Latest Gaming and MMORPG Updates

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• Cabal Online MMORPG Review
• More UI Changes, Paladin/Warrior/Rogue Skill Animations, D3 Poll, ATTN Weekly News
• Bright Shadow MMORPG Review
• Kritika (KR) – Closed Beta 1 videos

Cabal Online MMORPG Review Posted: 29 May 2012 04:01 AM PDT Cabal Online is a 3D Fantasy MMORPG that takes place in the world of Nevareth. The game tries to have realistic graphics and has an interesting set of features and maps to explore.       Publisher: ESTsoft Playerbase: Medium Graphics: High Quality Type: MMORPG EXP Rate: Low PvP: Realm Vs Realm /Duels Filesize: ~ 2500 MB Website: http://www.cabal.com/ Pros: +Unique dueling system with betting. +Unique 'skill' combo system. +Varied environments. +Good music. +Good content updates. +Beautifully animated skills. Cons: -Unique and prolonging quest text. -Lots of 'spambots' in the game. -Most 'fun' features locked away until endgame.   Cabal Online is a 3D Fantasy MMORPG that used to be published by OGPlanet, but is now published by ESTsoft, the game's developer. The game was officially released in North America on February 28th and is known for it's unique set of features and solid gameplay. Start off your adventure in one of the game's three newbie towns and explore the large fantasy world of Cabal Online. The game's six playable classes are: Warrior - As the name applies, the 'warrior' is the standard tank / melee character. The warrior relies entirely on his strength and uses the two handed sword as his main weapon. Blader - Bladers are proficient at using dual swords and can deal damage very quickly but have incredibly low hit points. They are strong PvE characters, as they have high defense. Wizard - The Wizard is the standard offensive spell caster archetype in Cabal. They can deal massive damage from a distance but are vulnerable to attacks in melee range. They have the lowest hit points in the game. Force Blader – Force bladers are proficient with both spell casting and melee swords. They are quick and agile and can do a great deal of damage very quickly, but are unable to wear heavy armor. They are regarded as one of the best 'pvp' classes. Force Shielder - Force Shielders are the standard 'tank' archetype in Cabal, they have the best defensive capabilities, but relatively weaker damage than the other melee classes in the game. They are capable of using both defensive and offensive magic and are considered strong 'PvE' characters. Force Archer - As the name applies, the Force Archer is the generic 'archer' character in Cabal Online.     Cabal Online System Requirements Minimum Requirements: OS: Windows XP / Vista / ME CPU: 800 MhZ Pentium 3 or Equivalent RAM: 512 MB HDD: 2.5 GB Free Space Graphics Card: Any 3D Accelerator Card Recommended Specification: OS: Windows XP / Vista / ME CPU: 1.4 GhZ Pentium 4 or Better RAM:  2048 MB (2GB) RAM or Better HDD: 2.5 GB Free Space Graphics Card: Nvidia 6600GT or equivalent VGA Card

