Category: Editorials

Fusion Fall Falls Into Free To Play


Fusion Fall, the kid-oriented MMO based on the Cartoon Network universe, boasts seven million registered users. Since the game is going free to play in 2010, I think it’s safe to assume very few of those registered accounts still play, and even fewer are paying subscribers. When a company reports registered accounts rather than active accounts, it’s a sign the latter number is a fraction of the former.

On the heels of Funcom’s announcement of their own free to play MMO, Cartoon Network has announced that Fusion Fall, launched just a year ago, will be going 100% free to play in 2010. Up until then, players who opted to stay free were able to play the game up to level 4, and its accompanying nano-bots. I beta tested the game and, upon launch, got myself to level four after about an hour and a half. Fusion Fall isn’t a freemium (free with premium content) title as much as it is a demo with a full paid product.

The problem that Fusion Fall faces is that the kid’s demographic is not one that pays monthly subscriptions for games. First, the kids themselves rarely have cash on hand and don’t have the avenue to pay the subscription fees themselves (no bank cards, no credit cards). Second, the parents are generally very wary of signing their kids up for these games.

Any subscribers will be reimbursed in the form of some exclusive items.

Another Jagex Title?


Jagex is one of the companies I don’t get to talk about much on MMO Fallout, mainly because their main MMO Runescape doesn’t break much ground, and the upcoming Mechscape/Stellar Dawn title has been under heavy wraps, barring a few breaking news pieces.

Enter Jagex’s Twitter: @OfficialJagex, which revealed today a new title: War of Legends. The game is touted as a free multiplayer strategy game, although it is yet to be known if this will be an MMO or not. It is completely possible that this is a title for Jagex’s partially free game service, FunOrb, although not much else is known on the matter at this time.

More on Jagex as it appears. War of Legends releases early 2010.

Atari Vs Turbine: A Challenger Appears


Not on this lawsuit...

(Updated at bottom with response from Hasbro)
It’s been a while since I’ve updated you all on the ongoing Turbine Vs Atari lawsuit, so a recap is in the bill, Judge Judy style:

  • Plaintiff: Turbine is the developer of Dungeons and Dragons Online. They are suing Atari, the publisher, for not doing an efficient job of promoting the title. Turbine is also accusing Atari of purposely downplaying the game in order to, at a future date, cut the license with the intent of shutting down Dungeons and Dragons Online in favor of Atari’s own rumored upcoming MMO based on the same franchise.
  • Defendant: Atari is the license holder for Dungeons and Dragons and Advanced Dungeons and Dragons video games, and is also the publisher of Dungeons and Dragons Online. They are being sued for fraud.

The implications of a developer-publisher lawsuit are pretty clear. If Turbine wins, they get to keep the license until 2016, which will most likely be several years after DDO is six feet underground. If Turbine loses the lawsuit, you can certainly expect Atari to cut them off at the earliest opportunity, possibly shutting the game down along with them.

More after the break…

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Should WoW Go Cheaper?


If Funcom's money was gold-backed...

Here in the first world, most of us have the luxury of looking upon $15 dollars as a small fee, hardly enough to buy dinner for two at a restaurant slightly more fashionable than McDonald’s (Actually, you probably won’t get a combo meal for two for $15 at McD’s either). When it comes to MMOs and subscriptions, however, people seem less keen to offer up their hard earned cash.

Which segues into Blizzard and the most popular MMO on earth, World of Warcraft. I think Blizzard would see a massive influx of profit and subscribers if they were to lower the monthly subscription price to $9.99, out of the enormous amount of new and alternate accounts that would be created. It seems like a slight change in price, however to the consumer’s psyche, ten dollars feels like a lot less than fifteen. To put it into perspective, whenever the store I work at has a sale on Vitamin Water, the price drops to 10 for $10, or $1 a bottle. The price, without sale, is $1.02 per bottle. For the fact that it’s a two cent drop in price, the sale (the image “sale”) always generates a massive response that knocks the product out of stock after just a couple of days. Without fail, every time. After about five sales this past year, no one has apparently caught on.

Lowering the subscription rate on World of Warcraft would effectively knock off the numerous players who are sitting on the fence about starting/restarting their Azeroth adventures, and what better time than right before the release of a new expansion? Try the new and improved World of Warcraft, now at a cheaper rate! It is the most popular, now it’s among the cheapest!

More after the break…

Continue reading “Should WoW Go Cheaper?”

Microsoft G.O.D Announced: Good Luck With That


Microsoft aims to crucify Steam

Delusions of grandeur are funny and all, but they are a sign/warning of deeper issues, especially in a company that looks to do business. For starters, how many self-proclaimed “Wow-killers” have you seen that ended up being disappointments? Aside from virtually all of them. Yes, it seems that by the time a product (WoW, Steam, Ipod,  Windows, etc) gets to the point of success where other products use it as a focal point of sales (___-killer), the product has become so successful that it has rooted itself in the number one spot, at least for the time being.

