MMORPG News

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• Rise of Immortals: New Immortal & Winter EU Tournament Details
• SteelWar Online: Open Beta Coming February 19th
• Dominus: A Note to the Vocal Minority
• Forsaken World: Nightfall Expansion Announced
• Final Fantasy XIV: World Transfer System Finalized
• Lineage 2: Localized German Release This Spring
• Star Wars: The Old Republic: Drew Karpyshyn Leaving Industry
• League of Legends: RTSGuru | Live Stream Tonight
• TERA: Hi-Res Textures Incoming
• Lime Odyssey: Turga Trailer Shows Opening Cinematic
• Rift: 21,879 Couples Set New World Record
• Requiem: Bloodymare: Korean and North American Servers Merging
• Wakfu: PvP Detailed in New Dev Diary
• Fantage: Celebrate Mardi Gras In Game
• TERA: First Beta Weekend Upcoming (EU)
• Little Space Heroes: Big Updates, Wall Graphics & Mobile Plans OH MY!
• Jagged Alliance Online: Open Beta Arrives
• Continent of the Ninth Seal: PvP Trailer & New VIPs
• Guild Wars 2: World vs. World – A Dream Come True?

Rise of Immortals: New Immortal & Winter EU Tournament Details Posted: 17 Feb 2012 05:29 AM PST Petroglyph Games devs have announced the arrival of Kaos, a new playable character for Rise of Immortals. Kaos, as the name implies, rains damage on opponents from afar. In addition, the team announced that sign ups for the EU Winter Tournament have commenced.

SteelWar Online: Open Beta Coming February 19th Posted: 17 Feb 2012 05:25 AM PST SteelWar Online will hit its open beta phase of development on February 19th according to an announcement by developer, PopPace. Folks interested in participating in the open beta can find out more information on the SteelWar Online Facebook page.

Dominus: A Note to the Vocal Minority Posted: 16 Feb 2012 09:16 AM PST We all know who they are...heck, some of us might -be- these guys. You know the ones we mean: The passionate followers of any game. In today's Developer Perspectives, we take a look at the 'vocal minority'. See what you think and then weigh in with your ideas in the comments.

Forsaken World: Nightfall Expansion Announced Posted: 17 Feb 2012 05:15 AM PST Perfect World Entertainment has announced a new expansion for Forsaken World called Nightfall. The new content will feature a flying system, "an emerging fortress in the sky" and an overhauled territory war system. The team has released a trailer to announce Nightfall. Enjoy!

Final Fantasy XIV: World Transfer System Finalized Posted: 17 Feb 2012 04:58 AM PST The Final Fantasy XIV team has announced the final details for the 'world merger' that is expected to take place on March 27th. According to the team, merging worlds will improve player experiences prior to the release of FFXIV 2.0.

Lineage 2: Localized German Release This Spring Posted: 17 Feb 2012 04:52 AM PST Lineage II EU publisher, Innova, has announced that a localized German version of the game is set to be released this spring. Innova is ensuring a quality product with the use of native language speakers for localization and player support.

Star Wars: The Old Republic: Drew Karpyshyn Leaving Industry Posted: 17 Feb 2012 04:42 AM PST Bioware writer Drew Karpyshyn is leaving Bioware and the games industry in order to focus on his writing exclusively. Karpyshyn has worked with Bioware for the past twelve years writing for both Star Wars: The Old Republic and the Mass Effect series.

League of Legends: RTSGuru | Live Stream Tonight Posted: 16 Feb 2012 11:53 AM PST Join the RTSGuru.com staff tonight for an all-new evening of streaming as Paragus will be livestreaming League of Legends tonight at 7:30PM EST/ 4:30pm PST. You can catch all the action on the RTSGuru.com Live Stream Page. Join in to participate in the chat and tell the RTSG team what you want to see from future streams.

TERA: Hi-Res Textures Incoming Posted: 16 Feb 2012 11:25 AM PST The En Masse forum has been updated with patch notes for TERA that will include hi-resolution textures for the game. Players for future weekend events can update their TERA client with the latest patch.

Lime Odyssey: Turga Trailer Shows Opening Cinematic Posted: 16 Feb 2012 11:19 AM PST Aeria Games has released a new trailer showing off the Turga race, one of three races that will be included in Lime Odyssey. Enjoy!

