General Gaming Article

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• Amiga Returns (Kind Of) In A Little Box With A Big Price Tag
• Rogues Gallery: 15 Frustratingly Proprietary Storage Formats
• Nvidia 600M GPUs, New Asetek Liquid Cooling Tech Look To Level Up Laptop Gaming
• Kepler Unveiled: Nvidia's GTX 680 Benchmarked In-Depth!
• Boutique System Builders Join the Kepler Launch Party
• Unfortunately, 'Human Bird Wings Video' is Probably a Hoax,
• Acer's Iconia Tab A510 Touches Down in the U.S. with Tegra 3 in Tow
• Lian Li Draws Inspiration from Auto Industry in Designing PC-Q15 Computer Case

Amiga Returns (Kind Of) In A Little Box With A Big Price Tag Posted: 22 Mar 2012 11:02 AM PDT One of my earliest gaming memories involves trading illegal goods, hunting down pirates, mining asteroids and generally gallivanting around the galaxy as the intrepid Commander Jameson in the Amiga version of Elite. Unfortunately, the Amiga was killed off soon afterwards -- or so we thought. It turns out that the Amiga brand, kind of like Cthulu, was just biding its time. Commodore USA just announced it's releasing a new small form factor PC sporting the Amiga name, but packing a much, much bigger punch than its predecessor. With the exception of a slot-loading Blu-ray drive and the Amiga name etched across the front of the case, the Amiga mini looks a lot like the Mac mini, right down to its aluminum case and the lowercase "m" in mini. Spec-wise, the Amiga mini should've been called the Amiga maxi; the mini-ITX-based rig includes a quad-core 3.5GHz Intel i7-2700k proc, a 1TB HDD (or optional 300GB/600GB SSD drives), built-in Wi-Fi and a whopping 16GB of 1333MHz DDR3 RAM.  It runs a custom Linux build called Commodore OS Vision. There are a few major downsides to the Amiga mini, though. First of all, the system packs an aged GT 430 Nvidia GPU, a distinctly underwhelming choice, especially when paired with the overwhelming RAM and CPU. Why would you even pick up a PC with that much processing power if not to play video games or engage in some heavy duty video editing? The price may be an even bigger hurdle, however. Commodore is selling the Amiga mini for a whopping $2,500, and you'll have to tack on another $500 or $1,000 if you want those 300GB or 600GB SSD drives, respectively. If that's a bit too rich for your blood, Commodore's also offering a bare-bones Amiga-branded box that contains nothing but the Blu-ray drive for "just" $350. Also, old skoolers take note: Commodore USA isn't THE Commodore from back in the day, but another company that bought the rights to the Commodore and Amiga names. Still interested? Then head on over to the Commodore USA website for more info. Be prepared to wait a while after forking over your cash, though -- the lead time on these bad boys is 4 to 6 weeks. Thanks to TheVerge for pointing this out! Image credit: Commodore USA

Rogues Gallery: 15 Frustratingly Proprietary Storage Formats Posted: 22 Mar 2012 10:36 AM PDT Sharing: It's one of the first things we're taught as children. One of the most basic social graces, sharing allows us to create new friendships, divvy up precious resources and expand our horizons. Too bad the board of directors of so many high-tech companies never figured this out. Companies like Sony, Apple and Iomega have been saddling us with proprietary memory solutions for years now. Here's our pick of 15 of the worst examples.

Nvidia 600M GPUs, New Asetek Liquid Cooling Tech Look To Level Up Laptop Gaming Posted: 22 Mar 2012 10:21 AM PDT Gaming laptops have made big strides in recent years, but let's be honest: getting great frame rates on a mobile device is easier said than done. A pair of new products unveiled over the last couple of days hold the promise of powerful portable performance, however. First up is the GTX 680's little brother, the Kepler-based 600M class mobile GPUs, which are smaller, faster and less power-hungry than their predecessors. Meanwhile, the thermal gurus over at Asetek have introduced a new slim form factor liquid cooling technology designed just for notebooks and AIOs -- then overclocked a Alienware M18x to 4.4 GHz to show off its chops. Nvidia says its 600M GPUs are small and energy efficient enough to fit into Ultrabooks, but adds enough oomph that the first Ultrabook running the 640M -- the Acer Aspire Timeline Ultra M3 -- is capable of playing Battlefield 3 at Ultra settings.  (Although, to be fair, the Timeline Ultra M3 stretches the definition of an Ultrabook at 5 lbs. on the nose.) In fact, Nvidia told PC World that the 640M can handle any game currently on the market. The GPU won't drag you down when you aren't gaming, either; the 600M series utilizes Nvidia's Optimus switching technology to disable the GPU when a notebook's integrated Intel graphics are up to handling less intensive tasks. The Asetek mobile liquid cooling technology, on the other hand, combines liquid cooling with enhanced heat exchanging, but otherwise works basically as you'd expect it to. From the Asetek press release: Slim form factor liquid cooling technology takes full advantage of the fact that CPUs and GPUs are rarely fully stressed at the same time. The technology interconnects all of the thermal management devices enabling them to dynamically "borrow" idle cooling capacity from one another.  In addition, the liquid cooled coldplate has less thermal resistance than a heat pipe. The video above is kind of bland, but it explains how the new liquid cooling system allowed Asetek to overclock an Alienware M18x to new heights (and new benchmark scores). The notebook's 3.5 GHz Core i7-2920XM was boosted to 4.4 GHz and the dual Radeon 6990M GPUs got bumped from 680MHz to 800MHz, all while putting out less noise than the standard air-cooled M18x. No word on pricing or availability, unfortunately -- but don't expect it to be cheap.

