| E3 2012: The world of Defiance Posted: 08 Jun 2012 10:00 AM PDT |
| E3 2012: Runes of Magic details Chapter 5 Posted: 08 Jun 2012 09:00 AM PDT Filed under: Fantasy, Events, real-world, Expansions, Opinion, Free-to-play, Massively Event Coverage, Runes of Magic Runes of Magic is only three years old, but the game has added an impressive amount of content for a free-to-play title. As we've reported previously, it's happening again on June 12, when Frogster will add the dwarven race, warlock and champion classes, and a few other goodies. We had the opportunity to sit down with Frogster to talk about the new content. Will it be attractive to veteran players? Is it made specifically to attract new players? Read on to find out. Continue reading E3 2012: Runes of Magic details Chapter 5  E3 2012: Runes of Magic details Chapter 5 originally appeared on Massively on Fri, 08 Jun 2012 11:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
Permalink | Email this | Comments |
| WildStar welcomes us to Gallow, teases big reveal Posted: 08 Jun 2012 08:30 AM PDT Filed under: Betas, Sci-fi, Screenshots, Lore, WildStar Carbine hosted a light WildStar Wednesday this week due to traveling to E3, and as such we've been given a slew of pictures to tide us over. The five screenshots are of Gallow, one of the towns in WildStar which is located in Algoroc. Gallow appears to be a frontier town with a handful of structures, including a rickety water tower. It sits nestled in a mountainous region marked by pine trees, lush grass, and jutting red buttes. If you feel a little robbed by this week's reveal, Carbine promises that next Wednesday will present a doozy: "Behind the scenes, the community team is working on a pretty major project that we'll unveil at next week's WildStar Wednesday, so stay tuned for an in-depth first look at something we've never shared about WildStar!" WildStar welcomes us to Gallow, teases big reveal originally appeared on Massively on Fri, 08 Jun 2012 10:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
Permalink | Email this | Comments |
| E3 2012: End of Nations shows its MMO-ish roots Posted: 08 Jun 2012 08:00 AM PDT Filed under: Events, real-world, Game mechanics, New titles, Opinion, War, Free-to-play, MMORTS, Massively Hands-on, Massively Event Coverage If there's one thing I love about game companies, it's their capacity to innovate. Trion Worlds and Petroglyph are teaming together to do just that with their new MMORTS End of Nations. I had the chance to demo End of Nations at E3 and talk a bit to the folks at Petroglyph (roots from Westwood, C&C), who is gearing up to lunch a strong seller that is taking risks with experimentation for the RTS genre. A lot of questions come to mind when one ponders how an MMORTS would function. How many players are there? Will lag be a significant problem? Unit control? These MMORTS games are so new that experimenting in how the game mechanics work is key. The demo was entirely functional and entertaining to play. Let's dive into some details. Continue reading E3 2012: End of Nations shows its MMO-ish roots E3 2012: End of Nations shows its MMO-ish roots originally appeared on Massively on Fri, 08 Jun 2012 10:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
Permalink | Email this | Comments |
| E3 2012: Matt Firor takes fans inside The Elder Scrolls Online Posted: 08 Jun 2012 07:30 AM PDT Filed under: Fantasy, Events, real-world, Game mechanics, Previews, News items, PvE, The Elder Scrolls Online This year's E3 is winding down, but we're not quite done yet. In addition to Joystiq's interview with ZeniMax's Nick Konkle, we had the chance to join Matt Firor as he gave a preview showing of The Elder Scrolls Online. While he didn't reveal anything earth-shattering that we didn't already know, he did provide some insight into the upcoming title's development. Many fans of the Elder Scrolls series are up-in-arms over TESO's lack of resemblance to earlier entries, but Firor assures us that the studio is doing its best to implement features that will help the game retain its Elder Scrolls flavor. For instance, the game will feature the time-honored resources of health, magicka, and stamina, and as in other Elder Scrolls titles, players will be able to sneak, block, sprint, and so forth regardless of character class. In addition, despite the studio's choice to use often-derided action-bar-centric combat, ZeniMax is still attempting to give combat a more visceral "action-RPG" feel to keep it more in-line with the general type of frantic combat players have come to expect from the series. Continue reading E3 2012: Matt Firor takes fans inside The Elder Scrolls Online E3 2012: Matt Firor takes fans inside The Elder Scrolls Online originally appeared on Massively on Fri, 08 Jun 2012 09:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
Permalink | Email this | Comments |
