Star Trek Online Coming To PS4, Xbox One


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Perfect World Entertainment and Cryptic Studios today announced that Star Trek Online, the free to play MMORPG based on Gene Roddenberry’s creation, will be coming to consoles this Fall. When it launches on both Playstation and Xbox, players will be able to access the base game plus six years of content added in, over 130 episodes that build upon classic Star Trek Stories.

Learning from the success of Neverwinter on Xbox One, console players will enjoy upgraded visuals and an enhanced user experience, with controls tailor made for use with a controller.

No word yet on further console releases. Stay tuned for more details.

(Source: Perfect World Entertainment)

Square Enix Sales Boom In 2016


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(Editor’s note: Before we dive in, I’ll remind viewers that Square Enix operates on a different fiscal year that ends March 31st. As a result, while most other companies are reporting their first quarter finances this month, Square Enix is on Q4 for the 2016 fiscal year. This is not a mistake on our part)

Square Enix has released its end of year results for the 2016 fiscal year, and the results are pretty positive across the board. Net sales grew 27.5% over the same period last year while operating income boosted 58% and normal income rose 49%.

Much of Square Enix’s success has been attributed to the strong releases of mobile titles alongside the console releases of Rise of the Tomb Raider and Just Cause 3. Over on the MMO side, the company also had a fair amount of praise for the continued success of Final Fantasy XIV and Dragon Quest X. While sales of merchandise derived from IPs increased, sales from comic books remained sluggish compared to last year.

Square Enix has a slew of titles ready to launch over the next year, including Rise of the Tomb Raider (PS4), Final Fantasy XV, Deus Ex: Mankind Divided, Dragon Quest Heroes II, Kingdom Hearts 2.8, World of Final Fantasy, and more.

(Source: Square Enix)

Nexon Boasts 11% Boost In Sales


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Nexon has posted its latest financial statement for the first quarter 2016 and the results are indeed something to write home about. First quarter revenue amounted to 57.5 billion yen ($530 million USD), an 11% increase over the same period last year. Sales were driven partially due to the higher-than-anticipated sales of Dungeon&Fighter in China.

Alternately, operating income underperformed primarily due to the impairment loss on Gloops’ goodwill of 22.6 billion yen. Nexon bought Gloops for $486 million cash back in 2012. Impairment loss refers to the cost of acquisition minus the depreciation.

Nexon’s earnings call will take place later this morning.

(Source: Nexon press release)

Chronicle: RuneScape Legends Launches May 26th


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(Correction: The free card packs run until May 15th)

Jagex Ltd, makers of the popular MMO RuneScape, have announced that their collectible card game RS Chronicles will launch on Steam on May 26th. In order to celebrate the occasion, anyone who logs in between now and May 15th will receive three free booster packs to bolster their decks.

RS Chronicles is one of the latest additions to the battle card game genre, following the massive success of Hearthstone. The title sets itself apart from the competition in that cards are used to build adventures for the player’s hero, building up their abilities or tearing down their opponent in preparation for the final battle at the end of each match.

“It’s just two weeks until we officially throw open the doors to Chronicle’s Hall of Legends on 26th May, and its launch on Steam is only the beginning for what we have planned. We’ve already introduced brand new cards every week, increased rewards, balancing improvements, and there’s even more content planned for the months to come,” said James Sweatman, lead designer, Chronicle: RuneScape Legends.

Chronicle: RuneScape Legends is currently free to play with microtransactions. Chronicle: RuneScape Legends will launch on Steam in seven languages: English, French, LATAM Spanish, German, Polish, Russian, and Brazilian-Portuguese.

(Source: Jagex press release)

Perfect World Entertainment Publishing Gigantic


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Perfect World Entertainment today announced a new partnership deal to publish Gigantic, the free to play action MOBA by Motiga Games, on its Arc client. Gigantic will join first party titles including Champions Online, Neverwinter, and Star Trek Online, as Perfect World Entertainment continues to ramp up its efforts to introduce quality games to the PC and console market.

Gigantic is described as “a free-to-play action MOBA developed by Motiga that pits teams of five heroes and their massive guardians against each other in highly intense battles across a variety of maps. The game combines explosive combat with fast-paced teamwork, strategy, and skill, as players fight to defeat the opposing guardian with spells, guns, and swords.”

“2016 continues to be a year of growth for Perfect World Entertainment,” said Bryan Huang, CEO of Perfect World Entertainment. “As we expand our line-up of partnered developers, we always want to ensure that our team is publishing quality content for gamers. The passion that the Motiga team has makes them a perfect partner for PWE as we accomplish our goal of bringing quality products to the industry.”

Motiga plans to have Gigantic ready for release on PC, the Windows 10 store, and Xbox One. The accompanying trailer shows a game that looks to be similar to SMITE, albeit with more action elements.

IPE Update: Run Over By An Internet Semi Update


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Small In Plain English update for the James Romine V James Stanton case (Digital Homicide V Jim Sterling). Following the recent motion to dismiss the case, James Romine has filed his own motion to dismiss the dismissal. To put it bluntly, and to utilize a logical argument that will make much more sense in the next paragraph or two, the case has jumped on the crazy train and left logic bleeding on the highway of justice about two hundred miles back.

