General Gaming Article

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• Alien Autopsy: We Look Inside the Alienware X51
• Android App of the Week: Dragon Go!
• Washington Post, NPR And The Guardian Take Up Wikipedia's Slack With #Altwiki
• Internet Statistics that Boggle the Mind
• Intel Now Offers Overclocking Protection Plans on Select Processors, Still Doesn't Encourage the Dark Art
• XFX Radeon HD 7970 Black Edition Review
• Stop SOPA And PIPA! A Primer
• SOPA Protests: How To Use Google Cache To View Blacked-Out Websites
• Wi-Fi-Equipped Xoom Tablets Snarf Down OTA Ice Cream Sandwich Update
• MPAA Head Lashes Out At Blackout "Gimmick" While SOPA Co-Sponsors Withdraw Support

Alien Autopsy: We Look Inside the Alienware X51 Posted: 18 Jan 2012 02:07 PM PST Deep inside the smallest, most powerful gaming rig…ever? Besides chocolate and coconut, oil and water, gaming and small form factor usually don't mix. That's something Alienware is hoping to fix with its new incredibly small X51 box. Maximum PC got to dig around inside an X51 unit to see how the company managed to get desktop parts into such a miniature machine and even check out the Nvidia's top secret Optimus technology too. Alienware had two targets in designing the new X51 desktop: make it small and make it powerful. The Alienware box is slightly bigger than a generation 1 Xbox 360 console and it's very reminiscent of business-class small form factor machines. There's a big difference with the X51 though: It has some juice. Alienware designers told us with this size of desktop, mobile parts are often used to keep the thermals and size down but because most gamers like to upgrade, the company said it based the X51 on desktop components. Inside is a Mini-ITX motherboard using the H61 chipset and a standard LGA1155 socket with the most powerful being an Intel Core i7-2600. Why no K chip? Alienware said the H61 makes overclocking out of the question so there's no need to pay for an unlocked processor. The board features two standard DDR3 DIMM slots in dual-channel mode and a Mini PCI Express Card slot. The Mini PCI Express Card slot will be outfitted with an 802.11n chip but since it's a standard slot, will take any card. The motherboard itself is an industry standard MiniITX size and could theoretically be upgraded but the I/O shield of the machine is built into the rear plane of the machine so swapping out a motherboard would seem to require Dremelling out the I/O shield area to fit any new board. To get more hardware inside the box, Alienware had to move from the typical small, loud and hot internal PSU to an external brick. Two options will be available: A 240 Watt brick or a 340 Watt brick. The brick plugs into the rear of the box and AC/DC conversion is done inside the machine on a board in front of the motherboard. For storage, the X51 will mount a full size 3.5-inch desktop drive, and a slot-fed DVD burner or optional Blu-ray combo drive. There's no mount for a 2.5-inch SSD or mobile drive but Alienware designers said they expect those interested in SSDs to remove the 3.5-inch drive and use a bracket to mount up to 2.5-inch SSDs. Knowing this would be an option, Alienware said they intentionally put three SATA ports on the motherboard. The real magic though is the GPU support. Two configurations will be available at launch: A GeForce GTX 555 or a GeForce GTX 545. These are not specially designed cards with custom coolers either—these are off the shelf cards. Alienware said gamers universally want the option to upgrade cards down the road so it made sure the unit could function with off the shelf cards. The company said it believes it's possible to run up to a GeForce GTX 580 based on the power and thermal capabilities but it has not qualified the box for it. We only saw two standard six-pin power plugs so don't pin your hopes on anything that requires insane amount of power. Realistically, Alienware said it expects GeForce GTX 560 Ti-level of graphics as a near term upgrade. Keep in mind that as vendors introduce newer GPUs, the power requirements usually go down for mid-range cards so it's not implausible to get GeForce GTX 580 performance later this year with the power needs of a GeForce GTX 560 Ti. All X51s will also come with Nvidia's long awaited, secret Optimus technology. Optimus lets you seamlessly switch between discrete and the integrated Sandy Bridge graphics. It was actually backdoor announced by board makers when the original Z68 chipset came out last Spring but was quickly denied by Nvidia. Now nearly a year later, Optimus for desktop is finally ready. Configuring Optimus seems fairly easy and straightforward, too. Just go into the Nvidia control panel, select "Manage 3D Settings" and then you're given an option to let Optimus automagically select what to run on by looking at the 3D workload or manually select the integrated graphics or discrete graphics. Since gamers like bling, Alienware added a dash of that with its trademark lighting on various places around the case. Like the laptop and Aurora, the X51 lets you change the color of the LEDs on the case and the keyboard and mouse using the AFX lighting applet. To show you how much thought the designers put into the box, the signature Alienware head on the front of the box can be rotated to match the orientation of the box. We'll get a box in for review when we can, but we can say that the X51 is an impressive amount of hardware in a small box. We've seen high-end graphics, even up to GTX 580 cards in small form factor rigs before, but they're generally pretty bulky. That Alienware can stuff a 150-watt GPU into a box the size of a business-class small form factor is pretty damn amazing. To be honest, this isn't the first attempt at a small, thin gaming box. Hewlett-Packard's (Voodoo's) Firebird made a run at it with its Firebird machine, back in 2009. While interesting and truly silent, the Firebird's use of mobile CPUs and SLI'ed mobile GPUs was a big turn off to gamers. We weren't overly joyed with the Firebird, but we did think that it was a glimpse of one possible future for desktop gaming. Alienware's X51 pretty much cements that: PC gaming is truly getting smaller and cheaper. Two configuations will be offered, with the cheapest being $699 for a box with a Core i3, 4GB of RAM, a 1TB drive, and a GeForce GTX 545.

Android App of the Week: Dragon Go! Posted: 18 Jan 2012 11:32 AM PST The competition for voice activation technology in mobile products has escalated in the last six months in large part due to the launch of Siri, Apple's "personal assistant", on the iPhone 4S. Several developers have attempted to fill in the gap on Android by offering voice-centric apps that provide access to search and other functions, with mixed success. One such app is Dragon Go! by Nuance Communications. Though it doesn't integrate into Android the way Siri does on iOS, Dragon Go! does provide easy access to a wide range of functions from a central starting point. Dragon Go! integrates with a number of popular apps such as Google Music, Maps, and Netflix, giving you the ability to quickly navigate into those apps using your voice by saying things like "Mythbusters on Netflix" or "Play Tron Soundtrack". The app also integrates with the search functionality on a huge list of websites like Weather.com or Hulu.com using commands such as "San Francisco on Weather.com" or "Last Man Standing on Hulu.com". Expect more app and website integration in future updates. Dragon Go! is available as a free download on the Android Market.

Washington Post, NPR And The Guardian Take Up Wikipedia's Slack With #Altwiki Posted: 18 Jan 2012 11:11 AM PST As Wikipedia sits silent and dark for legions of despondent would-be users (who, apparently, never thought of Googling for some help around the blackout), a trio of old-school publications have stepped into the void to try and replace the collective knowledge of the Internet. The Washington Post, the Guardian, and NPR have been taking tweets from information-deprived Webizens and trying to provide answers to all life's questions, large and small. Just smack an #altwiki tag at the end of a question and the combined brainpower will try to supply you with an honest-to-goodness answer. Even though chuckleheads have been flooding the tag with ridiculous questions – such as "Shoot, who played that guy in that thing? You know the one." – the trio of publications have still been dropping knowledge about everything from speedy mammals to the speed of light in a vacuum, along with a host of other topics. Don't mistake the help for a Stop SOPA endorsement, however, as Washington Post blogger Elizabeth Flock explains: #AltWiki, of course, doesn't seek to replace Wikipedia, or indicate that The Post is taking a stand against the House's Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) or the Senate's Protect Intellectual Property Act (PIPA). It does, however, tell us quite a bit about how much 477 million people a month rely on Wikipedia. Other crowdsource-style hashtags have popped up, too, including #FactsWithoutWikipedia and #WorldWithoutWikipedia. In fact, #FactsWithoutWikipedia seems almost as hoppin' as the #altwiki tag. You have to admire what The Post and others are trying to do here -- unless you're on The Post's research team, of course, in which case today probably really, really sucks. Twitter user Herpderpedia takes a totally different tact, but one that brings a smile to our faces nonetheless.

