MMO News Roundup - 5-19-09
Posted by HCG Dreadsorrow | Filed under MMO News Roundup, News
Cities XL, the virtual world populated by cities that are built by players, has a new dev blog posted on IGN. This outlines their aims to incorporate social networking tools into the game, which seems to be an emerging trend among newer MMOs. In case you didn’t know, Cities XL is a virtual world that gives you a choice: Either play it solo on your own computer, or subscribe and play it online with others. This is a delightful divergence from the standard pay-for-play business model used by mainstream titles. But after reading up on the dynamics of participating in an online planet filled with player-created cities, I think I’ll be dishing out a few bucks a month for this one. So long as I can have lots and lots of trains filled with hot chicks that really dig lonely gamers. Click here to read the devblog. I really like the idea that you will be able to interact with your city online from devices other than a PC. Is there an app for that? Looking forward to this one.
Coming under the heading of “Gee, I never saw that coming” another MMO in development has had its release date slip. Champions Online is the latest victim of delay, with Cryptic announcing that they are now shooting for a September 1, 2009 release. Well, this is only a delay of about 2 months, so no biggie. And any pre-pubescent forum troll that says “Release it now and patch later, I wanna play!” I have only to say this: Age of Conan, Horizons, Anarchy Online, Dark & Light, and Vanguard: Saga of Heroes, just to name a few. Turn off your computers and consoles you whining little turd nuggets, crack a book that has nothing to do with World of Warcraft, and come back when you grow some short and curlies m’kay? Click here for the official announcement.
Tags: Champions Online, Cities XL, Cryptic, Electronic Arts, Funcom, Sims 3
MMO News Roundup - 4-29-09
Posted by HCG Dreadsorrow | Filed under MMO News Roundup, News
Well, I finally got around to reinstalling the client for City of Heroes just so I could try out the mission architect tool and review it. I intended to simply grab a free-trial account so I didn’t have to pay my precious few $$$, but NNNNOOOOOOoooooo…. the mission architect tool is not available to trial accounts, not even to simply play missions other people have made. Of course, there is no mention of this limitation ANYWHERE that I could find in any FAQ or documentation, so I had to suck it up and reactivate my old account. So now as time permits, I am trying out the new features and will report on them later. But gotta tell you Cryptic, you already have a strike against you. In any event, here’s something you can enjoy right now: Samuraiko Productions has released a video featuring the in-game history of City of Heroes, and it is pretty cool. Watch the video by clicking this. Please bear in mind, children who have never known a world without a 360 or PS3, City of Heroes is running on a 5-year-old engine.
Speaking of superhero MMOs, DC Universe Online continues to look uber, releasing a swath of new screenshots. These new ones feature a certain Doomsday character. Looking positively nasty for our delight. But aside from mister spikey, the game environs look positively gorgeous. So head on over there by clicking here, and spend some time oogling the lovely screenshots.
The grandpappy of all MMOs, Ultima Online, just keeps chuggin’ after twelve years of operation. And what better way to celebrate their continued success than with yet another expansion? Well, the Stygian Abyss was hardly a secret, so the official announcement comes as no surprise at all. Check out the official website for all the features, screenies, etc by clicking here. It’s too bad that EA owns this one. As far as EA goes, anything they release for the PC is an automatic FAIL in my opinion, that is unless they are finally willing to allow me to disable their f*****g DRM on Battle for Middle Earth, and play the game that I f*****g PAID FOR YOU DONKEYFUCKERS.
Tags: City of Heroes, Cryptic, DC Universe Online, Electronic Arts, MMO, MMO News Roundup, MMORPG, Ultima Online
HCG Dreadsorrow’s Quickie - Lord of the Rings: Conquest
Posted by HCG Dreadsorrow | Filed under Quickies, Rants
Holy frakking s**t, what the hell was EA thinking? This so-called game is a giant steaming toilet curler with peanut chunks sticking out of it. Gigantic huge complete EPIC FAIL.
I understand that not every game can be Gears of War 2, Left4Dead, or Rock Band 2. I understand all too well that some games are simply better than others. This thing that EA vomited out upon the gaming public is so abysmally shitty that it not only brings disgrace to Tolkien’s Middle Earth by association, but it is a travesty of 1s and 0s that stagger even the staunchest hard core gamer. What is even more disturbing than Conquest’s mere existence, is the fact that EA had the audacity to demand $60 for it upon release. I would not even use this game’s disc as a beer coaster. I am afraid that it would make my beer taste like green tea or some other revolting hippie drink, just because of how completely terrible this game is.
