MMO Updates

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• World of Warplanes is adding dragons for that extra kick of historical accuracy
• The Firing Line: DUST 514 newsplosion edition
• The Soapbox: Mechanical buildup
• Perfect World demoing Neverwinter and RaiderZ at PAX East
• The Daily Grind: What MMO would you bring to the proverbial desert island?
• EVE Online declares war (more efficiently)
• The MMO Report: Horsesteak edition
• World of Tanks' patch 7.2 locks and loads tomorrow
• DC Universe Online makes Legendary members even more legendary
• Spirit Tales introduces the Lunar Fox and Maned Dragon tribes
• RIFT developers answer a new round of community questions
• Ask Massively: A confluence of awesome edition
• NCsoft explains NA and EU Collector's Edition price difference [Updated]
• EverQuest Online Adventures slays its final dragon
• WAR40K devs laid off, game will no longer be an MMO
• The Guild Counsel: Time for a mutiny!
• The Summoner's Guidebook: I hate Jack-in-the-boxes
• Zandagort indie MMORTS features 'finite servers'

World of Warplanes is adding dragons for that extra kick of historical accuracy Posted: 30 Mar 2012 10:00 AM PDT Filed under: Historical, Video, New titles, Humor, World of Warplanes In a press release from early this morning, Wargaming.net has announced that they're adding dragons to their upcoming World of Warplanes. I'll just let that line sink in a bit before I continue. Yes, they're adding dragons; there's a video and everything (included past the cut). According to the release, "The initial tech tree will include 12 dragons and will eventually expand to more than 60 creatures. Each mystical animal will have its own peculiarities and strategic employment. Players can upgrade several key characteristics including fire intensity level, color, number of claws, horns, wingspan and skin thickness." Now, I should remind you what this Sunday is, so you can put two and two together, but it's an interesting thought nonetheless. Will we see more early April Fool's jokes today? Stay tuned! Gallery: World of Warplanes Dragon Faction Continue reading World of Warplanes is adding dragons for that extra kick of historical accuracy World of Warplanes is adding dragons for that extra kick of historical accuracy originally appeared on Massively on Fri, 30 Mar 2012 12:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink | Email this | Comments

The Firing Line: DUST 514 newsplosion edition Posted: 30 Mar 2012 09:00 AM PDT Filed under: Betas, Sci-fi, Video, EVE Online, Economy, Events, real-world, Game mechanics, MMO industry, New titles, PvP, News items, PvE, Opinion, Free-to-play, DUST 514, Sandbox, The Firing Line Oh man, this back and forth between PlanetSide 2 and DUST 514 is going to be the death of me. I feel like I'm cheating on one game every time I get excited about the other, but I just can't help it since both titles are drawing a bead on my personal sweet spot. This week's Firing Line is all DUST all the time, thanks to the massive info dump at last weekend's Fanfest 2012 event. I didn't get to go to Iceland for the hands-on, unfortunately, but I did log into PlayStation Home for the keynote livestream (which is archived after the cut in case you missed it). And I'll go ahead and beg your forgiveness for my fanboy breathlessness in advance this week. I've been an EVE Online player for a number of years now, so I'm already enamored of both the DUST universe and CCP's propensity for sandbox mechanics. What I didn't know prior to Fanfest, though, was just how deep the rabbit hole's going to go. Continue reading The Firing Line: DUST 514 newsplosion edition The Firing Line: DUST 514 newsplosion edition originally appeared on Massively on Fri, 30 Mar 2012 11:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink | Email this | Comments

