While I do not usually announce the Open Beta date for foreign games that frequently, Duke of Mount Deer by China developer ChangYou is not one to be missed. Having a development budget of over USD 80 million, the game is set to open up to Chinese players on 22nd July, which is this Friday. If anyone is interested, I might draw up a registration guide for the masses!
Duke of Mount Deer Online is set to release a similarly themed movie based on the game soon, with China's biggest period drama actor Hu Ge at the helm. The official game/ movie theme is sung by him as well, which you can see in the official music video below. For more on the game, click here and refer to my previous posts!
After months of argument between Webzen Korea and Red 5 Studios, with both companies filing lawsuits over the Asia Pacific publishing rights for Firefall, the whole matter is set to end. According to foreign reports, representatives from Webzen and Red 5 Studios are set to meet and make peace with each other, with both agreeing lawsuits and court appearances will do no good for either.There is no date mentioned on when the talks will happen, but it seems there is genuine interest in settling this issue peacefully. More about the conflict can be read here.
(Source) Some weeks back, I played Faxion Online for a little while and immediately uninstalled the game. Yes, the game has a unique theme of Heaven vs Hell and some interesting features but when you can't get the basics right, the game doesn't deserve players. Awkward game design, blocky character models, a combat system rehashed from the 90s'... In fact, I was so pissed off by the game I did not post a small article about it after taking an ingame footage seen below.
UTV Ignition Games seem liked a really promising company at first, but since the release of Warrior Epic and Mytheon (selling the game with a ridiculously priced package at launch), I did not hold much hope for this blundering game developer. The management apparently has no idea what the market wants now and just try too hard to be "unique" in their games. Sorry, UTV Ignition Games, you deserve it. Enough of bashing, below is the whole article from Gamasutra.
Development and support staff from True Studios, developer of free-to-play MMO Faxion Online, were laid off last week as UTV Ignition continues to stray away from internal development.
Don Choi, VP of UTV Ignition's online division, confirmed the news to Gamasutra this morning, saying that a "fraction" of the True Studios staff had been laid off.
According to one of the affected employees, who asked to remain anonymous due to the sensitivity of the situation, that "fraction" actually represented the majority of the employees at the Austin-based True Games studio.
In addition to the development staff, our source tells us the platform team, the customer service division and all but one of the quality assurance staff was let go.The game's studio in China will "be closing in the next couple of weeks," our source reports.
According to Choi, Faxion Online "will continue to run and be updated frequently," despite the layoffs (Choi did not comment on the potential closure in China when asked). Additionally, he says the studio's multi-platform Planet Crashers remains in development.
"Their severance was a joke," our source tells us, saying that the layoffs demonstrate UTV Ignition's "clear and demonstrated inability to focus, plan or execute on many levels."
UTV Ignition has been cutting its internal development as part of a shift that sees it becoming a pure publisher, with the most recent layoffs hitting an Austin-based console team working on pre-production for an unannounced title.
I am sure Webzen by now should be a name most online gamers will recognize. Starting years ago with MU Online, the Korean developer/ publisher has found much success in almost all its games. Well, according to a recent report, Webzen's games are not really popular in Korea itself since more than 50% of its earnings are from overseas servers.
More famous titles from Webzen over the years include MU Online, SUN Online and R2 Online. After buying over NHN Games, new titles such as the much anticipated action MMORPG Continent of the Ninth (C9) is added as well. Ok, enough with the introduction, let's take a look into the company!
↑↑ NHN Games and Webzen's logo placed side by side.
↑↑ Webzen does not have its own building, but apparently occupies the whole level of a big office building.
↑↑ Relaxation corner.
↑↑ It is decorated with some of the company's game posters.
↑↑ R2 Online and Battery Online, Webzen's upcoming MMOFPS (already live in Korea).
↑↑ Seems that all Korean developers have their own stylish cafe within office premises.
↑↑ Classy and neat interior decor.
↑↑ The cute menu! I wonder what food is written on the board...
↑↑ The pretty cafe manager.
↑↑ Webzen's main conference room. Note that each seat has its own mini-table.
↑↑ Heading towards the main development office area.
↑↑ A very spacious and cosy vibe wihtin the development area.
↑↑ An incredibly big area is allocated for the development teams.
↑↑All these are apparently live plants!
↑↑ You can guess the transport of choice for most of the employees.
↑↑ Looking on the other side of the building... The same level is all occupied by Webzen!
↑↑ I wonder what effect does this leaf-shaped cover has...
↑↑ There are tons of robot figurines (including Gundam) being displayed.
↑↑ Woah, dangerous toys they have there...
↑↑ Development studios are always full of fancy toys.
↑↑ Whatever happened to Huxley?!
↑↑ The female development staff getting shy and hiding from the camera.
↑↑ One of SUN Online's design staff working on character modelling.
↑↑ One of SUN Online's female design staff working on character modelling.
↑↑ Yer another one of SUN Online's female design staff working on character modelling.