Microsoft’s Games on Demand (Or GOD) was just recently announced, and is essentially a digital download addition to Games for Windows Live. The company aims to take a chip off of Steam’s 70% hold of the digital download market, and I say good luck with that. Good luck in the same manner you tell your friend “good luck” as he dons his helmet, cape (bath towel), and proceeds to jump off the roof of a building to prove he can fly.

Continue reading “Microsoft G.O.D Announced: Good Luck With That”

Play Age of Conan My Lord, Free Forever!


Hey, Fileplanet subscribers! Do you want to experience the action, breasts, excitement, breasts, and breasts that Age of Conan has to offer, but don’t want to deal with the pesky process of buying the game and paying for a subscription? Subscribers to Fileplanet can participate in a free unlimited trial, con limitations, today!

Head over to Fileplanet today and claim your key. Aren’t a subscriber to Fileplanet? Look at it this way: Spend the 6 bucks for a month, cancel your renewal, and still grab the key. Limited trial members will be unable to participate in the less important aspects of the game, such as public chat, trading, or using the forums, among other restrictions. You weren’t planning on using those anyway, I have a hunch.

Access the original game today! This desperate grab for subscribers brought to you by Fileplanet, Funcom, and viewers like you! Well maybe not you exactly. Mainly people who fall for not really unlimited, unlimited trials.

Funcom, For Kids!


Not a breast or nanobot in sight...

It’s been a while since I talked about Funcom, almost a month! It’s good to see that Funcom continues to stride through whatever low points life throws its way.  Slashing 20% of the company’s workforce, dropping 68.5% of revenue, and a loss of subscribers due to recent MMO releases, is just a flesh wound. Not only has Funcom opened a subsidiary, SweetRobot, but said subsidiary has been working on a free to play MMO for two years!

Set to go into open beta later this month, and pictured above, is Pets Vs Monsters. PvM, not to be confused with the popular MMO term, is…I’ll let Funcom explain it to you, but after the break.

Continue reading “Funcom, For Kids!”

Interplay Will Continue Work on Fallout MMO


Pre-Alpha Project V13

Motion Hearing held on 12/10/2009 re [3] MOTION for Preliminary Injunction filed by Bethesda Softworks LLC – Argued – “DENIED” as stated on the record by Judge Deborah K. Chasanow. (Court Reporter – Sharon O’Neill) (td, Deputy Clerk)

Depending on who you support in the ongoing lawsuit between Bethesda and Interplay, this news will be either a victory or a setback for you in the great war to develop a Fallout MMO. I didn’t report on this before, mainly because I have a rule against posting rumors, but back in October news was leaked that Interplay may have blocked an injunction by Bethesda, that sought to stop Interplay’s current work on Project V13 (Or the Fallout MMO, as you know it).

According to Gamasutra, in court documents discovered by a Fallout fansite, the judge blocked Bethesda’s injunction, which will allow Interplay to continue working on the fabled, and just recently screenshotted, Fallout MMO. And by work, I mean the 3D Realms kind of work: Playing World of Warcraft, or in this case, Fallen Earth.

A recap on the case after the break.

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Stargate: Still Not Here Yet, Have a Replacement…


Damn you Cheyenne!

With no end in sight to the development of Stargate Worlds, Cheyenne Entertainment has been taking quite a bit of flak, being called the Duke Nukem Forever of MMOs, a ponzi scheme, and other names of varying levels of ridiculous and accuracy. Between the lawsuits and the delays of funds, you’d think there was no chance of the MMO ever coming out.

But this article has nothing to do with Stargate Worlds, the anticipated upcoming MMO by Cheyenne Entertainment. No, this article is about Stargate Resistance, a third person shooter that isn’t so much massively as it is multiplayer and online. Two out of three, and a 66% is technically a passing grade if you set your sights low enough. Stargate Resistance, whose website was just recently revealed above, is a third person shooter being developed by Cheyenne Mountain Entertainment, the minds who did not bring you Stargate Worlds. It is set for release in Q1 2010 which makes just a few months until the first official delay.

More after the break…

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Pirates of Burning Sea 75% off


Been wanting to give Pirates of the Burning Sea a try, but don’t want to fork down a whole bunch of money for it? Boy does Steam have your back this week! You can grab Pirates of the Burning Sea, the naval MMO, at 75% off, only $4.99 US! If you’ve been hesitating to grab your cutlass and join in the action, now might be the best time.

And for those of you who have asked: I am following the Direct 2 Drive December Sale, keeping a lookout for MMO sales. There has not been a single one yet.