| SOE removes option to purchase subs with Station Cash Posted: 08 Jun 2012 07:00 AM PDT Filed under: Fantasy, EverQuest, EverQuest II, Business models, Economy, Miscellaneous In a stealth move, Sony Online Entertainment has quietly removed the ability to purchase non-recurring subscriptions from its MMOs' marketplaces. Players in both EverQuest and EverQuest II noticed the change while in the game, and went to the forums for official confirmation. Previously, players were able to use Station Cash (SOE's universal game currency) to snap up single-month subscriptions. This allowed frugal players to acquire discounted subscriptions, as SOE occasionally has a sale on Station Cash and throws in-game deals for spending it. Community Manager Piestro confirmed the removal in a forum post: "Hey folks, just jumping in to let you know this was indeed an intentional change. This decision was partially based on the very limited utilization of this feature." This removal comes at a bad time for players who did purchase subs this way, as SOE is giving bonus Station Cash to players redeeming game cards this weekend. [Thanks to Don for the tip!] SOE removes option to purchase subs with Station Cash originally appeared on Massively on Fri, 08 Jun 2012 09:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
Permalink | Email this | Comments |
| Nexon invests $687M in NCsoft, becomes largest shareholder Posted: 08 Jun 2012 06:30 AM PDT Filed under: MMO industry, Legal, Miscellaneous MMO competitors and countrymen-in-arms Nexon and NCsoft are closer than ever today, as Nexon has acquired a minority interest in its fellow company. The move makes Nexon NCsoft's largest shareholder. Nexon announced that it had invested in NCsoft by snapping up 3,218,091 shares in a private transaction. The deal cost Nexon 804,522,750,000 South Korean Won, or $687 million US. This puts Nexon's share ownership of NCsoft at 14.7%. It will certainly be interesting to see how this investment affects the future of both Nexon and NCsoft. Nexon said that it "forms the basis of a long-term partnership" between the two companies. Nexon has been making aggressive moves of late, particularly with acquiring Taiwanese publisher Gamania last month. Nexon invests $687M in NCsoft, becomes largest shareholder originally appeared on Massively on Fri, 08 Jun 2012 08:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
Permalink | Email this | Comments |
| The Daily Grind: Do political or religious views of developers affect you? Posted: 08 Jun 2012 06:00 AM PDT Filed under: Culture, Opinion, The Daily Grind, Miscellaneous Being a game developer means more than just stretching your talent to its full capacity in the name of progressive gaming. These days, game developers are in the public eye much more than ever before as a result of social networking and blogs. Sometimes we may find ourselves following certain devs' personal lives more than normal, thanks to an appreciation of their work on our favorite game. Those devs are certainly free to express their non-game-related views where they want, but there may be times when these views go against our own. When it comes to politics and religion, especially, it can be a touchy situation. So how do you handle these expressions? If you disagree or feel that their views are particularly extreme, do you confront them? Do you un-follow and ignore them? Or do you accept their point of view and focus on the reason you follow them in the first place? Let us know!  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: Do political or religious views of developers affect you? originally appeared on Massively on Fri, 08 Jun 2012 08:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
Permalink | Email this | Comments |
| Ask Massively: Squee edition Posted: 07 Jun 2012 07:00 PM PDT Filed under: Culture, Opinion, Humor, Ask Massively, Miscellaneous Part of me could be nervous about what's coming next for Final Fantasy XIV, since it'll mean a lot of big changes for the game and it may no longer be quite the same place I now call home. But most of me is looking at new screenshots and squeeing. Literally squeeing. I mean that I am shaking my fists, beaming with joy, and making a high-pitched noise resembling that of a boiling teakettle. It won't excite everyone, but boy does it excite me. Seeing as I'm being a bit self-indulgent with this week's Ask Massively opener -- which happens about half of the time, I know -- you might not be surprised that this week's question is a little more indulgent, discussing what's expected of MMOs. If you've got a question you'd like to see answered in a future installment of the column, leave it in the comments below or mail it to ask@massively.com. Questions may be edited slightly for clarity and/or brevity. Continue reading Ask Massively: Squee edition Ask Massively: Squee edition originally appeared on Massively on Thu, 07 Jun 2012 21:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
