MMORPG News

MMORPG News

World of Warcraft: Mists of Pandaria: Salyis's Warband Previewed

Posted: 07 Aug 2012 08:34 AM PDT

Salyis

The World of Warcraft: Mists of Pandaria preview site has been updated to give players a look at one of the two roaming world bosses. Salyis's Warband is the first of the two to be shown. Information includes the abilities players will face off against when battling the group.

Aion: v3.0 to Launch in the EU On August 15th

Posted: 07 Aug 2012 07:40 AM PDT

v3.0 to Launch in the EU On August 15th

GameForge has announced that the largest Aion update, v3.0, will officially launch in the EU on August 15th. The update brings two new zones to explore, mounts and player housing into the game.

General: The MMOlympics

Posted: 05 Aug 2012 05:36 PM PDT

The MMOlympics

2012 is an Olympic year with athletes from around the world gathering in London to compete for the 'best in the world' title. But what about us? What about those of us who let our characters strut their prowess? Don't we deserve an MMOlympics? We think so and have The List of events we'd like to see included. Read on!

DayZ: Being Developed as a Stand Alone Game

Posted: 07 Aug 2012 07:03 AM PDT

Being Developed as a Stand Alone Game

PC Gamer is reporting that DayZ is being developed as a stand alone game. According to a Twitter post from Dean "Rocket" Hall, he will be the lead designer and a new web site dedicated to the DayZ stand alone has also been unleashed.

PlanetSide 2: New Command Center Video Diary Released

Posted: 07 Aug 2012 06:26 AM PDT

New Command Center Video Diary Released

Matt Higby and Tramell Isaac are on hand in the latest PlanetSide 2 Command Center video. The pair discuss a recent player event, the tech test and the just-started closed beta phase of development. Enjoy!

ArcheAge: Closed Beta 5 Trailer

Posted: 07 Aug 2012 06:18 AM PDT

Closed Beta 5 Trailer

The ArcheAge team has released a brand new trailer featuring a look at some of the features that players can expect to find during closed beta test #5. According to the AA Facebook page: "New house styles, new clothing styles, new stuff to construct and craft! New mounts, new pet system too! CBT5 is coming!"

Guild Wars 2: Getting Ready

Posted: 05 Aug 2012 05:59 PM PDT

Getting Ready

Last week, ArenaNet threw a small stress test party for those who could make it. It's the devs' way of saying, "Yeah, we're ready. Let's DO this thing!" In our latest Guild Wars 2 column, we share our thoughts about the stress test and the exciting notion that our obsession is just around the corner! Read on!

General: RTSGuru.com | Robot Rising Beta Key Give Away

Posted: 06 Aug 2012 04:35 PM PDT

RTSGuru.com | Robot Rising Beta Key Give Away

RTSGuru.com is giving away 1,000 beta keys to this Robot Rising, an action RPG/RTS hybrid. Robot Rising is one of the few Facebook games we've ever played that's worth a damn so you do not want to miss out on this one. Grab your key at RTSGuru.com!

General: MMORPG.com Celebrates Our Five Millionth Post!

Posted: 06 Aug 2012 04:36 PM PDT

MMORPG.com Celebrates Our Five Millionth Post!

While our forums move a mile-a-minute, we generally don't get to celebrate a new milestone every day. As some of you may have noticed, we recently passed the five millionth post milestone. Woot! Curious as to who made the post? We were, too.

TERA: New Video Details Lancer & Warrior Skills

Posted: 06 Aug 2012 03:31 PM PDT

New Video Details Lancer & Warrior Skills

En Masse Entertainment has released a new TERA video that features a look at the updated skills for both Warriors and Lancers. The updated skill sets will arrive with the release of The Argon Queen in late August. Enjoy!

End of Nations: New Dev Diary Focuses on Hero & Mercenary Units

Posted: 06 Aug 2012 03:06 PM PDT

New Dev Diary Focuses on Hero & Mercenary Units

Trion & Petroglyph Games have released the latest End of Nations developer diary. This time, devs talk about special units: Mercenaries and Heroes. Each has some awesome strategic and combat abilities that the team details. Check it out!

Diablo 3: Character Profiles Now Available

Posted: 06 Aug 2012 01:11 PM PDT

Character Profiles Now Available

The Diablo III blog has been updated with the news that character profile sheets are now available on Battle.Net. The character sheet shows off gear, stats, progress, skills and more. It can also be shared with folks on your friends list to compare data.

General: MMOFTW -SWTOR goes F2P & Rift to Reveal New Soul

Posted: 06 Aug 2012 11:48 AM PDT

MMOFTW -SWTOR goes F2P & Rift to Reveal New Soul

This week's MMOFTW covers everything from the big booming announcement of SWTOR going F2P this fall to indie game news like recent developments from The Repopulation. Plus we learn a bit more about Otherlands, and even tease a Friday, August 10th announcement from Trion Worlds and Rift!