Internet Statistics that Boggle the Mind Posted: 18 Jan 2012 11:00 AM PST We're already halfway through the first month of the new year and it's getting a little late to reflect on 2011, but in this case, it's simply taken that long to crunch and compile all the numbers. We're talking about the latest statistics from Pingdom that deal with what happened in 2011 and what the Internet landscape looked like as last year came to a close. According to Pingom, there were 2.1 billion Internet users worldwide by the end of 2011. which is well over the population of Estonia and Iceland...combined. Nearly half -- 45 percent -- of the world's Internet population is under 25 years old, and 591 million people are rocking wired broadband subscriptions. Some other interesting numbers: 3.146 billion email accounts 40 years since the first email was sent 555 million websites as of December 2011 95.5 million .com domain names at the end of 2011 100 billion photos on Facebook This is just a small sample of the many figures Pingdom put together, all broken down into various categories like Social Media, Videos, Images, and so forth. View them all here. Image Credit: opte.org

Intel Now Offers Overclocking Protection Plans on Select Processors, Still Doesn't Encourage the Dark Art Posted: 18 Jan 2012 10:26 AM PST Overclocking is no longer the dark art it used to be, and with a little guidance, even your grandmother can push her system past its rated speed with relative ease. That doesn't mean there isn't some risk involved, and if you're truly worried about frying your processor with an aggressive overclock, then you're exactly the person Intel wants to about its "Performance Tuning Protection" plans. "Intel is pleased to announce the introduction of a new pilot plan targeted at the enthusiast community. The enthusiast community is a critical market segment for Intel and, as such, when the opportunity arises to try out a service or otherwise address the community's particular needs, we endeavor to do so where practicable," Intel said in a statement. "In this spirit, Intel is announcing a new pilot service plan for 'K', 'X', and LGA2011-socketed boxed processors called the Performance Tuning Protection Plan. This Plan will provide certain out-of-warranty service offerings in the event of damage caused by overclocking or over-voltaging by the user. By purchasing this Plan and meeting the Plan's criteria, the user can receive a one-time replacement processor if the user's over-voltaging or over-clocking causes the original processor to fail. This pilot Plan in no way expands, changes or extends the original three year standard warranty and is simply a Plan the user may want to purchase for overclocking or over-voltaging." The pilot Plan kicks off today and includes four resellers: CyberPower, Canada Computers and Electronics, Scan Computers, and Altech Computers. On February 13, 2012, Intel will add additional resellers to the Plan. In addition, the chip maker is offering its overclocking warranty direct to consumers at the following prices: Core i5 2500K: $20 Core i7 2600K: $25 Core i7 2700K: $25 Core i7 3930K: $35 Core i7 3960X: $35 Intel is quick to clarify in a related FAQ that these plans are in no way indicative of the chip maker supporting or encouraging overclocking, though on the main page, Intel tells users: "Go ahead and push it, we've got your back." For more info: Peformance Tuning Protection Plan Homepage Plan Pricing Terms and Conditions Genuine Boxed Processor Warranty Information Image Credit:

XFX Radeon HD 7970 Black Edition Review Posted: 18 Jan 2012 10:20 AM PST XFX says "We don't need no stinkin' reference design!"  It's not unusual to see factory-overclocked videocards ship with custom cooling solutions—a few months after the GPU launches. This time, XFX hits the ground running with their Radeon HD 7970 Black Edition. This is a factory-overclocked card with a custom cooling solution that aims to take the performance crown. Based on what we've seen to date, XFX has delivered the fastest single-GPU card on the planet. The Radeon HD 7970 is AMD's latest GPU, with support for DirectX 11.1 and OpenCL 1.2. It's a brand-new new architecture—completely different from past AMD GPUs—built on TSMC's 28nm manufacturing process and sporting a staggering 4.3 billion transistors. In AMD's reference design, the 7970's core runs at 925MHz and its GDDR5 memory is clocked at 1,375MHz. XFX ups the ante significantly, pushing the core clock speed to a whopping 1GHz and running its 3GB of memory at 1,425MHz. While it wouldn't be fair to call a reference-design Radeon HD 7970 a me-too product, XFX is to be congratulated for offering something special right out of the gate. As you might imagine, the results are nothing short of amazing. We're seeing genuine performance milestones here, including a 3DMark 2011 performance score higher than 8,000 (for a single GPU), Far Cry 2 hitting 100fps at 2560x1600 with 4x AA, and Batman: Arkham City heading north of 50fps at the same resolution and AA settings. On top of that, the system idle power is just 124 watts, and a dark idle (when Windows 7 blanks the screen) draw of 110 watts. Push the card and you'll see system power consumption climb to 349 watts, but that merely puts its overall power draw into Fermi territory. XFX's Radeon HD 7970 Black Edition is substantially faster than EVGA's super-overclocked, 3GB GeForce GTX 580 Classified, and it's outfitted with just two PCIe power connectors (one 8-pin and one 6-pin). EVGA's card requires three power connectors. XFX's dual-fan custom cooler, housed within an attractive brushed-metal housing, looks much more elegant than most of the competition. Despite using two fans, this card was noticeably quieter at full load than XFX's Radeon HD 6970, and it was almost inaudible at idle. Aside from carving its logo into the bracket, XFX took no liberties with the outputs: The mounting bracket has two mini-DisplayPort 1.2 connectors, one HDMI 1.4a, and a dual-link DVI. Use a combination of DisplayPort and DVI-capable displays, and the card can support three-panel Eyefinity setups up to 2560 x 1600. Use one or more 1920 x 1200 (or lower res) monitors, and you can also tap the HDMI for a four-panel setup. And when DisplayPort 1.2 monitors and hubs ship, this card will be capable of supporting as many as six displays. The XFX Radeon HD 7970 Black Edition has all the earmarks of a winner: superb performance, relatively low power consumption, and better than average noise levels. It's pricey, at $599, but no more so than other cards in its class. If you crave the fastest single-GPU card in the world, it's here—and it includes the twin bonuses of easy multi-monitor support and high efficiency. $599, www.xfxforce.com

Stop SOPA And PIPA! A Primer Posted: 18 Jan 2012 10:19 AM PST You've probably read the soundbites: critics say that the Stop Online Piracy Act and the Protect IP Act working their way through Congress will stifle technological innovation, trample free speech and unravel the Web as we know it. Thousands of websites have "gone dark" and shut down for at least a portion of the day just to protest the depths of the bills' combined sucktitude. But do you really know why SOPA sucks? (Hint: The answer's different now than it was a few weeks ago.) Do you know which websites joined the blackout? Do you know what YOU can do to help? No? You will after reading this. What Is SOPA? In its current state, SOPA and PIPA basically require ad networks, payment processors and search engines to stop servicing, paying and indexing (respectively) foreign-based "rogue sites" that host or sell infringing materials ranging from illegal copies of Hollywood movies to rip-off Gucci bags. That doesn't sound too bad! But as always, the Devil is in the details. Censorship And Shooting The Messenger As-is, SOPA would force websites, including search engines, to delete links bound for infringing sites – a practice critics, including Google Chairman Eric Schmidt, call censorship. In fact, Schmidt says the bill would "criminalize linking and the fundamental structure of the Internet itself." Google.com on Jan. 18th The EFF reports that organizations would need to actively police their websites for "anti-circumvention" materials, such as links to blacklisted domains, or they could be dragged into court. Did some loser just post a comment listing the URL of a "rogue site"? If YouTube and Facebook (or YOU) aren't right on top of things, they could land in legal hot water. In fact, linking to a site that links to infringing material would technically be a punishable no-no under SOPA/PIPA. You can see why Web-based companies have a problem with this! Proxy and anonymizing tools would also violate the law if they allowed users to visit blacklisted sites. The very services that helped the Arab Spring rise would be illegal in the U.S. itself. The "Vigilante" Provision BoingBoing.net on Jan. 18th Another problem is that ISPs, ad networks and payment processors receive immunity from prosecution if they voluntarily block potentially infringing material without an injunction from a court – even if it turns out the material isn't actually, you know, infringing. The EFF points out that companies will likely trip over themselves to pre-ban content and earn immunity rather than possibly get dragged into court for inaction. Over-zealous policing would likely trample free speech and erase content protected by Fair Use laws. Due process, already a weak spot in SOPA/PIPA, could be bypassed completely thanks to the "Vigilante" provision. SOPA's Actually Better Than It Used To Be As bad as that is, the original version of SOPA was much, much worse. It allowed individual copyright holders to shut down ad revenue and payment processing for both foreign and domestic websites – with little proof and no government oversight or intervention required.  It also required ISPs to utilize DNS blacklisting to prevent U.S.-based surfers from connecting to infringing websites at all – a terrifying act of censorship that, if technically implemented, could threaten the stability of the Internet itself. Fortunately, those provisions were recently dropped. So Why Are Websites "Going Dark"? Wikipedia.org on Jan. 18th To spread the word! The major television networks' coverage of the plight against SOPA/PIPA has been almost conspiratorially absent, as MediaMatters.org points out. In the face of mainstream ambivalence, tech companies have taken matters into their own hands – it's hard to ignore thousands of blacked-out websites, after all, especially when they include heavy hitters like: Wikipedia Reddit Wordpress.org Greenpeace Mozilla Flickr Twitpic Wired ICanHazCheezburger Internet Archive Imgur Boing Boing Destructoid Center for Technology and Democracy Electronic Frontier Foundation Minecraft …and many, many more, some of which are only closed half the day, and most (if not all) of which can be found on SopaStrike.com. Google and Scribd aren't going dark, but they are displaying links and pop-ups to draw awareness to SOPA/PIPA. Craigslist also drops users into an anti-SOPA splash page before allowing them to continue browsing the site. By the way, if you need to get your Wikipedia (or whatever) on, there's a way around the voluntary black outs. How Can I Help? It's easy! Blackout your website using one of the techniques outlined at Daily Dot, or spread awareness by changing your Twitter/Facebook pic to the STOP SOPA pic at BlackoutSOPA.org. More importantly, get in touch with your Congressional representatives and express your distaste for the bills – AmericanCensorship.org and the EFF can help you do just that. Minecraft.net on Jan. 18 Where Do The Bills Stand Today? All of our e-bitching seems to be doing some good. Over the past weekend, the crazy DNS blacklisting requirements were sliced from both bills, the White House issued a statement that said it basically wouldn't support the bills as they stand, and SOPA was supposedly shelved in the House (although Lamar Smith, the rep that sponsored SOPA, says he plans on pushing it in February). PIPA is still going strong in the Senate, however, and scheduled for a procedural vote on January 24th. So there's your knowledge! But knowing is only half the battle – the other half is killing these beasts for good. Contact your Congressmen today!