More UI Changes, Paladin/Warrior/Rogue Skill Animations, D3 Poll, ATTN Weekly News Posted: 28 May 2012 10:37 PM PDT Diablo 3 - Current Players in Inferno, Finding and Trading Gear, Blue Posts, Inferno Act 3 Farming Spot Mists of Pandaria UI Changes Update Several more UI changes have been made since our last post. Professions have had subgrouping added, both for cooking and others where appropriate. You may now blacklist up to two battlegrounds when queuing by selecting the thumbs down next to them. You are unable to blacklist the Call to Arms battleground. A button has been added for the Mists of Pandaria cinematic. (No, it doesn't work yet!) A new loot roll status window has been added that allows you to see what each player rolled and the outcome of their roll. Account wide achievements that you can make progress towards on any character are now flagged with a blue coloring. You can see the status of every achievement on WoWDB in the Quick Info of each achievement's page. The spellbook now talks about what has changed and how to use the core abilities of your spec. The Dungeon Journal now has unique art backgrounds for each expansion Paladin Skill Animations Preview Today we continue with the Paladin's new skill animations! Warrior Skill Animations Preview Moving on, we have the new Warrior skill animations! Rogue Skill Animations Preview Rogues also got a few new animations! Diablo III Blue Posts Today was a holiday in the US, so the blue posters were silent, but there was a Diablo III Game Design Update and other blue posts. If you want to read them all, see the latest two news posts on Diablofans! Originally Posted by Blizzard Entertainment Finding and Trading Gear This isn't a new concept. In Diablo II gear was randomized and so absolutely ridiculously rare that you could almost be guaranteed to never find the exact item you were looking for just by farming for it yourself. To be the best you had to trade items with others, as you might find an extremely rare item, they may be willing to trade for yours. If you wanted to get ahead within any reasonable amount of time you had to trade. Now, Diablo II had one thing going for it which was the mass proliferation of dupes for the rarest items, which completely tanked its economy and quickly allowed anyone to gear themselves in the best possible items for nearly nothing. In Diablo III you don't have that luxury, you need to actually find the rare items, or trade for them. Now, you have a couple options, you can jump into our Trading Forum, post up your item/s and then meet someone in-game and barter a trade. You can also use the in-game Trade channel, and again barter trades. Or you can use the auction house system. How you trade items is up to you, bartering out of game, bartering in-game, the AH for gold, or real money once it launches. We're not forcing anyone to do anything, and if you don't ever want to trade with other players that's your choice as well, but due to the nature of drops in Diablo games, if you want to be the best you need to trade. The difference in Diablo 2 was that you could solo act 4 and 5 with gear you farmed yourself. In Diablo 3 you have no chance in act 2 and onward unless you buy gear from the auction house. The best gear drops in the later acts (Jay said there was one tier of drops in each Act), so there will be a looooong while until I even have a chance at starting farming the best gear. Basically I have to gear up so I have a chance at gearing up so I have a chance at getting the good loot. In D2, I could start farming the best loot the game had to offer by myself. Good point! Yes, Diablo III has an additional difficulty level, Inferno, with a very steep difficulty curve. One bit of misinformation is that loot is static in where it drops, but in fact the loot table bands are quite large. For example the "Inferno Act I loot" has a chance to drop in Hell Act IV as much as it does Inferno Act II. You will need to farm Inferno Act I to get a shot at those higher level items to drop so you can continue progressing. (Blue Tracker / Official Forum) Diablo III - Game Design Update As more and more players begin to perfect their character builds and progress into Diablo III's higher difficultly levels, some of the most prominent feedback lately has been about game balance and design, and that's what we're here to talk about today. As with any new game, gameplay issues are inevitable, and we hear a lot of feedback regarding what's balanced, what's not, and everything else in between. We recently made some decisions to adjust (or outright nerf) a few class skills, and today we wanted to explain our overall philosophy on design changes -- as well as give some insight into some more changes that are coming up. Before we get to that, though, we thought it'd be fun to share a few interesting stats we've collected since Diablo III's release: On average players have created 3 characters each 80% of characters are between levels 1 and 30 1.9% of characters have unlocked Inferno difficulty 54% of Hardcore players chose a female character The majority of Hardcore deaths (35%) occur in Act I Normal The most common level 60 build in the game is only used by 0.7% of level 60 characters of that class (not including Passive diversity) The most used runes for each class at level 60 are Barbarian: Best Served Cold, Demon Hunter: Lingering Fog, Wizard: Mirror Skin, Monk: Peaceful Repose, Witch Doctor: Numbing Dart (Continue reading on: Blue Tracker / Official Forum) Poll: What difficulty are you playing in Diablo 3? ATTN Weekly News Pico is back again this week with news about World of Warplanes Beta, Mists of Pandaria, the indie game highlight OKABU, Minecraft, Diablo 3, and Curse's LoLPro team.

