General Gaming Article

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• European Regulators Ask Google to Delay Privacy Policy Changes
• Seized Streaming Site Reappears with Harsh Words for U.S. Authorities
• Anonymous Intercepts FBI and Scotland Yard Conference Call
• Smartphone Sales Leap Ahead of PCs for First Time Ever
• Head to Head: Amazon Kindle Fire vs. Barnes & Noble Nook Tablet
• Micron CEO Steve Appleton Perishes in Plane Crash
• Motorola, Woot.com Sold Refurbished Xooms With Previous User Data Intact
• Dropbox Offers Up To 5GB Of Additional Space To Beta Build Users
• Ubisoft DRM + Server Switch = Unplayable Games Next Week
• Internet Explorer Increases Market Share Lead Over Chrome, Firefox in January 2012

European Regulators Ask Google to Delay Privacy Policy Changes Posted: 03 Feb 2012 03:16 PM PST While the uproar over Google's updated privacy policy has lessened in the U.S., European officials are taking things a step further today. The European Commission has asked Google to delay implementing its new privacy policy so the matter can be fully investigated. The search giant has apparently been taken aback by the proposal. The Commission is in the process of updating its rules on data protection, and that might account for the new-found interest in Google's policy. According to Google's Brussels spokesperson, Google briefed the Commission on the proposed change before it was even announced to the public. He went on toe say Google would be happy to talk things over with regulators if there are any new concerns, but he did not say Google would delay implementation of the new policy. Google's new privacy policy is essentially 'one policy to rule them all.' Over 60 individual privacy policies from various services are being rolled into one document that spells out what information Google can share internally between services. Do you think the European Commission is justified in asking for a delay?

Seized Streaming Site Reappears with Harsh Words for U.S. Authorities Posted: 03 Feb 2012 03:00 PM PST Well, that didn't take long. One of the largest streaming sites taken down by U.S. authorities yesterday is already back up and running on a new domain, and boy are they upset. While the Department of Homeland Security ICE division was happy to accept a pat on the back for a job well done, one of the owners of Firstrow, a sports streaming site, says he will not give up until a court shuts the site down. "The US has prided itself on their 'innocent before proven guilty' mantra, yet is clearly hypocritical when it comes to this," said the unnamed co-owner of Firstrow. The site is back up on firstrowsports.eu after losing top level domains at .com and .tv. The anonymous owner went on to say he does not believe what Firstrow does is illegal as the site is not US-based.  The European Union has been critical of U.S. domain seizures in the past, but that doesn't seem to worry law enforcement very much. Yesterday's domain raid was the largest yet, and mostly targeted sites selling counterfeit NFL merchandise. Do you think non-US sites should have to adhere to US copyright laws?

Anonymous Intercepts FBI and Scotland Yard Conference Call Posted: 03 Feb 2012 02:42 PM PST An element of hacker group Anonymous announced today that it has intercepted a conference call between the FBI and UK law enforcement wherein they discuss tracking down Anonymous. The 16 minute call was recorded and has been posted on various sites, including YouTube. The FBI and Scotland Yard have confirmed their call was illegally intercepted. The first few minutes are idle banter between the early arrivals, but from there the conversation moves on to the efforts to identify members of Anonymous and LulzSec. Anonymous beeped out names of suspects and contacts not yet apprehended, but left in the names of those already arrested, including Ryan Cleary and Jake Davis. The call is from January 17th, and the investigators can be heard discussing the case against Cleary and Davis. It is suspected that Anonymous gained access to law enforcement email where an invitation to the conference all was available. It should be noted that the phone number and password for the call was listed in plain text. This is certainly embarrassing for the FBI and Scotland Yard, and one has to wonder if more releases from that hacked email account will be incoming.

Smartphone Sales Leap Ahead of PCs for First Time Ever Posted: 03 Feb 2012 02:25 PM PST Nobody in their right mind would dump their desktop or notebook PC for a smartphone, but plenty of people are willing to own both as they seek to stay connected and check email on the fly. Underscoring this point is fact that smartphone sales in 2011 skipped ahead of PC sales, and by a pretty wide margin, according to data released by Canalys. Canalys says vendors shipped 158.5 million smartphones in the fourth quarter of 2011, up 57 percent on the 101.2 million units shipped in the same quarter one year prior. Ending the year on a strong note bumped total global smartphone shipments for 2011 to 487.7 million units, up a whopping 63 percent over 2010. By comparison, the global PC market grew 15 percent in 2011 to 414.6 million units, and that includes tablet sales, which jumped 274 percent. Tablets accounted for 15 percent of all PC sales in 2011, Canalys said. "In 2011 we saw a fall in demand for netbooks, and slowing demand for notebooks and desktops as a direct result of rising interest in pads," said Chris Jones, Canalys VP and Principal Analyst. "But pads have had negligible impact on smartphone volumes and markets across the globe have seen persistent and substantial growth through 2011. Smartphone shipments overtaking those of client PCs should be seen as a significant milestone. In the space of a few years, smartphones have grown from being a niche product segment at the high-end of the mobile phone market to becoming a truly mass-market proposition. The greater availability of smartphones at lower price points has helped tremendously, but there has been a driving trend of increasing consumer appetite for Internet browsing, content consumption and engaging with apps and services on mobile devices." Google's Android platform was by far the most popular in the smartphone segment in 2011, capturing 48.8 percent of the market with 237.8 million units shipped. Apple's iPhone came in a distant second with 93.1 million units shipped for a 19.1 percent share of the market, according to Canalys.