Kepler Unveiled: Nvidia's GTX 680 Benchmarked In-Depth! Posted: 22 Mar 2012 06:00 AM PDT Johannes Kepler once wrote, "Nature uses as little as possible of anything." Nvidia's latest GPU, code-named Kepler after the German mathematician, looks to be inspired by that quote, as much as by the original Kepler's mathematical prowess. The new GPU—the GTX 680— offers superb graphics horsepower, but requires only two 6-pin PCI Express power connectors. It's a big departure from the last-generation GTX 580, which was fast, but power hungry. We'll talk about performance shortly, but let's first look at Kepler's underlying architecture. Smaller Equals Bigger Kepler GPUs are built using a 28nm manufacturing process, allowing Nvidia to build in more circuits in less die area.  Like Fermi, Kepler is a modular architecture, allowing Nvidia to scale the design up or down by adding or subtracting functional blocks. In Fermi, Streaming Multiprocessors, or SMs for short, are the basic building blocks from which the GTX 500 line of GPUs were built. The CUDA core counts inside the SMs could vary. For example, each SM block in the GTX 560 Ti contained 48 CUDA cores, while the GTX 580 SM was built with 32 cores. The GTX 580, on the other hand, had a total of 16 SMs of 32 cores each, for a total of 512 CUDA cores. Kepler's functional block is the SMX. Kepler GPUs are built on 28nm, which allowed Nvidia's architects to scale things a bit differently. So Nvidia increased the number of cores inside a Kepler SMX to a stunning 192 CUDA cores each. The GTX 680 GPU is built from eight SMX blocks, arranged in paired groups called GPCs (graphics performance clusters). This gives the GTX 680 a whopping 1,536 CUDA cores. The SMX doesn't just house the CUDA cores, however. Built into each SMX is the new Polymorph engine, which contains the hardware-tessellation engine, setup, and related features. Also included are 16 texture units. This gives the GTX 680 a total of 128 texture units (compared with the 64 texture units built into the GTX 580). Interestingly, the cache has changed a bit—each SMX still has 64KB of L1 cache, part of which can be used as shared memory for GPU compute. However, that means the total L1 cache has shrunk a bit, since there are only eight SMX units in the GTX 680, not 16 as with GTX 580. The L2 cache is also smaller, at 512KB rather than the 768KB of Fermi. Another interesting change is that pre-decoding and dependency checking has been offloaded to software, whereas Fermi handled it in hardware. What Nvidia got in return was better instruction efficiency and more die space. Interestingly, the transistor count of the GTX 680 GPU is 3.5 billion, up only a little from the 3 billion of the GTX 580. The die size has shrunk, however, to a much more manageable 294mm2—by contrast, Intel's Sandy Bridge 32nm quad-core CPU die is 216mm2. Textures, Antialiasing, and More One of the cooler new features from an actual application perspective is bindless textures. Prior to Kepler, Nvidia GPUs were limited to 128 simultaneous textures; Kepler boosts that by allowing textures to be allocated as needed within the shader program, with up to 1 million simultaneous textures available. It's doubtful whether games will use that many textures, but certain types of architectural rendering might benefit.  Nvidia continues to incorporate its proprietary FXAA antialiasing mode, but has added a new mode that it's calling TXAA. The "T" stands for "temporal." TXAA in its standard mode is actually a variant of 2x multisampling AA, but varies the sampling pattern over time (i.e., over multiple frames.) The result is better edge quality than even 8x MSAA, but the performance hit is more like 2x multisampling.  Another cool new feature that will also eventually be supported in older Nvidia GPUs is Adaptive Vsync. Currently, if you lock vertical sync to your monitor's refresh rate (typically 60Hz, but as high as 120Hz on some displays), you'll get smoother gameplay. However, you might see a stutter as the frame rate drops to 30fps or below, due to the output frames being locked to vsync. On the other hand, if you run with vsync off, you may see frame tearing, as new frames are sent to the display before the old one is complete. Adaptive Vsync locks the frame rate to the vertical refresh rate, until the driver detects the frame rate dropping below the refresh rate. Vsync is then disabled temporarily, until the frame rate climbs above the monitor refresh rate. The overall result is much smoother performance from the user's point of view. Finally, Nvidia has beefed up the video engine, building in a dedicated encode engine capable of encoding H.264 high-profile video at 4x – 8x real time. Power usage is low in this mode, consuming single-digit watts, rather than the shader-driven tens of watts of past GPUs. The GTX 680 Graphics Card Nvidia built an improved circuit board to host the GTX 680 GPU. The board will ship with 2GB of GDDR5, with the default memory clock running at 6008MHz—the first board to ship with 6GHz GDDR5. The GTX 680 also introduces GPU Boost, an idea borrowed from the world of x86 CPUs. GPU Boost increases the core clock speed if the internal thermal environment permits. This allows games that offer lighter overall load to get additional performance as needed. In another departure, the GTX 680 offers a single clock—the shader clocks are now the same as the core clock frequency. Product boxes will likely show both the base and boost clocks on the box. As with recently released AMD products, the GTX 680 is fully PCI 3.0 compliant. A few notable things spring to mind when examining the specs. First, this is a 256-bit wide memory interface, as opposed to the 384-bit interface of AMD's Radeon HD 7970. Nvidia makes up for this with both improved memory-controller efficiency plus higher clocked GDDR5. The frame buffer is "only" 2GB, but that was enough to run our most demanding benchmarks at 2560x1600 with all detail levels maxed out and 4x MSAA enabled.  Also worth calling out is Nvidia's new devotion to power efficiency. The GTX 680 is substantially more power efficient than its predecessor, with a maximum TDP of just 195W. Idle power is about 15W. We saw the power savings in our benchmarking. The GTX 680 is also the first single-GPU card from Nvidia to support more than two displays. Users can add up to four displays using all four ports. Nvidia was strangely reticent about discussing its DisplayPort 1.2 implementation, which should allow for even more monitors once 1.2 capable monitors and hubs arrive on the scene later this year.  The GTX 680 cooling system is a complete redesign, using a tapered fin stack, acoustic dampening, and a high-efficiency heat pipe. The card was very quiet under load, though perceptually about the same as the XFX Radeon HD 7970's twin-cooling-fan design. Of course, having a more power efficient GPU design is a big help. The GTX 680 is no DustBuster. How Does It Perform? We pitted the GTX 680 against two previous GTX 580 designs, the slightly overclocked EVGA GTX 580 SC and the more heavily overclocked EVGA GTX 580 Classified. The XFX Radeon HD 7970 Black Edition was also included. We ran our usual benchmark suite at 2560x1600 with 4x MSAA enabled, along with the FutureMark and Unigine synthetic tests. The GTX 680 clearly takes most of the benchmarks, though the XFX HD 7970 eked out a couple of wins. Note that it's possible some of these benchmarks are actually becoming CPU limited, even with 4x MSAA, but it's hard to say for certain. That's very likely the case with HAWX 2, where the older GTX 580 Classified—albeit a heavily overclocked GTX 580—manages a 1fps advantage. The GTX 680's idle power ratings are impressive, too. The total system power at idle was just 116W, 8W better than the XFX card. However, Nvidia doesn't incorporate anything like AMD's ZeroCore technology, which reduces power to a bare 3W when the display is turned off (as when Windows 7 blanks the screen.) Even better is the power under load—the GTX 680 is the only GPU to run at under 300W at full load. The GTX 680 we tested is Nvidia's reference card, and it's likely that some manufacturers will ship retail cards at higher core clock speeds. Retail cards will be available upon launch (March 22). Nvidia is pricing the card at $500, but prices may vary a bit depending on manufacturer. That $500 price tag substantially undercuts AMD's Radeon HD 7970 pricing by as much as $100, which makes the GTX 680 look even better for high-end gamers. The GTX 680 looks to regain Nvidia the performance crown briefly held by AMD, and is priced lower, to boot. What's most intriguing, however, is that Kepler likely has some headroom for even greater power consumption, which may allow Nvidia to ship an even higher-end GPU when needed. The performance horserace continues, and while the top spot now belongs to Nvidia, the company also needs to deliver midrange GPUs to compete with AMD's more recent product moves. In the long run, gamers will benefit from more choices and competition. It's a win all around.

Boutique System Builders Join the Kepler Launch Party Posted: 22 Mar 2012 05:59 AM PDT Great news everyone, Kepler is here! Of course, you already knew that because you have MaximumPC.com bookmarked, right? And if you have MPC bookmarked, then you must have starting reading through our "Kepler Unveiled: Nvidia's GTX 680 Benchmarked In-Depth!" article (and if you haven't, be sure to check it out) the moment the NDA lifted this morning. But do you know which system builders are carrying them? We know of several right off the bat, and as the day goes on, we're sure company press releases will keep rolling in. But for now, here are the boutique system builders who have reached out to let us know they're carrying the GeForce GTX 680 graphics card. Going alphabetically, AVADirect is at the top of the list and has added the GTX 680 option to its 3D Vision II , Z68, X79, and E5 Xeon system configurations, along with its line of gaming and workstation setups. Next on the list is CyberPower PC, which is offering the debut Kepler card in all of its desktop gaming PCs, including the Gamer Infinity, Gamer Ultra, Gamer Xtreme, Zeus, and Fang III series. Systems based on the new card start at $1,199. You can find those systems here. Maingear is ready to roll with Kepler's launch and has added the graphics card to its SHIFT, F131, and X-Cube systems, and will offer it in its Vybe system later on the down the road. Lastly, Origin PC has added the GTX 680 to its desktop (Big O, Chronos, Millennium, and Genesis) systems and the GTX 675M to its notebook (EON17-X) configurations. EDIT: Digital Storm, Geekbox, iBuyPower, V3 Gaming, and Velocity Micro all have announced they're also carrying Nvidia's new graphics card.

Unfortunately, 'Human Bird Wings Video' is Probably a Hoax, Posted: 22 Mar 2012 05:45 AM PDT At some point or another, everyone fantasizes about being able to fly, soaring through the air like a bird high above the ground, over buildings and wherever your fancy takes you. A man named Jarno Smeets took that dream and seemingly made it a reality by concocting a sort of winged apparatus that allowed him to flap his arms and soar like an eagle. He uploaded a short YouTube video that quickly went viral, and just like that, over a million viewers were able to live out their fantasy of flight vicariously through some guy on the Internet. The only problem is Jarno Smeets doesn't appear to exist and it now appears that the video is a fake. Hello bug, meet windshield. There's still a slim chance the video is legit, but if that's the case, why does nothing about Jarno Sheets check out? Wired.com put its detective cap on and tried to verify the bird-man's impressive resume, and at each step along the way, people he supposedly worked with or went to school with shrugged their shoulders and said, "Who?" Smeets claims on his LinkedIn page that he used to work at Pailton Steering Systems from 2008 to 2010. John Nollett, the group managing director for Pailton Engineering Limited, told Wired he checked with each of his divisions and nobody has heard of Smeets. "He's never worked for us in any of our locations," Nollet said. There's no record of Smeets ever attending Coventry University in the U.K. where he supposedly went to school from 2001 to 2005, and not surprisingly, Smeets declined Wired's request for a phone interview, claiming he's "overwhelmed" at the moment. But Wired did speak with a computer scientist at Stanford University who performed CGI effects for movies like Terminator 3 and Star Wars: Episode III, and in his opinion, there's plenty of reason to be suspicious, such as cutting the camera, which is an "obvious trick." Do you think the video is a fake?

