MMOGaming News

MMOGaming News

City of Steam dev journal introduces the Ostenians

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City of Steam dev journal introduces the Ostenians


Although the people of Ostenia aren't getting much attention from City of Steam's alpha players at the moment, developers have shined a spotlight on the fun-loving, romantic Ostenians in the game's latest dev journal.

The Secret World 'Men in Black Vans' - Investigation Mission Guide

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The Secret World 'Men in Black Vans' - Investigation Mission Guide


Another Investigation mission guide, this one by the name of 'Men in Black vans'. This one is probably the shortest of all Investigation missions...'Go To' Danny Dufresne and 'Get' the mission; 'Go To' the Van and 'Use' the Laptop(The password is Sally); 'Pick up' the tracking device and turn it on from your inventory...

Your Everyday Slayer Guide (PvP & PvP)

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Your Everyday Slayer Guide (PvP & PvP)


Slayer is a sub-class of the Witchblade, which can be acquired after completing all the necessary Promotion quests and tests at level 20. This class is generally considered a PvP-oriented class. Its abilities do not hit far away enemies. Slayer is strictly a melee-oriented class, the opposite of a Warden. Slayer has quick melee combos that cover a small or medium radius, perfect for killing small groups of enemies in dungeons or in a 1v1 PvP match.

Most Popular Showgirls In ChinaJoy 2012

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Most Popular Showgirls In ChinaJoy 2012


The 10th ChinaJoy kicks off in Shanghai from Jul.26th to Jul.29th. As the most important game festival in China, ChinaJoy not only bring gamers a feast of great games, but also gorgeous showgirls and handsome showboys.

[ChinaJoy 2012] Dragon Sword – Gameplay footage

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[ChinaJoy 2012] Dragon Sword – Gameplay footage


With Blade & Soul China coming under Tencent Games, pretty much the other closer competitors have something up their sleeves to sort of "counter" it. China's No.2 online gaming company, NetEase, came up with the self-developed Dragon Sword as the answer. Looking like a cross between Blade & Soul and TERA, Dragon Sword is a non-target and open world action combat game.

RuneScape Announces Sizzling Summer Members Benefits

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RuneScape Announces Sizzling Summer Members Benefits


Epic in-game rewards for members this August and September ensure that everyone can have a sizzling summer in RuneScape whatever the weather.

[ChinaJoy 2012] Asura – New Dragonette class introduced

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[ChinaJoy 2012] Asura – New Dragonette class introduced


Tencent Games'answer to counter the incoming Diablo III China, Asura is a self-developed online game which has a storyline based on novel "Legend of Wukong", which makes a dark twist to classic Journey to the West. The 6th character revealed so far, the Dragonette represents the Dragon race (white horse in the original novel) and the speedy, stealthy assassin class. Yes, the 6th class, and it is only going into Open Beta on 12th December later this year. Blizzard, what the heck were you doing all these years?

The 4 Pillars Of Guild Wars 2 Gameplay

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The 4 Pillars Of Guild Wars 2 Gameplay


Earlier in the development of Guild Wars 2 we released our MMO Manifesto video, a high-level look at the philosophy behind the design of the game. As we approach the launch date, now is the perfect time to talk about the outcome of that design philosophy with a look at the core ideas that the game is built on: personal story, dynamic events, combat, and PvP.

[ChinaJoy 2012] Soul Master Going to China, English Servers Silent

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[ChinaJoy 2012] Soul Master Going to China, English Servers Silent


Around 2 years on, Soul Master is still missing from both North America and Europe, but the game will be at ChinaJoy 2012 as MMO company Guang Yu Games' latest title.

Trion Worlds and Crytek to Join Forces for the Highly Anticipated Warface in the West

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Trion Worlds and Crytek to Join Forces for the Highly Anticipated Warface in the West


Leading premium online games company Trion Worlds and Crytek announced today they will co-publish and co-operate the award-winning online first-person shooter (FPS) Warface® in North America, Europe, Turkey, Australia and New Zealand, through GFACE® powered by the Trion platform.

Exclusive RaiderZ CBT Key Giveaway Event

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Exclusive RaiderZ CBT Key Giveaway Event


Perfect World announced that the Closed Beta for its award-winning, action MMORPG, RaiderZ, is scheduled to launch on August 8, 2012. Grab a beta key before they run out!

Final Fantasy XIV Online Gets Renamed As ‘A Realm Reborn’

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Final Fantasy XIV Online Gets Renamed As 'A Realm Reborn'


After a couple of years being brought back to the drawing board, Square Enix's Final Fantasy XIV Online: Version 2.0 finally gets renamed as "A Realm Reborn" and should be on schedule for the Beta phase later this year.