Head to Head: Amazon Kindle Fire vs. Barnes & Noble Nook Tablet Posted: 03 Feb 2012 02:24 PM PST If you can't beat Apple's iPad, change the rules of the game. Amazon and Barnes & Noble are taking a bath on sales of the $199 Kindle Fire and the $249 Nook Tablet, respectively, and making up for it with profits on sales of electronic merchandise (e-books, videos, music, and apps). The strategy has succeeded in moving a lot of hardware, with each company on track to sell millions of units (although the ratio of Kindle Fire to Nook Tablet sales is greatly in Amazon's favor so far). Both tablets feature nearly identical 7-inch, 1024x600 LCDs and rely on Wi-Fi for connectivity. Which should tempt you away from the high-end tablets? Only a bloody-knuckled deathmatch will tell. Like the Nook, the Kindle Fire experience relies on your burning desire for consuming magazines, books, videos, and more through its compact form factor. At 14.1 ounces, the wider, longer, thinner Nook Tablet weighs a half-ounce less than the Fire. Round 1: Design If a plain black slab with a screen is your cup of tea, then drink in the Kindle Fire. Its headphone output and power button (its lone hardware control) are uncomfortably close to its Micro USB port (used for charging and file transfers) across the bottom of the tablet. No doubt the prettier option, the Nook Tablet sports a raised silver-gray bezel and coated backplate that, in concert with the hollowed-out corner for the microSD slot, give the Nook a visual flare and render it the grippier tablet. The Nook's hardware volume controls and menu button also score it points. The Kindle Fire offers two speakers to the Nook's one; but the difference is negligible, and only the Nook offers a built-in microphone. Winner: Nook Tablet Round 2: User Interface Both tablets break a sweat obliterating the UI confines of the Android 2.3 OS they're built on. The Kindle Fire's bookshelf-themed homepage displays your favorite and most recently visited web pages, apps, documents, and more, with menu tabs labeled Books, Music, Video, Apps, Web, and so on. It's a departure from the stock Android UI, but it's more user friendly than the Nook Tablet's storefront-feeling UI, which also insists on using "shelves" to display your various media, apps, and files. The Nook Tablet, on the other hand, preserves more Android functionality, including customizable home screens that help you bypass its convoluted Library shelves. The Nook Tablet's browser displays more web-page content per screen; and we like its hard menu button, which calls up a shortcut menu for apps, URLs, settings, and more. Winner: Nook Tablet Round 3: Storage You might think that the Nook Tablet's 16GB of onboard memory combined with its microSD slot means game over for the 8GB, nonexpandable Kindle Fire. But the Nook Tablet reserves most of its onboard memory for content purchased from Barnes & Noble, leaving you just 1GB for everything else. The playing field levels further when you take into account Amazon's free cloud storage for all Amazon media purchases, plus the 5GB of free cloud storage the company provides for storing your files. The Nook Tablet can accommodate a microSD card with up to 32GB of capacity, but no card of any capacity is included in the purchase price. What's more, you must use a computer to transfer files from a memory card to its internal memory. Such lameness defies description, leaving this round a push. Winner: Tie Round 4: Performance While both contestants enter the ring armed with 1GHz dual-core CPUs, the Nook Tablet packs 1GB RAM while the Fire has just 512MB. The Nook Tablet's additional memory resulted in smoother screen refreshes while reading, web browsing, playing games, streaming video, and so on. Netflix video streams looked much better on the Nook Tablet, and it delivered slightly longer battery life: We streamed Netflix videos on it for more than six hours. B&N's device delivered better touchscreen responsiveness, too; there were far too many times when we had to repeatedly tap the Fire's screen before it would register. Amazon's much-hyped Silk browser put a hurt on the Nook Tablet's browser in terms of the SunSpider and BrowserMark benchmarks, consistently outperforming the Nook by 25 to 40 percent. In real-world use, however, the Nook Tablet loaded websites as fast or faster than the Fire. Winner: Nook Tablet Round 5: Content Ecosystem Barnes & Noble claims to stock "thousands" of apps in the Nook store. After browsing the entire site, we'd say "hundreds" is more like it. A vast number of popular Android apps are MIA here, and many apps that are free in other marketplaces must be purchased for the Nook Tablet. Unlike the Fire, the Nook Tablet will not sideload apps, either; it refuses to even recognize .apk files. Amazon's app store, by comparison, is a Shangri-La of software choices. While it could be argued that the Kindle and Nook e-reader systems are roughly equal in both features and inventory, Amazon's music and video marketplace is far more robust, and Amazon has the aforementioned cloud storage plus superior tools for synching your purchases to multiple devices. And for $79 per year, Amazon Prime serves up thousands of free movies and TV shows, Kindle book borrowing, and free two-day shipping for Amazon orders. Winner: Tie And the Winner Is… The Nook Tablet was ahead on points going into the final round, but the Kindle Fire unleashed a flurry of value-added blows in the form of Amazon's cloud storage, massive music and video library (available for sale or rent), and decent app store that knocked the Nook into sweet oblivion. Superior hardware empowers the Nook Tablet to beat the Kindle Fire in some areas (particularly video streaming), but Barnes & Noble's device is just too limited to be a full-featured tablet. Our opinion might change once we can jailbreak it and install a custom ROM, but the Kindle Fire is the better tablet right out of the box.