Acer's Iconia Tab A510 Touches Down in the U.S. with Tegra 3 in Tow Posted: 22 Mar 2012 05:30 AM PDT Acer today did something it's never done before. The company launched its first quad-core tablet in North America, the Acer Iconia Tab A510 with an Nvidia Tegra 3 processor. It's also one of just a handful of Android devices running the latest build of Google's open source operating system, version 4.0, or more deliciously known as Ice Cream Sandwich (ICS). The Iconia Tab A510 is a 10.1-inch tablet with 32GB of built-in storage. It doesn't have a so-called Retina-class display like the new iPad, though it does wield a 1280x800 screen resolution (16:10) and 85-degree viewing angle. The A510 also boasts a built-in micro HDMI port, micro USB 2.0 port, 1GB of RAM, microSD card reader, 802.11b/g/n Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 2.1 + EDR, 1MP front-facing camera, 5MP rear-facing camera with autofocus, and a 9800mAh battery good for up to 11 hours of video playback via Wi-Fi and up to 13 hours of video playback via local storage. For those of you who plan to be productive in between sessions of Angry Birds and Facebooking, the A510 comes with the full suite of Polaris Office 3.5, which is compatible with Microsoft Office and allows reading and editing of various document formats. Acer's Air Print technology is also part of the deal and allows users to print wirelessly from their tablet. You can preorder the Iconia Tab A510 now for $450, though Acer didn't say exactly when it will ship. Image Credit: Acer

Lian Li Draws Inspiration from Auto Industry in Designing PC-Q15 Computer Case Posted: 22 Mar 2012 05:10 AM PDT We're not sure slapping on a pair of wheel-like stubs to a mini-ITX computer case qualifies as an accurate representation of a miniature SUV, but according to Lian Li, that's exactly the type of vehicle that inspired its new PC-Q15 chassis. Sporting an "automobile-esque design," the PC-Q15 is another brushed aluminum enclosure from Lian Li with a compact footprint and numerous features that bely its smallish stature. The PC-Q15 measures 8.27 inches (W) x 8.5 inches (H) x 12.99 inches (D), or 210mm x 216mm x 330mm if you roll with the metric system, and supports mini-ITX motherboards. It can accommodate a front-facing optical drive, three 2.5-inch storage drives, and a single 3.5-inch drive. There's also room to fit a single videocard up to 9.84 inches (250mm) in length, and the case offers up to 3.54 inches (90mm) of clearance for your CPU cooler. Other features include two USB 3.0 ports, a single 120mm fan, noise dampening rubber strips for your hard drive, pre-routed cables, and an included 300W power supply with 80 Plus efficiency. The PC-Q15 is available in silver and black for $179 MSRP. Image Credit: Lian Li

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MMO News

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• Uncharted Waters Online Releases Major Content Patch
• Brick Force Opens Stress Test Servers
• Lucent Heart launches Stadia expansion
• Skylancer officially launches

Uncharted Waters Online Releases Major Content Patch Posted: 21 Mar 2012 03:34 PM PDT Uncharted Waters Online has released their latest update, featuring the viking lands known as Vinland. Vinland offers players new opportunities to explore and discover. Additionally, Rome has been revealed, featuring a PvE coliseum, where one to five players can test their skills against various opponents.  Banking has also been introduced, helping players keep a reserve if they are plundered via shipwrecks or pirates.  New ships have also been announced, to add more depth to the game. Uncharted Waters Online is published by Netmarble. Uncharted Waters Online Gameplay Screenshot Source: Seafaring MMO Uncharted Waters Online Gets Major Update and New Lands to Plunder Set sail for Vinland with new ships, discoveries and a revamped ground battle system SEOUL, South Korea – Mar. 21, 2012 -  CJ E&M, the leading global entertainment company, today announced the Vinland expansion, a major update to their seafaring MMO Uncharted Waters Online. Known for its historical content and methodical, strategic gameplay, Uncharted Waters lets players command a naval fleet as they sail the globe, exploring, trading and conquering. The expansion features two new areas, introduces a convenient new money-saving feature and brings new ships to the harbor, ready to set sail for North America. Following upon the Tierra Americana Update, players will now be able to travel to Vinland, a land of legend thought to be developed by Vikings, as well as Rome, where players can test their ground battle skills on a revamped fighting system in the Coliseum. A revised banking system will help sailors keep hard-earned plunder safe. Check out Uncharted Waters today! Vinland, Viking Territory of the Past Vinland has appeared in North America for players to explore and uncover new discoveries – much research is still being done to uncover facts about this unknown region. Vinland was once known as the "Land of Grapes" and was inhabited by the Vikings of Northern Europe before Admiral Columbus discovered the North American Continent. Adventuring into this uncharted territory will yield great rewards! When in Rome… Chapter One of the Tierra Americana expansion had players in Europe exploring Paris and Firenze; newly-discovered Rome will bring with it the legendary Coliseum where players can duke it out in a brand new PVE (player versus environment) mode. This giant arena in the center of Rome introduces a newly renovated ground battle system where one to five players will battle the corresponding number of ferocious NPCs. This video highlights the new battle features in Rome's Coliseum. New Banking System Are you losing all your money due to plundering? With the new checking system, you'll only have to pay a minor service charge to insure that your money is safe from ship wrecks and pirate attacks. Thanks to this new system, you can conveniently keep your treasures safe in the bank! The Nina, The Pinta and The Santa Maria New ships have arrived, ready to embark on the North American Sea. The Immigrant Bark, which is similar to the Mayflower design and carried pioneers from Plymouth, England to the new land, is just one of the many new options. Players can also choose from the long schooner or commercial long schooner, complete with six assistant sails. Whatever the vessel, Vinland is only a strong breeze away! Set sail for  Uncharted Waters today!

Brick Force Opens Stress Test Servers Posted: 21 Mar 2012 03:24 PM PDT Infernum has launched their Brick Force servers for a stress-test for Mar. 22 and Mar 27.  The stress tests will last 24 hours, and will be available to the some 350,000 registered players that signed up for the beta testing.  The final stress test will begin on Mar. 31 as well. Over 600,000 games have been played already, across over 10,000 maps.  Brick-Force allows players to create their own maps using blocks and other assorted items, then challenge each other and anyone else in an action packed FPS mode. Brick Force Gameplay Screenshot Source: Servers Blast Open for Stress Tests Brick-Force servers opening worldwide for stress testing phases Berlin, March 21st 2012: Infernum, the Berlin based publisher and developer of cross-platform online games announced today that close to 350,000 registered Brick-Force players will be granted advanced access to the game during several upcoming stress tests. The first two worldwide stress tests will last 24 hours and will take place on this coming Thursday, 22nd and Tuesday the 27th of March. European and North American servers will be open to all registered players from 16:00 CET, 8:00 EDT and 8:00 PDT, respectively. The final and most extensive stress test will begin on the 31st of March and will last four entire days. More detailed information can be found on www.brick-force.com, which recently was updated with an official forum. Brick-Force is currently in closed beta, and the planned stress tests will provide important technical information for a successful launch of open beta this spring. Although the closed beta began only three weeks ago, the rapidly growing community has already achieved some impressive feats: So far players have participated in over 600,000 shooter sessions in almost 10,000 maps, which have been built with a staggering 196,931,659 bricks. The leading map in terms of popularity is the Brick-Force remake of the Counter-Strike classic, “Dust 2″. A fan created time lapse video of Brick-Force can be seen here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2ikX7uMtHyw