LOTRO Revealed the Details of Mounted Combat and Farmer's Faire

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LOTRO Revealed the Details of Mounted Combat and Farmer's Faire


After being delayed a week, the brand new festival, the Farmer's Faire, is live as promised today on all servers! The festival will run from July 26th – August 13th.

Nexeon Partners with Overwolf to Announce the Release of the Face of Mankind Multicom

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Nexeon Partners with Overwolf to Announce the Release of the Face of Mankind Multicom


Nexeon Technologies, a free-to-play online game publisher and the developer of the MMO Face of Mankind, today announced the launch of the "Face of Mankind Multicom" in collaboration with Overwolf, a software company specializing in adding a rich layer of social functionality to games.

No New Player Models in Mists of Pandaria

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No New Player Models in Mists of Pandaria


World of Warcraft is around for quite a long time. With the release of Mists of Pandaria, players were expecting character model updates. Blizzard layed them off the table, because they wanted to focus on the expansion - new zones, quests and had no time updating models. They claimed they have dwarf model updates ready, but they want to release all models at once.

MapleStory Revealed a Brand New Kaiser Class

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MapleStory Revealed a Brand New Kaiser Class


Kaiser has officially been added into MapleStory Korea's servers. Born from the Nova race, he is touted as the Protector of Dragons. Without much guessing, one could tell he will be a melee "in-your-face" fighter.

Party Rock With LMFAO And Wargaming At Gamescom 2012

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Party Rock With LMFAO And Wargaming At Gamescom 2012


Wargaming is extremely excited to announce that this year, the company plans on unleashing the party of all parties at gamescom 2012 in Cologne, Germany. Attendees will get to experience a party like no other, with tantalizing go-go dancers, DJs spinning the latest hits, and best of all, live performances by Digitalism and, fresh from their appearance at the Super Bowl, LMFAO!

End of Nations Developer Diary: State of the Nation

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End of Nations Developer Diary: State of the Nation


Trion Worlds today released the latest developer diary for the highly-anticipated Free-to-Play online military strategy game End of Nations. The new video features President of Petroglyph Mike Legg and other key team leaders from Petroglyph discussing the lore and story in the game.

TERA Announces Details Behind Argon Queen Update

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TERA Announces Details Behind Argon Queen Update


En Masse Entertainment is pleased to share early details surrounding the game's biggest update - Argon Queen, which will be available to players free of charge next month.

Highly Anticipated FPS MMO Warface to be offered through GFACE

Posted:

Highly Anticipated FPS MMO Warface to be offered through GFACE


Leading premium online games company Trion Worlds and Crytek announced today they will co-publish and co-operate the award-winning online first-person shooter (FPS) Warface in North America, Europe, Turkey, Australia and New Zealand, through GFACE powered by the Trion platform.
Posted by Shri Krishna

MMORPG Reviews

MMORPG Reviews

Wargaming has announced its plans at the Gamescon 2012

Posted: 27 Jul 2012 12:39 AM PDT

Wargaming has announced that this year, the company plans on unleashing the party of all parties at gamescom 2012 in Cologne, Germany. Attendees will get to experience a party like no other, with tantalizing go-go dancers, DJs spinning the latest hits, and best of all, live performances by Digitalism and, fresh from their appearance at [...]

Bigpoint is celebrating the Olympics by adding some fun summer athletics to its own games

Posted: 26 Jul 2012 09:01 AM PDT

Bigpoint is celebrating the Olympics by adding some fun summer athletics to its own games inspired by the world-famous five Olympic rings. Bigpoint's favourite games are all geared up for the celebrations and have added in athletic quests in London hotspots. Drakensang Online – Helios Games - Let the Helios Games begin! In the name of [...]

Combat Arms has released its latest map named “Nemexis Lab”

Posted: 26 Jul 2012 08:28 AM PDT

Nexon America has released a new update that comes with a new PVE map and presents the new Assassin characters for its MMOFPS, Combat Arms. The new PvE map, "Nexexis Lab" doesn't only require players to fight against Zombies and Mercenaries, hired by NEMEXIS, but also introduces the newest kind of enemy: Mech-Exoskeletons. The video [...]

PlanetSide 2 has released the full version of the Death Is No Excuse cinematic trailer

Posted: 26 Jul 2012 07:51 AM PDT

Sony Online Entertainment and Games ProSiebenSat.1 have released the full version of the Death Is No Excuse cinematic trailer of its MMOFPS Planetside 2. The game is currently in beta testing.