Rift: 21,879 Couples Set New World Record Posted: 16 Feb 2012 11:15 AM PST On Valentine's Day, nearly 22,000 couples took the virtual marriage plunge in Rift. That's almost 44,000 players! As a result, Rift takes its place in the Guinness Book of World Records for the most in-game marriages in a 24-hour period.

Requiem: Bloodymare: Korean and North American Servers Merging Posted: 16 Feb 2012 09:06 AM PST WarpPortal has announced that Korean and North American Requiem servers will be merging on March 7th. All players will benefit from several events that will start once the merger is complete.

Wakfu: PvP Detailed in New Dev Diary Posted: 16 Feb 2012 09:01 AM PST Ankama Games and Square Enix have sent out a new trailer featuring a look at how PvP will work in Wakfu. It's a terrific peek behind the scenes so check it out!

Fantage: Celebrate Mardi Gras In Game Posted: 16 Feb 2012 08:57 AM PST Fantage players had a great week last week with the Valentine's Day festivities and have another great week coming with the Mardi Gras celebration. Starting February 22nd and continuing for five days, players will have several in-game events to check out.

TERA: First Beta Weekend Upcoming (EU) Posted: 16 Feb 2012 08:52 AM PST Frogster has announced that TERA will kick off its first beta weekend for European players. From February 17th to the 19th, up to a thousand winners of beta keys and all pre-order customers will be able to take the game out for a spin.

Little Space Heroes: Big Updates, Wall Graphics & Mobile Plans OH MY! Posted: 16 Feb 2012 08:38 AM PST Bubble Gum Interactive has sent some big news our way. The team has implemented several big changes in Little Space Heroes including new zones to discover on both Jungle Planet and Crystal Planet. Players also can check out new members only rooms, new minigames and new pets and pet feeding.

Jagged Alliance Online: Open Beta Arrives Posted: 16 Feb 2012 08:28 AM PST Interested players will want to jet over to the Jagged Alliance Online site to sign up for beta testing now that the open beta phase has officially kicked off.

Continent of the Ninth Seal: PvP Trailer & New VIPs Posted: 16 Feb 2012 08:25 AM PST Webzen has sent out information about the PvP systems that will be put into place in Continent of the Ninth Seal (C9). In addition, devs will be adding up to 2000 more players into the ongoing closed beta test.

Guild Wars 2: World vs. World – A Dream Come True? Posted: 16 Feb 2012 07:08 AM PST The MMO world has been rocked with Arena.Net's latest blog post detailing the Guild Wars 2 World vs. World mechanic. We've got some thoughts to share about this epic system and what it means to the game and to the genre as a whole. Read on and then offer your thoughts!

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General gaming

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• Is Sleeping Dogs a More Relevant Sandbox Crime Game Than GTAV?
• Watch Us Wrap Up A Link to the Past on the Retronauts Lunch Break Finale
• Why We Love Video Games: The Movie
• Twisted Metal Review: Buy it For Nostalgia, But Keep it For Multiplayer
• Three Reasons Zenimax Would Cancel Prey 2 GDC Talks
• Sony Denies Vita Losing Support Among Japanese Developers
• Check Out What PSP Games Look Like on Vita
• Act of Valor Prize Pack Giveaway
• Ninja Gaiden Sigma Plus Review: Another Excuse to Revisit a Great Action Game
• With Dragon's Dogma, Capcom's Big Gamble Just Might Pay Off

Is Sleeping Dogs a More Relevant Sandbox Crime Game Than GTAV? Posted: 17 Feb 2012 01:00 AM PST After viewing (and briefly playing) a recent demo of Square Enix's Sleeping Dogs, I found myself less taken by the history of the game -- it was known as True Crime: Hong Kong until a few weeks ago -- and its design than I was by its setting. The game itself looks good, but it's nothing extraordinary: An iterative addition to the ever-expanding open-world action genre. It simply adds a few refinements (along with an absolutely excessive patina of violence) to the formula established a decade ago by Grand Theft Auto III without adding any particularly bold innovations. Yet as gamers and the industry alike brace for the fifth chapter of the Grand Theft Auto series to arrive later this year, I find what I've seen of Sleeping Dogs to be far more forward-thinking than what little Rockstar has shown of GTAV. Of course, from a play mechanics perspective, who can really say? We've seen nothing of how GTAV plays. And our demo of Sleeping Dogs consisted of a 45-minute patchwork of game -- random sequences strung together in rapid succession. One moment the hero was hanging out with a rangy childhood friend in the back room of a restaurant owned by that friend's mother; the next, he was vowing revenge for that friend's death to that same mother, now grieving. While we caught a few glimpses of Dogs' dense free-roaming world, they were largely limited to the handful of moments when the demo guide stopped to rotate the camera and take in a scene. Certainly we didn't take much away from the playable portion, which offered nothing more than a brief car race and a sequence involving an on-foot chase. The chase and the subsequent brawl had already been shown off in the demo session, and straying too far from the mission goals in the playable portion to explore the streets resulted in instant mission failure. Dogs' may be an open world, but we were offered only the briefest guided tour.