SOPA Protests: How To Use Google Cache To View Blacked-Out Websites Posted: 18 Jan 2012 10:18 AM PST Websites with a beef against over-reaching legislation have drawn a line in the sand; today, many of them are following Reddit's lead and going black to protest SOPA and PIPA. The controversial bills have been under heavy fire recently, and the heat's bound to increase when 25 million Joe and Jill Everymen find Wikipedia cold, dark, and urging readers to contact their Congressional representatives. But you're not Joe or Jill Everyman. You're a Maximum PC reader, a tech-savvy webizen who already understands that SOPA flat-out sucks. What if you need to get your Wikipedia (or Destructoid, or Boing Boing, or…) on today? Don't worry – there's a way around the blackout if you know exactly what you're looking for, thanks to the magic of Google's all-encompassing cache. First, boot up your browser and head over to Google, where you'll just so happen to see a link to a page outlining Google's own SOPA/PIPA opposition. Search for whatever blacked-out page you're looking for, but be specific: you won't be able to browse blacked-out sites normally, so you'll need to find deeper links to exact content, using searches like "Reddit why is morrowind so revered" or "Maximum PC Wikipedia". Trying to click on the link will lead you to the site's blackout message. Instead, hover over the listing, then mouse over the three arrows that appear to its right to bring up the preview pane. Underneath the direct link in the preview pane, you'll see a URL for the page, and to the right of that, you'll see a link to a cached version. Bingo! Click on that. You'll be taken to a cached version of the page. A message at the top will tell you when Google took the snapshot. This method isn't perfect, however; you won't be able to click on links without being directed to the blackout page. (You can run another specific Google search for the linked-to content, though.) Additionally, the content might not be totally up-to-date, but content that's a few day old beats no content whatsoever, right? Here's another useful trick for skirting Wikipedia's blackout: just disable Javascript for the site and you'll be able to browse it normally. That should work for other sites using Javascript-powered blackout methods, too, such as Wordpress.org. When you're done circumventing blackouts, be sure to head over to AmericanCensorship.org and bug your Congressmen/women if you haven't already. And if you don't get what all the fuss is about, check out our primer on stopping SOPA and PIPA, which includes a list of notable sites taking part in the blackout.

Wi-Fi-Equipped Xoom Tablets Snarf Down OTA Ice Cream Sandwich Update Posted: 18 Jan 2012 10:15 AM PST When the weather gets cold and the skies turn grey, we usually get a hankering for something warm to eat. Hot cocoa, anyone? But our tummies are rumbling for something a bit cooler in these early days of winter: delicious Android-flavored Ice Cream Sandwich. Just last week, Asus' Transformer Prime received the new OS, and now, an oldie-but-goodie is getting in on the action: the Motorola Xoom. No, not the as-yet-released Xoom 2 – pardon us, the Xyboard. Slashgear reports that this over the air update (which bears the name "IML77") is targeted for the Motorola Xoom Wi-Fi tablets alone. Interestingly, the unreleased Xyboard still rocks Honeycomb, giving it the dubious distinction of sporting an OS that's older than its older sibling's. In any case, the update should be available now for U.S. Xoom owners. No word yet on an update for international or 4G Xoom tablets.

MPAA Head Lashes Out At Blackout "Gimmick" While SOPA Co-Sponsors Withdraw Support Posted: 18 Jan 2012 10:05 AM PST Hey, did you know that Wikipedia, Google, Craigslist and Reddit are trying to turn you into their corporate pawns? We didn't either, but to hear MPAA honcho Chris Dodd tell it, the "gimmick"y blackout darkening the Internet today isn't actually a way for tech sites to spread awareness about a critical issue to a possibly uninformed segment of the population – instead, it's just a "stunt," an "abuse of power" designed to punish users and elected officials alike. In related news, two of SOPA's and one of PIPA's co-sponsors have asked to have their names removed from the bill. Normally we'd pick the juicy bits to share, but in this case, all of Dodd's rhetoric is pure gold. So here's the full text of the MPAA press release for your perusal. (Hey, should we be worried about sharing press releases if SOPA/PIPA passes?) Only days after the White House and chief sponsors of the legislation responded to the major concern expressed by opponents and then called for all parties to work cooperatively together, some technology business interests are resorting to stunts that punish their users or turn them into their corporate pawns, rather than coming to the table to find solutions to a problem that all now seem to agree is very real and damaging. It is an irresponsible response and a disservice to people who rely on them for information and use their services. It is also an abuse of power given the freedoms these companies enjoy in the marketplace today. It's a dangerous and troubling development when the platforms that serve as gateways to information intentionally skew the facts to incite their users in order to further their corporate interests. A so-called "blackout" is yet another gimmick, albeit a dangerous one, designed to punish elected and administration officials who are working diligently to protect American jobs from foreign criminals. It is our hope that the White House and the Congress will call on those who intend to stage this "blackout" to stop the hyperbole and PR stunts and engage in meaningful efforts to combat piracy. Meanwhile, PC World reports that two of the Representatives that previously supported SOPA – Benjamin Quayle of Arizona and Lee Terry of Nebraska – have asked to have their name stricken as co-sponsors of the controversial bill. A spokesman for Terry told the publication that the widespread backlash from tech companies and civil rights groups helped convince the Congressman to drop his SOPA support. CNET reports that Misouri Senator Roy Blount is doing the same with PIPA, and says that several other SOPA/PIPA co-sponsors' commitment to the bill now seems much more tenuous.

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MMO News

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• Star Trek Online – First Look HD
• Silkroad-R officially launches
• Neowiz announces Seven Souls Online
• Pockie Ninja introduces new Chrome App
• Eden Eternal introduces Samurai

Star Trek Online – First Look HD Posted: 18 Jan 2012 02:06 PM PST To Learn More About the Game, Check out our Star Trek Page. Star Trek Online is a Sci-fi MMORPG developed by Cryptic (the same studio behind Champions Online). Cryptic recently was bought by Perfect World Entertainment and so Star Trek Online once a P2P game has now gone F2P. In addition to ground based exploration and leveling, players can customize their ships and explore the unknown. There are a number of different ship types that can be piloted, and the player is not limited to any one ship simply because of their character type. In addition to this, the player can have a tactical, science, and engineering officer appointed to assist them on their ship, each of which infers a bonus ability and levels up on their own.