The Soapbox: Mechanical buildup Posted: 30 Mar 2012 08:00 AM PDT Filed under: Game mechanics, Opinion, The Soapbox, Miscellaneous Disclaimer: The Soapbox column is entirely the opinion of this week's writer and does not necessarily reflect the views of Massively as a whole. If you're afraid of opinions other than your own, you might want to skip this column. I was in high school when I discovered a love for simplified tabletop games. I'd long been fond of the absurdly detailed and baroque structure that you could find in Advanced Dungeons & Dragons, going so far as to purchase all of the various little add-ons that allowed you to reinvent the game systems in dizzying density. And I can pinpoint the moment when I decided that all of that was for the birds. Specifically, it was the moment when I sat there with Skills & Powers open to one page, the Player's Handbook open to another, and the Complete Psionics Handbook open to yet another. It was when I stared at three separate passages and realized that I was on the second hour of making a character that resembled nothing so much as a math project. On that day, I understood intuitively why designers would look at the whole thing and advocate sweeping the mess away altogether -- just like what many, many MMOs do as they grow long in the tooth. Continue reading The Soapbox: Mechanical buildup The Soapbox: Mechanical buildup originally appeared on Massively on Fri, 30 Mar 2012 10:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink | Email this | Comments Via: Image Source

Perfect World demoing Neverwinter and RaiderZ at PAX East Posted: 30 Mar 2012 07:00 AM PDT Filed under: Betas, Fantasy, Events, real-world, Free-to-play, Massively Event Coverage, Giveaways If you're heading out to PAX East next week and your dance card is getting full, you may want to save a foxtrot or two for Perfect World Entertainment's booth. The company has announced that it will be showcasing two of its upcoming titles to those lucky few who make it out to Boston. At Perfect World's booth (#736), both Neverwinter and RaiderZ will offer demos so that players can see for themselves if these are games worth anticipating. As if the early glimpse wasn't enough, participants can discover special loot while they play that will transform into real-world prizes. Perfect World will also hold raffles for the chance to win gaming equipment. Senior Vice President and General Manager of Game Publishing Yoon Im sees these two games as the most exciting of Perfect World's future lineup: "We are proud to showcase RaiderZ and Neverwinter at PAX East. Our strong partnerships with developers worldwide have allowed us to expand our diverse portfolio of impressive free-to-play games and strengthen our position as a leader in the business of online games. Both RaiderZ and Neverwinter are looking spectacular and we can't wait to show them off." Massively will be on location at PAX East with an in-depth look at these games! [Source: Perfect World Entertainment press release] Perfect World demoing Neverwinter and RaiderZ at PAX East originally appeared on Massively on Fri, 30 Mar 2012 09:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink | Email this | Comments

The Daily Grind: What MMO would you bring to the proverbial desert island? Posted: 30 Mar 2012 06:00 AM PDT Filed under: Opinion, The Daily Grind, Miscellaneous So let's pretend you're stuck on a desert island. You're stocked up on snacks and sunblock. You've got a gaming rig and internet but no conceivable way of contacting anyone to come save you (work with me here). And let's pretend you managed to bring just one single MMO with you to this magical island that lets you play MMOs but not communicate the fact that you're stuck on, you know, a desert island. Would you hedge your bets and go for a sandbox with a boundless amount of content? Would you pick something you've never played to minimize the been-there-done-that factor? Would you pick a classic themepark and set yourself to grinding up a thousand alts? You only get one, so choose carefully: What single MMO would you want handy if you were stranded on a desert island? Every morning, the Massively bloggers probe the minds of their readers with deep, thought-provoking questions about that most serious of topics: massively online gaming. We crave your opinions, so grab your caffeinated beverage of choice and chime in on today's Daily Grind! The Daily Grind: What MMO would you bring to the proverbial desert island? originally appeared on Massively on Fri, 30 Mar 2012 08:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink | Email this | Comments