Micron CEO Steve Appleton Perishes in Plane Crash Posted: 03 Feb 2012 02:03 PM PST Micron Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Steve Appleton, passed away this morning after a small plane he was piloting crashed at an airport in Boise, Idaho. Appleton, 51, joined Micron not long after his graduation in 1983. He started out on the factory floor and worked his way up to the top when, at age 34, he became the third youngest CEO in the Fortune 500. "Steve's passion and energy left an indelible mark on Micron, the Idaho community and the technology industry at large," Micron said in a statement on its website. According to an AP report, Appleton was also a professional stunt plane pilot and former motocross racer. On July 8, 2004, Appleton crashed a stunt plane and sustained several injuries, including a punctured lung and broken bones. The accident that proved fatal involved a Lancair single-engine experimental propeller plane. Appleton was the only in the plane when it crashed. It's fair to say Appleton worked hard and played hard, right up until his untimely death.

Motorola, Woot.com Sold Refurbished Xooms With Previous User Data Intact Posted: 03 Feb 2012 11:20 AM PST Quick question: what's the one thing you should absolutely, positively do any time you trade in or return a piece of used tech? Answer: wipe the hard drive. If you already knew that, you might want to spread the word to your friends and neighbors, because Motorola forgot to wipe the info off of a bunch of used Xoom tablets it recently sold to enthusiastic Woot.com buyers. Oops! "A bunch" is a relative statement, of course, as is the "around 100" number Motorola tosses out in its press release outlining the goof. Over 6,200 refurbished Wi-Fi tablets were sold by Woot.com during the affected period between October and December, so 100 isn't a terribly high percentage -- unless it's your info left on a Xoom hard drive, that is. From Motorola's press release: It is possible that users might have stored photographs and documents. They may have also stored user names and passwords for email and social media accounts, as well as other password-protected sites and applications. To try and make things right, Motorola is offering anybody who bought, then returned a Xoom at Amazon Best Buy, BJ's Wholesale, eBay, Office Max, Radio Shack, Sam's Club, or Staples  a free two-year membership in Experian's ProtectMyID Alert. The company is also trying to track down the affected units and ensure that data from previous users is wiped.

Dropbox Offers Up To 5GB Of Additional Space To Beta Build Users Posted: 03 Feb 2012 10:42 AM PST Dropbox has a lot of things going for it, but if you use the cloud storage service with any regularity, there's a good chance you'll bang up against the 2GB offered in the free version fairly quickly. (Assuming that you don't Gmail account chain trick outlined in our Dropbox Cheat Sheet, that is.) If you're chafing at your no-cost bonds, the service is giving you an opportunity to add up to another 5GB of space absolutely free -- if you're willing to be a guinea pig, that is. Dropbox is still working out kinks in its as-yet-unreleased automatic photo and video upload support, you see. As this forum post outlines, if you download the experimental beta build (links found in aforementioned post), Dropbox will toss another 500MB of space your way the very first time you automatically upload a photo or video. After that, you'll get another 500MB of free storage space for every additional 500MB worth of photos/videos you upload. There's a 4.5GB cap on that, though, not counting the 500MB awarded for your original upload. Plenty of other tweaks and new features are also included in the build. (Thanks to Engadget for pointing the offer out.) Dropbox also offers an Android version of the beta build, complete with all the same abilities and offers. It's not up in Android Market -- being a Beta build and all -- but you can nab the .apk file with this link that comes courtesy of Pocket Lint.