Permalink | Email this | Comments |
| The Summoner's Guidebook: Time as a resource in Dominion Posted: 07 Jun 2012 06:00 PM PDT Filed under: PvP, Opinion, Free-to-play, Guides, MOBA, League of Legends, The Summoner's Guidebook I feel that time is the least understood concept in all of gaming. People in World of Warcraft or other MMORPGs talk about how they "farmed something for free" all the time. Obviously, this is a fallacy, as a gamer's time is worth something. In League of Legends, time is a very important factor. I'm not talking about the time you have to play the game, although we could talk about it on a macro scale and do time-to-IP graphs for their silliness value. Instead, I'm talking about the actual time in-game that you spend accomplishing goals in a given match. In Summoner's Rift, the goal for the first 10 or 15 minutes is to get as much gold and XP as possible. If you can directly deny the enemy time by harassing him out of lane, you're taking away his time, which effectively takes away his gold and XP. As the game progresses, time is still traded for gold, but it's also traded for the other team's time (via teamfights). If your team manages to win a teamfight, the enemy cannot affect the battlefield and your team is free to take objectives. This week, we're going to talk about time in Dominion. While time is a fairly complicated thing in SR, it is even more complex in Dominion. There are many different things to do with it, and there are no easy decisions about how to spend it. If you're interested in learning more about how to better make those choices, read on! Continue reading The Summoner's Guidebook: Time as a resource in Dominion The Summoner's Guidebook: Time as a resource in Dominion originally appeared on Massively on Thu, 07 Jun 2012 20:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
Permalink | Email this | Comments |
| Dungeons & Dragons Online discusses the lore of the Underdark Posted: 07 Jun 2012 05:30 PM PDT Filed under: Fantasy, Video, Dungeons and Dragons Online, Expansions, Previews, News items, Free-to-play In preparation for the upcoming expansion Menace of the Underdark, the team behind Dungeons & Dragons Online has been producing a series of preview videos about the new content to be found. The newest video focuses on the lore of the Underdark and the Forgotten Realms, a far more traditional fantasy setting compared to Dungeons & Dragons Online's normal home of Eberron. As discussed in the video, it's a challenging setting to work with, and not just because player expectations are high. From a visual standpoint, the Underdark is iconic, but it's also challenging to keep interesting -- after all, it's made up of miles of caverns that need extra points of visual interest. On the storytelling side, the problem is almost reversed, with so many iconic monsters and characters that it's a challenge to fit everything in there. Take a look at the preview just past the break to see how the team addressed these issues and to get a peek at some of the monsters and environments from the new expansion. Continue reading Dungeons & Dragons Online discusses the lore of the Underdark Dungeons & Dragons Online discusses the lore of the Underdark originally appeared on Massively on Thu, 07 Jun 2012 19:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
Permalink | Email this | Comments |
| World of Darkness information revealed in open letter to fans Posted: 07 Jun 2012 05:00 PM PDT Filed under: Horror, Real life, MMO industry, News items, World of Darkness, Miscellaneous, Sandbox Outside of confirmation that CCP Games is still working on World of Darkness, news on the game has been hard to come by. Some of the reasons behind that were revealed by senior producer Chris McDonough in a recent letter to members of the Mind's Eye Society, a fan group devoted to the tabletop and LARP games in the same IP. While the focus in the letter was not on the MMO, McDonough did still discuss the state of CCP as a company and what it means for the game. In short, after a difficult financial year, CCP is devoting the lion's share of its resources to ensuring that DUST 514 is a successful game on launch. That doesn't mean that World of Darkness is being shelved -- McDonough stresses that development is still ongoing -- but it does mean that the company's first priority is elsewhere. How long that will be the case remains to be seen, but if you're hoping for more substantial news on the game this year, the odds are low. World of Darkness information revealed in open letter to fans originally appeared on Massively on Thu, 07 Jun 2012 19:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
Permalink | Email this | Comments |