Bright Shadow MMORPG Review Posted: 28 May 2012 04:02 PM PDT Bright Shadow is a nicely animated, 3D, anime-inspired fantasy MMORPG published by Beanfun (The game used to be available through GamePot USA, but they shut it down and BeanFun picked up the service). The game is set in the fantasy world of Luciena and has a strong emphasis on item collection, community and exploration. Those looking for a simple, lighthearted MMORPG should find some substance in Bright Shadow.       Publisher: BeanFun Playerbase: Medium Graphics: Medium Quality Type: MMORPG EXP Rate: Medium PvP: N/A Filesize: ~1,550 MB Website: http://www.brightshadowonline.com/ Pros: +Detailed card collection system. +Unique instance system. +Interesting soul power feature. +Crafting system. +High level cap 95+. +Great music. Cons: -Looks very similar to other anime inspired games. -Interface could be better. -Clunky combat mechanics.   Bright Shadow is an anime-inspired MMORPG that both looks and feels a lot like Outspark's popular Fiesta Online title. Perhaps the game's most unique feature is its detailed card collection system. Players can find and collect over 500 special monster cards that can be obtained by defeating enemies. These cards have numerous uses, from being used as currency for items to unlocking special abilities. Bright Shadow does have numerous unique features and a lot of content which makes the  game worth checking out. The game boasts over twenty playable classes, but there are only four starting ones. The game's four starting classes are: Warrior – Warriors in Bright Shadow are masters of 'close quarters' combat. They can inflict a great deal of damage to their enemies in melee combat and also absorb quite a bit of hits due to their remarkably high defensive capabilities. Machinist – The machinist is a fairly unique class, as it's only found in Bright Shadow and a handful of other titles. They are a mix between an archer and a merchant. They have a powerful long range attack with both bows and guns. They can also craft weapons and armor. Shaman – With numerous healing and buffing spells, Shamans are the primary supportive class in Bright Shadow; think of them as a mix between a druid and a cleric. Even though shamans are primarily a support class, they still have some offensive magic. Mage - Like nearly every other MMORPG, a Mage in Bright Shadow is the primary offensive spell casting class in the game. They have devastating area-of-effect and direct damage spells, but have extremely low physical attack and defense. They command the powers of both fire and ice.     Bright Shadow System Requirements Minimum Requirements: OS: Windows XP / Vista / 2000 CPU: Intel Pentium 3 1.0 Ghz RAM: 256 MB HDD: 4.0 GB Free Graphics Card: Any nVidia GeForce3 series GPU / ATI Radeon 8500 or better Recommended Specifications: OS: Windows XP / Vista / 2000 CPU: Intel Pentium 4 2.0 Ghz RAM: 1024 MB HDD: 4.0 GB Free Graphics Card: nVidia GeForce FX 5900 / ATI Radeon 9700 or better

Kritika (KR) – Closed Beta 1 videos Posted: 28 May 2012 09:39 AM PDT Kritika, from the Korean developer of Lunia Online, ended its very first Closed Beta test a couple of days back. In Korea only of course. Touted as the fastest action combat MMORPG there is, the game has so far been announced for China outside of its homeland. What are the English publishers doing? Similar to most action games, customization is limited, while each of the 3 main classes has 2 advanced class to progress to. I re-posted the introduction video above, and hopefully you guys get a sense of how the game works - just fight and more fight. Below are a couple of game footage taken from Closed Beta 1, circling around the Rogue/ Crimson Assassin (I presume) class. Kritika is not an open world action MMO, but hey, this is what "True Action Combat" means, not some crap P2P MMO which still requires players to stand still to attack. This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now

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MMO Updates

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• World of Tanks British armor sighted in the wild
• Schilling speaks out on 38 Studios debacle, stands to lose $50 million
• The Soapbox: Games-as-a-service sucks for the consumer
• Renaissance Heroes closed beta starts May 31st, and we've got keys
• BioWare responds to SWTOR layoffs
• The Daily Grind: Do you think devs act on your forum feedback?
• Next Guild Wars 2 beta weekend coming June 8
• FFXIV version 2.0 trailer won't be at E3 after all
• Not So Massively: Diablo III players conquer Inferno and more
• Wings Over Atreia: Much ado about housing
• Captain's Log: New starbases, a focus on Klingon play, and test missions
• Jagex closing down browser-based 8Realms