Ubisoft DRM + Server Switch = Unplayable Games Next Week Posted: 03 Feb 2012 10:00 AM PST DRM sucks. You know it, we know it, Gabe Newell and CD Projekt know it. Ubisoft apparently never got the memo however, and in the process of switching servers next week, the company will offer up yet another reason for DRM sucktitude. Thanks to that nasty always-on DRM, six games won't be playable whatsoever during the move -- single player included. Plenty of other games will have their multiplayer capabilities "impacted" during the transition, including console versions of the games. According to a statement by Ubisoft (thanks to the always-useful Slashdot for sending us its way), the transition should start on Tuesday, February 7th; there's no word how long it will take. Single player and multiplayer will both be disabled for the following games: Assassin's Creed - MAC Tom Clancy's H.A.W.X. 2 - PC Might & Magic : Heroes VI - PC Splinter Cell Conviction - MAC The Settlers 7: Paths to a Kingdom - PC The Settlers - MAC Rather than try and list out all the games that will have their multiplayer nerfed, Ubisoft took the easy route and instead decided to list the small handful of games that won't be affected at all. The following will be fully playable at all times; any you don't see here (or above) will have their multiplayer "impacted." Anno 2070 - PC Assassin's Creed Revelations - OnLive, PC, PS3, X360 Driver® San Francisco - PC, OnLive, PS3, X360 Just Dance 3 - X360 The Settlers Online - PC web-based Isn't DRM grand? I think you may be driving gamers into Pirate Bay's arms, Ubisoft.

Internet Explorer Increases Market Share Lead Over Chrome, Firefox in January 2012 Posted: 03 Feb 2012 09:00 AM PST Google's Chrome browser failed to increase its market share last month for just the second time in two years, while Microsoft's Internet Explorer added more than a percentage point, according to data by NetMarketShare. That's not the start to 2012 Google was hoping for, though there are still reasons to be optimistic about Chrome's future. This is just one month, after all, and Chrome dropping from 19.11 percent in December 2011 to 18.94 percent in January 2012 is not cause for panic. If we go back a full year to January 2011, Chrome's market share was sitting at 11.15 percent, and just 5.72 percent in February 2010, which is as far back as NetApplications allows us to look. Firefox also lost market share last month, dropping from 21.83 percent in December 2011 to 20.88 percent in January 2012. That's nearly a full percentage point, and it allowed Chrome to close the gap, despite losing share itself. Internet Explorer emerged as the big winner, going from 51.87 percent in December 2011 to 52.96 in January 2012. It's actually the fifth time IE increased its share since February 2010 when it commanded 62.71 percent of the desktop browser market. All this goes out the window if we look at market share numbers from StatCounter. According to StatCounter, IE's global market share dropped from 38.65 percent in December 2011 to 37.45 percent in January 2012, while Chrome increased its second place position from 27.27 percent to 28.4 percent during the same two-month period, with Firefox in third place sliding ever-so-slightly from 25.27 percent to 24.78 percent.

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MMO News

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• Heroes of Newerth player sets world record
• Lime Odyssey reveals the Muris
• Super Monday Night Combat Gameplay – First Look HD
• Super Monday Night Combat
• Brick-Force closed beta announced
• Carte reveals new card art
• Perfect World International: Descent unveiled
• Official Lime Odyssey Opening Muris Cinematic
• C9 Continent of the Ninth – First Look HD

Heroes of Newerth player sets world record Posted: 03 Feb 2012 02:46 PM PST This past weekend, pro-gamer Sam “Milkfat” Braithwaite set a new world record for Longest Strategy Game Marathon. Sam played a 76-hour marathon run of Heroes of Newerth, beating the original world record of 52 hours. The attempt ran four days and was held at Howie’s Game Shack in Mission Viejo, CA, and was sponsored by S2 Games’ Marketing Team and GUNNAR Optiks. The event was also held on behalf of Doctors Without Borders, a charity organization created to provide impartial medical aid across the world for people threatened by violence, neglect, or catastrophe. The event raised $3,700 in donations, which will be matched by S2 Games, and completed by Sam’s donation of ad revenue from his twitch.tv live stream. Heroes of Newerth Gameplay Screenshot Source: Heroes of Newerth Community Member Smashes Guinness World Record 76-Hour World Record Set for Longest Strategy Game Marathon (Kalamazoo, MI) – February 3, 2012 – History was made this weekend when pro-gamer Sam "Milkfat" Braithwaite finished a 76-hour marathon run of Heroes of Newerth (HoN) – the session-based, multiplayer, action-RPG title, developed by S2 Games – breaking the former World Record of 52 hours for Longest Strategy Game Marathon. The World Record breaking attempt lasted 4 days from January 26-29th at Howie's Game Shack in Mission Viejo, CA. S2 Games’ Marketing Team was on location to sponsor and support Sam throughout the entire event. GUNNAR Optiks was also in attendance supporting Sam and ensuring his eyes were well protected for the long haul. "I've been training for this for months," said an exhausted Sam after breaking the record without sleep for the first 52 hours, "Even at the hardest times, I felt like I had to keep going for the charity and accomplish what I had set out to do." Sam's goal for the event, in addition to setting a World Record, was to promote Doctors Without Borders (http://www.doctorswithoutborders.org), a medical humanitarian organization providing independent, impartial aid in more than 60 countries to people whose survival is threatened by violence, neglect, or catastrophe. Sam helped raise over $3,700 in donations during the event, which will be matched by S2 Games.  Sam will also donate all ad revenue generated from his twitch.tv stream during the event to the charity. The World Record attempt was streamed in its entirety through Sam's personal www.twitch.tv/milkfat stream, which garnered over 1.5 million views over the weekend.  Footage of the event is currently being processed into DVD format for submission to Guinness, who will validate the world record run.  The validation efforts will not only verify time spent playing, but will also maintain that a conditional rule set designed specifically for a World Record marathon of HoN, was followed at all times. "Sam's commitment to his World Record goal has been extremely inspirational," said Laura Baker, Director of Marketing at S2 Games.  "When Sam approached us with this idea and told us about the Doctors Without Boarders charity, we immediately knew we wanted to support his efforts. It's amazing to have devoted community members such as Sam."