| Firefall dev diary discusses SIN Posted: 07 Jun 2012 04:30 PM PDT Filed under: Video, News items, Free-to-play, MMOFPS, Dev Diaries, Firefall  The folks at Red 5 Studios have put out a new Firefall dev diary video today, and this one is all about how much they love SIN. Senior Designer Scott Rudi and Lead Designer Scott Youngblood dedicate this video to talking about the wonders of Firefall's Shared Intelligence Network. SIN is described as a network that connects all Battleframes within a given area, allowing them to share information with one another on-the-fly. The use of this network is extensive. In combat, it allows you to see what your allies see, causing nearby enemies and other points of interest to be marked on your HUD. Players can also designate specific objectives, such as downed teammates or damaged vehicles, to other players within the network. The pair stress that liberal use of SIN's capabilities will be essential for success, as its information is fed not only to your teammates but to deployables such as turrets as well. For the full details on Firefall's SIN, just click on through and watch the video for yourself. Continue reading Firefall dev diary discusses SIN Firefall dev diary discusses SIN originally appeared on Massively on Thu, 07 Jun 2012 18:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
Permalink | Email this | Comments |
| E3 2012: InnoGames talks pirate MMOs, strategy titles, and games for women Posted: 07 Jun 2012 04:00 PM PDT Filed under: Betas, Fantasy, Historical, Business models, Events, real-world, Interviews, New titles, Previews, PvP, PvE, Opinion, Free-to-play, Browser, Hands-on, Casual, Massively Hands-on, Massively Event Coverage, Sandbox At this year's E3, we had a nice long chat with German studio InnoGames about its MMO repertoire. The company actually started out quite small with three college buddies, who released their first game only to their close friends. That game, Tribal Wars, and its original servers are still around, albeit with some updated graphics to keep things looking fresh, but we wanted to focus on the team's more recent offerings. While InnoGames has several titles under its belt, including Bounty Hounds, we focused primarily on Kartuga, a pirate-themed strategy MMO; Lagoonia, a social building game created by and aimed at women; and Forge of Empires, which is similar to the Age of Empires series. All three games are free-to-play browser games, and we even got a pinch of hands-on time. Continue reading E3 2012: InnoGames talks pirate MMOs, strategy titles, and games for women E3 2012: InnoGames talks pirate MMOs, strategy titles, and games for women originally appeared on Massively on Thu, 07 Jun 2012 18:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
Permalink | Email this | Comments |
| Activision-Blizzard stocks drop amidst selloff rumors Posted: 07 Jun 2012 03:30 PM PDT Filed under: MMO industry, News items, Miscellaneous Activision-Blizzard has certainly done well for itself over the past year. World of Warcraft may have seen a slight dip in subscriptions, but that hasn't made the company any less profitable. But rumors are swirling that owner Vivendi may be looking to sell off the company, either lowering its current 61% share or selling it off entirely. Vivendi will discuss its exact plans in its meeting with investors on June 22nd. In light of these rumors, shares of Activision-Blizzard have dropped 3.3%, while shares of Vivendi have grown 3.8%. Vivendi as a whole saw a net 28% drop in stock price over the past year, so the company is looking for infusions of cash, but considering Activision-Blizzard's upcoming titles (including the new World of Warcraft expansion, Mists of Pandaria), we can't help but wonder if selling the house might be a bit premature. We'll have more on this story and the impact for both companies as it develops. Activision-Blizzard stocks drop amidst selloff rumors originally appeared on Massively on Thu, 07 Jun 2012 17:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
Permalink | Email this | Comments |
| Allods Online merges down to one server Posted: 07 Jun 2012 03:00 PM PDT Filed under: Fantasy, Free-to-play, Allods Online In every young server's life, there comes a time when it must leave the nest and join in union with another. And so it is for Tensess and Nezeb, Allods Online's two North American servers, which have now joined in holy matrimony to become one. gPotato has merged the sole two NA servers to become a new one named Yul. To "celebrate" the merge, the publisher is giving a free Water of Life to every character affected by the move. If a player has more than eight characters following the merge, the character select screen will now give access to all of them. While players can have more than eight due to the merge, if any characters over the eight limit are deleted, the spot is forever closed. The issue of duplicate names has been dealt with as well. Characters that haven't logged in during the past eight weeks forfeit their right to those names, while players with duplicate characters can re-snag that name on a first-come basis. Allods Online merges down to one server originally appeared on Massively on Thu, 07 Jun 2012 17:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
