interaction. Once rooted, however, many of these devices can be upgraded with the faster EXT4 filesystem, resulting in faster load times and overall smoother software performance, while sacrificing a bit of storage stability. Yes, the less stable memory can lead to app crashes and even data loss, but that's pretty rare."

7. Screenshots

picme

For whatever reason, Google didn't write native screenshot ability into Android until Android 4 Ice Cream Sandwich (ICS). A few devices include it as an added feature out of the box, but there's no reason for you to wait for a new ICS device or update if you want to take screenshots today. If you root your Android, you can take advantage of screenshots apps such as Screenshot or PicMe at your leisure.

6. Other Root-only Apps

Once you've successfully rooted your Android, you'll be privy to hundreds, if not thousands, of useful apps that the other suckers of the world can't access. Here are 10 reasons to root your 'droid in one. Just a smidgeon of the root-only app selection includes stuff like:

• DroidWall - Android Firewall (free) can show you any app that is using your wireless data, so you can restrict data use that is chewing up capacity on you plan, as well as see if there is any nefarious and unwanted data use happening.

• Dual Mount SD Widget - ($0.99) lets you mount your SD card to both the phone and a PC at the same time.

hexamob

• Hexamob Recovery Pro - ($1.39) helps you recover files that you accidentally deleted from your internal memory or SD card.

• Keyboard Manager - (free) lets you choose one keyboard for portrait view and another for landscape.

• LEDs Hack - (free) lets you turn off LED notifications.

• Root Call Blocker - ($5.98) lets you block specific numbers at the system level, so the phone never rings when they call.

• Samba Filesharing - (free) makes your Android's files available as a Windows shared folder over Wi-Fi.

sixaxis

• Sixaxis Controller - ($1.62) lets you mount a PS3 controller to your Android.

• With Theft Aware - (£10), an uber-security program, you can remotely track and wipe a lost or stolen phone, call it, and apparently spy on the person on the other end without them knowing it.

• Titanium Backup -root (free version or $6.58 for Pro) provides a powerful backup tool with extensive features, including letting you remove that pesky bloatware.

 

 

5.Custom ROMs

The general feeling among the modder community is that carriers make their Android UIs to benefit their businesses, not the user. If you want the best user experience, you have to flash a custom ROM that was actually made for users.

The term custom ROM is somewhat of a misnomer, but basically it is a customized UI for Android, and there are many from which to choose. Some of them focus on giving you the latest version of Android before your carrier releases an official update, while others focus on extra functionality or speed and stability.

There are too many Android mods to cover here, but you'll want to determine your priorities and pick one that's best for you. Or, you could get Boot Manager ($2.99) from the Android Market, which lets you choose between five different installed custom ROMs at startup.

cyanogen

Some of the most popular custom ROMs include CyanogenMod, which focuses on maximizing performance over flashy looks, but does let you choose themes. Based on Gingerbread, it gives you a Touch to Focus feature in the camera, custom gestures, permission management and much more.

homescreen

MIUI, a Chinese-developed ROM, is also based on Gingerbread and provides a very distinct look. It only supported 16 devices at the time of this writing, but it's updated every Friday and presumably will add more device support as its ICS-based ROM becomes more stable.

To find a ROM for your device, you can drill down to your device in the XDA-Developers forums, or check out this list on Theunlockr.com.

4. Upgrade Android on Your Own Schedule

Are you incredulous that you still don't have a Gingerbread update for your Froyo phone after more than a year? By the time the carrier gets around to updating it (if it does at all), you may have a perfectly stable ICS update waiting for you if you were to root your phone.

Android custom ROMs allow you to get the latest Android OS before it is ordained from up on high by the company you're paying a monthly bill to. At the time of this writing, there were even a variety of Android 4 ICS ROMs hitting the interwebs, although in general, stability is still a factor with them. It won't be too long before those ICS ROMs are working as smooth as baby food, and it's likely to happen before a whole lot of native ICS devices and sanctioned ICS updates come out.

3. Increase Battery Life

superpower

Many of the custom ROMs available aim to improve battery life through internal efficiency settings, app and network activity management, and the removal of bloatware. There's also an experimental app in beta right now called Superpower, available on the Android market in a free and paid ($4.25) version. There are plenty of other battery-saver apps out there--many not requiring root access--but SuperPower goes to the extreme, aiming to provide automatic management of your data connection and radio bands, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, CPU speed, and more. that management is based on factors such as screen state, Wi-Fi connection state, download speed, foreground application, tethering state, sleep mode, charging state, etc. There's no reward without risk, however; the developer wants you to know that the app is still buggy in beta and that you use it at your own risk.