World of Tanks British armor sighted in the wild Posted: 29 May 2012 10:00 AM PDT Filed under: Historical, Game mechanics, MMO industry, Patches, News items, War, Free-to-play, World of Tanks If you like big band music and British heavy armor, the latest World of Tanks CG trailer is for you. The clip shows off some of the new hardware coming to Wargaming.net's lobby-based World War II actioner in the next patch. The Crusader, the Black Prince, the Centurion, and the Conqueror are just a few of the British tanks that will join the game's extensive tech tree, and producer Sergey Burkatovskiy says the lengthy wait for new armor was worth it. "The British tanks are by far the most intriguing models we've come across over the course of World of Tanks development," he says. Head past the cut to view the trailer, then check out the WoT website for further details. [Source: Wargaming.net press release] Continue reading World of Tanks British armor sighted in the wild World of Tanks British armor sighted in the wild originally appeared on Massively on Tue, 29 May 2012 12:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink | Email this | Comments

Schilling speaks out on 38 Studios debacle, stands to lose $50 million Posted: 29 May 2012 09:30 AM PDT Filed under: Culture, Economy, MMO industry, News items, Miscellaneous Curt Schilling is finally speaking out on the 38 Studios brouhaha. The former Red Sox pitcher told The Providence Journal that he stands to lose $50 million of his personal fortune as the fiasco plays out. Schilling also laid some blame at the feet of Rhode Island governor Lincoln Chafee, whom he says made public statements that were "devastating" and that "scared off private investors." Joystiq also reports on why some former 38 Studios employees remained silent as the drama unfolded over the last week. "[Schilling] had invested so much into us financially and personally, we were not about to betray that trust. We were not going to take the chance of speaking to the press and accidentally ruining any chances with outside investors. Unfortunately, it didn't matter if the employees spoke and ruined things with the investors as the governor beat us to it," the source said. Schilling speaks out on 38 Studios debacle, stands to lose $50 million originally appeared on Massively on Tue, 29 May 2012 11:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink | Email this | Comments Source: Providence Journal Via: Joystiq

The Soapbox: Games-as-a-service sucks for the consumer Posted: 29 May 2012 09:00 AM PDT Filed under: Fantasy, Culture, Economy, Game mechanics, MMO industry, Opinion, Free-to-play, The Soapbox, Miscellaneous, Diablo III 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. If you pay close attention to game industry marketing-speak, you've probably heard of something called games-as-a-service. It's an initiative that's been gaining momentum in recent years, as publishers and development houses look to increase revenue, strangle used game sales, and clamp down on both PC and console piracy. It's also championed by a few of our more clueless game "journalists," more often than not due to their (desire for a) cozy relationship with the aforementioned industry players. Put simply, games-as-a-service seeks to change both the definition and the public perception of the phrase "video game" from a product that you buy to a service that you rent, thereby granting developers and publishers complete control over the end-user's experience. If that sounds somewhat nefarious, that's because it is. It's also something that MMORPGs have been doing for two decades. Continue reading The Soapbox: Games-as-a-service sucks for the consumer The Soapbox: Games-as-a-service sucks for the consumer originally appeared on Massively on Tue, 29 May 2012 11:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink | Email this | Comments

Renaissance Heroes closed beta starts May 31st, and we've got keys Posted: 29 May 2012 08:00 AM PDT Filed under: Betas, Fantasy, Game mechanics, MMO industry, New titles, News items, Free-to-play Renaissance Heroes isn't exactly an MMO (it's a 12-player lobby shooter if you're curious). Given the fact that it melds the Unreal Engine 3 with 16th century Renaissance Europe, we figured you'd like a beta key to take a look. The game features the usual deathmatch, team deathmatch, and capture-the-flag modes, along with over 100 unlockable achievements. Unlike your daddy's FPS, it also features crossbows, battlehammers, and other classical weaponry. Closed beta starts May 31st, but we're handing out 1000 keys now to get you ready. Again, the keys won't be able to be redeemed until May 31st. Click past the cut for your beta key redemption instructions. Continue reading Renaissance Heroes closed beta starts May 31st, and we've got keys Renaissance Heroes closed beta starts May 31st, and we've got keys originally appeared on Massively on Tue, 29 May 2012 10:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink | Email this | Comments