Mabinogi has presented its new Bard character class

Posted: 26 Jul 2012 06:47 AM PDT

Nexon America has released a new video that presents the Mabinogi‘s new Bard character class. The Bard class, also known as the "Battlefield Maestro," supports team battles with the power of music. Armed with a Battle Mandolin, the Bard brings to fights seven new skills to help themselves and their teammates. Some of the skills [...]

ROSE Online has announced that upcoming expansion, Sea of Dawn arrives on August 7th

Posted: 26 Jul 2012 05:55 AM PDT

Gravity Interactive, has announced the launch of the ROSE Online‘s upcoming expansion, Sea of Dawn. Beginning August 7th, players can for the first time begin a new story arc, which brings back a fearsome enemy but with the hope of freeing the precious Goddess Luna. Sea of Dawn introduces a number of game changes, including [...]

SG Interactive is ringing in the summer with unique in-game opportunities for its games

Posted: 26 Jul 2012 04:57 AM PDT

SG Interactive is ringing in the summer with unique in-game opportunities across its three anime-inspired casual MMOG’s. Grand Chase: Heroes players can experience a new max-level dungeon, Trickster Online gamers can instantly advance as many as 100 levels and Pangya players will see a new web-based board game that provides adventuring golfers with unique in-game [...]

RIFT invites back all former players back to Telara through July 29

Posted: 26 Jul 2012 04:44 AM PDT

RIFT invites back all former players back to Telara to sample the latest and greatest content that Trion's MMORPG has to offer. Any previous subscribers with characters above level 20 can log in for free through Sunday, July 29th and experience unrestricted access to recently-added features, including Conquest, four new zones of Instant Adventure, the [...]

Rusty Hearts has launched today its first major expansion, Reborn

Posted: 26 Jul 2012 03:43 AM PDT

Perfect World Entertainment Inc. has launched today Reborn, the first major expansion for the action MMO Rusty Hearts. Players can look forward to new dungeons, bosses, and challenges, in addition to a wealth of new content, including new Weapon Focuses and skill sets for each character, a new Pet System, ranked PvP with weekly rewards, [...]

Gamania has launched the browser version of his MMORPG Soul Captor

Posted: 26 Jul 2012 03:07 AM PDT

Gamania has launched the browser version of his MMORPG Soul Captor. This version is now accessible via any web browser after downloading a small plugin. Gamania has appealed to the Kalydo technology, which allows players to access the game immediately without having to download the client. According to the way in which the player plays, Kalydo [...]
Posted by Shri Krishna


General Gaming Article

General Gaming Article

AMD Reportedly Prepping Three Athlon II X4 CPUs For Socket FM2

Posted: 26 Jul 2012 11:23 AM PDT

Even with all the talk about new directions like Trinity, Vishera and the whole heterogenous computing concept, one old standby is still holding steady at AMD: the decade-plus old Athlon brand. In recent years, Athlon processors have taken a backseat to AMD's APUs, but they're still chugging along, and CPU World reports that the company is brewing up a batch of three new Athlon II X4 CPUs for Socket FM2 as we speak.

The website, which is generally very reliable, only got ahold of the basic specs for the chips:

  • Athlon II X4-730 - quad-core, 2.80GHz, 4MB L2 cache, 65W TDP
  • Athlon II X4-740 - quad-core, 3.20GHz, 4MB L2 cache, 65W TDP
  • Athlon II X4-750K - unlocked quad-core, 3.40GHz, 4MB L2 cache, 100W TDP

The rest of the details are murky: CPU world doesn't even know when the chips are slated to launch or if they'll be OEM-only or available at retail. The website reports the trio will be based on AMD's Piledriver architecture, but will likely have no integrated GPU functionality.

Via TechPowerUp

Gigabit Google Fiber Plans Unveiled, Include Traditional TV and a Free Internet Option

Posted: 26 Jul 2012 10:39 AM PDT

Google just unveiled the pricing plans for the super-fast Google Fiber gigabit Internet service it's rolling out in the Kansas Cities in both Missouri and Kansas, and wow, subscribers get a lot for a little. Basic fiber-based gigabit Internet only costs $70; gigabit Internet plus TV (with a full channel lineup) costs $120 per month; and there's even an option to receive totally free Internet for at least 7 years.

Of course, that last package isn't quite no strings attached; freeloaders are limited to 5Mbps down/1Mbps up and they'll have to pay a $300 construction fee to have the fiber wires hooked up to their house, though they can opt to pay the fee in $25 increments over the course of a year. Google waves that fee for premium gigabit subscribers and tosses in 1TB of storage on Google Drive, to boot.