Lime Odyssey reveals the Muris Posted: 03 Feb 2012 02:22 PM PST Aeria Games has revealed more about the Muris, one of the three playable races in Lime Odyssey. This includes new screenshots and the race’s opening cinematic. The Muris are described as “fun-loving, mischievous, and spread trouble wherever they go.” Located in Pripet, a town in the Shimmering Island of East Orta, the Muris will encounter areas including Star Bridge, Thistlebury Tea Garden, and more. Muris will have all battle classes available to them: Warrior, Thief, Mage, and Cleric. Each race in Lime Odyssey has its own unique starting location. Aeria Games also publishes Dream of Mirror Online and Eden Eternal. Lime Odyssey Muris Race Screenshots: Source: Aeria Games Spotlights the Muris Race for Lime Odyssey: The Chronicles of Orta New Cinematic Featuring the Muris Race Has Been Revealed for Highly Anticipated Free-to-Play 3D MMORPG SANTA CLARA, Calif. – Feb. 3, 2012 – Aeria Games, a leading global publisher of free-to-play online games, today revealed the opening cinematic for the Muris race, one of the three playable races in Lime Odyssey: The Chronicles of Orta, its highly-anticipated 3D massively multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG). Lime Odyssey is currently in production and will be published in North America by Aeria Games in 2012. As the cinematic demonstrates, the Muris in Lime Odyssey are fun-loving, mischievous, and spread trouble wherever they go. However, they are good-natured about their tricks and are so charismatic that they prove difficult to dislike. The Muris are centralized around the town of Pripet in the Shimmering Island of East Orta from which they begin their journey. From a Star Bridge and Thistlebury Tea Garden to windmills and forests, this floating world features many surprises. These curious tricksters have all current Lime Odyssey battle classes available to them: Warrior – Warriors are tanks, but also fairly balanced between defense and offense. Warriors are the masters of straightforward battle. Thief – Masters of shadows, misdirection, and speed, Thieves are powerful characters when properly implemented. Mage – Standing in both darkness and light, the great mages of the land wield the elements and the power of necrosis. Cleric – Useful in battle in more ways than just support, Clerics provide powerful ranged support in addition to their strong healing abilities. The vast continent of Orta is home to a diverse collection of races and tribes. Players can choose from a variety of customization options to design their ideal character – create a bold young Human thief, a battle-hardened Turga, or a diminutive Muris- the choice is theirs! Each race begins their quest in a unique starting location. Lime Odyssey: The Chronicles of Orta will be free to download and free to play. Interested players can learn more about Lime Odyssey and sign up to participate in the upcoming closed beta test at: http://limeodyssey.aeriagames.com.

Super Monday Night Combat Gameplay – First Look HD Posted: 03 Feb 2012 02:18 PM PST To Learn More About the Game, Check out our Super Monday Night Combat Page. Super Monday Night Combat is a Third Person Action MOBA published by Uber Entertainment. SMNC has a similar playstyle to League of Legends with the camera and combat style of LOCO. However instead of spells players use guns and futuristic abilities to push waves of robots towards the enemies money ball (base). The game features a high level of customization allowing a player to customize each game character individually to support their playstyle. In the video above I play the character Karl. To learn more about Super Monday Night Combat check out the official MMOHut Super Monday Night Combat page which includes a detailed review, tons of screenshots, and additional videos.

