MMORPG News

MMORPG News

Aika: Epic III - Descent Launches

Posted: 14 Jun 2012 07:34 AM PDT

Epic III - Descent Launches

Aika Online players have a lot of new content to explore with the successful launch of Epic III: Descent. New content includes and epic dungeon, new PvP mechanics and the new Fight for Home series.

TERA: Free 7-Day Trial for New Players

Posted: 14 Jun 2012 07:29 AM PDT

Free 7-Day Trial for New Players

En Masse Entertainment has announced that it is offering a free 7-day trial for new TERA players. Players can create up to eight characters and level each to 23 during their time in game.

The Secret World: City of the Sun God - Egypt

Posted: 13 Jun 2012 03:59 PM PDT

City of the Sun God - Egypt

Funcom has partnered with MMORPG.com to bring our readers new information about some of the as-yet unseen locations that players will discover in The Secret World. In the first of a series of location reveals, we bring you the City of the Sun God in Egypt. Read on!

RaiderZ: Our E3 2012 Preview

Posted: 12 Jun 2012 07:03 PM PDT

Our E3 2012 Preview

During E3 last week, we managed to score some quality time with RaiderZ, one of a handful of games that truly stood out among all that were represented during the convention. See what we discovered about RaiderZ then leave us your thoughts in the comments.

SMITE: Closed Beta Key Giveaway #3

Posted: 12 Jun 2012 06:54 PM PDT

Closed Beta Key Giveaway #3

MMORPG.com and Hi-Rez Studios have partnered up to give out 100 keys for the closed beta of their upcoming MOBA, SMITE!

Allods Online: SOTW: Allods Online Edition Winner's Announcement!

Posted: 12 Jun 2012 06:13 PM PDT

SOTW: Allods Online Edition Winner

We've pored over your many awesome Allods Online screenshot submissions and today we're selecting our winners!

WildStar: A Look Inside Friends & Family

Posted: 13 Jun 2012 03:53 PM PDT

A Look Inside Friends & Family

The latest Wildstar Wednesday is a bit different this week as the team gives viewers and fans an inside look at the Friends & Family program that is currently ongoing. The team has produced a terrific video that you won't want to miss. Enjoy!

General: FPSGuru.com | Top 5 Disappointments of E3

Posted: 13 Jun 2012 02:10 PM PDT

FPSGuru.com | Top 5 Disappointments of E3

Adam Tingle looks into what really was disappointing at this year's E3. It's an hysterical look at what might have been if people would just listen to Adam. Check it out at FPSGuru.com!

Elsword: New Continent Arrives with Latest Update

Posted: 13 Jun 2012 01:57 PM PDT

New Continent Arrives with Latest Update

The Elsword Online team has announced the successful deployment of the latest game update. In the update, a new continent is now available for players to explore. In addition, new weapons have been added and new, more challenging enemies have arrived.

General: Skelanimals Coming as Virtual Goods

Posted: 13 Jun 2012 03:15 PM PDT

Skelanimals Coming as Virtual Goods

Bare Tree Media has announced a licensing deal with Art Impressions to bring Skeleanimals to the virtual goods market utilizing micro-transactions in a number of mobile apps, social networks, and virtual worlds.

Star Wars: The Old Republic: SWTOR at E3 2012

Posted: 13 Jun 2012 12:18 AM PDT

SWTOR at E3 2012

We stopped by EA's booth at E3 2012 to check out what BioWare has in store for Star Wars: The Old Republic in 2012. Read on to find out what we learned!
Posted by Shri Krishna

General gaming

General gaming

Three Pikmin-like Games of the Near Future

Posted: 13 Jun 2012 05:10 PM PDT

Feature

1UP COVER STORY

Header

1UP COVER STORY | WEEK OF JUNE 12 | IT WAS A VERY GOOD YEAR (SO FAR)

Three Pikmin-like Games of the Near Future

Cover Story: 2012: Year of the Horde.

A

fter Pikmin 3 opened Nintendo's conference, a curious (though unplanned) trend seemed to settle on E3 2012's show floor. You had to seek them out, but they existed: three Pikmin-inspired games, each doing very different things with Nintendo's formula. "But Bob," you may be heard to ask, "isn't Pikmin just an RTS?" Not just! While it's true that Pikmin didn't define this time-tested genre, the following games have more in common with Nintendo's adorable look at the raw amorality of nature than something like Starcraft. If you've ever wanted a horde of loyal troops willing to smash anything at the waggle of a finger, 2012 is your year.