2. Zap Carrier IQ

By now you know what Carrier IQ is, and you may have a rough idea of who's using it. For example, Sprint has since vowed to stop using it. But trying to get a straight answer about how the information Carrier IQ extracts is being used could you take you down a long a frustrating road, ending in a dead end of paranoia. It would be faster and less mind-numbing to just trash it from your handset.

check ac

Thanks to Trevor Eckhart, the very man who discovered Carrier IQ on his Android phone, you can do just that. He posted a free .apk called Logging Test App over on the XDA-Developers forums that can show you if a program like Carrier IQ resides on your device. If the test comes up positive, head over to the Android Market and support this modern-day hero by plunking down a measly buck for the Logging Test App Pro Key, which enables you to remove Carrier IQ or other offending software. Of course, none of this is possible unless you root your Android phone first.

1. Because You Can

Finally, just like building your own PC, there's a subjective sense of satisfaction and independence you get from rooting an Android device. Even beyond that, there's a hint of a more rare intangible attached to it: duty. In some way, it's your duty to flip the bird to the manufacturers and carriers that pay you lip service but not nearly enough real service. It's your duty and your privilege to root, because you can. Google made Android open source, and thousands of good people are working on apps and ROMs for you to enjoy, giving you the opportunity to wield the most powerful smartphones available. Passing up the ability to root is akin to missing that opportunity.

free

You may not be a car enthusiast, but imagine you're cruising on a German autobahn in a fresh Porsche Boxster with nothing but open road and perfect conditions in front of you. Do you keep it to a conservative 75mph? No, you jack it up into triple digits… because you can. You may not be an incorrigible drunk, but if you're on a long weekend in New Orleans, you pour some booze into a plastic cup and stroll down Bourbon Street… because you can.    

You bought an Android phone, which probably means that either 1) you know diddly about smartphones and just got whatever was free on contract or looked cool, or more likely 2) you're somehow attracted to the flexibility and customization freedom of Android that you don't find in other mobile operating systems. So here you are. Live a little. Void that warranty! Root your Android, for all of the above reasons, and also just because you can. It's not that hard to do, it's kind of fun, and just like in a clichéd rom com, you'll discover the value of what was right in front of you all along.

What reasons for rooting did we miss? We'd be honored if you shared your wisdom in the comments below.

@MaxTechMarkkus on da Twittah.

Cooler Master Cosmos II Case Review

Posted: 03 Jan 2012 01:33 PM PST

It's been a long road for the Cosmos II, but it's finally here. The long-awaited successor to Cooler Master's blockbuster Cosmos was supposed to ship in September—around the same time as our 2011 Dream Machine, which used a prototype version of the Cosmos II as its chassis. Well, after some trips back to the drawing board, the Cosmos II is finally ready for prime time. It's real. And it's spectacular.

The Cosmos II, which Cooler Master bills as an "Ultra Tower," is 20 percent larger than the original Cosmos—it's more than 27 inches tall, 26 deep, and 13.5 inches at its widest; and it weighs a staggering 47 pounds empty. The chassis frame is steel, while the shell is plastic with aluminum cladding on the panels. The build quality is outstanding, with nary a sharp edge, uneven panel or flimsy component. The sliding doors on the top and front panel slide smoothly, the side hinges are solid and easy to use, and the handles won't fall off. Our review unit is all black, but Cooler Master also offers a silver model.

Yes, it looks this good in real life.

The Cosmos lineage is strong with this one, from the hinged side panels to the top carrying handles, to the slide-out hard drive trays; but the Cosmos II is a thoroughly modern product, with massive cooling potential, strong cable-management chops, and wide-open spaces.

The Cosmos II has three toolless 5.25-inch drive bays, two front-panel 3.5-inch hot-swap SATA bays, and a whopping 11 internal hard drive trays: five in the main compartment and six in the case's bottom section, which also contains the PSU and two 12cm fans that blow air directly across the lower hard drive cages. The two lower hard drive cages and the primary hard drive cage are all removable. Take out the lower two, add an included bracket, and you can install a 240mm radiator in their place. Or you can remove the upper hard drive cage to improve airflow to the main compartment.

 

You'll never say, "Gosh, I wish the Cosmos II had more room inside."

The main compartment has ten PCIe expansion slots, plus one on the side, and it supports motherboard form factors as large as XL-ATX. It can accommodate CPU coolers up to seven inches tall, and 12.2-inch GPUs with room to spare. The motherboard tray contains eight rubber-grommeted cable-routing cutouts to the right of the motherboard, two non-grommeted cutouts above it, and two grommeted cutouts in the divider between the PSU and main compartments, for PSU cables or water-cooling tubes. There's more than an inch of space behind the motherboard tray for cable routing.

The case's front panel includes two USB 3.0 ports (with an internal header), four USB 2.0 ports, an eSATA port, and two audio jacks. The case's power and reset switches are above the front-panel connectors, along with a sleek fan controller that can power up to nine fans on four different channels.