I will not even begin to list all the faults I found with Conquest. It sucks so hard, that I don’t want to waste my brainpower by discussing it any more than I absolutely have to. But, do you really want to know what playing this game for even 5 minutes is like?
Imagine if you will a homeless person with mental problems that has spent the past few days eating dog s**t in an alley along with gorging himself on expired burritos from a dumpster that has a few rotting cat carcasses in it. This bum already had some sort of severe gastrointestinal disorder before this binge of dog s**t, rotting cats and super-nasty burritos, but now this bum senses that he is about to expire. So obeying the voices in his head, he makes a beeline to the nearest video game store, where you are debating with yourself whether or not you should dish out the cash for that copy of Lord of the Rings: Conquest. Once there, he throws you on the ground, vomits all over you, drops his pants, pees all over your hair and clothes. Then he sits on your face and dies, voiding his bowels most explosively with a generous portion of the discharge going straight down your throat. You dig your way out from under this mound of quivering bum-diarrhea splatter, and forget all about buying that copy of Conquest.
That bum just did you a HUGE favor.
Play something else that does not suck on quite so much an epic scale. Save your money. Avoid Lord of the Rings: Conquest at all costs.
Tags: Electronic Arts, Lord of the Rings: Conquest, quickies
Gamer News 3-12-09: Hey Did You Hear…
Posted by HCG Dreadsorrow | Filed under Hey Did You Hear..., News
The licensing deal that New Line had with Electronic Arts has expired, transferring the game-making rights to Warner Brothers. See, the game rights (ultimately bestowed by Tolkien Enterprises) held by EA expired at the end of 2008. Perhaps the impending end of the IP licensing was the cause to such a substandard and shitty game in Lord of the Rings: Conquest being crapped out in such a hurry. Click here to read the article on Variety. Conquest was just such a disappointment, but I really can’t have any lower of an opinion of EA than I already did.
Planet Fallout has an interview up with Jeff Gardiner, a senior producer at Bethesda Studios, and lead producer of the Fallout 3 DLC. He talks at length about the upcoming downloadable expansion for Fallout 3, called “The Pitt”. If you want to get an idea about what it will be like, then read the interview. Speaking as someone living and working in Pittsburgh, I am looking forward to running gunfights among the clearly recognizable landmarks seen so far in the screenshots. Click here to check out the interview for yourself.
It looks like New York state goverment has finally pulled their collective heads out of their asses and realized that you don’t stimulate a foundering state economy by jacking up taxes on items that derive all of their capital from the limited discretionary funds of the consumers. Especially when all of the revenue you hope to collect is earmarked for the wasteful deficit spending of an out of control bureaucratic juggernaut. This has become so obvious, that even the dynamic duo Paterson and Bloomberg think that taxing the crap out of leisure activities would be counterproductive to any reasonable recovery plan during a recession. Yeah another surprise, HCG Dreadsorrow reads economic news. Click here to read about the s**t I just talked about.
The DLC for Call of Duty: World at War has finally been dated. Available on March 19th for both the 360 and the PS3, the pack will feature several new maps for those that want to wreak havoc on other players in pretty, new settings. In addition, there will be ZOMBIES. Yes, zombies. Nazi zombies. And you get to shoot them. Click here for details. Maybe it’s just me, but I think the next game should be Call of Duty: Zombie Apocalypse. It’s OK Activision, you can use my idea free of charge. Please?
Tags: Activision, Call of Duty World At War, DLC, Electronic Arts, Fallout 3, Lord of the Rings: Conquest, News, The Pitt, Tolkien Enterprises, Warner Brothers
MMO News Roundup - 2-3-09
Posted by HCG Dreadsorrow | Filed under MMO News Roundup, News
A new “Ask Cryptic” has appeared. This one features some tidbits on the details of each player’s own personal nemesis. I think that depending on how well this is implemented, it could be either a tremendous asset for Champions Online in the upcoming war of the superhero MMOs, or else a big ‘meh’. There are lots of other goodies to read about. For instance movement around the game world, supergroup experience, gameplay balance, the all-important game physics, as well as a lot of other yummy game details. Click here to read the devblog.
