MMORPG News

MMORPG News

Dead Frontier: Taking On the Zombie Apocalypse

Posted: 02 Aug 2012 03:54 PM PDT

Taking On the Zombie Apocalypse

Zombies are all the rage this summer and Dead Frontier gives players a chance to slice and dice their way through hordes of the undead. But is it fun? Find out in our latest review.

Pirate 101: Beta Invites On the Way

Posted: 03 Aug 2012 07:49 AM PDT

Beta Invites On the Way

KingsIsle has announced that the closed beta for its upcoming title, Pirate 101, is underway. The first round of beta invites have been sent to players who recently signed up to participate.

RaiderZ: Goblin Golem Boss Video Released

Posted: 03 Aug 2012 07:38 AM PDT

Goblin Golem Boss Video Released

Perfect World Entertainment has sent out a brand new RaiderZ trailer that features a goblin golem boss fight. The trailer showcases four players trying to bring down the golem. This particular boss has only recently made its way into the ongoing closed beta.

Firefall: First Tournament Detailed

Posted: 03 Aug 2012 07:28 AM PDT

First Tournament Detailed

Red5 and the Electronic Sports League (ESL) have announced that the first ever Firefall tournament will take place during the upcoming Gamescom in Cologne, Germany. The prize pool sits at 10,000 Euros with the finals taking place on August 18th.

CABAL Online: Arcane Trace Announced

Posted: 03 Aug 2012 07:22 AM PDT

Arcane Trace Announced

To close out its anniversary month, CABAL Online developers have announced that the next expansion, Arcane Trace, is in development. A release date was not announced beyond "autumn". The team outlined the most significant changes that will be brought on board.

General: Evangelizing Die2Nite

Posted: 02 Aug 2012 04:01 PM PDT

Evangelizing Die2Nite

One of the things we like to do at MMORPG.com is bring indie games to our readers' collective attention. In our latest Independency column, we showcase Die2Nite in a unique and fun way. Check it out!

World of Warcraft: Subscription Numbers Dip Below 10M

Posted: 03 Aug 2012 07:03 AM PDT

Subscription Numbers Dip Below 10M

For the first time, World of Warcraft subscriptions have dipped below the ten million mark. According to Blizzard-Activision's latest financial report, the subscriber base currently sits at 9.1M.

Rift: Telara’s Unsung Hero – Mentoring

Posted: 02 Aug 2012 03:38 PM PDT

Telara

There are a lot of great features in Rift, many of them well-known such as the new three-faction PvP. But some great ones are often overlooked. In today's Tripping the Rift, we take a look at the mentoring system. Check it out!

WildStar: Housing Detailed in New Video Diary

Posted: 02 Aug 2012 08:39 AM PDT

Housing Detailed in New Video Diary

The WildStar team is ready to reveal new information about housing in the game. According to the video, players can create houses on Nexus with a great deal of customization and freedom.

World of Warcraft: Mega Bloks Figures Arrive in Stores

Posted: 02 Aug 2012 08:33 AM PDT

Mega Bloks Figures Arrive in Stores

Mega Bloks and Blizzard Entertainment have announced that figures based on World of Warcraft have officially arrived in stores. The 2012 release lineup includes Deathwing's Stormwind Assault, Goblin Zeppelin Ambush, Sindragosa and the Lich King, and more.
Posted by Shri Krishna

General gaming

General gaming

The End of the Adventure Game Blank Slate

Posted: 02 Aug 2012 02:03 PM PDT

Feature

1UP COVER STORY

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1UP COVER STORY | WEEK OF JULY 30 | NARRATIVE IN GAMES

The End of the Adventure Game Blank Slate

Cover Story: Advances in technology allowed for greater stories, but at the cost of player agency.

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he earliest video games never focused much on telling stories. Sure, Pac-Man featured some charming interludes and Donkey Kong presented a beginning-to-end narrative, but, outside of whatever poorly written paragraphs existed on their cabinets, video games entered this world as a test of reflexes, not a means of weaving a grand tale. Outside the arcade, though, existed a much greater world of opportunity; hobbyists rich enough to dive into the monstrously expensive world of home computing in the early '80s knew that games could be capable of more -- albeit, without any graphics to speak of.

The widely plagiarized Adventure and Infocom's Zork set the standard for story-based games on the fringes of an industry primarily fueled by quarters; these "second-person" adventures transformed the player into the protagonist, and tasked them with goals more complicated than munching dots and shooting down space bugs. Soon, graphics entered the world of gaming with Sierra's Mystery House, which sparked a movement that promised a new kind of storytelling -- one where we could jump into the shoes of a nameless hero, and warp the plot as we saw fit. It's really no surprise that the wildly popular (and now hilariously antiquated) Choose Your Own Adventure book series started around this time.

OP-ED: Emotional Games Require Time and Expertise, Not Photorealism

Posted: 02 Aug 2012 12:49 PM PDT

Journey

Technological advances are slowly but surely making it possible for game developers to get closer and closer to graphics which are indistinguishable from the real world -- just look at the recent Unreal Engine 4 or Agni's Philosophy demos to see where we're headed. Setting aside the issue of rising development costs, providing developers with the hardware to handle the games they want to make is undoubtedly a good thing, knowing that even with something like Crysis 3 in the works, we can still have games that look like Dyad or Penny Arcade Episode 3.

But are these strides in visual quality a step that is needed to open up new genres and allow certain emotions to be evoked? That's the position taken by 2K Games President Christoph Hartmann who, when asked about veteran game designer Warren Spector's position on games being too centered around violence, told GamesIndustry.biz that he believes the interactivity in games makes it difficult to evoke the same emotions that movies do.

The Most Unrelatable Narrators in Gaming

Posted: 02 Aug 2012 12:19 PM PDT

Feature

1UP COVER STORY

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1UP COVER STORY | WEEK OF JULY 30 | NARRATIVE IN GAMES

The Most Unrelatable Narrators in Gaming

Cover Story: Main characters that you can't quite click with.

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here's nothing quite like being able to really relate to the main character of a game. Having the ability to sympathize and empathize with your avatar does wonders to strengthen your bond with the story and allows you to really immerse yourself in a world. Having worked some pretty awful jobs in the past, I completely understand Manny's 9-5 apathy in Grim Fandango. Likewise, if my wife and kid got offed in a particularly gruesome manner, I'd be as much of a pissed off drunk as Max Payne is. And who doesn't love chasing ghosts, popping pills, and falling in love like Pac-Man? But what about those moments where you really enjoy a game in spite of its main character?

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Posted by Shri Krishna
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