Permalink | Email this | Comments |
| Guild Wars 2 gears up for beta weekend with a producer video and WvW article Posted: 07 Jun 2012 02:30 PM PDT Filed under: Betas, Fantasy, Video, Events, in-game, PvP, Guild Wars 2 Guild Wars 2 players, are you ready for this weekend's beta event? That's the question that Marketing Coordinator David Campbell and Lead Producer Chris Whiteside want to help you with, and the duo's put together a three-and-a-half minute video to chat about the creation and hopeful execution of the game's second public beta test. What can we expect from this beta event? "A much more evolved experience which breaks down into roughly two areas," Whiteside said. "One area is the feedback that we've gotten from the community... the second part is the content evolution that includes a new zone and the Mystic Forge." Over on the ArenaNet blog, Systems Designer Mike Ferguson penned a post detailing all of the tweaks, fixes, and changes that the team has made to the world-vs.-world PvP for this weekend. He even posted a chart showing off the wins and losses for each server from the past beta event. The beta weekend event starts tomorrow, June 8th, at 3:00 p.m. EDT. Hit the jump to watch the full producer's video to get ready for it! Continue reading Guild Wars 2 gears up for beta weekend with a producer video and WvW article Guild Wars 2 gears up for beta weekend with a producer video and WvW article originally appeared on Massively on Thu, 07 Jun 2012 16:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
Permalink | Email this | Comments |
| E3 2012: RIFT shows Storm Legion's Tower of Dawn, confirms digital CE Posted: 07 Jun 2012 02:00 PM PDT Filed under: Betas, Fantasy, Screenshots, Expansions, Previews, Massively Event Coverage, RIFT While we got a great preview of some of the excitement coming with this fall's RIFT: Storm Legion expansion at E3, the public was treated to a "sneak peek" livestream from the press room by the devs. The livestreamed some of the content we've seen already, such as the clockwork dungeon and the mighty colossus attack, but also dropped a few new surprises as well. When asked if the expansion will have a collector's edition, the dev confirmed that it probably will have a digital CE. He then laughed that he probably let the cat out of the bag on that one. He was reluctant to show the in-game map of the new continents, however, explaining that they are a work in progress. The Trion Worlds team also demoed a special interior for the first time, the Tower of Dawn. While not a proper dungeon, the tower will be an expansive and dangerous location to explore. The dev said that players were asking for more interiors to explore, hence why Trion took the time to make it. You can scope out some of our screengrabs from the livestream after the break! Continue reading E3 2012: RIFT shows Storm Legion's Tower of Dawn, confirms digital CE E3 2012: RIFT shows Storm Legion's Tower of Dawn, confirms digital CE originally appeared on Massively on Thu, 07 Jun 2012 16:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
Permalink | Email this | Comments |
| E3 2012: Perfect World's Raiderz isn't Monster Hunter Online Posted: 07 Jun 2012 01:30 PM PDT Filed under: Fantasy, Events, real-world, Previews, Opinion, Free-to-play, Hands-on, Massively Hands-on, Massively Event Coverage Action combat seems to be the name of the game for MMOs at this year's E3. While tab-targeting is nice for eating pizza and raiding, sometimes you want something more visceral, so we have some top contenders for you today. Raiderz is Perfect World Entertainment's newest action-based MMO, and while some people have an issue with its name, I've heard others note, in both positive and negative lights, its similarity to another game series very dear to my heart. I say that the comparison is a bit unfair to Perfect World, since what the studio has created isn't just different -- in some ways, it's better, especially if you're a fan of MMOs, which, if you're reading Massively, you probably are. Since I know some console folks (even me!) have been thinking it for a while, let's just say it out loud and get it over with: Raiderz is a Monster Hunter clone! Got it out of your system? Good. Now go wash your mouth out with soap. Continue reading E3 2012: Perfect World's Raiderz isn't Monster Hunter Online E3 2012: Perfect World's Raiderz isn't Monster Hunter Online originally appeared on Massively on Thu, 07 Jun 2012 15:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