Spot Art

Freedom Through Stealth

Posted: 13 Jun 2012 02:48 PM PDT

Feature

1UP COVER STORY

Header

1UP COVER STORY | WEEK OF JUNE 12 | IT WAS A VERY GOOD YEAR (SO FAR)

Freedom Through Stealth

Cover Story: Once seen as a joyless burden, stealth-driven gameplay now offers gaming's most liberating design.

T

wo things caught my attention as the 1UP staff completed its Best of E3 2012 voting. First, the music genre put in an awfully good showing for a genre that's supposedly dead; nearly half our winners featured games with a musical theme. Secondly, the "Player Agency" category -- the games that seem to give their players the greatest degree of freedom to complete their appointed tasks -- hail almost entirely from the stealth action niche.

There's a curious irony to this fact. Since the concept of stealth in games really took off, which happened around 1998 with the release of Metal Gear Solid, gamers have increasingly viewed the addition of stealth as a cumbersome, intrusive play mechanic. Even two of the defining pillars of stealth, Splinter Cell and Metal Gear itself, have more or less abandoned the concept of silent infiltration with the games on display at E3: Sam Fisher speed-squatted his way through the Splinter Cell: Blacklist demo, killing multiple simultaneous targets as he dashed through the glare of the desert sun, while Solid Snake has been removed completely from the picture in favor hyperkinetic ninja action in Metal Gear Rising.

The Last of Us Employs Phenomenal Restraint to Create Tension

Posted: 13 Jun 2012 01:45 PM PDT

1UP COVER STORY

Header

1UP COVER STORY | WEEK OF JUNE 12 | IT WAS A VERY GOOD YEAR (SO FAR)

The Last of Us Employs Phenomenal Restraint to Create Tension

Cover Story: Naughty Dog sets the tone through sound, or lack thereof.

A

 wealth of questions still surround The Last of Us, Naughty Dog's highly anticipated PS3 exclusive. How scripted will the tense enemy encounters be? Is it possible to use nonviolence and sneak past a mob instead of dispatching them gruesomely? What caused the world to go to hell? Can The Last of Us' faux-Ellen Page and Beyond: Two Soul's real Ellen Page coexist in the same gaming universe? Well, it'll be quite a while until we have sufficient answers, but until then, it must be said that the game's remarkable visuals may very well be upstaged by its tense, atmospheric, and shockingly patient sound design.

Naughty Dog gave the Uncharted series a bombastically epic score that fit the adventurous vibe perfectly. When Nathan Drake ascends a sand dune and drinks in an endless desert, an audible homage to Lawrence of Arabia is something that makes perfect sense. It's this prior tendency to deliver so much that left me pleasantly surprised by how restrained the studio has been with music in The Last of Us. Instead of assaulting the player with a barrage of tense strings meant to startle and create a sense of unease, they instead deliver a post-apocalyptic world that is nearly completely devoid of music altogether. When Joel and Elle enter the decrepit beauty of a once glorious hotel, there is no wondrous swell of music. Instead, the player is able to look upon this relic of a nearly forgotten past with silent melancholy. Even when the action kicks in and Joel is forced to viciously murder an oncoming attacker, the game abstains from queuing a cliché "fight for your life" tune. It's this silent score that allows the rest of the game's sound design to do the job of articulating the tension of Joel and Elle's daily life.

PlayStation Plus Prompts Me to Rethink My Xbox Live Subscription

Posted: 13 Jun 2012 08:38 AM PDT

Xbox Live PlayStation Plus

I have been an Xbox Live subscriber for the better part of the last decade. I've always shrugged off the suggestion that the service should be made available for free; people are more than welcome to take that position, but I've always been personally fine with paying. I've found myself rethinking that position over the last week, and a lot of that is Sony's doing.

Since starting out as a service intent on delivering nothing more than online gaming, Xbox Live has expanded to offer a lot more -- namely streaming video, streaming music, and video chat. As the number of extras has grown, the price of Xbox Live Gold has also increased from $50 per year to $60 per year. It's worth noting deals can be had throughout the year on one-year Live subscriptions for roughly $35, so it's not as if you're necessarily paying the price of a new game for Live. Still, $35 is nothing to scoff at, and it's a lot of money to pay when my needs can be taken care of elsewhere for free.

Posted by Shri Krishna
Subscribe to: Posts (Atom)

Total Pageviews

statcounter

View My Stats