Guild Wars 2: Talk Storytelling with Jeff Grubb and Ree Soesbee

Posted: 06 Aug 2012 10:40 AM PDT

Talk Storytelling with Jeff Grubb and Ree Soesbee

The Guild Wars 2 duo of Jeff Grubb and Ree Soesbee will be hosting a live chat with fans on Twitch.tv beginning at 11:00 a.m. Pacific (12:00 Mountain, 1:00 Central, 2:00 Eastern). The chat will focus on storytelling in Guild Wars 2.

League of Legends: Pro League Now Forming

Posted: 06 Aug 2012 10:20 AM PDT

Pro League Now Forming

Riot Games has announced the formation of a League of Legends Pro League, a new organization that will shine the spotlight on professional gamers as they compete in weekly matches.

PlanetSide 2: Beta Begins & Steam News

Posted: 06 Aug 2012 09:03 AM PDT

Beta Begins & Steam News

The PlanetSide 2 closed beta has officially kicked off as of today, August 6th. In addition, John Smedley has also revealed that PS2 will indeed be a Steam title.

Diablo 3: Ten Million and Counting

Posted: 06 Aug 2012 08:55 AM PDT

Ten Million and Counting

According to Activision-Blizzard's latest earnings report, the gaming world has snapped up over ten million copies of Diablo III since it launched in May.

World of Warcraft: Speculation on Blizzard's Next Move

Posted: 06 Aug 2012 06:04 AM PDT

Speculation on Blizzard

Blizzard Entertainment is arguably the "king of the MMO hill" right now. In a new column, we take a look at potential next steps for the gaming giant. See what you think and then add your comments to the mix.

General: Persistence, My Friend

Posted: 05 Aug 2012 02:35 PM PDT

Persistence, My Friend

As a female gamer, Pokket has a unique insight into the ways in which male gamers might want to go about finding the virtual girl of their dreams. Check out her advice in her latest column!

Vanguard: Saga of Heroes: F2P Hybrid Coming August 14th

Posted: 03 Aug 2012 05:55 PM PDT

F2P Hybrid Coming August 14th

Sony Online Entertainment and the Vanguard team have posted a new blog on the official site laying out some of the details for the upcoming F2P-hybrid subscription model of the game. Included in the news is the announcement that the new version will officially kick off on August 14th.

SMITE: Anhur, Slayer of Enemies Revealed

Posted: 03 Aug 2012 05:11 PM PDT

Anhur, Slayer of Enemies Revealed

Hi-Rez Studios has produced a brand new trailer featuring a new god soon to be introduced into its MOBA, SMITE. Called Anhur, Slayer of Enemies, the lion-like god brings a bevy of interesting skills into the game.

Ragnarok Online: War of Emperium Begins August 7th

Posted: 04 Aug 2012 04:54 PM PDT

War of Emperium Begins August 7th

Gravity Interactive has announced that Tuesday, August 7th will see the start of a new competitive event in Ragnarok Online. Called "War of Emperium", the event will pit players against one another to gain control of dimensional cracks.

Knight Age: Open Beta Dated

Posted: 04 Aug 2012 04:48 PM PDT

Open Beta Dated

Knight Age fans will want to be sure to mark their calendars for August 28th when the game's open beta is slated to begin. According to developers, the recent closed beta yielded significant information and lessons the team has taken to heart in preparation for the open beta.

Taikodom: Closed Beta Begins

Posted: 04 Aug 2012 04:43 PM PDT

Closed Beta Begins

The Taikodom team has announced that the new free to play MMO has officially entered into its closed beta phase of development. A limited number of beta invites have already been sent with the pool set to expand over time.

Brick-Force: Grakulen Check It Out with Armin Papenfuss

Posted: 04 Aug 2012 04:59 PM PDT

Grakulen Check It Out with Armin Papenfuss

In our latest developer play session, Grakulen checks out Brick-Force with Armin Papenfuss. See what you think!
Posted by Shri Krishna

General gaming

General gaming

Distressing Glimpses of Gaming's Future

Posted: 06 Aug 2012 04:45 PM PDT

Steam Subscriber Agreement

Generally speaking, the future of gaming is digital and online-connected. I, for one, am largely in support of much of this, as I quite enjoy the benefit of, say, being able to easily bring all of my handheld games with me wherever I go or easily download my collection of PC games without ever looking for a disc or CD key. The rare instance when I'm without Internet or the long wait for the My Games section of the Xbox 360 dashboard to load aside, I'm a fan of all this digital business. However, on occasion there are things which cause me to wonder if it's all worth it and make me hesitant to debate anyone who is averse to becoming excited about the direction the industry is headed.

Take Dragon Quest X, for instance. Unlike previous games in the series, it is an MMORPG and, as such, it requires an online connection (and carries a subscription fee, at least in Japan) for all but a few hours. The decision to take a previously single-player-centric series into the MMO space -- a move Final Fantasy has made twice, first with XI and then with XIV -- will continue to be talked about. Personally I'm indifferent to the move as I don't have any particular affection for the series beyond being a casual fan.