The TV offering is intriguing, too: it comes with hundreds of traditional HD channels comprised of the major stations you're used to, on-demand movies, full YouTube and Netflix integration, and a DVR function that can save 2TB worth of TV and up record up to eight different shows simultaneously. Oh, and TV subscribers get a free Nexus 7 to act as a remote and a portable TV screen, though some stations aren't available for streaming to the tablet.

Sign me up! Oh, wait: Google Fiber is only available in a small slice of Kansas Cities. Residents in uncovered portions of the cities can "pre-register" for a $10 fee; the neighborhoods that generate the most support by September 9th will be the next ones to receive that delicious gigabit Internet.

A Rough Morning For The Net: Twitter, Google Talk and Windows Azure All Suffer Service Outages

Posted: 26 Jul 2012 10:05 AM PDT

They say bad things come in threes, and that was definitely true for folks who rely on the Internet for communications and cloud-based data centers today. The woes started this morning when Google Talk went down and stayed down for several hours. Then Microsoft's Windows Azure service went belly up in Europe, followed by some users running into outage issues with Twitter.  And without Twitter, how are you going to complain about the other services being down?

It's odd that all three toppled in succession like dominos, but fortunately, none of the disruptions were overly long. A quick glance at Digsby tells me Google Talk is back up and running, and Windows Azure's status dashboard shows green lights and clean sailing around the globe. Twitter's status still says that "Users may be experiencing issues accessing Twitter. Our engineers are currently working to resolve the issue." We haven't run into any issues Tweeting retro-tinged pics of our utilitarian meals, however.

How about you? Did the service outages knock you for a loop today?

Valve Hedging Bets on Linux to Avoid Windows 8 "Catastrophe"

Posted: 26 Jul 2012 07:51 AM PDT

You may have heard that Valve is hard at work porting its Steam client to the Linux platform, but it's not because the company has developed a sudden affinity towards the open source space. The real reason is because Valve views Microsoft's upcoming Windows 8 release as a "catastrophe" in the making for the PC industry at large, or at least that's the viewpoint held by Gabe Newell, co-founder and managing director at Valve.

Newell sat down for a fireside chat at Casual Connect, an annual videogame conference in Seattle. AllThingsD was in attendance and posted some interesting, if unflattering (towards Windows 8) quotes from the head of Valve.

"We want to make it as easy as possible for the 2,500 games on Steam to run on Linux as well. It's a hedging strategy. I think Windows 8 is a catastrophe for everyone in the PC space," Newell explained. "I think we'll lose some of the top-tier PC/OEMs, who will exit the market. I think margins will be destroyed for a bunch of people. If that's true, then it will be good to have alternatives to hedge against that eventuality."

Newell isn't alone in his assessment. Stardock CEO Brad Wardell wrote a piece for Kotaku earlier in the year in which he called Windows 8 a "schizophrenic" operating system unable to decide if its a tablet or desktop OS, and a "usability nightmare" that puts too much focus on touch.

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Zynga's Cash Crops Appear to be Drying Up, Investors Head to Greener Pastures

Posted: 26 Jul 2012 07:26 AM PDT

Shares of Zynga plummeted 40 percent to $3.03 in after market trading after the social game developer reported a net loss for its second quarter ended June 30, 2012. Zynga tried to put a positive spin on the fact that its Q2 revenue of $332 million represents a 19 percent year-over-year increase and that its six months year-to-date revenue of $653 million is a 25 percent year-over-year increase, but the numbers still added up to a $22.8 million net loss for the quarter, and a $108.1 million net loss for the six month period.

In a conference call with analysts, John Schappert, chief operating officer for Zynga, was critical of changes Facebook made last quarter.

"Facebook made a number of changes in the quarter. These changes favored new games. Our users did not remain as engaged and did not come back as often," Shcappert explained, according to The New York Times.

That's concerning, but the biggest red flag for investors is the fact that Zynga sharply cut its forecast for its bookings (leftover revenue after paying Facebook) to as low as $1.15 billion, down from a previous projection of $1.47 billion.

More details are included in the full report (PDF).

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Asus Jumps on 802.11ac Bandwagon, Launches RT-AC66U 5G Wi-Fi Router

Posted: 26 Jul 2012 06:23 AM PDT

It might be awhile before there's an officially certified 802.11ac standard, but in the meantime, companies are ready and willing to forge ahead with router models based on draft specifications, just as we saw in the draft 802.11n days. Asus is one of them, having just announced the launch of its RT-AC66U 5G Wi-Fi router with greater than gigabit wireless speeds on the 5GHz band.