Coming under the category of “Gee, I didn’t see this one coming”, it turns out that the subscriber numbers for Warhammer Online are not so rosey. The game that while it was still in beta, I called total hype over no real substance, has indeed lost most of the subscribers that it once had. Dropping from as many as 800K soon after launch to a somewhat non-specific “over 300K paying subscribers in North America and Europe”, the game does appear to be hemorrhaging. I know the fanbois will say that a subscriber drop off after the first few months is normal, but they can’t explain away these numbers. Click here for the EA third quarter fiscal year 2009 results. I just hope that this dropoff in subscriber numbers doesn’t translate into even more EA employees losing their jobs, because that would suck no matter what game you were talking about.
Tags: Champions Online, Cryptic, Electronic Arts, MMO, MMO News Roundup, MMORPG, Warhammer Online, World of Warcraft
Gamer News 12.20.08: Hey, Did You Hear…
Posted by HCG KP1gL37 | Filed under Hey Did You Hear..., News
…Nintendo is getting sued over a faulty DS AC adapter? Apparently, the adapter started a fire in a home in Kentucky, and the family’s insurance company is suing Nintendo for $236,304 to recoup the money they had to pay out to the family. Sounds a little shady to me, considering Nintendo already issued a recall because of overheating issues. Full story: Game Politics
…the trailer for Guitar Hero Metallica has been released? To check it out in its full head banging glory, visit Metallica.com. Looks pretty rockin’ so far, and the band members look pretty accurate compared to the real dudes, so that’s a bonus. Look for the game in early 2009.
…you can build your own custom arcade stick on the cheap (and with no soldering required?) For everyone who fears they need a lot of cash or experience to have their dream arcade stick, this one is for you. Check out the detailed and helpful how-to posted by user controlcommerce on Cheap Ass Gamer
…you can now purchase your Xbox Live points in smaller doses at retail? Microsoft has recently launched the sale of 800 point Xbox Live cards, which retail for $9.99. Now gamers have a choice besides the $19.99 1600 point card that has always been available. Full story: Xbox 360 Fanboy
…certain EA titles are now available to PC gamers on Steam? Titles include Spore, Warhammer Online: Age of Reckoning, Mass Effect, Need for Speed Undercover and EA Sports FIFA Manager 2009, with more to come soon. The biggest breakthrough coming out of this announcement? No more SecuROM DRM for Spore. Commence dancing. Full story: Steam
Tags: Arcade Stick, Cheap Ass Gamer, EA, EA Sports FIFA Manager 2009, Electronic Arts, Game Politics, Guitar Hero Metallica, Hey Did You Hear..., Mass Effect, Microsoft, Need for Speed Undercover, News, Nintendo, Nintendo DS, SecuROM DRM, Spore, Steam, trailer, Warhammer: Age of Reckoning, Xbox 360, Xbox 360 fanboy, Xbox Live Points
Gamer News 12.11.08: Hey, Did You Hear…
Posted by HCG KP1gL37 | Filed under Hey Did You Hear..., News
…there may be job cuts ahead for Electronic Arts employees? EA announced on Tuesday that because of disappointing holiday sales in America and Europe, they are expecting to cancel some projects in the works, and let go of some staff. They have not specified how many staff would be laid-off, but did state it will be more than the 6% they originally estimated in October. Full story: LA Times
…Gears of War 2 is flying off the shelves? Epic VP, Mark Rein, announced that 3 million copies of the game have officially sold since launch. That’s 3 million copies in 4 weeks! Mighty impressive considering that the first Gears took 10 weeks to sell the same amount. Full story: Edge
…if you are looking to break into the game business, a job at Rock Star may be in your future? The game development company is currently recruiting worldwide for jobs ranging from programmers to managers. Check out the available jobs on Rock Star’s website.