Silkroad-R officially launches Posted: 18 Jan 2012 11:00 AM PST Joymax has announced the official launch of Silkroad-R today. Silkroad-R is a revised and updated version of the classic Silkroad Online, which remains online concurrently with Silkroad-R. The new version includes improved experience, removed gold drop under level 70, class and skill rebalancing, improved drop rates, improvements to the Forgotten World, and more – including increased anti-botting measures. Silkroad-R hosts separate data from Silkroad Online, so players will need to start anew. Special events to celebrate the game’s launch includes in-game giveaways every 4-6 levels, rewards for the first 100 players to hit level 80, gift card giveaways to players who hit special leveling milestones, creative contests, and more. Silkroad-R Introduction Video: Source: SILKROAD-R THE RETURN OF THE KING Buffs, Quests, Free Items, And Amazon Gift Cards To Be Won January 1 8 th , 2012 – Joymax, a developer and publisher of interactive entertainment for the global market, today announced the successful launch of their new blockbuster title, Silkroad-R.The newest iteration of the Silkroad family is its own game, with unique accounts and servers, and isas alwayscompletely free to download and play!Newcomers to the Silkroad franchisealongside series veterans can now enjoy the cleanest gaming experience yet. To celebrate the game's successful launch, Joymax is featuring numerous events and promotions from now until February 7th.  To find out more about Silkroad-R and or to enter one of the many events, visit the official site at http://www.joymax.com/silkroad-r/. New players can join now for a chance to win Amazon Gift Cards by reaching level 30, 50, or 70 with randomly selected winners in February.  This give-away is in addition to all the in-game items awaiting players, starting at level three and available every 4-6 levels.  Already joined?  The race to 80 is on!  The first 100 players to hit this plateau will be gifted special Seals to upgrade their armor and weapons.  These bonus items include amazing buffs like the Berserk Regeneration Potion, HP Increasing Scrolls, Skillpoint Scrolls, Pandora's Boxes, and many other items that allow players to level faster and/or customize their players in ways they had previously not imagined. Feeling creative?  Submit a wallpaper or greeting card to Joymax and win a coveted Hanbok Avatar Set, along with a Magic Lamp Cleaner.  Those just looking for a quick boost can pop by the NPC So-OK for a 5-hour exp buff that can be used once per day. Players seeking an even bigger boost can find a variety of items in the cash shop to enchant their items, improve their experience rate, and so much more. "There's many aspects of Silkroad-R that we changed or improved based on user feedback, and we took a long time investigating the cash shop and evaluating each item." said Joymax CEO, Nam-chul Kim.  "Players will find all the items they love in the cash shop, but every item has been buffed in some fashion, making the Silkroad-R cash shop the strongest yet!" In addition, a new server, Merv was added based on player feedback, to ensure that players will have the perfect gaming experiences from logon to finish.

Neowiz announces Seven Souls Online Posted: 18 Jan 2012 10:10 AM PST Neowiz Games, publisher of War of Angels in North America, has announced a new title: Seven Souls Online. Seven Souls Online offers a deep fantasy world with East, West, and science fiction blended in. Three character classes – Manatech Rebels, Imperial Guards, and Exiled Avengers – will be available for play. Players will able to access special skills and power ups for each class, or use Rage Mode to transform into a monster for increased power. An enchant and cube system will also offer the chance to customize gear, with an element of randomness to offer extremely rare items if one’s lucky. Closed beta signups are being accepted at www.sevensoulsonline.com. The game is expected to launch this spring. Seven Souls Online Gameplay Screenshot Source: NEOWIZ GAMES Announces Seven Souls Online Hyper-paced Combat MMORPG to Make its North American Debut this Spring Los Angeles – Jan. 18, 201 2 – A series of bloody battles awaits players in the "blitz-paced" massively multiplayer online game (MMORPG) Seven Souls Online from NEOWIZ GAMES. Set to launch in North America this spring, Seven Souls Online is currently accepting pre-registration for closed beta testers at the game's official website, http://www.sevensoulsonline.com, which also features a never-before-seen game trailer. Seven Souls Online allows players to unleash their inner demon in a fantasy world which combines the ancient East and West, fused with elements of science-fiction. Players can choose from three character classes, the magic-enhanced Manatech Rebel, the savage Imperial Guard and the cunning Exiled Avenger, and then slaughter their way through vast armies of enemies. Additional Seven Souls Online features include: Rage Mode – With the push of a button, players can turn their characters into gruesome monsters for increased attack strength and critical attack chance. Book of Lost Souls – This book is one of the game's most distinctive features. It not only tells the background story, but also differentiates each class from others by providing distinctive skills and power-ups. Enchant and Cube System s – Players can enjoy easy-to-use Enchant and Cube Systems to enforce or dismantle their items and weapons. The randomness aspect allows players to acquire extremely rare items. Anti-Bot – Seven Souls Online does not welcome hunting bots. The anti-bot system will penalize excessive hunters while rewarding loyal, quest-completing players. "Seven Souls Online will raise the bar for free-to-play MMORPGs in the North American market," said John Nam, COO of NEOWIZ GAMES Inc. "The game is set to provide an electrifying online free-to-play experience with its distinctive features and gorgeous graphics." Interested players can sign up to receive the most up-to-date information on Seven Souls Online by visiting the game's website, http://www.sevensoulsonline.com/. Fans also can “Like” the game on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/officialsevensouls

Pockie Ninja introduces new Chrome App Posted: 18 Jan 2012 09:50 AM PST NGames has announced the release of a new Chrome App, available for free through Chrome’s Web Store, for its browser-based MMO, Pockie Ninja. The Chrome App takes players to the Pockie Ninja homepage, letting players sign in or register through Google, Facebook, Yahoo, Mangafox, or Game321. Its design is to let Chrome users instantly connect to the game through their Google accounts. Pockie Ninja recently won several awards at BBGSite, and has earned over nine million registered players since closed beta began in March. Pockie Ninja Gameplay Screenshot Source: Annual BBG Site award votes Pockie Ninja number 1 New Chrome app released for browser-based game of the year The annual BBG Site “Browser Game of the Year” awards (http://news.bbgsite.com/gameprize/2011/index.shtml) have voted Naruto and Bleach inspired MMO, Pockie Ninja their most popular game of the year. Pockie Ninja steam-rolled more than a third of the annual Browser Game of the Year categories, topping 5 of the 12 available categories. The beautifully animated browser-based brawler was voted Best Graphics, Best New Game, Best 2D Game, Favourite RPG, and the Most Popular browser game of 2011. The awards highlight the reasons behind Pockie Ninja’s considerable growth since it’s closed beta launch in March, 2011. The game has amassed over 9 million registrations to date, with gamers and anime fans alike enjoying the high-end graphical presentation, deep customisation elements, and unique ‘one character, multiple classes’ system that the MMORPG offers. To celebrate, publisher NGames – who were also winners of the ‘Top Company’ award – have released a brand new Google Chrome App to make playing Pockie Ninja a more easily accessible experience. The new Chrome App is available for free through the Chrome Web Store and effortlessly plugs into Chrome browsers, allowing everyone to instantly play the game via their google account. Through one click, players are taken to the Pockie Ninja homepage where they can sign in and/or register to play using their Google, Facebook, Yahoo or Mangafox accounts. Players can also sign up for an official Game321 account, which allows play sessions on all of NGames’ products under one username and e-wallet. The Chrome App is available now: https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/fnllmdekhoodfjggoncakndldjihiiol