BioWare responds to SWTOR layoffs Posted: 29 May 2012 07:00 AM PDT Filed under: Sci-fi, MMO industry, Star Wars: The Old Republic If anyone knows just how brutal and unforgiving the MMO industry can be, it is certainly the folks at BioWare. Last week delivered a one-two punch to the studio, as the team had to contend with layoffs while breaking the news of server merges to the playerbase. Star Wars: The Old Republic Associate Lead Designer Emmanuel Lusinchi admitted that this came with the territory: "The MMO is the toughest part of the game industry without a doubt, and we live in tough economic times in general." Despite the layoffs, Lusinchi said that the development team is still "one of the biggest" in the industry and has detailed plans for SWTOR's future. Still, that didn't make dealing with the realities of the job cuts any easier. "On a personal level it's quite difficult to have people that you've been working with for a long time that you know personally, you go to their barbecue and you meet their families and it's never easy," he said. "I doubt it'd be easy in any industry for anyone, but it happens." BioWare responds to SWTOR layoffs originally appeared on Massively on Tue, 29 May 2012 09:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink | Email this | Comments Source: Games Industry

The Daily Grind: Do you think devs act on your forum feedback? Posted: 29 May 2012 06:00 AM PDT Filed under: Culture, MMO industry, New titles, News items, Opinion, The Daily Grind I've been spending a lot of time lurking on the PlanetSide Universe forums over the past year. Those folks put the "hard" in "hardcore" when it comes to communities that are both knowledgeable and passionate about their MMO of choice, and I encourage you to stop off for a visit if you're even the least bit curious about Sony Online Entertainment's upcoming PlanetSide 2 opus. Aside from clan recruitment, much of the board focuses on game design discussion, and every other day there's a wall of text about some proposed PlanetSide 2 feature. And when I say wall of text, I don't mean a couple of paragraphs, I mean long, highly detailed musings on features that SOE developers may or may not be considering. PS2 creative director Matt Higby is a forum regular, and the level of fan dedication plus the developer appearances remind me of the beta boards on SOE's Star Wars Galaxies circa 2002, albeit on a smaller scale. I'm curious as to how much of the fan feedback is used by the devs, though, and since I'll probably never know for sure I'm throwing that question up for discussion this morning. Are you a part of an active MMO board, and do you think the devs act on your feedback? Every morning, the Massively bloggers probe the minds of their readers with deep, thought-provoking questions about that most serious of topics: massively online gaming. We crave your opinions, so grab your caffeinated beverage of choice and chime in on today's Daily Grind! The Daily Grind: Do you think devs act on your forum feedback? originally appeared on Massively on Tue, 29 May 2012 08:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink | Email this | Comments

Next Guild Wars 2 beta weekend coming June 8 Posted: 29 May 2012 04:15 AM PDT Filed under: Betas, Fantasy, News items, Guild Wars 2, Dev Diaries Clear out your calendar and stock up on the Cheetos, because ArenaNet has announced the date for the next Guild Wars 2 beta weekend event! In a blog post that went live early this morning, it was stated that the next BWE will run from 3:00 p.m. EDT on Friday, June 8th, until 3:00 a.m. EDT on Monday the 11th. Like the one before it, the only way to guarantee access to this event is to pre-purchase the game. In addition to a date, a little light was shed on changes made to the beta for the upcoming weekend. To begin with, existing characters will not be deleted, despite fears and whispers to the contrary! This will give more players a chance to hit the level 35 mark to make it into the available dungeon. Additionally, in response to feedback from the first BWE, changes have been made to overflow server functionality, chat, key binding capabilities, server stability, and general performance. There wasn't a whole lot of explanation on what went into these changes, but the community will evidently be able to test things out for itself in a pretty short while. More changes will be examined in greater detail in the "near future." Next Guild Wars 2 beta weekend coming June 8 originally appeared on Massively on Tue, 29 May 2012 06:15:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink | Email this | Comments Source: ArenaNet blog post