EVE Online declares war (more efficiently) Posted: 29 Mar 2012 09:00 PM PDT Filed under: Sci-fi, EVE Online, Expansions, Game mechanics, Dev Diaries, Sandbox Team Super Friends is hard at work living up to its name by bringing liberty, justice, and wholesale carnage to the EVE Online community. As the team prepares for May's Inferno expansion, it's tackling a reworking of the War Declaration system. According to a new EVE dev blog, the system wasn't exactly broken, but it was underutilized and wasn't always working as intended. As a result, the team took the system apart, examined it thoroughly, and put it back together with a few improvements aimed at making the act of declaring and waging war between corps clearer and easier to understand. These improvements to War Declaration include modifying how costs are calculated, eliminating automatically retracting wars, and putting a time limit on conflicts. Wars will go on for a week, after which the declarer can choose to pay to prolong it or end it right then and there. An informative War Report will help players understand the forces engaged, losses sustained so far, and the history of a corp's past wars. The blog ends with a FAQ on the changes culled from the recent Fanfest. EVE Online declares war (more efficiently) originally appeared on Massively on Thu, 29 Mar 2012 23:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink | Email this | Comments Source: EVE Dev Blog

The MMO Report: Horsesteak edition Posted: 29 Mar 2012 08:00 PM PDT Filed under: MMO industry, News items, Humor, Miscellaneous In tonight's ultra-short MMO Report, Casey complains that Phantasy Star Online 2 will launch for mobile platforms ahead of PC, drools all over the integration of DUST 514 and EVE Online, maintains a weirdly neutral face while discussing Anarchy Online's graphical overhaul, and regales us with an explanation of The Secret World's class-less game mechanics. He ends on a high note with a peek into Uncle Casey's mailbag and some mockery of World of Warcraft players' forum campaign to undo the latest round of Warlock nerfs. No one's ever done that before. All this and some tips on Icelandic cuisine in the video beyond the cut! Continue reading The MMO Report: Horsesteak edition The MMO Report: Horsesteak edition originally appeared on Massively on Thu, 29 Mar 2012 22:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink | Email this | Comments Source: The MMO Report

World of Tanks' patch 7.2 locks and loads tomorrow Posted: 29 Mar 2012 07:30 PM PDT Filed under: Patches, News items, War, Free-to-play, World of Tanks The World of Tanks is about to get just a bit bigger with the advent of the game's patch 7.2, which will hit the servers tomorrow morning. The update adds two new maps, 22 new crew skills and perks, and a number of new tanks (and some adjustments to existing ones). But hey, why settle for words when you can have sweet, explosion-filled video? Wargaming.net has released a new trailer to get players excited about the new update. So while you (im)patiently await the patch's arrival on the live servers, why don't you grab yourself some popcorn and have a look? [Thanks to Pharaoh for the tip!] Continue reading World of Tanks' patch 7.2 locks and loads tomorrow World of Tanks' patch 7.2 locks and loads tomorrow originally appeared on Massively on Thu, 29 Mar 2012 21:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink | Email this | Comments Source: World of Tanks patch 7.2

DC Universe Online makes Legendary members even more legendary Posted: 29 Mar 2012 07:00 PM PDT Filed under: Super-hero, Business models, News items, Free-to-play, Consoles, DC Universe Online, Promotions Do you want to be a living legend? It certainly beats being a dead legend, since you can enjoy it more. And if you're a Legendary member of DC Universe Online, you already get access to a variety of accompanying benefits. But starting on April 3rd, Legendary members get an even bigger legend with several new benefits aside from free access to all DLC. So what will you get? PC players will receive a monthly stipend of 500 Station Cash, while PS3 players will see a similar influx of 500 Loyalty Points for use in a new in-game store. For both platforms, you'll get the ability to unlock rare lockboxes for free and a full set of Replay Badges every month. Replay Badges allow you to reset all of your instance lockouts, giving you a chance to play back through content more frequently -- and with 150 of them free each month, your exploits as a Legendary member will be the stuff of... well, you can guess. DC Universe Online makes Legendary members even more legendary originally appeared on Massively on Thu, 29 Mar 2012 21:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink | Email this | Comments Source: New Legendary benefits