Eden Eternal introduces Samurai Posted: 18 Jan 2012 09:39 AM PST Last week, Aeria Games introduced a new major update to Eden Eternal, adding a new class and more. The Samurai debuted in last week’s update, offering a new, powerful DPS class that utilizes both buffs and physical attacks. The update also introduced the Monster Arena, which lets players take the role of dungeon bosses in a 3v3 arena to earn Honor Stars, a revamp to Territory Wars, two new level 60 Hero’s Trial dungeons, and a Tarot Card Reader. Aeria Games also publishes Grand Fantasia and Dream of Mirror Online. Samurai Class Eden Eternal Gameplay Screenshot Source: New Content Rocks Eden Eternal Update Includes Samurai Class, Monster Battle Arena and an Improved Territory Wars SANTA CLARA, Calif. – January 18th, 2012 – Aeria Games, a leading global publisher of free-to-play online games, has today launched the latest patch for its highly popular free-to-play MMORPG, Eden Eternal, further expanding upon the game's already robust content. The offerings in this content update include the new Samurai class, a totally revamped Territory Wars mode and the new Monster Battle Arena, allowing for even more intense player versus player combat. The katana-wielding Samurai class has slashed its way to Eden Eternal and is fierce in close combat. This powerful damage per second (DPS) class utilizes a variety of buffs and physical attacks such as the "Asura Slash," an airborne attack that will damage even the toughest foes. The addition of the Monster Arena will have players excitedly queuing up, now that they have the ability to play as one of their favorite dungeon boss monsters in a 3v3 PvP action. Players will team up, and will be able to win Honor Stars that are redeemable for valuable items. Also included in this content patch for Eden Eternal: • Improved Territory Wars: Players can enjoy a revamped Territory Wars where guilds band together to take down the opposing team. • Level 60 Hero's Trial Dungeons: Explore two brand new extensive dungeons with new bosses and gear. • Tarot Card Reader: The newly introduced NPC Morlin offers 10 percent bonus to a randomly selected class tree Eden Eternal is free to download on the PC and free-to-play. For more information regarding Eden Eternal and its event schedule, please visit http://edeneternal.aeriagames.com

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Latest Gaming and MMORPG Updates

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• Pac-Man, Mega Man Teased for Street Fighter X Tekken on Vita
• Pac-Man, Mega Man Teased for Street Fighter X Tekken on Vita
• AIKA Epic III : Dispheron Warfare (KR) preview
• AIKA Epic III : Dispheron Warfare (KR) preview
• Review: Rise of Nightmares is a Poor Mash-Up Between House of the Dead and Resident Evil

Pac-Man, Mega Man Teased for Street Fighter X Tekken on Vita Posted: 17 Jan 2012 05:11 PM PST Ahead of the game’s release in March, Capcom has released a variety of new Street Fighter X Tekken content today and confirmed the identity of six more fighters. But it’s a short teaser in one of the new trailers that is the most noteworthy bit from what the company had to show today. The newly-announced characters include three from either side: Street Fighter provides Balrog, Vega, and Juri, while Tekken offers up Paul, Law, and Xiaoyu. It’s nothing terribly unexpected, and the surprise guest characters remain Cole from Infamous, plus Toro and Kuro. But watch all the way to the end of the trailer above and you’ll see a tease for the Vita version of the game. Besides a brief gameplay clip reinforcing that Vita is likely to be the absolute best handheld for fighting game fans (Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom 3 is also on the way to the system, as is the just-revealed Vita version of Mortal Kombat), the image below is shown teasing that both Pac-Man and some version of Mega Man will be included in the game. Mega Man has made fighting game appearances before, having been a playable character in the first two Marvel vs. Capcom games (before being suspiciously absent from both MvC3 and Ultimate MvC3). Just which version of Mega Man we might see here is unclear; some believe it to be Bad Box Art Mega Man, while others think it’s Dead Rising’s Frank West donning the Mega Man attire. Although it feels as if Mega Man has been put on the back burner recently between the cancellations of Mega Man Universe and Mega Man Legends 3, Capcom says it remains a “key brand” for the company. With it looking like Capcom plans to celebrate the series’ 25-year anniversary, it shouldn’t come as a complete surprise that Mega Man will be involved with Street Fighter X Tekken. Pac-Man would be the bigger shock of the two; whereas Mega Man felt like a notable omission in Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom 3, there weren’t flocks of fans clamoring for some Pac-Man fighting action (although keep in mind Pac-Man comes from Namco Bandai, not Capcom). Still, it’s UMvC3 that would be the more appropriate game for Pac-Man to show up as a playable fighter, though if Pac-Man (and Mega Man) are only available in the Vita version of Street Fighter X Tekken, it could be that Capcom simply feels it can get away with more in the handheld game. Then again, Cole — and Toro and Kuro especially — prove Capcom and Yoshinori Ono aren’t exactly hell-bent on providing the most serious fighting game experience possible. Between those three, Pac-Man, and Mega Man (assuming the latter two are Vita exclusives), it’s looking like the Xbox 360 version of the game could be the most lacking if it doesn’t have even a single character all to itself. Microsoft wasn’t concerned enough to try countering Kratos in Mortal Kombat last year, and it seems like that situation will repeat itself barring another secret character being revealed in the next month or so. Posted by: admin in Gaming News Find related article at: http://www.1up.com/news/pac-man-mega-man-street-fighter-x-tekken Thank you for Visiting Gameforumer.com, Hope you enjoyed the stay with us.

Pac-Man, Mega Man Teased for Street Fighter X Tekken on Vita Posted: 17 Jan 2012 05:11 PM PST Ahead of the game’s release in March, Capcom has released a variety of new Street Fighter X Tekken content today and confirmed the identity of six more fighters. But it’s a short teaser in one of the new trailers that is the most noteworthy bit from what the company had to show today. The newly-announced characters include three from either side: Street Fighter provides Balrog, Vega, and Juri, while Tekken offers up Paul, Law, and Xiaoyu. It’s nothing terribly unexpected, and the surprise guest characters remain Cole from Infamous, plus Toro and Kuro. But watch all the way to the end of the trailer above and you’ll see a tease for the Vita version of the game. Besides a brief gameplay clip reinforcing that Vita is likely to be the absolute best handheld for fighting game fans (Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom 3 is also on the way to the system, as is the just-revealed Vita version of Mortal Kombat), the image below is shown teasing that both Pac-Man and some version of Mega Man will be included in the game. Mega Man has made fighting game appearances before, having been a playable character in the first two Marvel vs. Capcom games (before being suspiciously absent from both MvC3 and Ultimate MvC3). Just which version of Mega Man we might see here is unclear; some believe it to be Bad Box Art Mega Man, while others think it’s Dead Rising’s Frank West donning the Mega Man attire. Although it feels as if Mega Man has been put on the back burner recently between the cancellations of Mega Man Universe and Mega Man Legends 3, Capcom says it remains a “key brand” for the company. With it looking like Capcom plans to celebrate the series’ 25-year anniversary, it shouldn’t come as a complete surprise that Mega Man will be involved with Street Fighter X Tekken. Pac-Man would be the bigger shock of the two; whereas Mega Man felt like a notable omission in Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom 3, there weren’t flocks of fans clamoring for some Pac-Man fighting action (although keep in mind Pac-Man comes from Namco Bandai, not Capcom). Still, it’s UMvC3 that would be the more appropriate game for Pac-Man to show up as a playable fighter, though if Pac-Man (and Mega Man) are only available in the Vita version of Street Fighter X Tekken, it could be that Capcom simply feels it can get away with more in the handheld game. Then again, Cole — and Toro and Kuro especially — prove Capcom and Yoshinori Ono aren’t exactly hell-bent on providing the most serious fighting game experience possible. Between those three, Pac-Man, and Mega Man (assuming the latter two are Vita exclusives), it’s looking like the Xbox 360 version of the game could be the most lacking if it doesn’t have even a single character all to itself. Microsoft wasn’t concerned enough to try countering Kratos in Mortal Kombat last year, and it seems like that situation will repeat itself barring another secret character being revealed in the next month or so. Posted by: admin in Gaming News Find related article at: http://www.1up.com/news/pac-man-mega-man-street-fighter-x-tekken Thank you for Visiting Gameforumer.com, Hope you enjoyed the stay with us.

AIKA Epic III : Dispheron Warfare (KR) preview Posted: 17 Jan 2012 05:11 PM PST First off, there are no new classes, new advancements or new features related to Prans (except a chance of getting rarer gifts when talking to them). AIKA Korea is now heading towards Epic III, which will see more combat content added. I will skip the main storyline about how the folks need to find a new place to mine resources, and Dispheron will be the new continent this time round. The main highlight for Dispheron will be the new high level dungeon, Abyss Gates. This place apparently has 4 gates which players have to fight through, with the minimal level to enter set at 71. Abyss Gates will drop level 85 weapons, including the level 80+ armor pieces and some rare honor equipments. The maximum level has been raised to level 85 as well, with players getting 3 times the normal stat points from level 81 onwards. Each class will be getting 6 new skills. For the mid levels from 21 to 70, there will be a new PvE zone in which they players will be separated into 3 different tiers. This is to help them level faster through some sort of matchmaking party system. The rest of the updates are some minor changes to current features and systems, along with a new UI upgrade as well. In all, the initial information released is not really something to go gaga about, but we shall see. Posted by: admin in Gaming News Find related article at: http://www.mmoculture.com/2012/01/aika-epic-iii-dispheron-warfare-preview.html Thank you for Visiting Gameforumer.com, Hope you enjoyed the stay with us.