The RT-AC66U is a dual-band router with up to 450Mbps on the 2.4GHz band and up to 1.3Gbps on the 5GHz band. It's purportedly easy to setup and use, yet offers an advanced feature-set with goodies like QoS settings, DLNA support, VPN, and dual USB ports with printer and file server sharing.

One of the features Asus talks up is AiCloud, which offers a unified app for iOS and Android devices that transforms the RT-AC66U into a personal cloud server. In addition, Asus' Download Master service lets users download files when their PC is turned off, as well as manage and monitor downloads remotely.

Asus didn't say how much the RT-AC66U will cost or when it will ship.

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Samsung Skips Ahead of Apple with Over 52 Million Smartphone Shipments

Posted: 26 Jul 2012 06:05 AM PDT

While Samsung and Apple continue to tangle in court over patent infringement claims brought on by the latter, the former spends its spare time shipping smartphones, and a great number of them at that. In the second quarter of 2012, Samsung figures it shipped 52.1 million smartphones, or nearly double that of its closest rival, Apple, which shipped 26 million iPhone devices in the same time period.

Granted Samsung has the benefit of playing in Android's ecosystem, which allows it to pump out several different devices, whereas Apple deals solely with its iPhone line. Regardless of how and why, Samsung finds itself leading the smartphone category, and by a large margin.

Samsung's smartphone shipments have been bolstered by its flagship Galaxy S III device, which Juniper Research dubs a "phenomenal success." In the month of June, Samsung sold 10 million Galaxy S III phones, helping to widen the gap in overall smartphone sales with Apple, though the iPhone 5 launch will likely tighten things up.

As far as Android competitors go, Juniper Research says they "continue to fall short, with the resources needed to compete with Samsung's marketing push halting HTC's early promise (11.6 million) and Motorola, distracted by the Google acquisition, lacking a strong presence in Western Europe."

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Posted by Shri Krishna

MMO and SEO News from Gameforumer.com

MMO and SEO News from Gameforumer.com

Nintendo Download: Wario Edition

Posted: 26 Jul 2012 05:01 AM PDT

Nintendo Download: Wario Edition screenshot

The Wario series is probably one of the most critically acclaimed franchises of all time. Pretty much all of his games are widely loved, from Wario's Woods all the way up to his offbeat WarioWare games. Today, Wario Land: Super Mario Land 3, the first ever playable Wario game, makes its way to the 3DS Virtual Console for $3.99.

In addition to the aforementioned gem, you'll also be able to nab Miyamoto's Mole Mania (3DS VC, $2.99), Planet Crashers (eShop, $9.99), Dot Runner: Complete Edition (eShop, $4.99), Decathlon 2012 (DSi, 500 Points), and World Heroes Perfect (Wii VC, 900 Points). The deal of the week is the fan favorite Colors! 3D (eShop, $3.99 sale price).

Overall this is one of the best eShop weeks to date. Renegade Kid's Planet Crashers is a highly anticipated marquee title for 3DS owners, Wario Land is one of the best Nintendo platformers of all time, and one of Miyamoto's treasured classics is getting some extra exposure. Not bad!

Nintendo announces one of their most barren schedules yet

Posted: 26 Jul 2012 05:01 AM PDT

Nintendo announces one of their most barren schedules yet screenshot

Nintendo of America has just released their first party US release schedule for everything but the Wii U (DS, 3DS, and Wii). Although the games themselves are probably going to be released to critical acclaim and high sales (Kirby's Dream Collection is already doing very well in Japan), many of them don't have any actual release dates, or even targets.

The Wii has a whopping one first party US release, seemingly before it dies: Kirby's Dream Collection. The DS has two, but they're essentially the same game, in Pokemon Black and White 2.

The 3DS is by far their strongest US presence, but again, there is only one actual hard release date: August 19th for New Super Mario Brothers 2. Animal Crossing, Fire Emblem, and Smash Bros. are all reconfirmed for the 3DS, none of them have even have release windows at the current time.

Of course, in light of this paltry schedule, make sure you don't discount the Wii U, which hasn't officially revealed any release dates at all. Provided you're willing to drop a yet-to-be-revealed sum of money on it, you should be good to go in terms of Nintendo love this Holiday season.