Super Monday Night Combat Posted: 03 Feb 2012 01:53 PM PST Super Monday Night Combat is a new, free-to-play version of the original Monday Night Combat emphasizing strategy. With upgrades across the board, players can expect intense, third-person combat with unique game modes. Publisher: Uber Entertainment Playerbase: ?? Graphics: High Type: MMO – Third Person Shooter EXP Rate: ?? PvP: Multiple game modes Filesize: ?? Pros: +Players can upgrade and customize their characters. +Lethality reduces from the original MNC. +Diverse game modes. Cons: -No more one-hit-kills. -Weapon upgrades are cosmetic. -Gameplay rules are significantly different from the original MNC. Overview Super Monday Night Combat Overview Get ready to earn your sponsorship, gunners – choose a Pro and get to work in the relentless arenas of Super Monday Night Combat! Carrying on the tradition from the original Monday Night Combat, Super MNC upgrades the game from the user interface and graphics to weapons, skill balance, pro choice, map selection, and game modes. Players select a character (known as a “Pro”) from one of six classes: Assault, Tank, Support, Assassin, Gunner, and Sniper. Each class comes with its own unique skill set, and Pros in Super Monday Night Combat can also upgrade their skills, level up, and work toward earning endorsements and more in the metagame. Super Monday Night Combat Screenshots Super Monday Night Combat Featured Video Click here to view the embedded video. Full Review Super Monday Night Combat Full Review Coming Soon… Screenshots Super Monday Night Combat Screenshots Coming Soon… Videos Super Monday Night Combat Videos Super Monday Night Combat PAX Announcement Click here to view the embedded video. Links Super Monday Night Combat Links Official Game Page System Requirements Super Monday Night Combat System Requirements (estimates based on Monday Night Combat) Minimum Requirements: OS: XP(SP3)/Vista/Windows 7 CPU: 2 GHz Processor RAM:  1GB of RAM HDD: 2 GB Free Graphics Card: DirectX 9.0c/Shader3.0 compatible, VRAM 512 MB (NVIDIA GeForce 7800 series or ATI Radeon X1900

Brick-Force closed beta announced Posted: 03 Feb 2012 01:10 PM PST A  new game publisher and developer, Infernum, has announced the closed beta for its first online offering: Brick-Force. Brick Force calls itself a “sandbox shooter,” and will be available for the browser, iOS, and Android. Players can build maps and even worlds with bricks, creating their own comical world. These same environments can then be used in matches against computer or player opponents. This means that players will be able to build their own arenas for shooter-style combat. Brick Force will begin its closed beta on February 28, with open beta and release coming later this spring. Players can register for the closed beta at the game’s website, brick-force.com. Players who participate will get an exclusive in-game helmet for open beta. Brick-Force Gameplay Screenshot Source: Brick-Force Closed Beta Will Begin This Month Start date for the sandbox shooter is announced BERLIN, Germany – February 2nd, 2012 – The Berlin based publisher and developer Infernum announced today the start date of the closed beta for its sandbox shooter, Brick-Force. Selected players will be able to experience the sandbox shooter starting February 28th. The open beta and official release of the online game will follow in the spring. Fans that wish to participate in the closed beta can register on the official website www.brick-force.com. But there is another brick in the wall: All players who register for the beta will be rewarded with an exclusive in-game helmet, once the open beta is underway. Blasting through Brick-Force‘s shooter mode, beta participants will be equipped perfectly for the cross-platform online game. Those who prefer building instead of blasting still have much to look forward to with the satisfying sandbox mode. This creative mode will be playable not only in the browser but also on iOS and Android. Brick by brick, players will have the freedom to create the worlds and maps that they’ve always dreamed of, limited only by their imagination. Brick-Force – Build, Share, Play This sandbox shooter allows players to create worlds and maps that they’ve always dreamed of, brick by brick. They can also share these virtual playgrounds with the community and use them as the backdrop for fast paced shooter hunts against fellow players or computerized opponents. This comic style online game is built on the ‘Unity 3D’ engine and will be playable directly in a web browser. The ‘sandbox’ mode, in which players use simple building blocks to construct complex environments, can be played on social networks and mobile devices such as smartphones and tablets. Brick-Force is being developed by Korean game developer EXE Games as a co-production with Infernum. Beta and launch of the free-to-play title in Europe and North America are planned for spring 2012. www.brick-force.com

