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GamersFirst Premier FPS Grows 1900 Percent On World Largest Social Network (PRWeb Feb 4, 2010)

Read the full story at http://www.prweb.com/releases/2010/02/prweb3560064.htm

Creative fans will have 5 weeks to design levels, graphics or sounds and get their work in the upcoming game Jetpack. The new release of Jetpack ends one of the longest Vaporware runs ever, since a sequel had been promised since 1995. 15 years later, the re-release of Jetpack will include significant enhancements to the classic game, including web play, high-res graphics, and remastered sound. (PRWeb Feb 9, 2010)

Read the full story at http://www.prweb.com/releases/2010/02/prweb3570044.htm

Nebraska Dentist and Professor authors new textbook with help from Text to Speech (PRWeb Feb 9, 2010)

Read the full story at http://www.prweb.com/releases/2010/02/prweb3583374.htm

Aftercad Software is pleased to announce that it has reached an agreement with the Open Design Alliance (ODA) to license the Live Web platform technology that powers Renderjam.com to the ODA. (PRWeb Feb 9, 2010)

Read the full story at http://www.prweb.com/releases/2010/02/prweb3581634.htm

Whether you play EVE Online or not, the chances are you've read a lot about the harsh, cut-throat universe of New Eden. Alliances routinely clash over territorial disputes, spies work to destroy organisations from the inside and death is an inevitability. While dying in most MMOs means respawning at some far-away camp and having to repair your gear, death in EVE is a somewhat more vicious affair. When your ship is destroyed, whether it's by NPCs in a particularly tough mission or pirates hunting in a low security system, it's gone for good. While insurance will provide a sum of ISK to help with the loss, you'll need to re-buy a new ship and all the equipment that went on it. This would be like having to buy a new set of armour every time you die in World of Warcraft; a scary notion.

For the denizens of New Eden, losing a ship is a strictly in-game financial loss but for those that don't play EVE the scale of those losses can be hard to grasp. Jump On Contact tackled this issue head-on recently with a handy chart showing the rough value of EVE ships in both ISK (the in-game currency) and US Dollars. The prices show the sheer scale of the losses incurred in large battles and are based on a player buying game time codes for cash to be sold in-game for ISK. A fully geared battleship, one of the most common types of ship for players to own in the game, comes out as being worth approximately $10 US Dollars. Most ships fall somewhere between $1 and $13 but perhaps most shocking is the price of a fleet-ready titan, which is estimated at $7600. The next time you hear about a titan being killed or a fleet of capital ships being wiped out, perhaps this chart can help show the sheer scale of that loss.

Filed under: Sci-fi, EVE Online, Economy

Diagram shows real-world cost of losing ships in EVE Online originally appeared on Massively on Mon, 08 Feb 2010 21:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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In much of the world, current complaints about World of Warcraft center around the resolution of the storyline of the latest expansion and whether or not it's had a negative effect on MMOs as a whole. In China, current complaints about World of Warcraft are more focused on the fact that the game is still mired knee-deep in government infighting to try and make it playable again. After the last salvo, it seemed as if an end was close in sight... but as it turns out, NetEase has been forced to suspend any new player registrations for a week.

The studio is re-applying for a license to host World of Warcraft: The Burning Crusade, with no mention being made of Wrath of the Lich King, which doesn't bode very well for the hopes of that expansion ever seeing release in China. Having been stuck in the middle of two squabbling agencies for quite some time, and with no clear resolution in sight, it seems like a stretch to assume that the expansion will be released in China before the next one is due to arrive stateside. Our condolences to Chinese players affected by the latest round of bickering, and we can only hope that this long struggle will soon come to a conclusion.

Filed under: World of Warcraft, Fantasy, MMO industry, News items, Legal

World of Warcraft in China remains hopelessly mired originally appeared on Massively on Mon, 08 Feb 2010 20:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Planet Calypso continues to bring in the big spenders. At the end of December, word got around that a Planet Calypso player had won an auction for the Crystal Palace Space Station, paying $330,000 real world cash for the item. A few years ago, another player mortgaged his home to pay around $100,000 for a virtual nightclub in Planet Calypso. Hold off on the laughter, though: the nightclub wound up turning quite a profit, and the space station looks to be well on its way to the same.