Watch Us Wrap Up A Link to the Past on the Retronauts Lunch Break Finale Posted: 16 Feb 2012 05:23 PM PST Retronauts Lunch Break: an ambitious project, but sadly, not popular enough to continue in its current state. Over the past six weeks you've laughed, learned, lived, and loved with our humble little livestream, so there's no way we could snuff out this video series without any fanfare. To thank all of you devoted viewers who've been watching since the early days of January, we're going to take on the rest of The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past in one go. How long will we stream our efforts? AS LONG AS IT TAKES. Join us this Wednesday, February 22 at 10:00am PST at The Retronauts Lunch Break page for our final stab at A Link to the Past. We'll be cycling through editors from both 1UP and IGN in our final efforts to storm the dark world's dungeons and restore peace to Hyrule. And if you need to catch up with our backlog of Zelda videos, steer yourself to this page and scroll down to the archives. Patience will be tested, skills will be displayed, and you will be entertained. See you then!

Why We Love Video Games: The Movie Posted: 16 Feb 2012 05:10 PM PST For Valentine's Day we examined 35 reasons why we love games, but we're not done expressing our affection yet. Prose alone couldn't handle out boundless adoration; we had to make a video. Watch as we discuss our personal favorite reason to love.

Twisted Metal Review: Buy it For Nostalgia, But Keep it For Multiplayer Posted: 16 Feb 2012 05:00 PM PST Twisted Metal: Black was the reason I bought a PlayStation 2. As a huge fan of the PS1 installments, the prospect of playing my favorite vehicular mayhem simulator on brand new hardware was one that I just couldn't pass up. So, for the first six months I owned the console, Twisted Metal: Black was pretty much the only disc spinning in the tray. By myself or with a group of friends, Twisted Metal was my drug of choice for the latter half of 2001. Needless to say, I was a fan. Cut to over 10 years later, and the series has now made its way onto the PS3. Would my addiction return -- transforming me into a Sweet Tooth junkie once again? When I got my hands on the new Twisted Metal for the first time, I felt at home. The controls were exactly as I remembered them. In no time at all, I was zipping around the battlefield, making 180 degree turns, and blasting my opponents with Homing Missiles. My first arena battle was as frantic and fun as the Twisted Metal that I remembered and loved so dearly. Controlling Sweet Tooth in his ice cream truck of destruction remains one of my defining memories of any Sony console, and it looked as if it were happening all over again. When the round ended, I collected my thoughts; if I were going to review this game honestly, I'd have to overcome my addiction and look at the final product through a critical lens. With this realization, I took a deep breath and began my descent into the single player campaign mode.

Three Reasons Zenimax Would Cancel Prey 2 GDC Talks Posted: 16 Feb 2012 01:24 PM PST Responding via Twitter to a question from another developer, Prey 2 lead graphics programmer revealed that publisher Zenimax forced developer Human Head to cancel all talks relating to the game at this year's Game Developers Conference. "Yes, Zenimax forced us to pull all Prey2 related talks from GDC. I'm pretty devastated by the news. This was to be my first conf talk." He explained over a series of tweets. "We are trying our hardest to get the decision reversed but for now all 3 are canceled." The tweets caught the eye of fans who pressed for more information, "Thanks all for the kind words. Needless to say this not a good day for me." explained Karis before stating that he couldn't answer many of questions coming from inquisitive followers. Anyone who has ever invested themselves in a project can empathize with Karis. GDC presents a unique opportunity to really show off everything a developer or team accomplished over the year. As rewarding as giving a demo to fans or press can be, only the audience at GDC can truly grasp many of the complex technical accomplishments found in games and the effort that went into them.