Spirit Tales introduces the Lunar Fox and Maned Dragon tribes Posted: 29 Mar 2012 06:00 PM PDT Filed under: Fantasy, Classes, News items, Free-to-play, Races If you are allergic to stupefyingly adorable things, you may want to look away now. If you're not, you may be interested in KoramGame's upcoming free-to-play title Spirit Tales. Fans of fluffy wittle animal-people with eyes the size of some small galaxies will find themselves right at home with the two newly announced tribes, the Lunar Fox tribe and the Maned Dragon tribe. Each tribe has its own unique classes available to it; the Maned Dragon tribe sticks to tradition with the mainstays of Warrior (which plays the role of defender) and Archer (which supplies ranged DPS), while the Lunar Fox tribe bring some magic and cunning (and lots of DPS) to the table with the Sorcerer and Assassin classes. The full details on each tribe and its respective classes can be found over at the official Spirit Tales forums. Spirit Tales introduces the Lunar Fox and Maned Dragon tribes originally appeared on Massively on Thu, 29 Mar 2012 20:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink | Email this | Comments Source: Maned Dragon, Lunar Fox

RIFT developers answer a new round of community questions Posted: 29 Mar 2012 05:00 PM PDT Filed under: Fantasy, Patches, News items, RIFT, Community Q&A There are a lot of questions within the RIFT community, questions the development team seeks to answer with a new set of responses to community inquiries. Some of the answers are a bit on the negative side; there are no plans to expand the game's lore into novels, for instance. There are also no plans to add in arena-style combat or the option of visible cloaks, with the developers feeling that the former makes the game seem less massive and the latter has a detrimental impact on game performance. That doesn't mean it's all bad news, however. The developers are looking into more ways to allow cross-faction interaction beyond the mercenary PvP system. There's also some talk about the next big raid and player feedback, which according to the answers is largely positive. There are also plans for more Souls in the future, which should provide RIFT players with even more options to custom-build a character. RIFT developers answer a new round of community questions originally appeared on Massively on Thu, 29 Mar 2012 19:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink | Email this | Comments Source: Community Q&A

Ask Massively: A confluence of awesome edition Posted: 29 Mar 2012 04:00 PM PDT Filed under: Game mechanics, Opinion, Ask Massively, Miscellaneous, Crafting Every so often, awesome things happen. Apparently, for reasons I cannot begin to explain, I can now dress my characters in Final Fantasy XIII-2 in N7 armor from Mass Effect 3. This makes me happy in countless ways. I'd like to have full-on armor customization for the suits, but then, I'd also like the game to be a totally separate storyline as opposed to providing a wholly unnecessary epilogue to Final Fantasy XIII. So I'm focusing on combining an awesome game system with a visual element of an awesome game. This week's Ask Massively has nothing to do with combining one thing with another thing. Or maybe it sort of does, seeing as how it's all about crafting and gathering instead of killing stuff. If you've got a question you'd like to see answered in a future installment, send it to ask@massively.com or leave it in the comments below. Questions may be edited slightly for clarity and/or brevity. Continue reading Ask Massively: A confluence of awesome edition Ask Massively: A confluence of awesome edition originally appeared on Massively on Thu, 29 Mar 2012 18:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink | Email this | Comments

NCsoft explains NA and EU Collector's Edition price difference [Updated] Posted: 29 Mar 2012 03:00 PM PDT Filed under: Fantasy, Economy, MMO industry, News items, Guild Wars 2 Many European Guild Wars 2 fans have been left scratching their heads over the pricing discrepancies between the U.S. and European Collectors' Editions of the title. As followers of the game are probably aware, the U.S. edition is being sold for $149.99 US while the European version is being sold for £129.99/€149.99. The problem, of course, is that with the current exchange rates, £129.99 is closer to $206 US and €149.99 is just under $200 US, making the European versions of the game considerably pricier. NCsoft explained to PC Gamer today that the reason behind this discrepancy is that "currency fluctuations, distribution costs, taxes and market conditions in addition to the cost of goods are all contributing factors when setting pricing. These vary dramatically between NA and EU and our pricing is competitive and adjusted accordingly." As the article notes, this might make sense if we assume that the CE of the game is manufactured in the U.S., but even with the extra shipping costs, it's a pretty hefty addition to an already sizeable price tag. [Update: NCsoft points out that the EU pricing includes VAT taxes (20%), while the North American pricing is pre-tax.] NCsoft explains NA and EU Collector's Edition price difference [Updated] originally appeared on Massively on Thu, 29 Mar 2012 17:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink | Email this | Comments Source: PC Gamer