The Cosmos II ships with five fans: a 20cm front intake fan, 14cm rear exhaust fan, 12cm top exhaust fan, and the previously mentioned two 12cm hard-drive bay fans in the lower compartment. The front-panel fan can be swapped for a 14cm fan, the rear fan can be swapped for a 12cm, and the top panel can accommodate a 20cm fan, two 14cm fans, three 12cm fans, or a 240mm radiator. All the intake fans have removable dust filters. The hard-drive tray in the main compartment can accommodate a 12cm fan for increased drive cooling, and two 12cm fans can be mounted to the left side panel for GPU cooling. Each fan, save the rear exhaust fan, are controlled by the front-panel fan controller.

The nine 3-pin connectors are color-coded and labeled, with three for the top fans, three for hard-drive fans, two for GPU fans, and one for the front fan. The fan controller also has nine two-pin LED controllers for Cooler Master's LED fans, although only the 20cm front fan actually has has an LED. This all leads to a terrifying bundle of cables coming from the front panel. Thank goodness Cooler Master includes plenty of cable-routing options and tie-downs behind the motherboard tray.

Aside from the plethora of fan-control wires, building into the Cosmos II is a snap. The cavernous interior leaves plenty of room for all your high-powered components, and with plenty of support for both air- and water-cooling setups, you'll be able to keep even the hottest rigs chilly. It doesn't have the water-cooling potential of, say, Silverstone's TJ11, but its price tag is $250 less.

Our gripes are minimal. First, the sheer size of the beast means you need a very tall desk (if you're putting the Cosmos II under it) or a very sturdy desk (if you're putting it on top). Second, we've seen cases with better fan-control wire routing. Lastly, we could do without the loud beep the fan controller produces each time you change the fan speed.

These minor quibbles aside, the production version of the Cosmos II is a great case, and we foresee it being very popular with those who need plenty of room for high-performance components, have the space in their office for the Cosmos II's bulk, and don't mind forking over $350. It's an unabashedly prestige case, but sometimes that's what we need.

Android App of the Week: Spreaker Radio

Posted: 03 Jan 2012 12:25 PM PST

The Internet has brought the concept of content creation to the masses in the form of social media, blogs, and personal websites. People with interests of all types are able to share ideas and passions with likeminded individuals throughout the world. But as the Internet has become more open to content created by end-users, competition has increased in the form of other competing messages, making it increasingly important for content creators to embrace new forms of media, like video blogs or podcasts.

Spreaker is a new addition to the Android scene, but has been around on the iPhone side for a while. The app -- and associated service -- make the task of creating and publishing podcasts from your mobile device a breeze. Spreaker provides you the ability to not only create and upload podcasts, but to broadcast streaming live shows that can be published to your blog or social media channel. As a service, Spreaker offers three tiers that provide you with different features and live broadcast durations. Spreaker's Basic service allows up to 30 minute broadcasts for free, Gold ups your broadcast time to 3 hours for $19.90 per month, and Platinum gives you 5 hours of broadcast time for $49.90 a month.

The Spreaker app itself is available as a free download from the Android Market. You can give the features and capabilities a try with the Basic service.

Samsung Unveils DV300F Dual-View Camera with Wi-Fi

Posted: 03 Jan 2012 11:10 AM PST

Smartphone cameras still have some ground to make up before they can truly replace dedicated point-and-shoot, and the divide only gets wider with the release of cameras like Samsung's DV300F. The newest addition to Samsung's DualView line, the DV300F sports a pair of LCDs, one of which is a front-facing 1.5-inch screen to make sure those narcissistic shots come out just right before you upload your mug to Facebook or Google+.

It also has Wi-Fi connectivity baked in so you can upload email or upload your images to social media sites straight away. Alternately, images saved onto the camera's microSD card can be transferred to a home PC without any wires by using the Auto PC Backup function.

"Our aim is to continually be at the forefront of innovation and maintain our leadership within the DualView market, pioneered by Samsung," stated Mr. Myoung Sup Han, senior vice president and head of digital imaging business, Samsung Electronics. "The new DV300F model is the embodiment of this goal. This latest model with the DualView LCD, Wi-Fi connectivity, ultra premium styling and the latest creative features, demonstrates Samsung's unwavering commitment to innovation within the digital compact camera market, as well as our ability to consistently meet the needs of our customers."

As for the core features, the DV300F boasts a 16MP sensor, 5x optical zoom, 25mm wide-angle lens, and a selection of built-in tools and extras, such as background templates and the ability to merge up to three different images.

No word on price or availability.