FFXIV version 2.0 trailer won't be at E3 after all Posted: 28 May 2012 06:00 PM PDT Filed under: Fantasy, Trailers, Events, real-world, Massively Event Coverage, Final Fantasy XIV Just as Square-Enix is on the verge of releasing a "flood" of new information about Final Fantasy XIV's much-anticipated version 2.0, the studio says that the players' most wanted video will be missing from next month's major convention. That's right: The FFXIV 2.0 trailer will not be shown at E3 after all. Square-Enix's Naoki Yoshida wrote of the trailer's completion in a recent producer's letter, but shared that the company is withholding it from E3 in order to package it with a larger marketing campaign. "During our most recent global PR planning meeting, we came to the conclusion that the most effective way to introduce version 2.0 to the world would be with a flood of new material rather than just a trickle," Yoshida said. Final Fantasy XIV 2.0's public debut is still scheduled for E3, however. The trailer, along with the info-flood, is slated to be revealed this August. Version 2.0 will be a relaunch of the title alongside the PlayStation 3 release. It will feature overhauled graphics, server architecture, multiple in-game improvements, and additional racial/gender choices. FFXIV version 2.0 trailer won't be at E3 after all originally appeared on Massively on Mon, 28 May 2012 20:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink | Email this | Comments Source: Gamer Escape

Not So Massively: Diablo III players conquer Inferno and more Posted: 28 May 2012 04:00 PM PDT Filed under: Trailers, Video, Game mechanics, Launches, New titles, Patches, PvP, News items, Not So Massively, MOBA, League of Legends, Diablo III Diablo III reportedly became the fastest selling PC game of all time this week with over 6.3 million units sold in its first week despite ongoing server issues. Blizzard assured players that recent account hackings have not been caused by a compromised database, and players have come up with a variety of inventive ways to conquer the practically impossible Inferno mode. In MOBA news, League of Legends celebrated one year of its player-mediated banning tribunal and released the official champion spotlight video for new champion Darius, the Hand of Noxus. Dota 2 released a new interface this week to help players pick heroes more effectively, and Heroes of Newerth released a strange new tentacle demon plant hero named Bramble. We also heard of upcoming indie MOBA Smashmuck, which entered closed beta yesterday. Upcoming action FPS Hedone was recently rebranded under a new name, and this week developers opened signups for a new closed beta. Torchlight II's beta officially ended this week, and the Wrath of Heroes Beta introduced new hero Amenadresh. Continue reading Not So Massively: Diablo III players conquer Inferno and more Not So Massively: Diablo III players conquer Inferno and more originally appeared on Massively on Mon, 28 May 2012 18:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink | Email this | Comments

Wings Over Atreia: Much ado about housing Posted: 28 May 2012 02:00 PM PDT Filed under: Fantasy, Aion, Game mechanics, Opinion, Free-to-play, Wings Over Atreia Although Wings over Atreia has covered Aion's housing before, both in anticipation and right after release, I still encounter some lingering questions and misconceptions regarding this new feature. This point was really brought out during Justin's Leaderboard poll about who had better housing, Aion or EverQuest II. While I laud anything that brings attention to one of my favorite features, and I do realize that the Leaderboard articles are made for a bit of fun, I had some concerns about that specific pair up. However, despite its disadvantages and underdog status, Aion held its own pretty well. Go team Daeva! To be honest, I admit I was a bit surprised (and pleased) by the fervor with which some fans defended the newcomer to the housing market. Daevas have really embraced this gameplay alternative to hunting and gathering -- just take a look at the bidding wars for prime housing or the recent decorating contest. Aion's housing might be totally new, but it's off to a pretty good to start and will keep getting better. Continue reading Wings Over Atreia: Much ado about housing Wings Over Atreia: Much ado about housing originally appeared on Massively on Mon, 28 May 2012 16:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink | Email this | Comments