Carte reveals new card art Posted: 03 Feb 2012 12:29 PM PST GamesCampus has released new screenshots of some of Carte’s card art, along with descriptions of each nation. Carte will feature a 65-card deck system, featuring one hero and an assortment of attack, defense, and utility cards. The game divides players into five nations, which have been given further descriptions today, as follows: * The Sacred Empire of Saike is led by its priesthood and defended by angels. In the last war, Saike was ravaged by the army of Kaideron, the Kingdom of Darkness. While Saike’s populace continues to suffer in the aftermath, the angel Irene Belle has declared a holy crusade against Kaideron. As the knights and angels of Saike march forth, the entire continent is once again plunged into conflict. * The kingdom of Kaideron exists for the glory of its master, Belial. Belial has ruled the Kingdom of Darkness with a cruel and unforgiving hand since the ancient days when gods still walked amongst men. Even with the armies of Saike on his doorstep, Belial shows no weakness and merely waits patiently for the next of his innumerable plots to come to fruition. * The nation of Archan has traditionally been devoted to the pursuit of knowledge, but newly appointed general Pietro Frigo has greater ambitions. He has spread a web of secret alliances throughout the continent, and this war is the fulcrum upon which his destiny turns. * The forest union of Sierrion proclaims neutrality in the current war. Their leader, Serya Tasdelen, shows public support to neither side, but there are whispers of an army gathering in the depths of the forest and secret meetings between her and the mages of Archan. * The empire of Aspire, home of the finest warriors and strongest steel in all of Arcadia, seeks conquest. Emperor Torsten II sees the war as an opportunity to strike when the other nations are weak and expand his empire’s grasp. But there are those within the empire who have a different vision for Aspire, one that does not include Torsten II. GamesCampus also publishes Shot Online and Asda 2. Carte: Card Art: Source: GAMESCAMPUS’ CARTE HAS A REAL STORY IN THE CARDS Sunnyvale, Calif. (February 3, 2012) – Armies, Heroes, Weapons, and Stories are all awaiting you in a deck of 65 beautiful cards! Leading online game publisher GamesCampus.com (www.GamesCampus.com) tipped their hand with new assets for their first global online trading card game, Carte, due to go into closed beta later this month. Players in Carte can build the deck they want to build, all wrapped in a story dripping with rich lore full of drama, betrayal, and valor. Pre-registration is now open and card gamers can dash over to http://carte.gamescampus.com and become among the first to experience all of the card-slinging action when Carte enters beta in February 2012. Carte takes place on the continent of Arcadia, a land the gods have abandoned, where five nations battle for supremacy. Players joining Carte will be gifted a starter deck for each nation, so they can explore both the deck building possibilities and the underlying story expressed through the cards. Each nation in Arcadia has its own heroes, villains, and plots to be unveiled as the game progresses. The Sacred Empire of Saike is led by its priesthood and defended by angels. In the last war, Saike was ravaged by the army of Kaideron, the Kingdom of Darkness. While Saike’s populace continues to suffer in the aftermath, the angel Irene Belle has declared a holy crusade against Kaideron. As the knights and angels of Saike march forth, the entire continent is once again plunged into conflict. The kingdom of Kaideron exists for the glory of its master, Belial. Belial has ruled the Kingdom of Darkness with a cruel and unforgiving hand since the ancient days when gods still walked amongst men. Even with the armies of Saike on his doorstep, Belial shows no weakness and merely waits patiently for the next of his innumerable plots to come to fruition. The nation of Archan has traditionally been devoted to the pursuit of knowledge, but newly appointed general Pietro Frigo has greater ambitions. He has spread a web of secret alliances throughout the continent, and this war is the fulcrum upon which his destiny turns. The forest union of Sierrion proclaims neutrality in the current war. Their leader, Serya Tasdelen, shows public support to neither side, but there are whispers of an army gathering in the depths of the forest and secret meetings between her and the mages of Archan. The empire of Aspire, home of the finest warriors and strongest steel in all of Arcadia, seeks conquest. Emperor Torsten II sees the war as an opportunity to strike when the other nations are weak and expand his empire’s grasp. But there are those within the empire who have a different vision for Aspire, one that does not include Torsten II. Carte is a fast paced global online trading card game. Choose a Hero, build a deck and launch into exciting battles with fierce weapons and allies from the deep storyline. Create and master endless strategies with an arsenal of spells and creatures to conquer your opponents. The continent of Arcadia is entering the greatest conflict it has ever seen, and the battles will play out on the card table of Carte. For more information about GamesCampus.com or Carte, please visit carte.gamescampus.com