Image Credit: Samsung

MSI Announces Big Bang XPower II Motherboard

Posted: 03 Jan 2012 10:55 AM PST

Vin Diesel and the Fast and the Furious movie franchise helped popularize tricked out Civics and other modded imports, and maybe it was only a matter of time before it became vogue to sell motherboards sporting over-the-top eye candy. MSI continues with the aggressive motherboard theme that's become all the rage lately, but a peek at the company's new Big Bang XPower II mobo is all it takes to understand there's a serious board underneath all the fluff.

It starts with a 22-phase PWM design and continues with four-way Nvidia SLI and AMD CrossFire support. Anticipating that users are going to load this thing up, MSI equipped the XPower II with Hybrid Digital Power, dual 8-pin CPU and single 6-pin VGA power connectors. and of course the company's much touted Military Class II components.

The CPU socket is flanked by four DDR3 DIMM slots on each side for a total of eight slots with support for up to a mind boggling (and wallet busting) 128GB of RAM. But this board is really aimed at overclockers and includes plenty of amenities to help push components past their rated specs, including convenient V-Check Points to read voltages, a Direct OC button to fine tune the CPU BCLK down to 0.1MHz, and onboard power, reset, and clear CMOS buttons.

No word yet on price or availability.

Image Credit: MSI

Ding, Dong IE6 Is Virtually Dead

Posted: 03 Jan 2012 10:53 AM PST

Cake, toasts and cheers; Microsoft's been having a hell of a party up in Redmond. Why, you ask? Is Windows 8 shipping early? Did Xbox sales spike even higher? Did somebody actually buy a Windows Phone? None of the above. Today, the Internet Explorer team is celebrating a near-death experience as the US browser share of IE6 finally dipped under one percent. That's right, the non-standards-compliant beast is finally rasping out its dying breath.

"IE6 has been the punch line of browser jokes for a while, and we've been as eager as anyone to see it go away," IE Marketing Director Roger Capriotti crowed in a celebratory blog post. "In fact, we launched the IE6 Countdown site last March to help accelerate the process. Less than a year later, I'm thrilled to say that the United States has joined the ranks of Austria, Poland, Sweden, Denmark, Finland and Norway in dropping below 1% usage of IE6."

Hopefully China gets the memo: according to Microsoft's Countdown site, IE6 still holds a commanding 25.2 percent share of the browser market in that country. South Korea's the second-worst IE6 offender with a 7.2 percent share for the browser.

Byte Rights: The Crappy House Remix

Posted: 03 Jan 2012 10:45 AM PST

Every time a terrible bill like COICA or PIPA gets exposed for what it would actually do to the Internet, large rights holders reinvent it slightly, lay some bad dubstep over it, and call it something you can dance to.

This time it's the Stopping Online Piracy Act—SOPA for short. SOPA is a bill coming out of the House that is a compliment to the Senate's PROTECT-IP abomination. It's entirely unlike PROTECT-IP, in that while it does all the same things and worse, it phrases them differently… so you won't notice.

SOPA has done away with PROTECT-IP's "blacklist," after realizing Americans don't really like blacklist censorship. Instead, SOPA allows the attorney general to cut off sites from the Internet by prohibiting them in some sort of non-list document. Since that's not a blacklist, it doesn't need any judicial review. Prohibited sites would be arranged in a tag cloud of some sort, and DNS providers would be required to not show them to you.

SOPA goes on to ban advertisers and credit card processors from doing business with sites dedicated to copyright infringement. Whether a site is dedicated to infringement is helpfully determined by what the guy filing the legal nastygram thinks looks like a site dedicated to infringement, without any law enforcement getting into the act, much less judges.

The law calls this the "market-based approach." This provision could not possibly be abused as much as the infamous DMCA take-down notice, a provision used more to hobble competition and speech than protect copyright, according to a Google study, because I heard recently that all the bad people left the Internet.

This bill may let corporations and government break the Internet, but don't worry, because they've put out press releases promising they would never do anything like that.
Posted by Shri Krishna

MMO News

MMO News

Otherland

Posted: 03 Jan 2012 01:30 PM PST

Otherland is an MMORPG based on a series of novels by Tad Williams. Explore an interconnected and diverse virtual world while you quest, battle, collect, build, and participate in mini-games.

otherland-lambda-hub

Publisher: Gamigo
Playerbase: N/A
Graphics: High
Type: MMORPG
EXP Rate: ??
PvP: ??
Filesize: ??

Pros: +Player housing system. +Can collect data from NPCs, enemies, and more. +Diverse areas to explore.

Cons: -Little information available.

Overview

Otherland Overview

Set in the same world as the virtual novels of Tad Williams, Otherland transports players into a virtual reality action MMORPG. Travel to different areas, with themes ranging from fantasy to science fiction, and go on quests in a traditional RPG-style system. Or visit the central hub, Lambda Mall, to socialize and partake in the many competitive mini-games.

Otherland Screenshots

Otherland Featured Video

Click here to view the embedded video.