EverQuest Online Adventures slays its final dragon Posted: 29 Mar 2012 02:00 PM PDT Filed under: Fantasy, Events, in-game, Everquest Online Adventures, Consoles EverQuest Online Adventures, the console spinoff of SOE's EverQuest franchise, is counting down the hours until the server is switched off at midnight tonight. In addition to EQOA, SOE is shuttering three other underperforming titles today: Cosmic Rift, Infantry, and Star Chamber: The Harbinger Saga. Instead of spending its final days in sorrow, the EQOA community joined the dev team for a series of epic battles against marauding dragons this past week. Players have filled the forums with posts about their favorite in-game memories over the past nine years of gameplay. To compensate players for the loss of their game world, SOE gave EQOA subscribers three months of gold-level status in EverQuest and EverQuest II. EQOA came out in 2003 on the PlayStation 2 and was one of the first generation of console MMOs. For those Massively readers feeling nostalgic or curious about it, definitely check out our series on the game: part 1, part 2, and part 3. EverQuest Online Adventures slays its final dragon originally appeared on Massively on Thu, 29 Mar 2012 16:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink | Email this | Comments Source: EQOA

WAR40K devs laid off, game will no longer be an MMO Posted: 29 Mar 2012 01:00 PM PDT Filed under: Fantasy, Sci-fi, Game mechanics, MMO industry, New titles, News items, Warhammer 40k The on-again off-again saga of Warhammer 40K is apparently off again, at least in regard to the title's future as an MMORPG. In early February we reported on some rumored THQ financial trouble, but the company later pooh-poohed the concerns and said that WAR40K was still on track. Today, though, our sister site reports that Dark Millennium Online will axe the online portion of its lengthy moniker and the company will be producing the title as a single-player game going forward. A substantial number of jobs have also been cut, with 79 Vigil Games employees and 39 Relic Entertainment employees receiving pink slips. WAR40K devs laid off, game will no longer be an MMO originally appeared on Massively on Thu, 29 Mar 2012 15:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink | Email this | Comments Source: THQ Via: Joystiq

The Guild Counsel: Time for a mutiny! Posted: 29 Mar 2012 12:00 PM PDT Filed under: Guilds, Opinion, The Guild Counsel, Miscellaneous In last week's Guild Counsel, we looked at some of the qualities required of guildleaders for those who might be thinking of trying it out. But what if you're someone who's already a member of a guild? If I had a nickel for every time a guild member thought to himself, "I could do a better job," I'd be able to retire and buy a ticket to fly in space. In some cases, it's just an issue of backseat driving, but in others, there's some merit to that point of view. When is it time to step in and replace the guild leader? And if so, how do you do it without the usual Hindenburgesque drama that ensues? Continue reading The Guild Counsel: Time for a mutiny! The Guild Counsel: Time for a mutiny! originally appeared on Massively on Thu, 29 Mar 2012 14:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink | Email this | Comments

The Summoner's Guidebook: I hate Jack-in-the-boxes Posted: 29 Mar 2012 11:00 AM PDT Filed under: PvP, Opinion, Free-to-play, Guides, MOBA, League of Legends, The Summoner's Guidebook Out of all of the characters in League of Legends, Shaco is probably the least fun character to fight against. His traps are highly annoying, fearing you and poking you with damage. He is extremely slippery and hard to kill, striking out of nowhere and disappearing just as quickly. Just when you think you have him, it turns out that was actually his clone and it explodes, netting Shaco yet another kill. "Annoying" is the first word I'd use to describe him, and this is what Shaco wants you to think. He doesn't want you to know his weaknesses, so he keeps you on your toes, constantly afraid of jack-in-the-box traps and invisible backstabs. However, he has weaknesses, and this week, we're going to talk about how to put the killer clown back in his toybox. Continue reading The Summoner's Guidebook: I hate Jack-in-the-boxes The Summoner's Guidebook: I hate Jack-in-the-boxes originally appeared on Massively on Thu, 29 Mar 2012 13:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink | Email this | Comments