Lucent Heart launches Stadia expansion Posted: 21 Mar 2012 12:16 PM PDT The newest expansion for Lucent Heart, Stadia, is now live. The expansion adds mount races, where players can enjoy kart-style racing to collect and race mounts with various stats, race on five tracks, and earn Racing Points that can be exchanged for rewards. It also adds new Tarot Battle Pets, new pets with unique skills and weapons, and new content that includes five new zones, five deadly bosses, new high level equipment, and new moves and songs for the Dance System. Lucent Heart is published by Gamania (beanfun) which also publishes Bright Shadow and Divina. Lucent Heart Gameplay Screenshot Source: GAMANIA LAUNCHES LUCENT HEART'S "STADIA" EXPANSION   Let the Mount Races Begin   IRVINE, Calif. – March 21, 2012 – Gamania Digital Entertainment today launched Lucent Heart's highly anticipated Stadia expansion, bringing innovative new features and content to its free-to-play, social MMORPG. Accessible now to anyone with a beanfun! account, players can compete against their friends in exciting kart-style races, unlock Acadia's new race of Tarot Battle Pets, and journey to new zones with epic bosses.   Stadia Trailer: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lqfe7gO7WrI   The Stadia expansion comes as a free update for Lucent Heart and includes the following additions:   Mount Races: Gamania has added a full-featured kart-style racing game to further enhance Lucent Heart's social gameplay. Players can collect and choose from multiple mounts with varying stats, powerslide their way through five unique tracks filled with fun items, and collect Racing Points that can be turned in for huge rewards.   Tarot Battle Pets: A new race of Battle Pets have arrived. The Tarot Battle Pets are powerful companions armed with deadly weapons and unique skills. Players can collect these pets as they're introduced, starting today.   Additional Content: A significant amount of new content has been added to Acadia including five zones, five tough bosses, high level equipment – even the Dance System has been updated with new moves and songs.   To join Lucent Heart and try out the new Scadia expansion, players can sign up for free at the official website: http://us.beanfun.com/lucentheart/.

Skylancer officially launches Posted: 21 Mar 2012 11:43 AM PDT Alaplaya has officially launched Skylancer, a free-to-play browser strategy game. The release includes official support for six languages. Along with the release, an update adds new quests aimed to make leveling up easier above and below level 20, plus an improved matchmaking system for PvP. Alaplaya also publishes Maestia and Land of Chaos Online. Skylancer Gameplay Screenshot Source: Official launch of Skylancer – Battle for Horizon in six languages Munich, Germany, March 20, 2012. Following the successful open beta phase, the free-to-play browser strategy game Skylancer – Battle for Horizon is officially launched today. At the time of its release, the title is available in six languages, and contains new quests and an improved PvP* matchmaking system. Air pirates can now register free of charge at www.skylancer.com and delve into the adventure-filled world of the browser-based MMO. Skylancers conquer the world At the time of its release, Skylancer – Battle for Horizon is available in German, English, French, Spanish, Italian, and Turkish. Each country has its own game world. In addition to the contents of the open beta phase, a number of new quests for PvE** fans are now playable. These are aimed at low-level players as well as more experienced players who have already completed level 20, and enable PvE players to level up even more smoothly than before. The PvP matchmaking system has also been optimized and provides improved opportunities for players to compare their skills with each other. About Skylancer – Battle for Horizon As the ruler of a flying island, the player will encounter many different challenges in Skylancer – Battle for Horizon: building up an island, embarking on exciting quests, gathering and managing resources, sending increasingly powerful troops into battle with different special abilities, exploring the planet of Horizon, and even taking part in a race to build a tower to the moon, where even more valuable resources await. The free-to-play browser game combines elements such as quest systems, leveling up and PvP combat with elements of building simulations and strategy games. Skylancer – Battle for Horizon is being created by the development studio Chimera Entertainment in Munich together with its publishing partner GamesInFlames, and distributed by ProSiebenSat.1 Games. For more information about Skylancer – Battle for Horizon please visit www.skylancer.com and www.facebook.com/SkylancerGame.

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Latest Gaming and MMORPG Updates

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• [TG-UP 2012] Kritika officially announced for China
• Ninja Gaiden 3 Review: American Ninja, the Video Game
• Review: Guardian Heroes Storms Back From the Dead
• [TG-UP 2012] Sura to be company’s first global title
• Zenimax And Mojang Reach ‘Scrolls’ Settlement
• RaiderZ (KR)
• One Year Later: The Tragedy and Triumph of 3DS
• DOTA Online (TW)
• [TG-UP 2012] Metro Conflict goes to China
• Win Alan Wake Collector’s Edition

[TG-UP 2012] Kritika officially announced for China Posted: 22 Mar 2012 09:29 AM PDT Less than 6 months after Tencent Games Carnival 2011 (link) ended, China’s biggest online gaming company (and biggest multimedia company) is back with its 2012 media event, Tencent Games UP 2012. This is the event where upcoming strategies and new games for the rest of the year is announced. First up, although posted previously as a sketchy piece of news (link), Tencent Games finally revealed Kritika for the China region. If you remembered, Kritika was first announced at Hangame eX 2011 (link). With Hangame eX 2012 canceled (link), I am guessing this has got something to do with the promise of launching the China server in by this year. Back to the game itself, Kritika is touted as the fastest-paced action MMO ever, and marketed in China as the “playable manga”. There are currently 3 races revealed, the Warrior, Thief and Magic Gunner. Find similar article at: http://www.mmoculture.com/2012/03/tg-up-2012-kritika-officially-announced.html

Ninja Gaiden 3 Review: American Ninja, the Video Game Posted: 22 Mar 2012 09:29 AM PDT See the child. Hear her beckon forth, surrounded by the carcasses of men harboring murderous intent. Men you ended. Their last breath whispering about the sweetness of a child, or the satisfaction of killing the interloper that you are. Save the child, who you thought was yourn, but she reveals herself to be Mei lost in the world of dust, not the daughter you left behind twelve months ago. The voice in your pocket sputters forth. The man named Henry asks, take her, take the lost child Mei, take her to the mall. Give her medicine left behind by those who never set foot in Haventown, those who drop foodstuffs and medicines from above and never look back. Not since The Event. The Event that scraped the loam off the earth and turned it into the dust that hugs and holds and kills all who wander within. The dust that chips and gnaws at your very stamina. The Event that dominates I Am Alive. So you go, ever pressing on to find wife and child. Gone a year, but now you return, to climb and cobble and carry on. You cannot ignore Mei’s bleat for aid, but other survivors of the Event not so much as settle but subsist their meager existences in the dust covered Haventown. A man yearns cigarettes to pass on. Another man in an amusement park needs medicine to heal the leg that’s been crushed by another uncivilized man. Haventown also starves for supplies. Bottles of water, cans of fruit cocktail, a single inhaler, a handful of painkillers, these all turn into precious manna from heaven through scarcity. Give the emergency kit to the woman with the ankle sprain? What these bemoaning folk have to give, besides gratitude and perhaps a precious shotgun, is the Retry. Haventown harbors death by trial, not saves. It does not yield to the checkpoint that others call for. It takes away a Retry from your knapsack for every fall, stab, or shot you suffer. Deplete your store of Retries, and your journey resumes at the beginning of your current episode. A practice that leeches away minutes of your life. A practice that mocks you by depleting Retries and then flings you back to 45 minutes ago. What is worth more, the rat meat that can heal you, or the Retry that you get for giving rat meat to the gurgling man below? Every survivor, like the woman bound by handcuff to a bench, pleads for help while you mind debates. Find similar article at: http://www.1up.com/reviews?cId=3186894

Review: Guardian Heroes Storms Back From the Dead Posted: 22 Mar 2012 06:13 AM PDT Rage didn’t start out the way I thought it would. My idea of it was mostly based on its initial reveal some years ago: depicting a barren wasteland where people live, drive, and dress in whatever they can find. Just another Mad Max pastiche, right? So imagine my surprise when the game begins inside a cold, angled underground capsule (an “Ark”) from a forgotten time in the far-flung future. I guess post-apocalyptic worlds have to start somewhere. It’s a harsh beginning, but Rage doesn’t let up from there. After emerging on the surface of the largely-destroyed Earth, you’re saved from certain death by a kind-hearted wasteland homesteader named Dan Hagar (voiced by John Goodman, who also played a “Dan” on Roseanne, which was more than enough to keep me from taking this character seriously). Hagar wastes no time in employing your “services” to wipe out a nearby influx of mutants, and perform a few odd jobs around his settlement and the neighbors’. You get the hang of shootin’, drivin’, and survivin’, and eventually learn more about your past as an enhanced human candidate of the “Eden” project, initiated by the oppressive powers of the Authority, who try to keep this crazy world in check… for their own gains, of course. Find similar article at: http://www.1up.com/reviews?cId=3185957