Sony Denies Vita Losing Support Among Japanese Developers Posted: 16 Feb 2012 12:44 PM PST A worrying quote emerged in Japanese publication Nikkei this week suggesting developers in Japan were dropping plans for Vita development in favor of 3DS. With Vita already in the hands of many gamers thanks to the First Edition bundle and others preparing to pick up the system at its proper launch next week, this isn't the sort of news you like to hear just before or after spending $250 or more on an unproven piece of hardware. Sony is, as expected, trying to downplay the report and as it was only a single anonymous quote, there's no reason to become overly concerned just yet. "Major Japanese companies are canceling all projects intended for the Vita and are changing development to the 3DS," the anonymous source said, per a translation by Gamasutra. There isn't much ambiguity in the statement, which is said to be from a member of the Japanese development community. The article itself was authored by Kiyoshi Shin, the former head of the International Game Developers Association's Japan branch.

Check Out What PSP Games Look Like on Vita Posted: 16 Feb 2012 11:24 AM PST If you're buying a PlayStation Vita, backwards compatibility support gives you an alternative avenue to enjoy a catalog of great games. But how well does Vita handle emulating PSP games, and what can the OLED do to help? Jeremy and I decided to put Vita's emulation prowess to the test and do a side-by-side comparison. The system on top is a PSP 2000 (sorry, our 3000 was in the shop at the time), and the one below it needs little introduction at this point. Both are running the game off of internal storage. Check out the video above to see the results and feel free to ask questions or comment below.

Act of Valor Prize Pack Giveaway Posted: 16 Feb 2012 10:41 AM PST Everyone loves movies and free stuff. 1UP has partnered up with Relativity Media for the release of the upcoming Navy SEAL thriller, Act of Valor. Relativity Media has provided us with an impressive prize pack including: Official Act of Valor book, t-shirt, backpack, and water bottle Xbox 360 Console Battlefield 3 Game for Xbox 360

Ninja Gaiden Sigma Plus Review: Another Excuse to Revisit a Great Action Game Posted: 16 Feb 2012 10:00 AM PST I didn't realized it until recently, but we've played an awful lot of Ninja Gaiden in the last eight years. In 2004, the Xbox debut delivered a fast and fluid action game that showcased lighting quick gameplay and surprising amounts of combat depth. Then, a reworked compilation that repackaged the original into Ninja Gaiden: Black quickly followed in 2005 -- adding bigger monsters, new weapons and modes, and improved camera controls. And in 2007, an HD port called Ninja Gaiden Sigma graced the PS3, adding high-resolution graphics and other extras to the dizzying ballet of deadly bladed weapons on display. Ninja Gaiden Sigma Plus is the fourth release of developer Team Ninja's landmark title -- only now in a portable form -- and adds small improvements next to some funky touch functions. If you're a fan of action games that hasn't played Ninja Gaiden by now, shame on you. While the Xbox debut transformed the narrative-centric NES series into a fast and furious action game, the sublime combat gave players the ability to move swiftly and offered multiple options for besting the hordes of the Vigoor Empire -- a fictional nation and home to the mystical tyrants of Ninja Gaiden's world. It's true the action focus took center stage while Team Ninja's incomprehensible storytelling came in a distant second, but the nuanced combat mechanics more than made up for it -- providing a bevy of weapons and combos to eradicate any threat.

With Dragon's Dogma, Capcom's Big Gamble Just Might Pay Off Posted: 16 Feb 2012 08:00 AM PST Before playing the first few hours of Dragon's Dogma a few days ago, I didn't really know much about the game. In fact, my awareness of Capcom's upcoming RPG basically boiled down to a vague awareness that it's supposedly the most expensive product the company has ever produced, and the fact that the nickname for the game around the office is the rather pejorative "Monster Hunter for white people." Having spent a little hands-on time with the game, I can't speak to the former -- honestly, it's a little rough around the edges for what's supposed to be a big-budget Capcom project -- but I can definitely see where the latter comes from. Yet where others have expressed scorn about the Dogma's seeming intent to create a Monster Hunter-sized success in the West, I don't see it as a bad thing. On the contrary, Dogma has potential to be a real hit. Granted, there's no such thing as a sure-fire formula for success, especially with a new game that has no ties to existing series or properties, but the game has a lot of things going for it here.

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