Striking the perfect balance between story and action can be a tricky proposition; but even in these far-flung future times of 2011, developers still force players to sit patiently during lengthy cut-scenes as these tortured souls wait patiently for the chance use their controllers as God intended. While Japanese games can't seem to shake this problem, in the past decade we've seen companies like Valve give their players agency at all times, even as the talking heads surrounding them spout paragraphs of Sci-Fi exposition. Supergiant Games' Bastion approaches this specific issue in an innovative and unobtrusive way: throughout the game, a narrator describes your every action on the fly, commenting on the surroundings, enemies, and even your weapon choice. While Bastion's method of delivery could easily come off as a cheap gimmick, the narration is written with a sense of economy and sincerity, adding another layer of quality to an already stunning game.
Of course, there's more to Bastion than just a well-told story; the game itself plays like an old-school Zelda clone with a deceptive amount of depth. Bastion's silent hero (simply known as "the Kid") awakes to find the world around him annihilated without explanation; from here, the game tasks him with retrieving crystal cores from each of the ruined lands and returning them to the titular Bastion, a safe place that may help our hero -- and the Stranger, the game's narrator -- restore the life they once knew. To assist the Kid in his journey, Bastion gives him access to an array of melee and projectile weaponry ranging from hammers to dual revolvers, as well as a variety of special skills for some of the trickier enemy encounters.
3DS title Mega Man Legends 3 is now the second Mega Man game to be canceled in the space of less than four months. Capcom announced tonight on the Capcom Unity blog that the Legends 3 project is dead, meaning neither the full game nor the Prototype Version will be released.
Legends 3 was a project built upon fan suggestions. Originally announced last September, its future was soon called into question after Keiji Inafune, a producer on the first three games in the Legends series, left Capcom in October. The company reassured fans it was still coming and had plans to release a small taste of what was to come in the form of Prototype Version for the 3DS eShop. Even with the shop's launch pushed back, the game couldn't make its promised release date and was delayed. Prototype Version's success was critical as it would dictate whether or not the full version would ultimately be made.
Today's announcement wasn't specific about the whys behind this decision. "From the outset the MML3 Project was intended to give gamers across the world insight and input into the development process," it reads. "Part of this process includes an assessment of whether the title will go into full production, and is based on a number of criteria with input from different sectors of the company.
His latest project, according to Piki Geek, is known as Team Fortress Arcade. It takes the characters and setting of Team Fortress 2 and turns them into a 90s-style, side-scrolling beat-em-up with guns. All nine classes are included, each with multiple weapons (including special abilities, like rocket jumping in the Soldier's case) and stats (like speed and health) based on their TF2 versions. Sound effects and music are taken right from TF2 to ensure it feels like a Team Fortress game.
Arcade is playable by up to four players at once. Online multiplayer isn't currently available, although Ruth told Piki Geek it's something he has plans to eventually include.
First-person shooters are arguably the most popular and mainstream of videogame genres. And as a result of that, there has been a backlash from a certain segment of gamers who are tired of seeing FPS games released left and right. John Carmack, id Software co-founder and a key player in the development of some of the most influential of early FPSes, like Doom, Wolfenstein 3D, and Quake, doesn't agree with the hate and resents the implication that making an FPS is synonymous with avoiding creativity. After all, as he puts it, "As long as people are buying it, it means they're enjoying it."
Speaking with IndustryGamers, Carmack described id's upcoming FPS Rage as "not just, 'Here's your squadmates.' But that's still a proven formula that people like, and it's a mistake to [discount that]. As long as people are buying it, it means they're enjoying it. If they buy the next Call of Duty, it's because they loved the last one and they want more of it.
"So I am pretty down on people who take the sort of creative auteurs' perspective. It's like 'Oh, we're not being creative.' But we're creating value for people -- that's our job! It's not to do something that nobody's ever seen before. It's to do something that people love so much they're willing to give us money for."
An Xbox 360 system update is coming sometime tomorrow. Before getting too excited about what it might add, be aware that it won't include any new features you'll be able to notice.
Major Nelson brings word on his blog that the update will instead prepare the system for various enhancements that will be delivered later this year. He didn't specify, but presumably he's referring to the (new) New Xbox Experience that will deliver live TV, UFC, YouTube, and Bing.
Microsoft announced those features at its E3 press briefing early last month. Multimedia functionality like this has been a big focus for the company in recent years, having added things like Netflix, Last.fm, and Hulu support in the past.
Q Entertainment's spiritual successor to Rez, Child of Eden, will be out for PlayStation 3 on September 20.
Ubisoft confirmed the release date earlier today with IGN. It'll carry the same $49.99 price as the Xbox 360 version, which was released last month to strong reviews but relatively quiet sales -- it sold only 34,000 copies in June.
After failing to provide a definitive answer on the subject for quite some time, PlayStation Move support in the PS3 version was confirmed back in April, just as that version was delayed.
The release of El Shaddai: Ascension of the Metatron has been pushed back several weeks. After originally being set to come out next Tuesday, July 26, it will now be out on August 16.
The delay comes as a surprise given how close it was to being out. Ignition told Destructoid the move is due to "unforeseen logistical issues," the sort of problem that doesn't sound like it should have any further impact on El Shaddai's release beyond this delay. As the game's Twitter account puts it, "Don't Worry, Everything's Fine." Its September 9 release in Europe is unaffected by the delay.