Nintendo Of America Announces A Rough Release Schedule [My Nintendo News]

3DS

Nintendo 3DS XL — 8/19/2012

Animal Crossing (temp title) — TBD
Art Academy (temp title) — TBD
Fire Emblem (temp title) — 2012 2013
Lego City: Undercover (temp title) — TBD
Luigi’s Mansion: Dark Moon — Holiday
New Super Mario Bros. 2 — 8/19/2012
Paper Mario: Sticker Star — Holiday
Professor Layton and the Miracle Mask  — Nov. 2012
Super Smash Bros. (temp title) — TBD

DS

Pokémon Black 2 — 10/7/2012
Pokémon White 2 — 10/7/2012

Wii

Kirby’s Dream Collection Special Ed — 9/16/2012

Jade Raymond: controllers too complex to be mainstream

Posted: 26 Jul 2012 05:01 AM PDT

Jade Raymond: controllers too complex to be mainstream screenshot

The general crapness of Kinect games coupled with Nintendo's multiple iterations of "classic" Wii/Wii U controllers, indicate that videogames and buttons are here to stay. In fact, the motion fad seems to have died down a ton from a few years ago. Not for Jade Raymond, however. She thinks we need to ditch the physical input in order to go mainstream. 

"I still think one of the huge barriers is the controller, and even people who played games when it used to be just one big red button and a D-pad can't play games now," the Ubisoft producer patronizingly told OXM. "You have to master face buttons, triggers and they all do different things. So obviously we're never going to get to that really mass-market place where we're touching a really broad audience with our messages with controllers, so Kinect and other more natural ways to interact with games are incredibly important. I think we can go further. 

"As more of a hardcore gamer I want to see that stuff integrated into hardcore games in a way that makes them better because as fun as all those games are. I don't really play exercise games -- I can't picture myself doing that. I'd love to be able to lean and look round the corner and just integrate more natural motions. The tech for those things isn't quite there, but I hope it will soon."

What an inane suggestion. Buttons scare people? Has she seen a television remote? Or a keyboard? I think this assertion that controllers -- still pretty damn humble in the button department compared to some gadgets out there -- are alienating is incredibly presumptuous and inane. Never mind how alienating a total lack of buttons can be -- try playing Steel Battalion ... nothing has ever felt so unintuitive or oppressive.  

Oh, and you don't get much more mainstream than Madden, FIFA, Call of Duty, and Grand Theft Auto ... none of which use shitty Kinect.

AMD Reportedly Prepping Three Athlon II X4 CPUs For Socket FM2

Posted: 26 Jul 2012 05:01 AM PDT

Even with all the talk about new directions like Trinity, Vishera and the whole heterogenous computing concept, one old standby is still holding steady at AMD: the decade-plus old Athlon brand. In recent years, Athlon processors have taken a backseat to AMD's APUs, but they're still chugging along, and CPU World reports that the company is brewing up a batch of three new Athlon II X4 CPUs for Socket FM2 as we speak.

The website, which is generally very reliable, only got ahold of the basic specs for the chips:

  • Athlon II X4-730 - quad-core, 2.80GHz, 4MB L2 cache, 65W TDP
  • Athlon II X4-740 - quad-core, 3.20GHz, 4MB L2 cache, 65W TDP
  • Athlon II X4-750K - unlocked quad-core, 3.40GHz, 4MB L2 cache, 100W TDP

The rest of the details are murky: CPU world doesn't even know when the chips are slated to launch or if they'll be OEM-only or available at retail. The website reports the trio will be based on AMD's Piledriver architecture, but will likely have no integrated GPU functionality.

Via TechPowerUp

Gigabit Google Fiber Plans Unveiled, Include Traditional TV and a Free Internet Option

Posted: 26 Jul 2012 05:01 AM PDT

Google just unveiled the pricing plans for the super-fast Google Fiber gigabit Internet service it's rolling out in the Kansas Cities in both Missouri and Kansas, and wow, subscribers get a lot for a little. Basic fiber-based gigabit Internet only costs $70; gigabit Internet plus TV (with a full channel lineup) costs $120 per month; and there's even an option to receive totally free Internet for at least 7 years.

Of course, that last package isn't quite no strings attached; freeloaders are limited to 5Mbps up/1Mbps down and they'll have to pay a $300 construction fee to have the fiber wires hooked up to their house, though they can opt to pay the fee in $25 increments over the course of a year. Google waves that fee for premium gigabit subscribers and tosses in 1TB of storage on Google Drive, to boot.

The TV offering is intriguing, too: it comes with hundreds of traditional HD channels comprised of the major stations you're used to, on-demand movies, full YouTube and Netflix integration, and a DVR function that can save 2TB worth of TV and up record up to eight different shows simultaneously. Oh, and TV subscribers get a free Nexus 7 to act as a remote and a portable TV screen, though some stations aren't available for streaming to the tablet.

Sign me up! Oh, wait: Google Fiber is only available in a small slice of Kansas Cities. Residents in uncovered portions of the cities can "pre-register" for a $10 fee; the neighborhoods that generate the most support by September 9th will be the next ones to receive that delicious gigabit Internet.