AIKA Epic III : Dispheron Warfare (KR) preview Posted: 17 Jan 2012 05:11 PM PST First off, there are no new classes, new advancements or new features related to Prans (except a chance of getting rarer gifts when talking to them). AIKA Korea is now heading towards Epic III, which will see more combat content added. I will skip the main storyline about how the folks need to find a new place to mine resources, and Dispheron will be the new continent this time round. The main highlight for Dispheron will be the new high level dungeon, Abyss Gates. This place apparently has 4 gates which players have to fight through, with the minimal level to enter set at 71. Abyss Gates will drop level 85 weapons, including the level 80+ armor pieces and some rare honor equipments. The maximum level has been raised to level 85 as well, with players getting 3 times the normal stat points from level 81 onwards. Each class will be getting 6 new skills. For the mid levels from 21 to 70, there will be a new PvE zone in which they players will be separated into 3 different tiers. This is to help them level faster through some sort of matchmaking party system. The rest of the updates are some minor changes to current features and systems, along with a new UI upgrade as well. In all, the initial information released is not really something to go gaga about, but we shall see. Posted by: admin in Gaming News Find related article at: http://www.mmoculture.com/2012/01/aika-epic-iii-dispheron-warfare-preview.html Thank you for Visiting Gameforumer.com, Hope you enjoyed the stay with us.

Review: Rise of Nightmares is a Poor Mash-Up Between House of the Dead and Resident Evil Posted: 17 Jan 2012 01:28 PM PST Great games don’t have to be completely original — take Beyond Good and Evil, for instance. Michel Ancel’s 2003 cult classic blended the best bits of Ocarina of Time and Metal Gear Solid to produce a fantastically playable experience that still has us clamoring for a sequel some eight years later. That said, there’s not much new going on in Dead Island, even for a zombie game; instead of doing something fresh with a tired premise, Polish developer Techland decided to borrow from the best parts of Borderlands, Dead Rising 2, and, surprisingly, Far Cry 2. The resulting casserole of mismatched mechanics doesn’t always go down easy, but Dead Island still makes for an enjoyable and slightly addictive adventure in killing the same enemies ad nauseam. In what feels like an act of mercy, the game doesn’t offer much of a story to suffer through; you play as one of four characters (each with varying stats and weapon preferences) stranded on the zombie-infested tropical resort island of Banoi. Expectedly, your goal is to escape, help out imperiled folks along the way, and possibly discover some alarming plot twist that will leave your jaw a safe distance from the floor. But Dead Island doesn’t concern itself with matters of plot; the cut scenes are brief and rare, and the protagonists (along with the supporting players) aren’t even fleshed out enough to be caricatures. Really, if Dead Island has anything to offer, it’s the ability to kill zombies with a variety of homemade weapons — and, aside from a few minor issues, it excels at this simple task. Posted by: admin in Gaming News Find related article at: http://www.1up.com/reviews?cId=3185584 Thank you for Visiting Gameforumer.com, Hope you enjoyed the stay with us.

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MMO Updates

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• Final Fantasy XIV teasing players with a rideable goobbue
• Fallen Earth's 2.3 patch live today, new world bosses incoming
• Aion changing vet reward system
• Cryptic and Perfect World release STO F2P trailer
• PlanetSide 2's Sunderer carries troops, pushes tanks
• Eden Eternal adds Samurai class, PvP arenas, and dungeons
• The Daily Grind: What's the longest an MMO's been out before you've tried it?
• Massively Exclusive: NEOWIZ GAMES gets bloody with Seven Souls Online debut trailer [Updated]
• The Game Archaeologist moves into Lucasfilm's Habitat: Part 2
• Syfy announces star of the Defiance TV series
• Analyst believes Star Wars: The Old Republic had a $500 million price tag
• Massively Speaking Episode 182: Pigeons with hacksaws
• World of Warcraft's patch 4.3 to be last major update until Mists of Pandaria
• Teasing an interview with Guild Wars 2 on PvP
• City of Heroes performs 'Death of a Statesman'
• The Soapbox: On MMO negativity
• Hyperspace Beacon: Star Wars zombies
• Marvel Heroes to use Unreal 3 engine

Final Fantasy XIV teasing players with a rideable goobbue Posted: 18 Jan 2012 09:00 AM PST Filed under: Fantasy, Video, News items, Consoles, Final Fantasy XIV Every so often, there are pieces of information put out that are transparently false, stories that are so insane you know they simply must be fabricated. Like the idea that Final Fantasy XIV would promise the introduction of a new mount, and that said mount would be one of the toothy monsters known as a goobbue. It's the sort of thing that could be immediately ignored as being a series of enterprising photoshopped pictures if not for the fact that it's being passed along by the official site. Yes, apparently, the lumbering beasts that terrorize players in both Final Fantasy XI and Final Fantasy XIV will be added to the stable of mounts alongside chocobos. The preview video itself (embedded just after the break) states that they'll only be available for a limited time before version 2.0, with the lore article claiming that the very idea seems absurd even in the game world... but there it is. Hopefully players can learn how to obtain the mount soon, with the added caveat that we'll probably have to believe it's a real thing at that point. Continue reading Final Fantasy XIV teasing players with a rideable goobbue Final Fantasy XIV teasing players with a rideable goobbue originally appeared on Massively on Wed, 18 Jan 2012 12:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink | Email this | Comments Source: FFXIV Goobbue mount preview

Fallen Earth's 2.3 patch live today, new world bosses incoming Posted: 18 Jan 2012 08:30 AM PST Filed under: Fallen Earth, Game mechanics, MMO industry, Patches, News items, Free-to-play, Post-Apocalyptic, Sandbox If you're looking to play a little Fallen Earth this morning, you may have to wait a couple of hours. That's the bad news. The good news is that the servers were scheduled to come down at 11:00 a.m. EST so that GamersFirst can roll out the 2.3 patch. The latest update for the post-apocalyptic sandpark MMO features new PvE content for levels 30 through 35, rare and prized treasure boxes, and several world-boss events. There are also a number of bug fixes, mission tweaks, and art updates. The full patch notes are viewable at the official Fallen Earth website. Fallen Earth's 2.3 patch live today, new world bosses incoming originally appeared on Massively on Wed, 18 Jan 2012 11:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink | Email this | Comments Source: Patch notes

Aion changing vet reward system Posted: 18 Jan 2012 08:00 AM PST Filed under: Fantasy, Aion, Game mechanics, MMO industry, News items Oh NCsoft, you coy devils, you! Aion's veteran reward system is due for an extreme makeover, and we here at Massively would love to bring you the details. There's just one problem: NCsoft hasn't released any. A cryptic news blurb on the game's official website hints at the changes, and it also touches on the reasoning behind them (apparently the upcoming 3.0 patch is going to make some veteran items obsolete). Aion players may collect their 28-month vet rewards beginning on January 25th, and claims can also be made in the month of February. After that, though, you may not get another chance since the "current veteran reward system will be discontinued." We'll update you on the situation as we learn more. Aion changing vet reward system originally appeared on Massively on Wed, 18 Jan 2012 11:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink | Email this | Comments Source: Announcement

Cryptic and Perfect World release STO F2P trailer Posted: 18 Jan 2012 07:00 AM PST Filed under: Sci-fi, Trailers, Video, Business models, Game mechanics, MMO industry, News items, Star Trek Online, Free-to-play We are Perfect World. We will add your sci-fi MMO to our free-to-play collection. Resistance is futile. In case you missed it, Cryptic's Star Trek Online has gone F2P, and a new launch trailer does a good job of summing up the title for the uninitiated. The clip is two minutes worth of highlights that include ground and space combat gameplay as well as plenty of beautiful vistas, starched Starfleet uniforms, and of course, the menacing Borg. Head past the break for the new trailer, and don't forget to check out Massively's archived livestream feed from yesterday's free-to-play launch day festivities. Continue reading Cryptic and Perfect World release STO F2P trailer Cryptic and Perfect World release STO F2P trailer originally appeared on Massively on Wed, 18 Jan 2012 10:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink | Email this | Comments Source: YouTube