Full Review

Otherland Review

Coming Soon…

Screenshots

Otherland Screenshots

Coming Soon…

Videos

Otherland Videos

Official Announcement Trailer

Click here to view the embedded video.

Links

Otherland Links

Official Game Page

System Requirements

Otherland System Requirements

Coming Soon . . .

Mabinogi servers back up after breach

Posted: 03 Jan 2012 10:31 AM PST

Nexon has reopened Mabinogi’s servers after their unexpected 40-hour downtime, due to a security breach in-game.

Although no details were given as to what measures have been taken to improve the game’s security, no rollbacks were issued. Instead, all players who logged in during the affected time will be granted with a compensation package that includes 5,000 NX, and two-day extension of VIP, Premium, and Inventory Plus services. A 2x experience event is also planned in the near future to help players catch up.

Players directly affected by the security breach will be given an additional 5,000 NX and have their items restored. If you lost items and it hasn’t been fixed yet, make sure to send in a Support Ticket.

Nexon also publishes Dungeon Fighter Online and Combat Arms.

mabinogi-conversation.jpg

Mabinogi Gameplay Screenshot

Source:

Dear Mabinogians,

As all of you are aware, over the past few days malicious players took advantage of many innocent players within the Mabinogi game service, making the game difficult and frustrating to play, which ultimately led to us having no choice but to take Mabinogi temporarily offline.

We are happy to say that Mabinogi is back online and we understand how important Mabinogi is to ALL of you, as Mabinogi isn’t just a game.  It’s a place to socialize with far away friends; it’s a way to explore, be heroic and crush monsters; it’s a comfortable space to be creative.  And we would like to sincerely apologize for this downtime.

Over these last few days, the team at devCAT worked to identify and fix these issues.  The patience and support from YOU, the Community, has been instrumental in helping out, as the information in tickets, posts on the forums, and even direct contact from the Community has helped out.
Given that Mabinogi was down for nearly 40 hours, we will provide each player who logged in during this time with the following, to compensate for the downtime:

1)      NX 5,000

2)      2-Day Extension of VIP/Premium/Inventory Plus Service

3)      An upcoming 2x EXP event(s) that will help you get to where you should be

In addition, for players who were directly affected by the malicious activity, we will add:

1)      An additional NX 5,000, for a total of NX 10,000

2)      Restoration of your lost items

*NOTE*

As we anticipate that there are more players affected than we’ve seen tickets for so far, we request that you submit a ticket to Nexon Support (http://support.nexon.net).

In your ticket, please include the following information:
- Your Account Name
- Your Character Name
- Your Character’s Server
- Date of malicious activity
- Items missing/removed
- Name of Malicious Character (if available)

As well, in order to help with filtering, please include the keyword ‘MUGWORTS’ in the Summary field.

Please note that restoration of items will take some time, and we request your patience while we go through each ticket in order to properly restore the correct items to your characters.

We thank ALL of YOU for your support and patience and wish you the best for your Fantasy Life!

Sincerely,

- The Mabinogi Team
Posted by Shri Krishna

MMO Updates

MMO Updates

The Soapbox: Bigpoint's cash-shop policies and why they are OK

Posted: 03 Jan 2012 09:00 AM PST

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Bigpoint sign
Disclaimer: The Soapbox column is entirely the opinion of this week's writer and does not necessarily reflect the views of Massively as a whole. If you're afraid of opinions other than your own, you might want to skip this column.

I have been tasked with explaining to Massively readers why I am OK with Bigpoint's very public policy on selling "advantages." I imagine that this will not be an easy task. After all, we gamers aren't much different than the rest of humanity in the way we tend to care about things that have little or no effect on us. We all have an opinion on "selling power," but I think it's high time that someone attempts to explain why it really isn't always power that Bigpoint is selling -- and why it would be fair even if it were.

I will attempt to stick to the specific topic of Bigpoint's policies, but much of what I say will probably apply to any game developer that sells practically anything for real world money. Yes, I am talking about those wonderful collector's editions and favorite cash-shop mounts. They all fall under the same category that Bigpoint's ships or special drones do.

Click past the cut and I'll explain why.

Continue reading The Soapbox: Bigpoint's cash-shop policies and why they are OK

MassivelyThe Soapbox: Bigpoint's cash-shop policies and why they are OK originally appeared on Massively on Tue, 03 Jan 2012 12:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Former Lineage II artist returns to NCsoft for new MMO project

Posted: 03 Jan 2012 08:00 AM PST

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Lineage II

NCsoft's prodigal son has returned, and with him the hopes and dreams of the future of gaming. Well that might be a smidge melodramatic, but fans of the company's games certainly have a good reason to celebrate today as former Lineage II artist Juno Jeong has come back to the fold.