A Rough Morning For The Net: Twitter, Google Talk and Windows Azure All Suffer Service Outages

Posted: 26 Jul 2012 05:01 AM PDT

They say bad things come in threes, and that was definitely true for folks who rely on the Internet for communications and cloud-based data centers today. The woes started this morning when Google Talk went down and stayed down for several hours. Then Microsoft's Windows Azure service went belly up in Europe, followed by some users running into outage issues with Twitter.  And without Twitter, how are you going to complain about the other services being down?

It's odd that all three toppled in succession like dominos, but fortunately, none of the disruptions were overly long. A quick glance at Digsby tells me Google Talk is back up and running, and Windows Azure's status dashboard shows green lights and clean sailing around the globe. Twitter's status still says that "Users may be experiencing issues accessing Twitter. Our engineers are currently working to resolve the issue." We haven't run into any issues Tweeting retro-tinged pics of our utilitarian meals, however.

How about you? Did the service outages knock you for a loop today?

Valve Hedging Bets on Linux to Avoid Windows 8 "Catastrophe"

Posted: 26 Jul 2012 05:01 AM PDT

You may have heard that Valve is hard at work porting its Steam client to the Linux platform, but it's not because the company has developed a sudden affinity towards the open source space. The real reason is because Valve views Microsoft's upcoming Windows 8 release as a "catastrophe" in the making for the PC industry at large, or at least that's the viewpoint held by Gabe Newell, co-founder and managing director at Valve.

Newell sat down for a fireside chat at Casual Connect, an annual videogame conference in Seattle. AllThingsD was in attendance and posted some interesting, if unflattering (towards Windows 8) quotes from the head of Valve.

"We want to make it as easy as possible for the 2,500 games on Steam to run on Linux as well. It's a hedging strategy. I think Windows 8 is a catastrophe for everyone in the PC space," Newell explained. "I think we'll lose some of the top-tier PC/OEMs, who will exit the market. I think margins will be destroyed for a bunch of people. If that's true, then it will be good to have alternatives to hedge against that eventuality."

Newell isn't alone in his assessment. Stardock CEO Brad Wardell wrote a piece for Kotaku earlier in the year in which he called Windows 8 a "schizophrenic" operating system unable to decide if its a tablet or desktop OS, and a "usability nightmare" that puts too much focus on touch.

Follow Paul on Google+, Twitter, and Facebook

 

Zynga's Cash Crops Appear to be Drying Up, Investors Head to Greener Pastures

Posted: 26 Jul 2012 05:01 AM PDT

Shares of Zynga plummeted 40 percent to $3.03 in after market trading after the social game developer reported a net loss for its second quarter ended June 30, 2012. Zynga tried to put a positive spin on the fact that its Q2 revenue of $332 million represents a 19 percent year-over-year increase and that its six months year-to-date revenue of $653 million is a 25 percent year-over-year increase, but the numbers still added up to a $22.8 million net loss for the quarter, and a $108.1 million net loss for the six month period.

In a conference call with analysts, John Schappert, chief operating officer for Zynga, was critical of changes Facebook made last quarter.

"Facebook made a number of changes in the quarter. These changes favored new games. Our users did not remain as engaged and did not come back as often," Shcappert explained, according to The New York Times.

That's concerning, but the biggest red flag for investors is the fact that Zynga sharply cut its forecast for its bookings (leftover revenue after paying Facebook) to as low as $1.15 billion, down from a previous projection of $1.47 billion.

More details are included in the full report (PDF).

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Asus Jumps on 802.11ac Bandwagon, Launches RT-AC66U 5G Wi-Fi Router

Posted: 26 Jul 2012 05:01 AM PDT

It might be awhile before there's an officially certified 802.11ac standard, but in the meantime, companies are ready and willing to forge ahead with router models based on draft specifications, just as we saw in the draft 802.11n days. Asus is one of them, having just announced the launch of its RT-AC66U 5G Wi-Fi router with greater than gigabit wireless speeds on the 5GHz band.

The RT-AC66U is a dual-band router with up to 450Mbps on the 2.4GHz band and up to 1.3Gbps on the 5GHz band. It's purportedly easy to setup and use, yet offers an advanced feature-set with goodies like QoS settings, DLNA support, VPN, and dual USB ports with printer and file server sharing.

One of the features Asus talks up is AiCloud, which offers a unified app for iOS and Android devices that transforms the RT-AC66U into a personal cloud server. In addition, Asus' Download Master service lets users download files when their PC is turned off, as well as manage and monitor downloads remotely.