Captain's Log: New starbases, a focus on Klingon play, and test missions Posted: 28 May 2012 12:00 PM PDT Filed under: Sci-fi, Patches, PvE, Opinion, Star Trek Online, Free-to-play, Captain's Log If the past two years have taught the long-term Star Trek Online player anything, it's that it always gets darkest before the dawn. As with previous season releases, the developers have virtually disappeared from the forums and have apparently turned their noses to their screens in order to make Season Six's final push for early June. The players posting in the game's forums have turned to wild speculation as to what the patch will include and whether or not the devs' obvious absence from the forums spells doom for the game. It's been like this with every previous release, why should Season Six be any different? A better question might be: What we can do to keep ourselves occupied while we all wait to find out the truth? The good news is, a few leaks have come out and will allow players to get a sneak peek at a bit of the forthcoming content and may provide some entertainment, but will definitely generate a plethora of questions that will likely remain unanswered until the patch pushes to the test server in June. Continue reading Captain's Log: New starbases, a focus on Klingon play, and test missions Captain's Log: New starbases, a focus on Klingon play, and test missions originally appeared on Massively on Mon, 28 May 2012 14:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink | Email this | Comments

Jagex closing down browser-based 8Realms Posted: 28 May 2012 11:00 AM PDT Filed under: Fantasy, Business models, Economy, MMO industry, New titles, News items, Free-to-play, Browser More MMO layoffs are in the news this week as noted free-to-play maker Jagex is shuttering its browser-based 8Realms project. A source told Massively that the social empire-building game "has been a major (and very expensive) flop. Many of us are losing our jobs, some are being moved to other departments." We contacted Jagex for an official comment and were provided a statement by COO Daniel Clough: "Jagex has always been committed to creating fun and compelling games. During the 8Realms beta it has become clear that the game doesn't meet our high expectations for success and we are therefore channeling our focus on other exciting opportunities in the pipeline." Jagex closing down browser-based 8Realms originally appeared on Massively on Mon, 28 May 2012 13:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink | Email this | Comments

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General gaming

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• Cover Story: Gearing Up for E3 2012
• Sleeping Dogs Muscles In On GTA's Turf
• The Last of Us: The Half-Life to Uncharted's Quake
• E3 Thoughts and Predictions Vol. 1: Nintendo

Cover Story: Gearing Up for E3 2012 Posted: 28 May 2012 06:00 PM PDT Feature Share it: Tweet 1UP COVER STORY 1UP COVER STORY | WEEK OF MAY 28 | E3 2012 Gearing Up for E3 2012 Join us as we brace for the year's biggest gaming event! The video games industry runs on a nice, regular, annual cycle: Each fall (and all through winter) tons of top-tier releases grace store shelves and decimate our bank accounts. And each spring, the industry renews itself in Los Angeles as developers, publisher, and press from around the world converge to the Electronic Entertainment Expo to see what's in store for the next wave of releases. E3 2012 runs from June 5-7 -- that's next week, in case you hadn't been paying attention. This year's E3 could potentially be one of the most impressive ever; not only will Nintendo be showing off the presumably final revision of and plan for its upcoming Wii U console, there's a good chance Microsoft will have some new hardware to show off, too. And let's not forget the amazing roster of games slated to arrive between this August and next March, almost all of which will be on display to entice gamers and grease the wheels of consumerism.