El Shaddai is a third-person action game inspired by the Jewish Book of Enoch. 1UP named it one of the best-looking games of E3 2011, and with good reason -- it has a unique art style, as is to be expected, given that it was directed by Takeyasu Sawaki. He previously worked as a designer on Devil May Cry, Steel Battalion, and Okami.
Activision is none too pleased by the actions of whomever owns ModernWarfare3.com, and it's making an attempt to have control of the the domain transferred to it.
Earlier this month, ModernWarfare3.com went from hosting anti-Call of Duty content to directing visitors to the official website of the franchise's biggest competition, Battlefield 3. This was possible because the domain is owned not by Activision, publisher of the Call of Duty series, but by someone else who has used the domain registrar's privacy settings to keep his/her/their identity unknown. Battlefield publisher EA has denied it's responsible, despite initial speculation that it might be behind it all.
Since then, Fusible notes the site briefly reverted to its old ways, but with the addition of a notice that a complaint (PDF) had been filed by Activision seeking it be granted the domain. It paid $2,600 (an insubstantial amount for a behemoth like Activision Blizzard) for a three-person panel to determine the validity of its accusations.
Last week we gave you our idea of what games on the Wii U might look like. Not wanting hog all the fun for ourselves, we decided to take the issue to you, the 1UP community, and see what you want to see from Nintendo's next console.
Alongside Limbo and Dead Block, a remastered version of the old, on-rails arcade shooter Fast Draw Showdown will be released on the PlayStation Network tomorrow, July 19.
Showdown is essentially a light gun game where you compete in a series of Old West-style showdowns. Unlike those in Red Dead Redemption, you'll be using the PlayStation Move controller to aim, so it should feel a bit more authentic than the slow motion-laden, right analog stick affairs that are Red Dead showdowns. (Not that those weren't fun.)
Fast Draw was originally an arcade title released in 1994 and was ported to WiiWare earlier this year. The PS3 version should be much better: it features support for high definition graphics (albeit only 720p), online leaderboards, Trophies, a new scoring system, and -- for those who care -- PlayStation Home rewards.
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Korea-based JCE announced a new creative online action game by the name of Psychic X (translated) on July 15. The game will enable players to use various cards to generate different uplifting tactics. It's expected that related game info will be officially released in August or so.
Wargaming.net announced today details on economic system for the upcoming flight combat MMO World of Warplanes. The new game recently announced at E3, will have the same economic profile as the highly-acclaimed World of Tanks, with Gold, Credits, and Experience as main currency to gain and spend for continued advancements.
With the launch of Rage of the Firelands (patch 4.2), we introduced the World of Warcraft Starter Edition, a replacement for the previously available free trial. The Starter Edition allows anyone to play for free up to level 20 without the time restrictions placed on trial accounts -- all you need is a Battle.net account and Internet connection. The Starter Edition also opens up some new features that weren't available in the old time-limited trial:
The game is being co-developed by Snail Game and Russian studio Mental Games and it mixes with steampunk and fantasy elements, therefore, unlike Age of Wulin, Black Gold is more westernized.
Blizzard have updated Trading Card Game art gallery to feature ten new pieces. Each image is taken directly from the official World of Warcraft Trading Card Game. Be sure to give a shout-out to your favorite pieces in the comments.
ALT1 Games USA is starting the closed beta test of Troy Online. The closed beta test will be running from July 15th, 10am PDT to July 19th, 12 AM PT. Come get the beta keys.
NCsoft, the famous MMO publisher, today announced their lineup for the upcoming Comic-Con International in San Diego lasting from July 20 to July 24. NCsoft will show off Guild Wars 2, one of the most highly-anticipated MMORPGs, as well as the new free-to-play version of City of Heroes with presentations and some playable demos on the show floor at booth #5345.
If you are an online game fan who has unique views on online games, you're welcome to join Blog Club and share your views with other players in our Blog.
It feels like only yesterday that 1.3 landed on the shores of Telara - Waves of Madness continues to surge towards the sundering of the gates of Hammerknell. The seas have not calmed here at Trion as we continue to bring you more to enjoy with each update.
Mark Online, an MMORPG set in a medieval fantasy world and developed by the game development company BlackSmith Games, made its first appearance recently. You can now have a rudimentary understanding of the game through the following gameplay video.
As announced recently, the adults-only 3D MMORPG Legend of Blood which's developed by Korea-based Nexon's subsidiary EXC Games is going to make open a brand-new hunting field called "Islet of Depravity".
Through a community statement on the forums, we have known that the European release of the Allods Online Renaissance update has been delayed for two weeks. The reasons are the following: - Releasing the current build of this update would compromise features we had fought too hard to give you and we simply refuse to [...]
Sony Online Entertainment and LucasArts has announced Mission on Iceberg Three, the summer series of Star Wars: Clone Wars Adventures, which connects the storyline between seasons three and four of the hit Cartoon Network television series, Star Wars: The Clone Wars. SOE worked closely with Dave Filoni, supervising director of the series, to create the [...]