Zandagort indie MMORTS features 'finite servers' Posted: 29 Mar 2012 10:30 AM PDT Filed under: Sci-fi, Game mechanics, MMO industry, News items, Free-to-play, Browser, Casual, MMORTS Looking for an indie game to satisfy that online sci-fi strategy itch? Zandagort just might be the one. Or it might not, but seeing as how it's free-to-play, you don't have much to lose. The title is the brainchild of Hungary-based Zanda Games, and it's a browser MMORTS that features tactical starship maneuvers, a vibrant economy, and diverse gameplay options that touch on everything from trade to warfare to ecology. What's with the name? Zandagort is a malevolent alien ruler who serves as the game's antagonist, and he's also a literal bit of endgame, according to the game's website. The title features something called finite servers, and "Zandagort arrives at the end of each server to destroy mankind. Players who were enemies before have to collaborate to prevail," Zanda says. If that sounds interesting, give it a whirl and let us know what you think. Don't forget to tip us about other indie MMO projects while you're at it. [Thanks to Jergis for the tip!] Zandagort indie MMORTS features 'finite servers' originally appeared on Massively on Thu, 29 Mar 2012 12:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink | Email this | Comments

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General gaming

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• Battlefield 3's Unlockable 'Shortcuts' a Divisive Subject
• Notorious Food-Based Games of the '90s
• The '90s Console Release Charticle
• President Clinton's Top 6 Video Game Cameos
• Underdog Consoles of the '90s
• Gallery: The Most X-Treme Game Ads of the '90s
• The '90s Revisited
• Why the '90s Rocked
• Max Payne 3 Weaves Narrative and Multiplayer Together

Battlefield 3's Unlockable 'Shortcuts' a Divisive Subject Posted: 29 Mar 2012 06:08 PM PDT The latest update for Battlefield 3 is now here, bringing with it numerous improvements, changes, and features, one of which is not sitting well with some players. Many of the improvements to the PC version do appear to be good things. The commo rose now handles better and has new options, most notably the ability to call out for ammo, health, or repairs at any time. Gone are the days of desperately looking around for a medic when badly in need of health, which I can't say I will miss. Other additions: jeeps now have horns to help alert teammates you're trying to pick up; helicopter pilots are now better rewarded for flying well; the SOFLAM is effective even when you're not controlling it; suppression bonuses are easier to earn; all players have IR flares from the start to help them succeed as pilots; and the minimap has been improved. That still leaves a number of issues unaddressed, but these all strike me as changes for the better.

Notorious Food-Based Games of the '90s Posted: 29 Mar 2012 05:00 PM PDT Back in the halcyon days of the early '90s, food extended far beyond the hot plate by frequently making its way into our video games. Companies across the entire edible spectrum saw this new fan-dangled medium of interactivity and thought it would be a great idea to allow gamers to violate the cardinal rule of the dinner table and actually play with their food. Sadly, most of these efforts resulted in less-than stellar results, as indicated by the following examples of product placement games. Keep in mind that a lot of these were full priced releases -- this was long before the time when Sneak King came alongside a BK Veggie with cheese. Seth Macy wrote a great feature about Corporate Schlock a while back, but this time around the focus is going to be strictly on the Decade That Clinton Built. Aside from the monetary joys that stem from product placement, the question still remains: Why the '90s were such a humid breeding ground for licensed games based on food, the places that serve food, and the mascots who champion food? Yo! Noid - NES '90 There's going to be a very distinct generational divide with this one, so prepare yourselves. The Noid was a mid-'80s creation by Domino's Pizza that used each of the seven deadly sins in order to ruin your pizza experience. Delivery guy got a flat tire? Noid. Cheese is burnt? Noid. Immediately regret that you're filling your body with the physical manifestation of shame? Well, the Noid's only partly responsible for that. Like all great mascots of the era, the Noid got his fair share of video game titles, but the one I want to focus on is the 1990 NES classic Yo! Noid. Without a comma between the two words, one can only assume that the title is yelling in order to get your attention. Misused punctuation aside, Yo! Noid is actually a revolutionary entry into the pantheon of gaming. Instead of being a delivery boy trying to avoid the Noid, the game shook the very foundations of storytelling by placing us in control of the trickster god; in many ways, Yo! Noid is the Paradise Lost of video games. Sadly, the game commits the cardinal sin of platformers by switching the functions of the A and B buttons. Could this have been the Noid's plan all along? M.C. Kids - NES '92