…you can now have a sex change operation for $15? The sex change I am talking about is of course in World of Warcraft. For a $15 fee, you can now change vital details of your WoW character, including face, hair, skin color and sex. You still are not able to change race or class. Full story: Kotaku
…December 10th was the 15th birthday of Doom? Now that you officially feel like a grandpa after hearing that, dust off your copy of Doom, and celebrate! BFG FTW! Full story: Doom World
Tags: BFG, Doom, EA, Edge, Electronic Arts, Epic, Gears of War, Gears of War 2, Hey Did You Hear..., Kataku, LA Times, News, Rock Star, World of Warcraft, WoW
UPDATE: Dead Space LE Box Art and Contents
Posted by HCG Paco | Filed under Collectibles, The Shit to Get
A couple of days ago we talked about the EA Dead Space Limited Edition of 1000 for $149. A ton of us bought it sight unseen, so here are some pics if you are still on the fence.
- The Dead Space game
- Special Ultra Limited Edition packaging
- Dead Space Downfall Animated Movie (DVD)
- Bonus content DVD
- Exclusive custom lithograph art illustrated and signed by Ben Templesmith
- 97-pg Dead Space art book written and illustrated by the development team
- 160-pg Graphic novel
- Ishimura crew patch
Tags: Art, Collectibles, Dead Space, Dead Space Limited Edition, Electronic Arts, Limited Edition, The Shit to Get
‘300′ director Zack Snyder to produce three original game titles for EA
Posted by HCG Musashi | Filed under News
After Electronic Arts teamed up with Directorial Legend Steven Spielberg to produce Boom Blox, it created quite a buzz in the game industry - even more so after Boom Blox went on to sell it’s fair share of copies.
While other big name Directors such as Peter Jackson and John Woo have had their hand in directing video games as well, having Zack Snyder sign on to produce three brand-new game titles is HUGE. So far, there had been no official word of the deal posted on Zack’s website, but I’m sure there will be soon.
Hopefully this trend will continue to flourish and more talented directors start working with equally talented game studios. Could you imagine Quentin Tarantino directing the next Grand Theft Auto?
I can, and I just wet myself.
Gotta go.
Tags: Electronic Arts, News, Zack Snyder
EA gets a case of the runs - announces Mirror’s Edge Bundle for XB360/PS3
Posted by HCG Musashi | Filed under Collectibles, News
Not content with the Dead Space Ultra Limited Edition, EA has announced a online-only bundle for Mirror’s Edge as well.
Available only through the EA Store, the Mirror’s Edge Runner’s Bag Bundle is pretty straight-forward. For $129, you get the game (duh) and a limited edition, uber-grade messenger bag created by Timbuk2 Bags.
Tags: Collectibles, Electronic Arts, Limited Edition, Mirror's Edge, News, Pre-Order
Spore, One of the Most Highly Anticipated Games…Lands With a Thud.
Posted by HCG KP1gL37 | Filed under News
Spore could be called one of the most highly anticipated, hyped, and generally drooled-over game I’ve seen in awhile. So who could have predicted that it would launch somewhat quietly, and receive a resounding…”meh” from the gamer community? Now, in fairness, I haven’t yet played Spore, so I won’t comment on it’s game play until I experience it myself. I will leave that to the Amazon reviewers who have so far rated this game 1 star.
“DRM killed the videogame star” -Reviewer on Amazon.com
What I can comment on is the reason so many PC and Mac gamers are really PO’d at this game: the DRM (Digital Rights Management) system. EA included the SecuROM DRM system on this particular game. What that means is that you have a limited (in this case, three) number of times you are permitted to download the game. Once you reach your max, you can call EA to beg for another download, or *poof* you’re brand new game is now a coaster.
Tags: Digital Rights Management System, DRM, Electronic Arts, News, SecuROM DRM, Spore
Looking Forward to Playing Spore On Your Mac? Make Sure You’re Well Equipped.
Posted by HCG KP1gL37 | Filed under News
Many hardcore gamers have been chomping at the bit to get their hands on EA’s trippy and addictive evolution game, Spore. A cheer went up among the Mac community in January when EA announced Spore would be released for Mac, but did the Mac heads celebrate without reading the fine print? Apparently, Spore on the Mac requires an Intel-based processor as well as the Leopard OS to play. Not such a big deal for folks who always have the latest and greatest equipment, but those folks who haven’t made the switch to Leopard could be disappointed if they pick the game up without reading the specs first. BTW, if you are rockin’ the PC, you need XP or Vista to run Spore. It’s great that Spore is available for Mac, I’m just thinking some folks will be left in the dark.
Tags: Electronic Arts, Leopard, Mac, News, PC, Spore, Vista, XP