[TG-UP 2012] Sura to be company’s first global title Posted: 22 Mar 2012 03:28 AM PDT In yet another news which was confirmed just a few hours ago prior to the leaked speculation, Tencent Games confirmed acquiring the global rights for new Korean studio NSE Entertainment’s debut action MMO, Sura.It will be the China powerhouse’s first true global title as it tries to break into overseas market. Tencent Games, despite all its wealth, was not able to do so for the past few years, with Perfect World Entertainment the leading light in this area. There are currently 3 playable races/ classes featured, with the title supposedly instanced-based again. The skills and combat looks really awesome though, along with the touted mob AI and challenging dungeons. Below are some early videos of the game. Note that NSE Entertainment was previously called Tempest9. Find similar article at: http://www.mmoculture.com/2012/03/tg-up-2012-sura-to-be-companys-first.html

Zenimax And Mojang Reach ‘Scrolls’ Settlement Posted: 22 Mar 2012 03:28 AM PDT Zenimax Media, umbrella company for Bethesda Softworks and owner of the 'Elder Scrolls' trademark, has reached a settlement with Minecraft creator Mojang over the ownership of the 'Scrolls' trademark. According to the agreement, 'Scrolls' will be owned solely by Zenimax Media while the 'Scrolls' trademark will be licensed to Mojang for exclusive use in it's existing digital card game. "We are pleased to have settled this matter with Mojang amicably," said Robert Altman, Chairman and CEO of ZeniMax in an official press release. "The Elder Scrolls is an important brand to us, and with this settlement we were able to protect our valuable property rights while allowing Mojang to release their digital card game under the name they preferred." Mojang meanwhile, seems equally upbeat about the amicable settlement," We have settled the lawsuit over Scrolls and Mojang and Bethesda are friends again… For us this was never about a trade mark but being able to use Scrolls as the name of our game which we can – Yey." Find similar article at: http://www.totalpcgaming.com/latest-pc-news/zenimax-and-mojang-reach-scrolls-settlement/

RaiderZ (KR) Posted: 21 Mar 2012 09:28 PM PDT [English website] As you might have known now, the English server for RaiderZ is currently in Alpha test. Which means there will be glitches and some bugs, although quite a number swore not to have met any. The English server presumably is still not updated with the optimized graphics, which was added into the Korean server not too long ago (link). As you can see in the new trailer above, there are quite a couple of new maps and epic bosses (otherwise known as BAMs, Big Ass Monsters) added into the Korean version. This is just the first step as publisher Neowiz Games prepare the title for Open Beta somewhere around summer. Read up my personal opinion of the game here (link)! Find similar article at: http://www.mmoculture.com/2012/03/raiderz-kr-preparing-for-open-beta.html

One Year Later: The Tragedy and Triumph of 3DS Posted: 21 Mar 2012 09:28 PM PDT A year ago next week, Nintendo’s fifth generation of portable hardware arrived in the U.S. The 3DS found itself born into a hostile world: The market for dedicated portables had slid into decline while the bloom had begun to fade from the rose of the 3D visualization trend. The system didn’t perform nearly to Nintendo’s expectations thanks in part to an unreasonably high price; about half a year later the company drastically reduced the cost of the machine and offered 20 free games to early adopters by way of apology. While these facts would not normally inspire confidence, the 3DS has made steady inroads since then and could even be said to have established itself as a strong platform with a positive future. It’s not all sunshine and roses for 3DS, but things are looking up. Let’s explore the highs and lows of the system… starting (much like the platform itself) with the lows. The Lows The Frankenstick Nothing symbolizes 3DS’s most disastrous failings like the “Frankenstick,” more properly known as the Circle Pad Pro. Its mere existence is a frank admission that Nintendo horribly miscalculated the needs and expectations of its consumers at the most basic design level — and it’s a clumsy, inelegant admission at that. The Circle Pad Pro is one part cradle, one part peripheral; it doesn’t so much attach to the system as wrap around it, transforming the 3DS into an awkward goliath of a portable. On the plus side, it gives the 3DS much-needed dual stick controls, but at the price of making the entire device a chunky mess and likely splitting the market. Any eventual hardware redesign will need the Circle Pad Pro’s feature set built in lest it be laughed out of stores… but should Nintendo actually go ahead with a right-stick-equipped redesign, they’ll instantly divide gamers into haves and have-nots. It’s an unmitigated disaster of ill-considered hardware design, and the cure is almost as bad as the sickness. Weak third-party support 3DS’s third-party support could best be described as “anemic.” We know, right? Poor publisher support? On a Nintendo console? Unprecedented. No, as usual, most of the best content for 3DS comes directly from Nintendo. While the system has seen a handful of interesting third-party titles, most of the external library has consisted of remakes and ports (Cave Story, Snake Eater 3D, Devil Survivor Overclocked)… heck, so has the first-party library, for that matter. The good news is that a fair amount of fresh material is waiting in the wings, including a gorgeous Kingdom Hearts game, the hardcore-as-ever Etrian Odyssey IV, and Monster Hunter 4. But U.S. publishers seem gun-shy about localizing most of the system’s (Japan-made) best content, which is why we’re still waiting on news of top-tier titles like Rocket Slime 3D and Monster Hunter Portable 3rd without much hope for relief in sight. Virtual Console, 3D Classics, and Street Pass games remain under-utilized Nintendo’s impressive back catalog of software remains one of its strongest assets. The company utilized it somewhat ineptly on Wii — how many Wii owners ever went online or realized that hundreds of great old games were available to download for a reasonable price? — but Wii’s Virtual Console was a glorious treasure trove compared to the pittance of software we’ve seen over the past year. Worse, Nintendo expects us to pay a second time for access to games already available on Wii Virtual Console. Meanwhile, the promise of Arika-developed 3D remakes of classic old games has yielded a whole six titles, with masterpieces like Kirby’s Adventure diminished by the mere presence of duds like Urban Champion. Even the excellent Street Pass games like Puzzle Swap and Find Mii are practically irrelevant to U.S. gamers, since — as demonstrated by Tag Mode games like Dragon Quest IX and Nintendogs — Americans don’t use their portable systems the same way as their Japanese counterparts. It feels like such a frustrating near-miss: So much potential yet to be realized. 3D If you find yourself having trouble navigating the room, that’s because of the gigantic elephant taking up most of the floor space. With 3DS, Nintendo banked on beating its rivals to the punch to create a hands-on, glasses-free devices capable of producing stereoscopic graphics. They managed to accomplish precisely that, but once they arrived at their destination they realized no one really cared. Sometime between the system’s reveal at E3 2010 and its launch in early 2011, the 3D TV trend revealed itself as a mere fad met largely with disinterest or, at worst, outright scorn by most consumers. A neat trick it may be, but the 3DS’s graphical central feature proved not to be a system seller… and especially not at the original asking price of $249. Only a handful of titles have managed to make compelling use of the ability, and it comes at considerable cost to the system’s overall hardware power (both iPhone and Vita humble it) and rendering capabilities as well (turning on 3D halves the frame rate in certain titles). And then there are the complaints about headaches and usability. For many people, the best thing about 3D on the 3DS is that you can turn it off with a simple slider. In trying to get a leg up on the competition with “disruptive” hardware design, Nintendo nearly shot itself in the foot. Sounds dire, right? Fortunately, 3DS has plenty going for it as well. Find similar article at: http://www.1up.com/features/year-tragedy-triumph-3ds Incoming search terms: nintendo 3ds redesign (1)

DOTA Online (TW) Posted: 21 Mar 2012 06:13 PM PDT Even if I am a Chinese myself (not from China though), I can’t help but to fume at MMO developers and publishers who have zero creativity when marketing their games. Game content duplicating is seen as a norm now, but why the game title as well? Introducing Dark Of Three Ancientkingdoms Online… get the drift? Even if my English ain’t perfect, I have the urge to hit my monitor screen now. One of the many Defense of the Ancients clone in Asia, this game is developed in China and published in Taiwan/ Hongkong by Gameone. I mean, right, there are tons of similar games of the genre out there with basically the same maps, but why stoop so low that even the game title has to be imitated? As the title suggests, 76 of the game’s 88-strong character list are from Romance of the Three Kingdoms. The only “new” thing in terms of game mode will be the ability to have 10 Vs 10 matches. Have a look at the game’s website in the pictures posted… Find similar article at: http://www.mmoculture.com/2011/10/dota-online-tw-stooping-to-new-low.html