The '90s Console Release Charticle Posted: 29 Mar 2012 04:59 PM PDT You love charticles! We love charticles! Wait, what's a charticle, you ask? As part of our coverage for The '90s Revisited, we decided nothing tells a story better than visual aids. In this case, the '90s Console Release Charticle -- it's a chart, and an article! -- displays the lifespan of consoles in the '90s and highlights a few important games from that era. Just don't call it an infographic; that term is so... '80s.

President Clinton's Top 6 Video Game Cameos Posted: 29 Mar 2012 04:57 PM PDT Feature Share it: Tweet President Clinton's Top 6 Video Game Cameos The nineties-est world leader of them all popped up in the weirdest of places. By: Bob Mackey March 28, 2012 For eight years of the 1990s, William Jefferson "Bill" Clinton reigned supreme over a country that still had a few jobs and dollars to rub together, and, like all world leaders, found himself directly under the lens of public scrutiny during every second of his waking life. Our ruddiest POTUS to date had a penchant for antics, and delighted/angered the world with everything from televised saxophone performances to serious investigations into the meaning of the English language's most reliable verb. Due to this rich vein of comedy gold, Clinton made for an easy target, especially for lazy late-night comedians looking to unload a surplus of outdated fat Southerner jokes on an unsuspecting audience -- and he even became the subject of video game lampoonery as well. Even though gaming's a notoriously apolitical medium, Slick Willie managed to pull off a few memorable appearances that made us all appreciate our First Amendment right to poke fun at a guy who could easily blow up the world ten times over.

Underdog Consoles of the '90s Posted: 29 Mar 2012 04:32 PM PDT Feature Share it: Tweet Underdog Consoles of the 90s 1UP editors talk about the unsung heroes of the 90s console war. By: 1UP Staff March 29, 2012 The 90s ushered in some great video game consoles. But we still have fond memories of plenty of products that didn't strike commercial success. The 1UP staff was asked to share their favorite underdog console of that fateful decade. J. Kartje, Atari Jaguar $250 To this day, the Atari Jaguar symbolizes something hopefully amazing, yet unattainable for me. I was just a kid when I was gifted with a Sega Genesis from my parents. They were good parents, so they obviously were wary of me spending too much time playing video games. They also didn't want me begging them to spend money on the next best thing, which at the time was the Super Nintendo Entertainment System. So, like any thwarted child, I would read about the cool stuff that I couldn't have. I remember flipping through an issue of EGM, when I saw an ad for a new console that had just launched. It was a 64-bit system. 64 BITS! (At the time I had no idea what that meant, but the numbers were higher, so that was good enough for me) That impossibly cool new system was the Atari Jaguar. I had been saving up money to buy a new console and now I had my sights set on the Jaguar. But the fact that there weren't any Jaguars available at the local Target and my parents pointing out that there were very few games available, led to my purchasing of the SNES. A decision that, in retrospect, was very wise.