Disassembling Masahiro Sakurai

Posted: 06 Aug 2012 01:12 PM PDT

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1UP COVER STORY

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1UP COVER STORY | WEEK OF AUGUST 6 | DARING GAMES AND DESIGNERS

Disassembling Masahiro Sakurai

Cover Story: Dive into the Kirby and Smash Bros. creator's development philosophy and find out how he's one of Nintendo's most daring creators.

"W

hat exactly is your 'style'?" Nintendo President Satoru Iwata asked longtime Nintendo developer Masahiro Sakurai in an Iwata Asks interview for Sakurai's most recent game, Kid Icarus: Uprising.

Sakurai's response wasn't concise and easy to pick out, but that might be the best representation of his development style. His works are very familiar, often using characters and concepts that we've seen many times before, but they can veer so far from normal gaming conventions that some gamers are turned off. Sakurai's works are best experienced by patient players willing to see through occasionally awkward controls to uncover the unbridled genius.

Kazuma Kujo Interview: Keeping Irem's Spirit Alive

Posted: 06 Aug 2012 12:00 PM PDT

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1UP COVER STORY | WEEK OF AUGUST 6 | DARING GAMES AND DESIGNERS

Kazuma Kujo Interview: Keeping Irem's Spirit Alive

Cover Story: We speak to the creator of Disaster Report about earthquakes, cancellation, and Irem's demise.

Y

ou probably don't know the name Kazuma Kujo. You may not even be familiar with his works. But over the previous decade, he headed up some of gaming's most inventive and ambitious projects under the banner of Irem, the venerable arcade developer that made a splash in the '80s with super-technical shooter R-Type. Kujo's best-known venture is likely the Zettai Zetsumei Toshi series, the first two chapters of which came to the U.S. under the names Disaster Report and Raw Danger! As simulation adventures set in the wake of massive earthquakes, the ZZT titles stood out from other games of the PlayStation era for their emphasis on survival: Man versus the elements rather than the more common video game cliché of man versus man (or robot, or zombies, or aliens).

Unfortunately, ZZT most recently made the news last spring when Irem cancelled the series' fourth chapter and the series at large in the wake of the real-life Tohoku earthquake and tsunami of March 11, 2011, which made ZZT's theoretical scenario unpleasantly real for millions of people. Shortly after Zettai Zetsumei Toshi 4's cancellation, Irem scuttled its other core gaming projects (including the long delayed Steambot Chronicles 2) and retreated into the pachinko machine business -- an unfortunate ending to the company's brilliant quarter-century of creating great video games.

Cover Story: Daring Games and Designers

Posted: 06 Aug 2012 10:55 AM PDT

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1UP COVER STORY

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1UP COVER STORY | WEEK OF AUGUST 6 | DARING GAMES AND DESIGNERS

Cover Story: Daring Games and Designers

All this week, join 1UP as we examine the people and experiences that challenge our notions of gaming.

Though they're typically sold as being chock-full of thumb-blistering, edge-of-your-seat excitement, more often than not, video games act as comfort food, delivering the familiar in a fun-to-play package. And that's not necessarily a terrible thing; the greatest gaming series proactively celebrate their pasts, and set out to improve the qualities that made us love them in the first place. It's doubtful that popular mainstays like The Legend of Zelda and Metal Gear Solid would remain so renowned if playing them didn't amount to wrapping yourself in a warm blanket of gaming memories.

Sometimes, though, certain games and designers emerge that challenge our love of the familiar, and in doing so, either create genres unto themselves, or wither and die horribly in the world of retail. Given the general fickleness and unpredictability of consumers, what does and doesn't strike gold often seems left entirely to chance. But what's important is the fact that some of the greatest games -- regardless of their financial success -- take great risks, ignore safe trends and known quantities, and leave us talking about them long after they've been retired to our shelves.

Falls from Grace: How Four Creative Game Companies Went Astray

Posted: 06 Aug 2012 10:51 AM PDT

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1UP COVER STORY | WEEK OF AUGUST 6 | DARING GAMES AND DESIGNERS

Falls from Grace: How Four Creative Game Companies Went Astray

Cover Story: Tragic examples of groundbreaking game creators missing the magic.

M

any game developers live and die without making a mark on the industry, and others suffer a crueler fate. They peak with brilliant games and then fade away for one reason or another. Markets shift, talent departs, and sometimes, the magically summoned lightning just doesn't strike again. From there, it's a slow descent into mediocrity, accompanied by the laments of former fans and the sense that something potentially brilliant was lost. It's never a pretty sight, and we've dug up some game companies, large and small, that slipped from their high ground.

QUINTET: AN EXISTENTIAL CRISIS
Posted by Shri Krishna
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