Author: Admin

Stargate Worlds Continuing Development


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The little MMO that could, Stargate Worlds has gathered quite the following. Not the massive scale of Aion or World of Warcraft, but quite an impressive following. I’ve been somewhat reluctant to talk about the title because, up until this point, it appeared that the prospects for this game were bleaker than the cancelled Halo and Harry Potter MMOs. Last year the company faced lawsuits over unpaid wages, as well as the departure of some key figureheads.

Well it appears Cheyenne Mountain Entertainment will be continuing on with the Stargate ship, as according to a post on MMORPG.com, they have received funding from investors.

“Things are actually very good here right now. We received some funding commitments that will provide financing over time and allow us to move forward with development and start catching up on our past due financial obligations, including some back payroll that we paid last week.”

Unfortunately, I still can’t say I have high hopes for Stargate Worlds coming to completion. When the Executive Producer jumps ship, it’s generally a bad sign. My prediction is that, unless CME becomes acquired by a big name publisher/developer like NCSoft or Sony Online Entertainment, this ship’s going to capsize very quickly.

Stargate Worlds is currently accepting registrants for the closed beta. Check it out at: http://www.stargateworlds.com/

Fallen Earth Delayed


Fallen Earth has been delayed six days to a September 15th launch, in order to iron out more bugs and optimizations, as well as graphics improvements.

“We’ve seen a lot of new beta testers online recently and we’ve gotten insight into things that need to be tweaked,” said Colin Dwan, project manager for Fallen Earth. “Our primary concern is making sure game play experience is as smooth as possible on launch day.”

Those who have preordered will still gain early access on September 9th.

WoW: Cataclysm Trailer


Excuse me while I go and resubscribe.

Final Fantasy XIV: Running, Not Jumping


The more I read about Final Fantasy XIV, the more strange quirks I find in the game. Square certainly looks to stab the conventional MMO in the heart yet again with this title, and changes not only from Final Fantasy XI, but other traditional MMOs leave us with a myriad of thoughts, ranging from cool to…what?  Continue reading “Final Fantasy XIV: Running, Not Jumping”

WoW: Coming Soon To a Mag Rack Near You


500x_magazine_logoThe question: Can Blizzard capitalize even more on the success of World of Warcraft? The Answer: Of course they can!

World of Warcraft: The Magazine will be sold as a quarterly issue with the option of one or two year subscriptions. The first issue will focus on WoW’s upcoming fifth year anniversary.  A panel of journalists will work on the magazine, offering player insights, insider insight, and more.

So when do we start seeing vanity pet codes and other in-game goodies? Look for WoW to be hitting your mailbox possibly later this year.

Champions Online: Hero Watch #1


Phoenix Wright: Act Attorney
Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney

When City of Heroes launched, it taught us one thing: That if you give the ability to create any superhero your heart desires, to flesh out your own living alter ego in his own design, down to the color of your leather shoes; You’ll wind up with about five thousand Goku, Vegeta, Superman, Hulk, etc running around causing headaches and stirring up the pot for a lawsuit from Marvel and DC comics..

So I’ve been watching the landscape for people who have paid homage to the lesser used heroes. Seen above: Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney. There I was thinking it was illegal for a defense attorney to act as a prosecutor.

High Stakes For an Old Republic


Star Wars: The Old Republic, is by no means a small feat. Bioware promises to blend the storytelling of the previous Knights of the Old Republic games in with the gameplay and persistence of an MMORPG, and wants to immerse the character into the world of the Jedi, the Sith, smugglers, bounty hunters, troopers, and yet to be unveiled classes. Players have the ability to permanently affect the world around them through the choices they make in-game, 300 years after the events of the Knights of the Old Republic games.

One of The Old Republic’s features is 100% full voice acting of players and non player characters. In order to increase the player-base, Bioware announced today that the 40 novels worth of in-game dialogue will be acted out in English, and now French and German. Now that is a lot of voice acting.

Bioware is going all out with The Old Republic, and the game is getting a lot of hype because of it, even though I don’t approve of the “wow killer” title people are attaching. More on TOR as it appears.

Instanced Vs Persistent: The Guild Wars Debate


Ask someone if World of Warcraft is an MMO, and you’re bound to receive a raised eyebrow, and the kind of look you can generally only get when you ask how to download the internet on to your computer so you can go online. World of Warcraft is a persistent world, where players travel across miles of open terrain, fighting varied mobs, gaining levels, fighting other players, completing instances, etc. There is no doubt for many players that World of Warcraft is an MMO.

Continue reading “Instanced Vs Persistent: The Guild Wars Debate”

Age of Conan: Still An Interest


An expansion pack tells us a lot about an MMO and its developers. Foremost, it says that the developers continue to put a lot of vested interest in keeping the title alive, as they are willing to set aside a group of developers to work on their own project that does not immediately net in money (Instead being a longer project that has more of a gradual effect). Expansion packs regularly involve a vast new area to explore, possibly bringing along with it new classes or races, and with it balances and tweaks to the existing gameplay.

Continue reading “Age of Conan: Still An Interest”

Going Gold, Going Eve, Going


Short news update:

Users will be happy to find out that Champions Online and Aion, two upcoming MMORPGs have gone gold and will be shipping on-time as expected. Champions Online, just recently hitting open beta, will launch as expected on September 1st, with Aion hitting shelves in North America and Europe come late September.

Eve Online developer CCP has finally unveiled DUST, an upcoming MMOFPS set in the world of Eve Online. DUST takes place on the planets in the EVE universe, and is a blend of FPS and RTS action. The game will allow players to interact with EVE Online and is part of CCP’s Ambulation Project update, giving Eve Online players avatars to scour the surfaces with. DUST is expect to launch on the 360 and Playstation 3.

Finally, news on Guild Wars 2 is expected this week. What exactly that news is is yet to be seen, but expect an update when it comes forward.

Update: I had previously said that DUST will launch on the PC. That was inaccurate, it will only be launching on the 360 and PS3. I apologize for the issue.