Perfect World International: Descent unveiled Posted: 03 Feb 2012 11:43 AM PST Perfect World Entertainment has released information for its next expansion for Perfect World International – Descent. Descent will launch on February 15. The content is geared for high level players, and introduces a new zone, Morai, for players above level 95. The new area includes new quest hubs and two new dungeons. New tier sets will be available for players through both the main storyline, reputation, and more. There are three factions in the region (Order of Corona, Order of the Shroud, and Order of Luminance) that players can ally with. All classes will receive new skills that are promised to be “game changing,” such as Archers being able to cloak, as well as a skill rebalancing. All territory maps will also be reset on February 14 to prepare for the new game systems. From then on out, territory maps will be reset every six months, with a prize for the faction that wins at the end. Perfect World Entertainment also publishes Jade Dynasty and Forsaken World. Perfect World International: Descent Source: Perfect World Entertainment is happy to announce its latest Perfect World International expansion — PWI: Descent! Launching on February 15th, Descent will bring a host of new features and content to the beautiful and robust game that started it all. Head over to the Teaser Site to watch the video, view screenshots, and sign up for the special launch gift! Descent’s Storyline Long ago, evil specters roamed about the universe aimlessly. Perfect World's creator, Pan Gu, having mercy on them, created a world just for them – the distant realm of Morai. The sole gateway to Perfect World from Morai was placed in Elysium Village, and a protective enchantment ensured that creatures remained in their respective worlds. Until now. Elysium Village lies in ruins, the protective enchantment destroyed, its inhabitants' lifeless corpses scattered on its stone paths. Someone is organizing the evil specters of Morai, amassing a terrifying army in preparation for a full-scale assault on the cities of Perfect World. The leaders of the allied races have conferred, and a preliminary expedition mission into Morai has been planned. It now falls on the shoulders of Perfect World's mightiest heroes to enter the portal into hostile territory… Main Features Much of PWI:Descent’s new content is geared toward higher level players, so if you’re looking for a new angle in high-end PvP or a new path to 105, you’ll be very pleased with what you see come launch day. Beautiful New Zone The land of Morai, accessible to players level 95 and above, can only be reached via an NPC in Elysium Village, and then afterwards via a special Teleporter NPC in each of the main racial cities. Morai is a vast land with a dynamic landscape, many new quest hubs, dozens of new quests, and two new dungeons. Upon arrival, you will be tasked with finding out who destroyed Elysium Village, as well as the evil force behind the sudden organization of Wraiths in Morai. Powerful Brand New Gear PWI: Descent will bring the addition of several brand new high-level gear sets of varying quality. While the lowest tier sets will be attainable simply through the main story-line, the more powerful sets will require a bit more skill and persistence, as well as a good relationship with the Order that you choose. Join an Order As you begin questing in Morai, you’ll happen upon three Orders vying for control of the region – the wise Order of Corona, the scheming Order of the Shroud, and the mercurial Order of Luminance. Upon choosing an Order to enlist in, you’ll gain access to a number of distinct perks, from powerful gear to unique high-level skills, to special vanity pets. New Class Skills and Existing Skill Balancing Easily one of the most exciting aspects of the Descent expansion is the fact that all ten character classes will be receiving brand new skills. These aren’t your run of the mill new skills either — we’re not talking about a second heal or another DoT, we’re talking about real game-changers; things like Archers gaining the ability to cloak and Clerics gaining the ability to lay waste. In addition to these brand new skills, there will also be balance changes to currently existing skills. Tactics and strategies will no doubt be changing when Descent hits, and players will have to adapt or be destroyed. Territory Map Reset And finally, get ready, because we will be resetting the territory maps on all US and EU servers on February 14th during that night’s maintenance! For each server, one champion will be declared — the faction holding the most territories come Monday the 13th. From here on out, we would like to make Territory Map resets a regular, more frequent occurrence because it promotes competition, reduces the opportunity for a long-standing server monopoly, and creates a more dynamic TW landscape. So from now on, Territory Wars will be broken up into 6 month-long seasons. And what of the champion? The faction crowned at the end of each season will receive a special prize which will likely change from season to season. In the event of a tie, the champion will be determined by 3v3 armed combat between the factions’ most powerful warriors. We’ll also be working on a way for champions and past champions to be displayed proudly on the PWI website. Now, for this reset, although technically there was no “season”, we would still like to reward the dominant faction on each server. So to this end, after this reset occurs on the 14th, we will be sending each server champion: 10x Shadow Fox 20x Scarlet Fox So as you can probably tell, we’re extremely excited to be bringing this expansion to you — we feel that it’s truly some of our best work yet, and we can’t wait to see you all in Morai on February 15th. See you there! -The PWI Team

Official Lime Odyssey Opening Muris Cinematic Posted: 03 Feb 2012 11:29 AM PST To Learn More About the Game, Check out our Lime Odyssey Page. Lime Odyssey is a 3D Fantasy MMORPG published by Aeria Games. Said to be the spiritual successor to Ragnarok, Lime Odyssey and features 3 races and 4 base classes to choose from. Lime also has a unqiue crafting system with specific crafting outfits and gear. This trailer highlights the starting area and backstory of the Muris race. Lime Odyssey is set to come out later in 2012. To learn more about Lime Odyssey check out the official MMOHut Lime Odyssey page which includes a detailed review, tons of screenshots, and additional videos.

C9 Continent of the Ninth – First Look HD Posted: 03 Feb 2012 10:25 AM PST To Learn More About the Game, Check out our C9 Page. C9 Continent of the Ninth is a fantasy MMORPG published by Webzen. In C9 players can fight hordes of monsters in dungeons using action combat moves and combos similar to that of action console games. There is no auto attack or lock on aim in C9 every attack must be executed and aimed manually. Players can play up to three classes each with a unique fighting style and abilities.

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