Gallery: The Most X-Treme Game Ads of the '90s Posted: 29 Mar 2012 04:23 PM PDT Feature Share it: Tweet Gallery: The Most X-Treme Game Ads of the '90s Feast your eyes upon some of the raddest magazine ads of the 1990s. By: Scott Sharkey March 28, 2012 The 90s: when men were men, women were made entirely out of boobs, and everything else was exploding and/or screaming. It was a decade that represented the rebellious teenage years of both gaming and the generation that grew up with it. "YOU ARE NOT READY," "PLAY IT LOUD," and "SUCK IT DOWN" were the boastful and occasionally kind-of-rapey slogans of an era that resembled nothing so much as a ten year long Powerthirst commercial. Here are a few of the most extreme, in-your-face, shit-wrecking ads of that long, embarrassing adolescence. Is your shit unwrecked? Then you're DOING IT WRONG. Like maybe you're some kind of GIRL, or a SMALL, PATHETIC ANIMAL whose SHIT IS NOT WORTH WRECKING. Get on the stick and BUY NEW SHIT.

The '90s Revisited Posted: 29 Mar 2012 04:23 PM PDT Feature Share it: Tweet The '90s Revisited 1UP looks back to gaming's most x-treme decade of all! By: 1UP Staff March 29, 2012 You know, we miss the '90s. We miss that illusion of peace in the world, the downtime between the Cold War and the War on Terrorism, where conflicts seemed so localized and remote. We miss having a stable economy. We miss the days when the Internet seemed new and interesting rather than a bloated mess of ads and memes. But most of all, gosh darn it, we miss the games. Video games may well have been at their best in the '90s. Not to downplay current games by any means, but the industry of the '90s just seemed more... well, diverse. Wild ideas were treated equally to sure-fire hits rather than being forced to eke out an existence as budget-priced indie releases.

Why the '90s Rocked Posted: 29 Mar 2012 04:22 PM PDT Feature Share it: Tweet Why the '90s Rocked Four reasons gamers should love that bygone decade of grunge music and Clinton scandals. By: Jeremy Parish March 29, 2012 The theme of our '90s Revisited feature is that the '90s were awesome. But why they so great for gamers? We've pin-pointed a few key reasons.

Max Payne 3 Weaves Narrative and Multiplayer Together Posted: 29 Mar 2012 10:43 AM PDT Max Payne and I go way back. Throughout the series' first two installments, I was wholly immersed in its stark shadows, smoky atmosphere, and hard-boiled dialogue. I brandished my pistols and dove sideways more times than I could count. I cherished the horror and violence of his revenge as if it were written by Raymond Chandler himself, and yet, a place that I'd never experience Max Payne's world was online. That void was quickly remedied when I got my hands on a small slice of the multiplayer portion of Rockstar's next effort, Max Payne 3. MP3 is attempting to destroy the barriers between single and multiplayer in a wide variety of ways. We've written about the solo portion before, but this time we got to spend some time in the online Gang Wars. The story in Gang Wars, the most fleshed out mode of multiplayer, runs alongside that of the solo campaign. The skirmishes you take part in online will oftentimes be set moments before Max's arrival to a location during the story, or sometimes in the charred remains of where his whirlwind tour of revenge previously swept through. While third-person works fine offline, the perspective can oftentimes lead to ineligent combat that feels more like a frantic crapshoot than a strategic faceoff; even phenomenal titles like Red Dead Redemption suffer in moments of intense action. While I was a bit worried that MP3's multiplayer would stall under the same stress, I'm happy to report that the impeccable energy from the series' singleplayer campaigns transfers over quite well into the online arena. Yes, there were still a handful of moments where it seemed like my opponent and I both cracked under pressure, especially once combat became an up close affair, but the game remained a controlled experience for the most part. Rockstar showed off a slew of game matches, most of which were slight variations on genre classics like team deathmatch and king of the hill. One unique mode is called Payne Killer, which starts off as a free-for-all until someone scores the first kill. After this occurs, the killer becomes Max Payne, while the victim transforms into his singleplayer sidekick Passos. These two characters come equipped with special weapons, higher health, and unique abilities. It then becomes the task of the remaining players to work together in taking down these two protagonists. Whoever scores the kill against Max or Passos earns the right to play as the powerful hero. This mode encouraged players to work together in short spurts to take down the two powerhouses, but those alliances you make will quickly be severed once one member gets the kill and joins the other side.

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