First case of interest, in order to prove that Jim Sterling does business in Arizona, James Romine actually purchased a t-shirt from the Jimquisition website and had it shipped to his address. The newly introduced evidence includes a receipt and a photo of the “Jim Fucking Sterling Son” t-shirt ordered from the website. Romine takes a moment of the court’s time to note that his brother coined that term. Romine also notes that he has been subscribed to Sterling’s Patreon for three months now.

In what appears to be a case of lacking awareness, Romine is now invoking the case of Ventura V Kyle as precedent for defamation in cases where the defendant was not in the same state as the trial. Ventura V Kyle is described as “a case with no winners,” where Jesse Ventura sued Navy Seal Chris Kyle after the latter claimed to have punched Ventura in a bar. Ventura’s reputation was severely damaged after he continued the lawsuit against Kyle’s estate after Chris Kyle was fatally shot at a gun range in Texas in 2013, the events adapted into the film American Sniper.

Don’t worry, it gets stranger. Romine goes on to compare the case as being “precisely the same” as being run over by a series of cars. I’m going to attach the full paragraph because paraphrasing wouldn’t do the full quote justice.

“It is precisely the same as being hit with a car in Arizona by an out of state resident passing through. In this case, The Defendant’s ‘car’ is actually an Internet semi with a camera attached to display the show of The Plaintiff being run over to The Defendant’s subscribers and then is followed by a thousand more cars following The Defendant’s lead.”

To sum where the case is up to this point: James Romine filed a motion to amend his complaint, which Sterling responded to with a motion to dismiss said amendment as pointless because the defense believes it can have the case thrown out before it goes to court primarily on the grounds of lacking jurisdiction and that his comments were a matter of opinion. Romine filed to have the dismissal dismissed, making claims that Arizona’s district court does indeed have the jurisdiction and that Sterling’s comments are a matter of fact.

Get it? Got it? Good. More on the story as it develops.

Cheap Games: Ubisoft Sale On PSN


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Ubisoft is running a week long sale on the Playstation Network, and the list of games for sale is massive. The list of sale items includes the recently launched Division as well as other big name Ubisoft titles like Rainbow Six Siege and The Crew.

Sales are for the North America Playstation Network. Your mileage may vary.

Highlights:

  • The Division: $49.79 (17% off)
  • Rainbow Six Siege: $35.99 (40% off)
  • The Crew: $17.99 (40% off)
  • Toy Soldiers War Chest: $11.99 (60% off)
  • Watch Dogs Gold Edition: $19.99 (60% off)

The entire list of games on sale includes 32 items between the Playstation 3 and Playstation 4. Currently no Vita games are on sale.

(Source: PSN)

Not Massive: Cliff Bleszinski Joins Fig


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Cliff Bleszinski, developer known for Unreal Tournament and Gears of War, is the latest big name to join crowdfunding platform Fig. Bleszinski joins Tim Schafer and Brian Fargo in heading up the platform that hopes to differentiate itself from the likes of Kickstarter and Indiegogo by offering backers the chance to actually invest in projects and receive money back if the game proves to be a success.

Despite its small library, Fig has seen the successful funding of numerous titles including Schafer’s own Psychonauts 2, Kevin Smith’s Jay and Silent Bob game, and Outer Wild. The platform was also host to the well-publicized failure of Rock Band to secure a PC port, pulling in just $792 thousand out of the $1.5 million it had asked for.

Fig hopes that its hands-on curation will create an environment that is welcoming to backers around the $20 mark who simply want a fun game all the way up to four-figure investors who want to see a return on their money. Fig’s current focus is on Consortium: The Tower, currently exceeding its funding goal.

(Source: Forbes)

Rift $50 Starter Pack For New Accounts Only


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Trion Worlds is selling a $50 “Essentials Edition” bundle for Rift that includes all of the essentials that a character needs to get started. The pack includes all of the souls from Nightmare Tides and Storm Legion DLC packs, Primalist Calling with six souls, Planewalker: Water ability, 2 bag slots, and 2 earring slots. Objectively, and considering its contents, it is a good deal.

It will also only be available for new players, starting tomorrow (May 11th). Current players who wish to get their hands on this pack will have to do so before 8:00am PST on May 11th.

(Source: Rift)

Fantasy Tales Online Available On Steam


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Indie MMO Fantasy Tales Online is available in Early Access on Steam, if you missed its release last week. Developed by Cold Tea Studio, FTO is a retro-inspired MMO with accessible controls and a small community. I managed to take a look at the game and found it to be an immensely enjoyable experience, albeit one that is clearly early on in development.

Also available at launch is the Frontier Pack. For $20, the Frontier pack provides 1 month of subscription, bags, crate keys, costume tokens, respec tokens, and cash shop gems. The server on Steam is separate from the one on the official website.

Otherwise Fantasy Tales Online is free to play. Check it out on Steam at the link below.

(Source: Steam)