Sleeping Dogs Muscles In On GTA's Turf Posted: 28 May 2012 05:58 PM PDT 1UP COVER STORY 1UP COVER STORY | WEEK OF MAY 28 | E3 2012 Sleeping Dogs Moves In On GTA's Turf Cover Story: Four reasons why United Front's open-world game already tops the last GTA. O ver the past decade, open-world sandbox games have been all the rage. And why not? This style of game presents players with impressively modeled recreations of some of the most important settings in history within the context of a video game. When executed properly, these authentic playgrounds add an extra layer of believability to any story. We've done everything imaginable through an open-world lens, from traipsing across Renaissance Italy in Assassin's Creed II to high-speed cop chases in Grand Theft Auto IV. Now developer United Front Games aims to provide an equally ambitious and complementary experience to those examples with their latest game -- one that matches a foreign locale with fast car chases and urban drama. In Sleeping Dogs, players experience Hong Kong and get a behind-the-scenes look at the gritty world of the Chinese underground, experiencing a tale inspired by hit movies Infernal Affairs and The Departed. Can it really best the top dogs in the genre? I think so. Despite Rockstar's landmark work, its GTA titles tend to combine cool ideas (see the bank heist in GTA IV, which former 1UP editor Thierry Nguyen often describes as Heat: The Video Game) with janky execution (see driving, hand-to-hand combat, and targeting). Sleeping Dogs aims to improve on the GTA formula, and the effort shows. It was clear to me during a recent hands-on demo that the the developers passionately focused on creating a game with fluid combat, great driving and handling for cars and bikes, and an engaging story that doesn't sit entirely at odds with gameplay. Remember Mr. Bellic's ridiculous attempt to get out of the killing people business in GTA IV by... well, killing people? GTAIV hit its fourth birthday this past April, and a sequel is due by the time it turns five. But before you get excited for Grand Theft Auto V, a game no one has seen neither hide nor hair of since its debut trailer last fall, consider Sleeping Dogs.

The Last of Us: The Half-Life to Uncharted's Quake Posted: 28 May 2012 05:57 PM PDT 1UP COVER STORY 1UP COVER STORY | WEEK OF MAY 28 | E3 2012 The Last of Us: The Half-Life to Uncharted's Quake Cover Story: Naughty Dog's next project looks very familiar -- yet wholly new as well. E arly buzz about Naughty Dog's next title, The Last of Us, had me curious to see more of it. The first preview gave off a Dead-Island-trailer-meets-I-Am-Legend kind of vibe; not too surprising, given the studio's cinematic aspirations, but also not much of an indication to how the game would actually play. So, I attended a recent hands-off demo with great interest. I'm not sure what I expecting the game to be, but an Uncharted mod definitely wasn't it. OK, I admit: "Uncharted mod" is an unfairly supercilious way to describe the game. This is no mere coat of paint atop an existing game. The Last of Us shares much in common with Uncharted, no question about it. Everything from the camera angles to the slick transitions between action and cut scene to the look of the world to the very specific action icons scream "Nathan Drake!" But Drake has no place in this world; his easygoing demeanor and devil-may-care attitude would make for a very short-lived adventure in Last of Us' brutal post-apocalyptic scenario.

E3 Thoughts and Predictions Vol. 1: Nintendo Posted: 28 May 2012 05:56 PM PDT Feature Share it: Tweet 1UP COVER STORY 1UP COVER STORY | WEEK OF MAY 28 | E3 2012 E3 Thoughts and Predictions Vol. 1: Nintendo Cover Story: 1UP mulls the possibilities and pitfalls of Nintendo's big June 5 press conference! F or many people, the highlight of E3 each year isn't the flood of hands-on impressions and videos that emerge from the show floor over the course of the week. Those are great, of course, but the real event comes in the form of the three press conferences that kick off the event: Microsoft's and Sony's the day before the show begins, and Nintendo's in the hours before the doors open. For game fanatics, the press conferences are like Christmas, the Academy Awards, and the Superbowl all rolled into a day's space. New games come to light. Demos of the big fall releases roll. Amazing hardware is unveiled for the first time. Expectations run as high as anticipation, and it's no different here at 1UP... which is why we've put together a rundown of our own hopes and demands for these big three events. We begin today with our thoughts on Nintendo, whose (presumably revamped plan for) Wii U promises to be a highlight of E3 2012. For more on Nintendo's challenges and strategies, check out the May 3 episode of the Games, Dammit! podcast. What do you want from Nintendo this year? Comment below, or blog about it if you're feeling especially vociferous!

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