PlanetSide 2's Sunderer carries troops, pushes tanks Posted: 18 Jan 2012 06:30 AM PST Filed under: Sci-fi, Game mechanics, MMO industry, New titles, News items, Free-to-play, MMOFPS, PlanetSide 2 Sony Online Entertainment is continuing its tradition of PlanetSide 2 vehicle reveals in a news blurb on the game's official website. The Sunderer looks like a cross between a tank and a Mack truck, and it's designed to pancake enemy defensive lines and deposit a load of troopers smack dab in the thick of the action. SOE says the beastly ride can withstand a focused barrage of enemy fire due to its heavy armor, and the Sunderer also features enough mass and horsepower to push other vehicles (including tanks) out of its way. Its cargo hold can carry up to 12 soldiers as well as medical supplies and ammo. PlanetSide 2 is a large-scale persistent world shooter based in a sci-fi setting, and SOE is currently accepting closed beta applications. PlanetSide 2's Sunderer carries troops, pushes tanks originally appeared on Massively on Wed, 18 Jan 2012 09:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink | Email this | Comments Source: Sunderer reveal

Eden Eternal adds Samurai class, PvP arenas, and dungeons Posted: 18 Jan 2012 06:00 AM PST Filed under: Fantasy, Galleries, Screenshots, Classes, Game mechanics, MMO industry, Patches, News items, Free-to-play, Dungeons Eden Eternal's latest patch lands today, and Aeria Games is adding quite a bit of content to the free-to-play fantasy romp. There's a new Samurai class, a revamped territory wars mode, and a new monster battle arena designed for PvP encounters. The Samurai is a DPS class that uses a katana to slice and dice his foes at close range. The class also features a number of buff abilities as well as a heavy-hitting Asura slash airborne attack. In addition to the territory wars tweaks and monster arena, Aeria is also adding two new dungeons to Eden Eternal. The instances are designed for level 60 heroes and each features new bosses and gear. More info is available at the game's official website. [Source: Aeria Games press release] Gallery: Eden Eternal Eden Eternal adds Samurai class, PvP arenas, and dungeons originally appeared on Massively on Wed, 18 Jan 2012 09:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink | Email this | Comments

The Daily Grind: What's the longest an MMO's been out before you've tried it? Posted: 18 Jan 2012 05:00 AM PST Filed under: Culture, Opinion, The Daily Grind, Miscellaneous Part of the joy of working at Massively is that this environment constantly challenges and encourages us to check out not just new MMOs, but current and older ones we may have overlooked the first time around. After all, unless your name is Beau Hindman it is virtually impossible to play every game out there. So I can't be the only one who checked out Ultima Online for the first time 11 years after its initial release, or Dark Age of Camelot around its eight year anniversary. Sometimes I'm a little hesitant to try older MMOs because I fear that they're a little too long in the tooth or that their future shelf life is almost at the "expired" date, but once I get past that, more often than not I end up saying, "I can't believe I waited this long to try it!" What about you? What's the longest an MMO has been out before you tried it for the first time? And for a bonus question, what got you to finally give it a go? 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! The Daily Grind: What's the longest an MMO's been out before you've tried it? originally appeared on Massively on Wed, 18 Jan 2012 08:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink | Email this | Comments

Massively Exclusive: NEOWIZ GAMES gets bloody with Seven Souls Online debut trailer [Updated] Posted: 17 Jan 2012 06:00 PM PST Filed under: Fantasy, Trailers, Video, New titles, News items, Free-to-play "Let the bloodshed begin," announces the debut trailer of NEOWIZ GAMES' upcoming free-to-play martial arts title, Seven Souls Online, and wow, it is not kidding around. The announcement trailer is essentially a montage of a number of player-characters running around and beating the crap out of everything until it explodes into a fine, crimson mist. And you know what? We're totally OK with that. Sure, we don't actually know much of anything about the gameplay or the story or... well, anything else, but when I can hit something so hard that I knock it straight out of existence, none of that really matters anymore. For the full trailer, click on past the cut, and be sure to stay tuned tomorrow for more information from Seven Souls Online. [Source: NEOWIZ GAMES] [Update: We've added the official press release behind the break too! It includes a mention of the game's closed beta test, which you can now apply for.] Continue reading Massively Exclusive: NEOWIZ GAMES gets bloody with Seven Souls Online debut trailer [Updated] Massively Exclusive: NEOWIZ GAMES gets bloody with Seven Souls Online debut trailer [Updated] originally appeared on Massively on Tue, 17 Jan 2012 21:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink | Email this | Comments

The Game Archaeologist moves into Lucasfilm's Habitat: Part 2 Posted: 17 Jan 2012 05:00 PM PST Filed under: Virtual worlds, The Game Archaeologist, Miscellaneous Last week on the exciting cosmic adventures of the Game Archaeologist, we uncovered the ancient civilization of Lucasfilm's Habitat, one of the early predecessors to graphical MMOs. While we talked about how it came to be and pondered just how much money we'd waste if game companies were still charging by the minute, we didn't have the time or space to cover the community and events that formed around this experimental project. That day has come. Prepare your bladder for imminent release! Giving a bunch of players tools to do every which thing in the game and turning them loose without strict regulation might seem like a recipe for an instant sewage pit of a game today, but our cultured, classy behaviors weren't quite trained into us in 1986. When players first set eyes on Habitat, they weren't thinking of min-maxing, kill-stealing, or raid progression; they were trying to make sense of a virtual world using the only frame of reference they had to date: their own lives. Out of a melting pot of ideas and objects came fascinating stories from one of the earliest MMO proto-ancestors of the modern era. Get your '80s on as we head back... to the future! Continue reading The Game Archaeologist moves into Lucasfilm's Habitat: Part 2 The Game Archaeologist moves into Lucasfilm's Habitat: Part 2 originally appeared on Massively on Tue, 17 Jan 2012 20:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink | Email this | Comments

Syfy announces star of the Defiance TV series Posted: 17 Jan 2012 04:30 PM PST Filed under: Sci-fi, News items, Consoles, MMOFPS By now, we're sure you're all familiar with Trion Worlds and Syfy's collaborative effort, Defiance, which aims to be the first MMO to directly interact with a running television series. Well, every TV show needs a star, and Defiance is no exception. In a press release today, Syfy announced that New Zealander Grant Bowler has agreed to play Defiance's starring role. North American audiences would best know Bowler from his role as Connor Owens on Ugly Betty or as -- we wish we could make this stuff up -- Cooter, "the leader of the werewolf biker gang in the HBO series True Blood." In Defiance, Bowler will play the role of Jeb Nolan, "the law keeper in a bustling frontier boomtown that is one of the new world's few oases of civility and inclusion." Having lost both his wife and his child in the conflict with the aliens, Nolan became a lone wanderer, which eventually brought him to the town where he works to keep the peace. Hopefully this new addition to the cast indicates that the TV series -- and by extension, the MMO -- is beginning to gear up for production. [Source: Syfy press release] Syfy announces star of the Defiance TV series originally appeared on Massively on Tue, 17 Jan 2012 19:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink | Email this | Comments

Analyst believes Star Wars: The Old Republic had a $500 million price tag Posted: 17 Jan 2012 04:00 PM PST Filed under: Sci-fi, MMO industry, News items, Star Wars: The Old Republic Is Star Wars: The Old Republic the next big thing in MMOs? The same old thing in a new shell? Innovative? Routine? Polished? Buggy? Ask seven different people and you'll get nine different opinions. The one thing that everyone can agree on is that the game was expensive, and while most analysts are estimating somewhere between $100-$300 million, analyst Doug Creutz suspects that Electronic Arts has sunk nearly half a billion dollars into the project. This is in stark contrast to the estimate from analyst Michael Pachter, who targeted the price tag at roughly $80 million when all was said and done. Unfortunately, the precise cost won't be known unless EA decides to release the game's official budget and how much was spent on development, which seems unlikely. What is certain is that the performance of Star Wars: The Old Republic is going to be under close scrutiny over the coming months among both fans of the game and fans of financial speculation. [Thanks to Ben for the tip!] Analyst believes Star Wars: The Old Republic had a $500 million price tag originally appeared on Massively on Tue, 17 Jan 2012 19:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink | Email this | Comments Source: Comments by Douglas Creutz Via: VG24/7