Permalink | Email this | Comments |
| E3 2012: Origins of Malu brings player-created factions, housing, and exploration to the sandbox Posted: 07 Jun 2012 01:00 PM PDT Filed under: Betas, Fantasy, Sci-fi, Video, Events, real-world, Game mechanics, Interviews, MMO industry, New titles, PvP, News items, PvE, Massively Interviews, Massively Event Coverage, Sandbox It's hard to remain completely objective about Origins of Malu. The sci-fantasy title from Burning Dog Media is a project I've been watching personally for quite a while now, both because of its ambitious design goals and because of the sandbox affinity displayed by the dev team. At this week's E3, I finally got to put names with faces when I met with senior developer Jason Mitchell and programmer Chris Shaw. The pair had plenty of interesting tidbits to share, and despite the fact that I haven't put my hands on an Origins build yet, it remains very near the top of my most-anticipated-MMOs list. Join me after the cut for some chit-chat about action combat, player-created factions, PvP (yes there are safe zones), and more. Continue reading E3 2012: Origins of Malu brings player-created factions, housing, and exploration to the sandbox E3 2012: Origins of Malu brings player-created factions, housing, and exploration to the sandbox originally appeared on Massively on Thu, 07 Jun 2012 15:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
Permalink | Email this | Comments |
| E3 2012: Hands-on with Webzen's C9 and the Witchblade Posted: 07 Jun 2012 12:30 PM PDT Filed under: Betas, Fantasy, Video, Classes, Events, real-world, Game mechanics, MMO industry, New titles, Previews, News items, Free-to-play, Hands-on, Massively Hands-on, First Impressions, Massively Event Coverage So let's talk about C9. I suppose we should start with its full name, which is Continent of the Ninth Seal. It's a 3-D fantasy action RPG for PC, and it's developed by a company called Cloud 9 Studio. Webzen is handling global publishing duties, and the firm also hosted the E3 shindig I attended yesterday in order to get some hands-on time with the game. Action combat is all the rage in MMOs nowadays, and C9 has it down pat. Tab targeting is conspicuously absent. Combat is all about reaction time, situational awareness, dodging, blocking, and chaining together ridiculously powerful combo attacks. Is it an MMO? As ever these days, that depends on whom you talk to. For its part, Webzen calls it an MORPG (leaving off the first "m" for massively), and the game focuses primarily on PvP and small-group PvE. Continue reading E3 2012: Hands-on with Webzen's C9 and the Witchblade E3 2012: Hands-on with Webzen's C9 and the Witchblade originally appeared on Massively on Thu, 07 Jun 2012 14:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
Permalink | Email this | Comments |
| 38 Studios declares bankruptcy, law enforcement investigating [Updated] Posted: 07 Jun 2012 12:00 PM PDT Filed under: Culture, Economy, MMO industry, News items, Miscellaneous  38 Studios, in a move surprising absolutely no one, has declared bankruptcy. This report comes hot on the heels of the news that the Project Copernicus developer has laid off all of its employees and sold Big Huge Games. In addition to covering the bankruptcy, the Providence Journal revealed that "state and federal authorities have launched an investigation into [the company]." State police Col. Steven G. O'Donnell states that the inquiry is taking place "to investigate activities that have recently come to light at 38 Studios." According to the Journal, these activities include taking out loans totaling $8.5 million US "based on state film tax credits that had not yet been issued." Things are looking pretty grim for Curt Schilling and his studio, but we'll just have to stay tuned to see how the rest of this plays out. [Update: Our sister site Joystiq reports that the Rhode Island governor has stated, "We are going to do everything possible to maximize return on our investment [...] Taxpayers in Rhode Island can have full confidence that if there's a penny that we can get, or a nickle or a dime, we'll get it." The company is suspected to be worth "tens of millions of dollars."] 38 Studios declares bankruptcy, law enforcement investigating [Updated] originally appeared on Massively on Thu, 07 Jun 2012 14:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
Permalink | Email this | Comments |
| E3 2012: XL COO on ArcheAge, CBT4, and coming to America Posted: 07 Jun 2012 11:30 AM PDT Filed under: Fantasy, Events, real-world, Game mechanics, Interviews, MMO industry, New titles, News items, Massively Interviews, Massively Event Coverage, ArcheAge, Sandbox This is one of those good news/bad news ArcheAge articles. The good news is that XLGAMES' sandpark title is absolutely coming to the West. The bad news, though, is that we still don't know exactly when.