[TG-UP 2012] Metro Conflict goes to China Posted: 21 Mar 2012 03:28 PM PDT I think this is the 6th or 7th online shooter currently in Tencent Games’ stable. And none of them are in commercial phase yet! These titles include Webzen’s BATTERY: Artic Wind (link) and Crytek’s Warface (link). Back to topic, Metro Conflict: Preston, developed by Korean studio Redduck, will be published in China by Tencent Games. Redduck shot to fame with its first title, the popular A.V.A (Alliance of Valiant Arms). What is so special about Metro Conflict? Well, which other MMOFPS allows players to dual wield 2 different main guns? Not dual pistols mind you. The graphics of Metro Conflict (Unreal Engine 3) was also praised by many in my YouTube trailers, with some comparing it to big shot titles like Modern Warfare and Battlefield, except that Metro Conflict is Free to Play. Find similar article at: http://www.mmoculture.com/2012/03/tg-up-2012-metro-conflict-goes-to-china.html

Win Alan Wake Collector’s Edition Posted: 21 Mar 2012 09:28 AM PDT Ninja Gaiden 3 Review Blades Of Time Review FIFA Street Review Birds Of Steel Review Street Fighter X Tekken Review Mass Effect 3 Review BlazBlue: Continuum Shift Extend Review SSX Review Binary Domain Review Syndicate Review Click here to view the 360 website Click here to view the X360 website Find similar article at: http://www.totalpcgaming.com/latest-pc-news/win-alan-wake-collectors-edition/

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MMO Updates

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• CCP shopping EVE Online to cloud gaming services
• The Summoner's Guidebook: Carrying Dominion games
• WoW's Mists of Pandaria beta download surfaces on Battle.net [Updated]
• The Perfect Ten: Types of loot that get me excited
• Get some hands-on time with The Secret World at PAX East
• EVE Online's 2012 Fanfest kicks off with free livestreams
• The Daily Grind: Would you buy a system for one game?
• Star Trek Online puts you in contact with your duty officers
• MMO Family: Is free-to-play bad for kid-friendly MMOs?
• The Secret World offers up a video diary on freeform progression
• Aion producer talks about 3.0 and being truly free
• End of Nations closed beta to start in spring, open beta in summer
• A Mild-Mannered Reporter: Digital Enhancements
• Vanguard going free-to-play this summer, beefs up dev team
• The Soapbox: The hidden perils of Guild Wars 2's microtransactions
• Choose My Adventure: Dark Age of Camelot, week two
• Explore Vinland and Rome with Uncharted Waters Online's latest update
• Why I Play: Star Wars: The Old Republic
• Drink, dice, and debauch with new Wakfu gameplay videos

CCP shopping EVE Online to cloud gaming services Posted: 22 Mar 2012 10:00 AM PDT Filed under: Sci-fi, EVE Online, Business models, Game mechanics, MMO industry, News items, Casual, Sandbox You'd think the hardest of the hardcore MMORPGs would be exempt from the casual-fueled cloud-gaming craze, but you'd be wrong. Eurogamer reports that CCP's EVE Online sci-fi sandbox is in talks with both OnLive and Gaikai to expand New Eden's audience. "We are in dialogue with both companies and others," CCP marketing guru David Reid says. "We think it's a really important way to not just play the core Eve Online gameplay -- that you do play today principally on the PC and on the Mac -- but also to add new sorts of experiences." What sorts of new experiences? Well, Reid mentioned EVE's planetary interaction mechanics, and he said that CCP could see PI finding its way "to tablets and mobile devices." It's still very early in the process, though, and Reid clarified that CCP has nothing to announce as of yet. CCP shopping EVE Online to cloud gaming services originally appeared on Massively on Thu, 22 Mar 2012 12:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink | Email this | Comments Source: Eurogamer

The Summoner's Guidebook: Carrying Dominion games Posted: 22 Mar 2012 09:00 AM PDT Filed under: PvP, Opinion, Free-to-play, Guides, MOBA, League of Legends, The Summoner's Guidebook One of the best things about League of Legends' Dominion mode is that individual bad players can't ruin games quite as much as they can on Summoner's Rift. It's true that a bad player is still not going to be as valuable as a good player, but in Classic, a single bad player is often worse than an AFK. It's never fun to lose a game when there's absolutely nothing you can do about Tryndamere feeding the top lane. In Dominion, single players don't contribute quite as much, in general. However, there is an exception: the bottom lane. You'll be hearing me talk about the bottom lane in Dominion a lot. In most games, it's the most important element of the entire map. One player generally holds and controls the lane solo, and his ability to do this job well has more of an outcome on the game than any other individual's skill. A team that wins the bottom lane usually wins the game. Continue reading The Summoner's Guidebook: Carrying Dominion games The Summoner's Guidebook: Carrying Dominion games originally appeared on Massively on Thu, 22 Mar 2012 11:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink | Email this | Comments

WoW's Mists of Pandaria beta download surfaces on Battle.net [Updated] Posted: 22 Mar 2012 08:30 AM PDT Filed under: World of Warcraft, Betas, Fantasy, Events, real-world, Expansions, MMO industry, News items Kung-fu panda fever is gripping the World of Warcraft community, and the latest tremor comes courtesy of the Mists of Pandaria beta page that showed up on Battle.net last night. Our sister site reported that some players jumped at the chance to begin downloading the expansion's beta client, but the early birds were subsequently stopped by an error page stating that the download server was, well, down. WoW Insider continued updating its news post as the night wore on, and interestingly enough, Mac users were indeed able to download the patch (no such luck for PC folk, though). Blizzard also published a beta character copy page on Battle.net where players got a good look at all the test servers ready and waiting for a slew of avatar imports. Thus far Blizz hasn't commented on an official start date, but the company has said that it's sending out MoP beta invites in waves. [Updated]: MoP beta is live. WoW's Mists of Pandaria beta download surfaces on Battle.net [Updated] originally appeared on Massively on Thu, 22 Mar 2012 10:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink | Email this | Comments Source: WoW Insider

The Perfect Ten: Types of loot that get me excited Posted: 22 Mar 2012 08:00 AM PDT Filed under: World of Warcraft, Guild Wars, Lord of the Rings Online, Star Trek Online, Humor, Star Wars: The Old Republic, Perfect Ten, Miscellaneous Loot's not something that I see discussed much these days among MMO players. It's probably because loot's been around since the beginning of online time and is such a staple that we'd only really notice it if it went away completely or if the object in question were a major game-changer for us. Random loot from mobs is a reward mechanic that is bordering on archaic, having been supplanted by dependable quest rewards and barter vendors that give us the gear we so desire. Of course, now we've come around the weird circle to the point that dropped lockboxes hold interesting loot, but we've got to pay for the privilege of seeing what's inside. But let's not go there today! Instead, I'm going to share with you the 10 general types of loot that still get me excited while playing. They will shock, amaze, and radically reshape your life, as long as you've had a recent brain wipe and are awaiting brand-new neural instructions. Continue reading The Perfect Ten: Types of loot that get me excited The Perfect Ten: Types of loot that get me excited originally appeared on Massively on Thu, 22 Mar 2012 10:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink | Email this | Comments

Get some hands-on time with The Secret World at PAX East Posted: 22 Mar 2012 07:30 AM PDT Filed under: Betas, Fantasy, Horror, Events, real-world, MMO industry, New titles, News items, The Secret World Tired of taking our word about The Secret World? Well, if you're going to next month's PAX East convention, you can get some hands-on time with Funcom's upcoming title yourself. The full Templar faction starter experience as well as the haunted town of Kingsmouth will be on display, and all the action happens at booth 260 on the show floor. Funcom is also giving away 10,000 Illuminati, Templar, and Dragon dog tags, each of which contains a key code that grants access to TSW's beta weekends. PAX East runs from April 6th through April 8th in Boston, Massachusetts, and more info is available at the event's official website. [Source: Funcom press release] Get some hands-on time with The Secret World at PAX East originally appeared on Massively on Thu, 22 Mar 2012 09:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink | Email this | Comments