Massively Speaking Episode 182: Pigeons with hacksaws Posted: 17 Jan 2012 03:00 PM PST Filed under: Podcasts, News items, Opinion, Humor, Massively Speaking Massively Speaking Episode 182 returns this week with regulars Justin and Rubi being joined by irregulars Eliot Lefebvre and Matt Daniel, both of whom have last names that Justin can't pronounce. Topics include the new City of Heroes Issue 22 content, LotRO's stat gear sales, TERA's beta sign-ups, the end to the Bethesda/Interplay battle over the Fallout MMO, and much more. Have a comment for the podcasters? Shoot an email to podcast@massively.com. We may just read your email on the air! Get the podcast: [iTunes] Subscribe to Massively Speaking directly in iTunes. [RSS] Add Massively Speaking to your RSS aggregator. [MP3] Download the MP3 directly. Listen here on the page: Read below the cut for the full show notes. Continue reading Massively Speaking Episode 182: Pigeons with hacksaws Massively Speaking Episode 182: Pigeons with hacksaws originally appeared on Massively on Tue, 17 Jan 2012 18:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink | Email this | Comments This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now

World of Warcraft's patch 4.3 to be last major update until Mists of Pandaria Posted: 17 Jan 2012 02:45 PM PST Filed under: World of Warcraft, Fantasy, Interviews, Patches, News items World of Warcraft's lead quest designer, Dave Kosak, let slip in an interview today that the recently released patch 4.3 will be the final major content update to hit Azeroth until Mists of Pandaria goes live. This is obviously a notable discovery, since it either means that Mists of Pandaria will be coming out soon, or WoW players are gonna be waiting a long time for the next patch. When asked if he believes that there's enough content in patch 4.3 to keep users sated until MoP comes out, Kosak replied that "between the three excellent dungeons [the game has], the new raid, and Raid Finder that should give people something to sink their teeth into for a few months." For the full interview, including a look back at the good and bad of WoW's patch 4.3, click on through the link below. World of Warcraft's patch 4.3 to be last major update until Mists of Pandaria originally appeared on Massively on Tue, 17 Jan 2012 17:45:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink | Email this | Comments Source: VideoGamer.com

Teasing an interview with Guild Wars 2 on PvP Posted: 17 Jan 2012 02:00 PM PST Filed under: Fantasy, Game mechanics, PvP, News items, Guild Wars 2 As the promise of an open beta dances in the minds of the hopeful and the systems continue a slow unveiling, Guild Wars 2 continues to fascinate potential players with even the barest hint of what might be around the corner. The team at Guild Wars Insider had a chance to sit in on a roundtable discussion with the game's developers regarding PvP systems, but unfortunately the full interview isn't ready for public digestion just yet. That having been said, the team did unveil a small audio clip of the interview to serve as a teaser trailer. While the bulk of the discussion focuses on trebuchets -- a known feature that is apparently coming along quite well -- there's a fascinating mention of a new addition, siegesuits, at the very conclusion. While there are no further details yet, it seems that this is a feature that will be discussed in more depth in the full interview, which apparently contains more items that may not yet be ready for public consumption. Teasing an interview with Guild Wars 2 on PvP originally appeared on Massively on Tue, 17 Jan 2012 17:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink | Email this | Comments Source: PvP Roundtable Teaser

City of Heroes performs 'Death of a Statesman' Posted: 17 Jan 2012 01:00 PM PST Filed under: Super-hero, Video, City of Heroes, City of Villains, Events, in-game, Lore, News items, Free-to-play He's been the face on the package, the man on the cover, the big guy above all other big guys. But today, he is no more. Statesman, the most iconic hero in the City of Heroes lore, is going to meet his end, and it's time for everyone to say goodbye. Episode 5 of the signature story arc is live today, and while the titular question "Who Will Die?" has been answered, it's time to see what happens when Statesman does meet his end. There's more to do than just go play through the arc, however. A new issue of the Intrepid Informer is available in which Matt Miller discusses why the team decided that now is the right time to kill off the game's biggest hero. And if you need a little more help catching up with the story so far, the final vidoc on the arc is embedded just past the cut, giving players a recap of what the Freedom Phalanx is, what is represents, and what this death means for Paragon City. Continue reading City of Heroes performs 'Death of a Statesman' City of Heroes performs 'Death of a Statesman' originally appeared on Massively on Tue, 17 Jan 2012 16:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink | Email this | Comments Source: Featured items in the Paragon Market, Signature Story Arc ViDoc #3, Intrepid Informer #17

The Soapbox: On MMO negativity Posted: 17 Jan 2012 12:00 PM PST Filed under: Sci-fi, Game mechanics, MMO industry, Opinion, Star Wars Galaxies, Star Wars: The Old Republic, The Soapbox, Miscellaneous, Sandbox 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. Last week I was given a link to an op-ed piece at Thade's place, and in lieu of posting a comment there, I figured I'd do it on the Soapbox and hopefully generate some discussion (and traffic) for all concerned. In a nutshell, Thade questions whether MMO pundits actually like MMOs, and he comments on a perceived rise in negativity amongst what are assumed to be fans of the genre. I don't know if the blogosphere has taken a turn toward the negative, but if so, there's a pretty simple explanation for it. The games have changed, and the old guard who grew up with MMOs (and are willing/able to devote time to blogging about them) have to try a little bit harder to enjoy themselves as each new title gets further and further from what they like. That's OK, though, and it's also OK -- and even essential -- for the disaffected to speak up. Continue reading The Soapbox: On MMO negativity The Soapbox: On MMO negativity originally appeared on Massively on Tue, 17 Jan 2012 15:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink | Email this | Comments

Hyperspace Beacon: Star Wars zombies Posted: 17 Jan 2012 11:00 AM PST Filed under: Sci-fi, Lore, New titles, Patches, Star Wars: The Old Republic, Hyperspace Beacon Tomorrow, Star Wars: The Old Republic will launch its first content update, and you will most like be up to your eyeballs in Rakghouls and Hutts... or maybe you've not made it to 50 yet because you've been absorbed in the story and leveling alts. According to BioWare developers, there are 200 hours of gameplay in each class story, so even if someone were to have played eight hours a day every day over the last month, he would only have one level 50. I say, don't feel bad if you haven't hit 50 yet. It means that you are enjoying the game the way it was meant to be enjoyed and not skipping anything. That said, it's not going to hurt to learn about this new update, although I suggest that, if you're into the story as much as I am, you don't read the patch notes... spoilers! Dang, BioWare, could you be a bit more ambiguous about the PTS patch notes next time? It's like someone leaning over halfway through the first screening Empire Strikes Back and saying, "Oh, by the way, Darth Vader is Luke's father." NOOOOO! It's impossible! Being someone who is interested in the story revolving around SWTOR, I do love the continued use of Rakghouls in the newest update. Sure, some would call it an easy storytelling trope (zombies and all that). I'll admit it. I'm not going to hide behind "these are ghouls, not zombies." I love the story, but in truth these are Star Wars zombies. But I do find the history of the Rakghouls interesting. Honestly, I don't know how much of the story has been retcon'd after their first appearance in BioWare's first venture into the Star Wars IP, Knights of the Old Republic, but the roots of the Rakghouls stem from the birth of the Sith Empire. I love the way it all comes together. [Update: BioWare postponed the patch to the 18th after the column was written. The first paragraph has been changed to reflect that.] Continue reading Hyperspace Beacon: Star Wars zombies Hyperspace Beacon: Star Wars zombies originally appeared on Massively on Tue, 17 Jan 2012 14:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink | Email this | Comments

Marvel Heroes to use Unreal 3 engine Posted: 17 Jan 2012 10:30 AM PST Filed under: Super-hero, MMO industry, New titles, News items, Free-to-play, Marvel Heroes Gazillion Entertainment has announced that it is licensing Epic's Unreal 3 game engine to power the upcoming Marvel Heroes MMO. The game, informally known as Marvel Universe Online, allows players to step into the shoes of Captain America, Iron Man, and Spider-man (among others). Gazillion says the third-party toolset will enable its developers to focus on delivering a high-quality game experience. "We [...] love the flexibility we get from the actor components, which have empowered us to make all kinds of customizations without sacrificing the built-in features of the engine," says Jeff Lind, head of Gazillion's Secret Identity Studios. Gazillion hasn't mentioned a timeframe for the game's release (heck, there's no official website yet, either), but we'll keep you informed as we hear more. [Source: Gazillion press release] Marvel Heroes to use Unreal 3 engine originally appeared on Massively on Tue, 17 Jan 2012 13:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink | Email this | Comments

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