XL didn't have an official presence at this year's E3, but the firm was kind enough to set up a private interview with COO Suk Woo Choi away from the hustle and bustle of convention ground zero. We talked at length about CBT4, game systems, and the challenges inherent in localizing ArcheAge for Europe and America. Continue reading E3 2012: XL COO on ArcheAge, CBT4, and coming to America E3 2012: XL COO on ArcheAge, CBT4, and coming to America originally appeared on Massively on Thu, 07 Jun 2012 13:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
Permalink | Email this | Comments |
| Ready for a new MMO? Grab your Maestia closed beta key here! Posted: 07 Jun 2012 11:00 AM PDT Filed under: Betas, Fantasy, Contests, New titles, Free-to-play, Giveaways One of our favorite things to do here at Massively is introduce you to new MMOs. Luckily, Gravity Interactive has a new MMO called Maestia: Rise of Keledus that it wants you to check out. We're giving away 2,000 keys for the free-to-play fantasy MMO's upcoming closed beta, and all you have to do is head to our giveaway page to grab one. The beta itself starts on June 14th, but grabbing a key now will get you started and ready. Read past the cut for complete instructions on how to grab and redeem a key for yourself. Continue reading Ready for a new MMO? Grab your Maestia closed beta key here! Ready for a new MMO? Grab your Maestia closed beta key here! originally appeared on Massively on Thu, 07 Jun 2012 13:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
Permalink | Email this | Comments |
Canon today rolled out its EOS Rebel T4i, which assumes its rank as the company's new flagship digital SLR in the popular EOS Rebel line. The T4i boasts an 18-megapixel CMOS (APS-C) sensor, DIGIC 5 Image Processor, 100-12800 ISO range (expandable to 25600 in H mode, Canon says), and an articulating 3-inch Clear View LCD monitor with touch-menu navigation.
You might have forgotten all about Lenovo's IdeaPad Y580 line of laptops, which the OEM first introduced to the world way back at CES in January of this year. Well, here we are six months later and you can finally order one. Lenovo's Y580 notebooks pack a one-two punch that consists of an Intel 3rd Generation Core i7 3610QM processor (Ivy Bridge) and Nvidia's GeForce GTX 660M graphics (Kepler) with 2GB of video memory.
AMD earlier this week 
Misery loves company, though that probably won't come as much consolation to social networking site LinkedIn, which is now joined by at least two other sites that suffered a serious security breach at the hands of the same band of hackers. Both Last.fm and eHarmony issued separate statements confirming that some user passwords may have been compromised in the recent hacker attack.
E3 isn't just about the games, it's also about the peripherals and accessories that go along with them. It makes perfect sense, then, that SteelSeries would use the E3 convention as a launch pad for its new 'World of Warcraft Wireless Mouse', a rodent co-designed with Blizzard Entertainment specifically for WoW players. It has 11 programmable buttons and an illuminated world Maelstrom design on top of a world map background with pulsating options "that help immerse players in the game."
It's said that imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, but when you're Apple, a company that thrives on form just as much as it does on function, there's nothing flattering about other companies designing products that look even remotely like existing iDevices. And make no mistake, today's Ultrabooks share design DNA with Apple's MacBook Air, DNA Apple doesn't want anyone else using, so the Cupertino company went out and snagged a broad patent for the MBA's wedge shaped design.
It's tough to outrun a fox, but perhaps even harder to match the pace of Eurocom's Fox 4.0, a well equipped mobile workstation packing 5.7 pounds of storage and muscle. Eurocom describes its 15.6-inch Fox 4.0 as a small form factor notebook -- most of us would consider 15.6 inches a regular sized laptop -- albeit one that's able to tote up to 3TB of storage when configured with three 1TB drives. It measures 14.96 inches by 10 inches by 1.61 inches.