EVE Online's 2012 Fanfest kicks off with free livestreams Posted: 22 Mar 2012 06:50 AM PDT Filed under: Sci-fi, Video, EVE Online, Culture, Events, real-world, MMO industry, News items, DUST 514, Livestream, Sandbox It's that time of the year again, when thousands of EVE Online fans from across the globe fly to Iceland for the party at the top of the world. Every year, Fanfest is packed with high-profile reveals, sneak previews at what's to come, panels discussing hot topics, and round tables giving players the opportunity to discuss their ideas directly with developers. For EVE players, Fanfest is more than just a party with some reveals thrown in; it's a place to meet players as enraptured with the game as they are, to share epic stories of battles won and lost, and to be a part of a truly global game community. Fanfest is three days of living in a world where the virtual universe of New Eden is real and the online exploits of its inhabitants are legend. Last year, Massively attended the EVE Fanfest and brought you in-depth first-hand coverage of the event, but this year we take a back seat to the live reporting of EVE TV. Live streaming of the event has just begun and will continue for three full days. A full list of the talks, panels, speeches and events that will be streamed is available on the official EVE TV schedule. Each day's events will also be repeated during the night for those viewing from the US. Head over to our official Fanfest livestream page to watch the action! EVE Online's 2012 Fanfest kicks off with free livestreams originally appeared on Massively on Thu, 22 Mar 2012 08:50:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink | Email this | Comments

The Daily Grind: Would you buy a system for one game? Posted: 22 Mar 2012 06:00 AM PDT Filed under: Betas, Sci-fi, Events, in-game, MMO industry, New titles, News items, Free-to-play, MMOFPS, DUST 514, Sandbox At noon EDT I'll be logging into PlayStation Home to see what CCP has in store for its DUST 514 faithful. I'm not expecting much beyond the free t-shirt for my Home avatar, since game devs are a notoriously tight-lipped lot when it comes to pre-release info that we actually want to hear. Nonetheless, a couple of my EVE Online bros will be joining me, one of whom is a long-time PlayStation connoisseur and the other of whom went out and bought a PS3 this week specifically for DUST. And that brings us to today's early-morning question. Would you buy (or have you bought) a console or a PC system primarily for one game? Which one? 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: Would you buy a system for one game? originally appeared on Massively on Thu, 22 Mar 2012 08:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink | Email this | Comments

Star Trek Online puts you in contact with your duty officers Posted: 21 Mar 2012 08:00 PM PDT Filed under: Sci-fi, Game mechanics, Patches, News items, Star Trek Online, Free-to-play It's easy to forget from time to time, but no matter what level you're at in Star Trek Online, you've got a pretty big ship under your command. That means there are all sorts of people who need help, all manner of different departments to address, and generally enough running around to fill an hour of programming every week for seven years. The game's newest patch, which rolls out this week, aims to address that feel by adding several assignment contacts to your ship interior, fleshing out the ship and offering you another set of content to explore. Some of the assignments offered within your ship are new, while others allow you to further focus your efforts on a given commendation category. Almost all of them involve seeking out and speaking to the appropriate part of your duty roster, meaning that your Engineering officer will be in charge of a plethora of Engineering-related assignments. It's a great chance to get to know your crew as more than just piles of stats, and it should give you just a bit more of that ever-important Star Trek feel. Star Trek Online puts you in contact with your duty officers originally appeared on Massively on Wed, 21 Mar 2012 22:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink | Email this | Comments Source: Season 5 Dev Blog #33

MMO Family: Is free-to-play bad for kid-friendly MMOs? Posted: 21 Mar 2012 07:00 PM PDT Filed under: Business models, MMO industry, Opinion, Free-to-play, Kids, MMO Family, Family, Miscellaneous If you've ever gone shopping with kids, you know how much of a nightmare-inducing proposition it can be. Everywhere from toy stores to department stores to seemingly innocuous grocery stores, there's a battle raging between parents and their children, which usually ends with tears, grey hairs, and the infamous word, "Pleeeeeease??" (Pleeeeeease should actually have its own entry in the Oxford Dictionary because it has a completely different meaning from its polite cousin, "please"). The only thing that helps parents get through it is the knowledge that they get a respite once they get home. Not so anymore, though, because there's a second front that's opened, and the new battleground is taking place on our computer screens. Those high-pitched appeals that echo throughout the store aisles are now filling our family rooms, kitchens, and dining rooms. And while many people are singing the praises of the free-to-play model in MMO games, it's actually the biggest contributor to the begging-battles at home. Let's take a look at why free-to-play and kids MMOs are not a match made in heaven. Continue reading MMO Family: Is free-to-play bad for kid-friendly MMOs? MMO Family: Is free-to-play bad for kid-friendly MMOs? originally appeared on Massively on Wed, 21 Mar 2012 21:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink | Email this | Comments

The Secret World offers up a video diary on freeform progression Posted: 21 Mar 2012 06:30 PM PDT Filed under: Horror, Sci-fi, Video, Game mechanics, Previews, News items, The Secret World The Secret World is going to feature a lot of different monsters to contend with, and that means a lot of different tricks to deal with all of them. We've known for a while that the game will feature a freeform skill system, but in a recent video diary the development staff shows off some of these freeform skills in action and in visual flow. As stated before, players can pick any different combination of skills and abilities from the skill wheel, with the big key simply being to look for synergy between your various abilities. Regardless of what your character has unlocked, you'll be limited to seven active abilities and seven passive abilities at any given time, thereby ensuring that more experienced characters will have more options rather than more raw power. The video also talks about templates to help guide new players and the game's equipment system, all of which emphasize the role of players in determining how they want to play. If this sounds right up your alley, take a look at the full video diary just past the break. Continue reading The Secret World offers up a video diary on freeform progression The Secret World offers up a video diary on freeform progression originally appeared on Massively on Wed, 21 Mar 2012 20:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink | Email this | Comments Via: Gamespot

Aion producer talks about 3.0 and being truly free Posted: 21 Mar 2012 06:00 PM PDT Filed under: Fantasy, Video, Aion, Business models, Patches, Previews, News items, Free-to-play The conversion to free-to-play is taking place in less than a month for Aion, and that means an influx of new players along with a massive new update. Producer Adam Christensen recently sat down to record a short video for the fans discussing how the conversion will work, what players can expect in terms of the update's storyline, and what to expect in terms of store offerings once the conversion takes place. Christensen explains that the primary motivating factor behind the removal of subscriptions was a simple need for players to have a larger influx of other people to group with -- the game plays best with other people, and making the game free-to-play would secure a larger number of people. He also opines at length about features such as housing and the new dungeons coming with patch 3.0. The full video is just past the break, and if it piques your interest, clear a little time away around April 11th to give the game a shot. Continue reading Aion producer talks about 3.0 and being truly free Aion producer talks about 3.0 and being truly free originally appeared on Massively on Wed, 21 Mar 2012 20:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink | Email this | Comments

End of Nations closed beta to start in spring, open beta in summer Posted: 21 Mar 2012 05:00 PM PDT Filed under: Betas, Sci-fi, Trailers, Video, Previews, News items, War, Free-to-play, MMORTS If you're a fan of the underrepresented MMORTS genre, you've likely been waiting for news from Trion Worlds regarding the upcoming End of Nations. That makes today quite a good day for you because the team behind the game has just revealed the plan of attack for the game from this moment forward. Beta testing is barreling toward potential players (who are encouraged to register for an upcoming slot), with the game opening up sometime in the spring. Not in the mood to wait for a closed beta slot? Hoping for one but not trusting your luck? That's all right -- open beta is set to start in the summer, giving everyone a chance to get in on the large-scale persistent tactical battles. Past that, players can expect the game to launch completely free-to-play, most likely sometime in the fall. The announcement video just past the cut also promises that players can look forward to a lot more in the way of news updates, something that should help contribute to the overall good feeling of any MMORTS fans. [Source: Trion Worlds press release] Continue reading End of Nations closed beta to start in spring, open beta in summer End of Nations closed beta to start in spring, open beta in summer originally appeared on Massively on Wed, 21 Mar 2012 19:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink | Email this | Comments