Asus didn't say how much the RT-AC66U will cost or when it will ship.

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Samsung Skips Ahead of Apple with Over 52 Million Smartphone Shipments

Posted: 26 Jul 2012 05:01 AM PDT

While Samsung and Apple continue to tangle in court over patent infringement claims brought on by the latter, the former spends its spare time shipping smartphones, and a great number of them at that. In the second quarter of 2012, Samsung figures it shipped 52.1 million smartphones, or nearly double that of its closest rival, Apple, which shipped 26 million iPhone devices in the same time period.

Granted Samsung has the benefit of playing in Android's ecosystem, which allows it to pump out several different devices, whereas Apple deals solely with its iPhone line. Regardless of how and why, Samsung finds itself leading the smartphone category, and by a large margin.

Samsung's smartphone shipments have been bolstered by its flagship Galaxy S III device, which Juniper Research dubs a "phenomenal success." In the month of June, Samsung sold 10 million Galaxy S III phones, helping to widen the gap in overall smartphone sales with Apple, though the iPhone 5 launch will likely tighten things up.

As far as Android competitors go, Juniper Research says they "continue to fall short, with the resources needed to compete with Samsung's marketing push halting HTC's early promise (11.6 million) and Motorola, distracted by the Google acquisition, lacking a strong presence in Western Europe."

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Posted by Shri Krishna

MMORPG Reviews

MMORPG Reviews

Gamania Digital Entertainment has launched Divina

Posted: 25 Jul 2012 09:18 AM PDT

Gamania Digital Entertainment has announced that after a successful open beta testing, has launched Divina. The free-to-play MMORPG comes with a full Cash Shop available for players. New content has also been added for launch-day, including the Rescue Chicken mount, White Miluko mini-pet, new hairstyles, and more. In addition, Gamania will be hosting a double [...]

Hi-Rez has released a new Twinfusor patch preview video for Tribes: Ascend

Posted: 25 Jul 2012 08:41 AM PDT

Hi-Rez has released a new patch preview video for the Twinfusor update to Tribes: Ascend. The update includes new content, a party system to play with friends and some balance adjustments. The star of the update is the Twinfusor weapon, which fires two disks in quick succession. The Tribes team also added two brand new [...]

Blizzard Entertainment, Inc. has revealed the launch date of World of Warcraft: Mists of Pandaria

Posted: 25 Jul 2012 08:26 AM PDT

Blizzard Entertainment, Inc. has announced that the fourth expansion of World of Warcraft, Mists of Pandaria, will be available in stores and online starting from 25th September, 2012. Upon the expansion's release, intrepid explorers of the Alliance and the Horde will be able to set foot upon the shores of the long-lost continent of Pandaria [...]

Sony Online Entertaintment has released a gameplay teaser trailer of its new MMOFPS Bullet Run

Posted: 25 Jul 2012 06:57 AM PDT

Sony Online Entertaintment has released a gameplay teaser trailer of its new MMOFPS Bullet Run.

Nexon Europe has announced the details of its appearance at Gamescom 2012

Posted: 25 Jul 2012 06:34 AM PDT

Nexon Europe has announced the details of its appearance at Gamescom 2012, which takes place from 15th to 19th August in Cologne, Germany. Nexon Europe will make a big appearance at gamescom this year with two exciting European premieres, publicly playable in Europe for the very first time. These titles are Shadow Company, an exciting [...]

Trion Worlds has released the End of Nations State of Nations Developer Diary

Posted: 25 Jul 2012 05:25 AM PDT

Trion Worlds has released the latest Developer Diary for its upcoming free-to-play MMORTS, End of Nations, currently in closed Beta testing. This Developer diary Diary asks, what would the near future be like if the economy were to collapse? Discover the stories behind the formation of the Shadow Revolution and Liberation Front Factions and meet [...]

Sony Online Entertaintment has released the Update 64 of EverQuest II, named Qeynos Rises

Posted: 25 Jul 2012 03:40 AM PDT

Sony Online Entertaintment has released the Update 64 of EverQuest II, named Qeynos Rises, that brings a fully revamped city with all new storyline and quests.

Wargaming.net has announced its presence at the Gamescom 2012

Posted: 25 Jul 2012 02:30 AM PDT

Wargaming has announced its presence at the Gamescom 2012, the world's largest trade fair for interactive entertainment, to be held at the Koelnmesse in Cologne Germany, from August 15 to 19. This year's event will feature 557 exhibitors from 39 different countries with more than 300,000 expected visitors, and Wargaming will be presenting its key [...]
Posted by Shri Krishna
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