Jeong signed back on with NCsoft as of yesterday to be the art director of an unknown MMO project. This is a marked step up from his previous role in the company as a member of the character production team, and those who know Jeong's art style are already expressing excitement with his current role. Following his stint on Lineage II, Jeong worked for several other game companies including Gravity, NHN, and Npluto.

While speculation is swirling over the exact nature of the project to which he's been assigned, the most common assumptions are either that he's working on another Lineage or Aion title.

MassivelyFormer Lineage II artist returns to NCsoft for new MMO project originally appeared on Massively on Tue, 03 Jan 2012 11:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Research firm: SWTOR has 350,000 peak concurrent users

Posted: 03 Jan 2012 07:00 AM PST

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How successful is Star Wars: The Old Republic? That's hard to say definitively, but according to Baird Equity Research, BioWare's maiden massively multiplayer voyage is doing just fine. "We view the early success of Star Wars as an indication of a healthy MMO market," said Baird spokesman Colin Sebastian. The firm estimates that TOR has approximately 350,000 peak concurrent users spread across 215 servers (124 in America and 91 in Europe).

That's a far cry from the 491 servers currently in use by World of Warcraft players, and though some analysts and fans expected TOR to compete with Blizzard's subscription king, Cowen and Company says the new title has had "minimal apparent impact" on the market leader.

MassivelyResearch firm: SWTOR has 350,000 peak concurrent users originally appeared on Massively on Tue, 03 Jan 2012 10:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Bethesda vs. Interplay case finally settled

Posted: 03 Jan 2012 06:00 AM PST

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Fallout
War. War never changes. And neither, it appeared, would the long-running legal dispute between Bethesda and Interplay over the rights to the Fallout IP. For years, it seems, we've been reporting on this courtroom tug-o-war between the companies which has kept the fate of Fallout Online in limbo.

Well it looks like it is finally over, one way or another. An administrator on the Fallout fan site Duck and Cover says that a settlement has been reached although the details have yet to emerge to the public:
Today, DAC has confirmation that a settlement has, in fact, taken place. It actually took place the day of the trial -- and had I been able to get online and sort through the documents I would have reported as much. We do not yet have the details of the settlement -- they will be announced this month (January 2012) -- but we can report that on the day of trial, the atmosphere in the court room was tense until the judge recessed. This recess was extended, and then they recessed for lunch. After the lunch recess, the court room was locked to everyone except attorneys and clients. When our source asked why this was the case, our source was told it was because they were working out a settlement. The following day, another source called the court reporter to ask what the next hearing schedule for the case was -- this source was told there was no schedule as a settlement had been reached.
We'll be following this story as it develops to see how it affects the potential Fallout Online and what each studio is walking away with from this bitter dispute.

MassivelyBethesda vs. Interplay case finally settled originally appeared on Massively on Tue, 03 Jan 2012 09:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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The Daily Grind: Would you use an official wiki in your game of choice?

Posted: 03 Jan 2012 05:00 AM PST

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The Guild Wars wiki
Some of us were chatting around the Massively (virtual) water cooler yesterday and came to the conclusion that one thing a lot of MMOs are missing is a reliable, up-to-date official wiki.

With a few exceptions like the Guild Wars Wiki or EVElopedia, the majority of the MMO game list lacks a comprehensive official wiki -- a central hub for update news, gear and loot details, gameplay guides, and so on. Many games have but don't maintain them, and many more don't have them at all. Is this something that should be remedied, or is the lack of supply due to the lack of demand?

What do you think -- should more developers put resources toward the creation, expansion, and maintenance of this sort of thing?

Every morning, the Massively bloggers probe the minds of their readers with deep, thought-provoking questions about that most serious of topics: massively online gaming. We crave your opinions, so grab your caffeinated beverage of choice and chime in on today's Daily Grind!

MassivelyThe Daily Grind: Would you use an official wiki in your game of choice? originally appeared on Massively on Tue, 03 Jan 2012 08:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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    Multiverse shuts down: Firefly, Buffy MMOs officially dead

    Posted: 02 Jan 2012 06:00 PM PST

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    The crew of Serenity
    It may be 2012, but 2011 isn't finished claiming its victims just yet. As discovered by Ten Ton Hammer, the team behind the Multiverse development platform has officially pulled the plug due to lack of funding. If that name doesn't ring a bell, we're sure you've heard of the two IPs most closely associated with it.

    Multiverse was slated to be the engine powering both the Firefly and Buffy the Vampire Slayer MMOs, but as of December 7, 2011, fans will have to look elsewhere for their Whedonverse fix. There is always Firefly Universe Online, but due to the unauthorized nature of the project and the lack of updates, we're not holding our breath.