A Mild-Mannered Reporter: Digital Enhancements Posted: 21 Mar 2012 04:00 PM PDT Filed under: Super-hero, City of Heroes, Game mechanics, Opinion, Free-to-play, A Mild-Mannered Reporter, Crafting Last week, I covered the raw basics of Enhancements in City of Heroes. This was a good place to start, but it also glossed over everything but the basics. It's telling that glossing over everything but the basics still involves stuff that's as bogglingly complicated as diversification, but then, there's a reason I decided to do these columns in the first place. But with all the basics out of the way, what more could there be to cover? Lots, as it happens, because last week didn't touch upon dual Enhancements or Inventions, both of which cover the same ground and take into account the specifics of Enhancement Diversification and so forth. So for those of you wondering why I didn't talk about IOs, those still trying to get a handle on the system, or those just morbidly curious about how the game works, it's time to start in with the enhancements that broke the entire system in half more or less the second they were introduced: Inventions. Continue reading A Mild-Mannered Reporter: Digital Enhancements A Mild-Mannered Reporter: Digital Enhancements originally appeared on Massively on Wed, 21 Mar 2012 18:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink | Email this | Comments

Vanguard going free-to-play this summer, beefs up dev team Posted: 21 Mar 2012 02:00 PM PDT Filed under: Fantasy, Business models, Vanguard, Free-to-play With Sony Online Entertainment's heavy free-to-play push these past couple of years, Vanguard players hoped that they would not be overlooked by their digital overlord. Breathe easier, heroes, for this summer will bring thee and thine a F2P Vanguard -- and a big push for further game development! While specifics about the F2P conversion are hazy at the moment, SOE says that players should look to its work with previous MMO F2P adaptations (such as the recently relaunched EverQuest) for an idea how things will go down in Vanguard town. It's not just going to be a token change for this mostly forgotten title; SOE says that it has assembled a new team of Vanguard-loving devs to generate more frequent updates, including "general improvements and new content." The game's previous update was this past December. Coming on board to shape the future of the game are Director of Development Andy Sites, Creative Director Salim Grant, and Technical Director Todd Schmidt. The announcement concludes with a promise for team spotlights, more information on F2P, and development discussion to come in the near future. Vanguard going free-to-play this summer, beefs up dev team originally appeared on Massively on Wed, 21 Mar 2012 16:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink | Email this | Comments Source: March producer's letter

The Soapbox: The hidden perils of Guild Wars 2's microtransactions Posted: 21 Mar 2012 01:30 PM PDT Filed under: Fantasy, Business models, Economy, Game mechanics, Opinion, Guild Wars 2, Free-to-play, Runes of Magic, The Soapbox 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. The ArenaNet post about microtransactions in Guild Wars 2 reveals that the "gems" currency will be bought with real money and be available for purchase with in-game gold in GW2. But people seem to have forgetten that Runes of Magic's cash shop operated this way three years ago. I've been playing RoM since closed beta, and the cash shop is one of the reasons RoM is so different from other F2P MMOs of its era. Frogster eventually removed the ability to buy diamonds with gold because of fraud, so I'm curious to see how ArenaNet handles that issue. My time in RoM has shown me that there are other issues involved here, issues of security, players gaming the system, botting, and pay-to-win debates. In other words, there's more at stake here than whether cash shops sell gear or items toward gaining power. Continue reading The Soapbox: The hidden perils of Guild Wars 2's microtransactions The Soapbox: The hidden perils of Guild Wars 2's microtransactions originally appeared on Massively on Wed, 21 Mar 2012 15:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink | Email this | Comments

Choose My Adventure: Dark Age of Camelot, week two Posted: 21 Mar 2012 01:00 PM PDT Filed under: Fantasy, Polls, Dark Age of Camelot, Hands-on, Humor, First Impressions, Choose My Adventure Some of you probably know that I first got into the blogging scene with my Warhammer Online blog Waaagh! Back then in early 2008, I was a veritable Mythic and PvP newbie, and I spent a good portion of the lead-up to the game's release reading up on Dark Age of Camelot. I figured that, after all, WAR would be built on the foundation of DAoC. In a way, it both was and wasn't. The one thing I never did was actually play DAoC. Older MMOs can be quite intimidating; they have deep-rooted communities and tomes of updates and history, and they were more rough around the edges. Rough in their cores, too, if we're being honest. So the intimidation factor kept me away until this past week, when Massively readers sent me on a quest to Camelot for the first time in my life. Last week readers voted on the character I was to roll. An impressive 82% of you said to check out the realm vs. realm ruleset and roll a a Midgard (43.2%) beastly (40.8%) hybrid (43.3%) character. After reading some of the recommendations in the comments, I ended up making a female Troll Skald on a traditional server. She may be lumpy and bulky, but I took a shine to her right away. Continue reading Choose My Adventure: Dark Age of Camelot, week two Choose My Adventure: Dark Age of Camelot, week two originally appeared on Massively on Wed, 21 Mar 2012 15:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink | Email this | Comments

Explore Vinland and Rome with Uncharted Waters Online's latest update Posted: 21 Mar 2012 12:30 PM PDT Filed under: Historical, Patches, News items, Free-to-play Ahoy there, sailors. It's time once again to raise your sails, man your oars, and prepare for further adventures on the seven seas with Uncharted Waters Online. A new update to the game brings players a treasure trove of new content to explore, such as the new area of Vinland, which is inhabited by fierce vikings, and the grand city of Rome, where players can test out the freshly revamped ground combat system in new PvE challenges at the historical Coliseum. On top of that, the update is also introducing a brand-new banking system that will allow players to keep their loot safe from plundering (for a minor fee, of course). And finally, players will be granted access to three new vessels in which to make the journey to Vinland. The first is the Immigrant Bark, which is modeled after the historical Mayflower that carried some of the first English settlers to North America. The other two ships are the six-sailed long schooner and commercial long schooner. So choose your vessel, get all hands on deck, and set your course for Vinland by heading over to the game's official site. [Source: Netmarble press release] Explore Vinland and Rome with Uncharted Waters Online's latest update originally appeared on Massively on Wed, 21 Mar 2012 14:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink | Email this | Comments

Why I Play: Star Wars: The Old Republic Posted: 21 Mar 2012 12:00 PM PDT Filed under: Sci-fi, Culture, Game mechanics, Opinion, Star Wars: The Old Republic, Why I Play Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic was one of the best games of all time that I very nearly didn't play. But I'm glad I did because it changed the entire way I look at games. I don't need to extoll the virtues of that game, as people have been doing so pretty much since its release. BioWare had certainly released games in a similar vein before, but KOTOR was the one that finally compelled me to try something. My gaming world would be a far darker place without the Mass Effect and Dragon Age series. So what does this have to do with Star Wars: The Old Republic? I never would have tried any of that and never would have become a fan of BioWare were it not for KOTOR. And both Star Wars: The Old Republic and its antecedent had to overcome a very big impediment: my profound antipathy toward the Star Wars franchise. Continue reading Why I Play: Star Wars: The Old Republic Why I Play: Star Wars: The Old Republic originally appeared on Massively on Wed, 21 Mar 2012 14:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink | Email this | Comments

Drink, dice, and debauch with new Wakfu gameplay videos Posted: 21 Mar 2012 11:30 AM PDT Filed under: Fantasy, Video, Classes, News items, Free-to-play Drinking and gambling go together like peanut butter and jelly, so it's only appropriate that today's new Wakfu gameplay videos set the focus on the Pandawa's Pint and Ecaflip's Coin classes. The Pandawa class, as its name would imply, is a class consisting entirely of anthropomorphic pandas with an affinity for bamboo milk and bar-room brawls. The Pandawa's Pint class "will lift both allies and enemies off their feet," but the distinction lies in how they go about putting them down. Meanwhile, members of the Ecaflip's Coin class take a page out of Harvey Dent's book and live life by the flip of a coin. Luck is the name of the game for these devoted gamblers, and they're more than willing to let their lives ride on the roll of the dice as long as a chance at victory is still in the cards, and when you make your own luck, it always is. To see these two classes in the heat of action, just grab a drink, take a seat at the table, and let the dice roll. Or, you know, just click past the cut. [Source: Ankama Games press release] Continue reading Drink, dice, and debauch with new Wakfu gameplay videos Drink, dice, and debauch with new Wakfu gameplay videos originally appeared on Massively on Wed, 21 Mar 2012 13:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink | Email this | Comments

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