    MassivelyMultiverse shuts down: Firefly, Buffy MMOs officially dead originally appeared on Massively on Mon, 02 Jan 2012 21:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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    Not So Massively: A quiet week in the land of MOBA

    Posted: 02 Jan 2012 05:00 PM PST

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    Not So Massively title image
    It's been a quiet week for online gaming, with game studios around the world enjoying the holidays and gearing up for another year of development. The Diablo franchise celebrated its 15th anniversary this week, but that elusive Diablo III release date is still unknown. The game has run into legal difficulties with South Korea's rating agencies, but this shouldn't affect the global release.

    League of Legends had a quiet holiday week, issuing a reminder to players that the dodge rune removal scheduled for last week is now complete. Bloodline Champions officially released its new bloodline Stormcaller and relocated its servers to Sweden in order to improve performance. Finally, Valve threw hundreds of Dota 2 beta keys into its holiday giveaway over the past week, and Massively managed to snag one.

    Skip past the cut for details of this week's biggest news from the world of MOBAs and other big online games that aren't quite MMOs.

    Continue reading Not So Massively: A quiet week in the land of MOBA

    MassivelyNot So Massively: A quiet week in the land of MOBA originally appeared on Massively on Mon, 02 Jan 2012 20:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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      Flameseeker Chronicles: Guild Wars' elite areas -- Urgoz's Warren

      Posted: 02 Jan 2012 04:00 PM PST

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      Urgoz starting area
      All was quiet at ArenaNet last week as the various members of the Guild Wars 2 team enjoyed a well-deserved vacation. I'm going to consider it a welcome breather after being drowned in so many squee-worthy updates the previous week and take the opportunity to turn my attention back to Guild Wars 1 and another elite area: Urgoz's Warren.

      I really enjoy Urgoz's Warren for a couple of reasons. Obviously, it gives me tons of Kurzick faction, but once you've got the hang of it, it's a fun challenge even without the perks. It's full of environmental effects and hidden enemies that prevent you from simply charging in and blasting away, so you have to think ahead, be careful, and play strategically.

      Follow along after the jump and we'll take a closer look.

      Continue reading Flameseeker Chronicles: Guild Wars' elite areas -- Urgoz's Warren

      MassivelyFlameseeker Chronicles: Guild Wars' elite areas -- Urgoz's Warren originally appeared on Massively on Mon, 02 Jan 2012 19:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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        Anonymous not targeting Sony customers in OpSony

        Posted: 02 Jan 2012 03:00 PM PST

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        PlayStation Network logo
        Internet superhero/supervillain organization Anonymous is at it again, and this time it's leading the charge against internet censorship act SOPA. At the moment, Sony stands in favor of SOPA, and Anonymous does not plan on letting that fly. Considering the fact that this is the group responsible for bringing down PSN last year, many gamers have raised concerns over what Anonymous' latest plan could mean for them.

        Normal gamers can breathe easily, though, as Anonymous seems to have deemed PSN untouchable. The group also mentioned that it would not be releasing the private information of Sony customers, but some Sony employee information -- including names, addresses, credit card numbers, etc. -- has already been posted online. So there's that, we guess. We're glad that someone is standing up to SOPA, but this could get ugly very quickly. What do you think of Anonymous' OpSony?

        MassivelyAnonymous not targeting Sony customers in OpSony originally appeared on Massively on Mon, 02 Jan 2012 18:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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        BioWare responds to SWTOR's Ilum exploits

        Posted: 02 Jan 2012 02:00 PM PST

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        The Star Wars: The Old Republic open-world PvP zone of Ilum is intended to be an area where high-level players duke it out for planetary control. However, many players spend their time just standing around and not actually engaging each other. Some even go so far as to use their low-level alts of the opposite faction to cap nodes and help their mains gain PvP currency.

        Recently, some of these players were surprised to find their accounts temporarily suspended. Normally, we do not contact gaming companies because of bans, but there was some confusion in the community regarding a section in the rules of conduct that states: "You may not engage in any conduct or practice that results in an Account containing items, objects, currency, character attributes, rank, or status that are inappropriate for the level or rank of the character contained in the Account, i.e., 'item loading.'" Community Manager Stephen Reid pointed us to a forum post he created after we contacted him, in which he comments about the suspended accounts:
        It's important to remember that our Terms of Service team is extremely careful and thorough in their investigation of any potential exploit or unusual activity in-game. Working closely with the development team and using extensive metrics based on player activity, they are able to determine what is normal player activity, what is unusual and what is exploiting. Our goal is always to ensure a fair game experience for all players while also protecting the rights of individuals, and if people are disrupting the play experience for others action will be taken.
        In the post, Reid clarifies that only accounts suspected of gold farming were actually banned. Only a small number of accounts were temporarily suspended for the Ilum exploit, and also any action taken against an account may be appealed.

        MassivelyBioWare responds to SWTOR's Ilum exploits originally appeared on Massively on Mon, 02 Jan 2012 17:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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        SOE tweaking EQII's dungeon finder mechanics

        Posted: 02 Jan 2012 01:00 PM PST

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        EverQuest II - Barren Sky dungeon
        Once upon a time, EverQuest II's dungeon finder was a hot-button issue. Some players wanted it, others predicted the doom of grouping, the game, and life as we know it if the feature got implemented. Fast forward a few months and now the dungeon finder is hardly used aside from guildless mid-level players looking for a quick PUG crawl.

        Sony Online Entertainment         has announced a couple of tweaks designed to incentivize the mechanic, and EQ2Wire has the relevant developer quotes as well as a bit of commentary on the process. In a nutshell, SOE is adding contested dungeons and daily rewards into the mix. While this may result in a temporary upswing in dungeon finder interest, it doesn't address the primary reason veteran and high-level players shun the mechanic. The system still won't take player gear into account when forming parties, so it is therefore quite useless when gear-dependent content -- like any of the dungeons from the Destiny of Velious expansion -- is the goal.

        MassivelySOE tweaking EQII's dungeon finder mechanics originally appeared on Massively on Mon, 02 Jan 2012 16:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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        Leaderboard: 2011 vs. 2012

        Posted: 02 Jan 2012 11:00 AM PST

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        Leaderboard
        The past vs. the future. The Year of the Rabbit vs. the Year of the Dragon. In short, 2011 vs. 2012 -- which will ultimately prove to be the better year for MMOs?

        Oh sure, you might say it's unfair to compare a known quantity with an unknown one, but since when has that stopped MMO players from prognosticating the definitive outcome of everything within a 0.0001% margin of error?

        2011 was light on major releases, but the ones it did have were certainly significant. Plus, it was a year of major change in the industry as free-to-play spread its tendrils everywhere, studios took risks on new ideas, and if you could get past the loud whining in one corner you'd see millions upon millions of happy gamers flocking to these games daily.

        Then again, 2012 could be the real deal, the contender for which we've all been waiting. It could see several big AAA releases even as the industry tries to branch out from the established ruts of the past. It's a year full of potential, promise, and play, and it's out there waiting for you.

        Ultimately, which do you think will go down in history as the better year? Vote after the jump!

        Continue reading Leaderboard: 2011 vs. 2012

        MassivelyLeaderboard: 2011 vs. 2012 originally appeared on Massively on Mon, 02 Jan 2012 14:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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          Setting the record straight: Massively's interview with Pando Networks

          Posted: 02 Jan 2012 10:00 AM PST

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          Pando Media Booster
          In a recent installment of The Daily Grind, we mentioned the use of third party downloaders for MMOs, asking your opinions on the topic. The general consensus seemed to be an overall negative opinion of these clients, including a (sometimes quite strong) dislike for Pando Media Booster -- a piece of software that's mostly known in MMO circles from games like Lord of the Rings Online and Dungeons & Dragons Online.

          After the post ran, Pando Networks contacted Massively hoping to clear up some of the questions and concerns surrounding the Pando Media Booster. We called up CEO Robert Levitan, who was eager to set the record straight with much to say about the technological features -- both real and misunderstood -- about his company's product.

          Follow along after the jump for the complete interview.

          Continue reading Setting the record straight: Massively's interview with Pando Networks

          MassivelySetting the record straight: Massively's interview with Pando Networks originally appeared on Massively on Mon, 02 Jan 2012 13:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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            BioWare: Mac version of Star Wars: The Old Republic is something it's 'looking at next'

            Posted: 02 Jan 2012 09:30 AM PST

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            BioWare label leads Ray Muzyka and Greg Zeschuk are quite dedicated to their fans. At least that's a recurring theme for them when talking about their company's moves in new directions, to which both repeatedly referred during a recent interview in midtown Manhattan. "We know there's a big Mac audience of BioWare fans ... we know that's an important and large audience. And we want to serve that audience," Muzyka told me when asked about a potential Mac version of the his company's latest major release, Star Wars: The Old Republic.

            "I'd say 'not yet,'" Zeschuk assured me when I told him that, as a BioWare fan, I'm unable to play The Old Republic on my less than two-year-old MacBook. Though Muzyka was quick to remind me that I can technically play the game on a Windows partition, he also admitted that it wasn't an ideal situation. "We've done a lot of Mac ports before of our games. We haven't announced any details yet for The Old Republic, but we know that's an important and large audience."

            Neither would offer a strict timetable on the Mac version, but Zeschuk did note, "That's definitely one of the things we're looking at next. We want to get this launch under our belt and everything stabilized and happy, and then we'll look at other platforms, and that's obviously one of the first ones."

            MassivelyBioWare: Mac version of Star Wars: The Old Republic is something it's 'looking at next' originally appeared on Massively on Mon, 02 Jan 2012 12:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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