Now another player is following in the footsteps of those two, taking a chance on the mysterious Atrox Queen Egg. David "Deathifier" Storey purchased the egg in a public auction, paying the equivalent of $69,696 for the item. The egg has been around since 2006, and players don't know when it will hatch, or even what exactly is inside. Deathifier is taking a bit of a chance with his purchase, perhaps hoping it will turn the same sort of profit as previous newsmaking purchases in the game.

You can take a look at the full story here.

Filed under: Economy, News items, Virtual worlds

Planet Calypso player pays nearly $70,000 for virtual egg originally appeared on Massively on Mon, 08 Feb 2010 19:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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David Crane and Garry Kitchen, two of the most well-known game designers of the classic era, have formed a new game publisher named AppStar Games, Wired.com has learned.

The pair, known for their work on games like Pitfall! and Bart vs. the Space Mutants, will concentrate on small games for mobile devices like iPhone. AppStar’s first iPhone application, The Internal Magic of the Atari 2600 (pictured above), is already available. It’s an interactive walkthrough of the unique game design challenges of the Atari 2600, written from Crane’s firsthand knowledge of the hardware. Future installments of the series will focus in on the tricks that Crane employed in the design of Pitfall! and Dragster.

AppStar Games will officially announce its existence to the world later this week. It expects to release its first games later this year.

“We’re very excited about the dramatic shift that is occurring in the game industry with the advent of direct-to-consumer distribution of our titles,” said Crane in an emailed statement.

David Crane will be honored at next week’s DICE summit in Las Vegas with the Academy of Interactive Arts and Sciences’ inaugural Pioneer award.

Image: Wired.com

Myst fans, rejoice one more time.

The game that gives Lazarus a run for his money, Myst Online: URU Live, is kicking once more. Cyan Worlds has gotten enough money together again to start up a brand new Myst server as the first phase of making Myst Online an open source project. The cavern that's online now is mostly the same cavern that GameTap had right as the game went offline.

Best news of all? Myst Online is free. Yes, you heard us right -- free. Free as in no subscription, no paying for the client, no nothing. They're welcoming all cavern dwellers, new and old, back to the depths of D'ni. Their account creation page is getting hammered right now, as everyone wants to get back in ASAP, so if you can't create an account just give it some time.

While the game is free, servers and running a business are not. Cyan has opened up a donation page on PayPal for anyone who wants to donate towards the game's bills, so if you're feeling generous then by all means show Uru some support. The game has been through hell and back, and some help would be much appreciated around the Cyan offices. They've even said they're working on a little present for those who donate...

So, readers of Massively, can I get a shorah?

Filed under: Fantasy, Myst Online: URU Live, MMO industry, News items, Free-to-play

Myst Online is alive... again... for the, um, we lost count how many times it died originally appeared on Massively on Mon, 08 Feb 2010 18:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Chime, a downloadable musical puzzle game for the Xbox 360, feels like the love child of Tetris and Lumines.

With only five playable levels, the game feels a little light on content. But since publisher OneBigGame is a non-profit dedicated to making games that benefit children’s charities, the lack of variety is more than forgivable.

Besides, the game thanks you for doing the right thing right off the bat: Download Chime, fire it up and you’ve earned “Fairy Godmother” — a 50-point achievement that rewards you for simply donating.

“You’ve done a great thing and made the world a better place,” the achievement text reads. “Here’s a little gift!”

A slightly higher Gamerscore and the warm, fuzzy feeling of lending a helping hand aren’t the only reasons to play Chime. It does a fine job of putting gamers in the zone. Atmospheric music from composer Philip Glass, electronica hit-maker Moby, Peter Harnoll of Orbital, progressive trance DJ Markus Schulz and Lemon Jelly’s Fred Deakin certainly help. These shimmering tunes set the tone for the puzzling, which tasks players with fitting puzzle pieces together and claiming on-screen territory.

Players progress by dropping Tetromino-style pieces into blocks. With every pass of the game’s beat line, squares that the player creates are claimed. You can’t fail. In fact, the game board clears on its own as stale blocks dissolve. It takes a while to get the hang of exactly where you want to be putting your puzzle pieces, but once you get the rhythm of the game down its easy to get lost in the levels.

Chime provides a gaming trance that helps the needy and does it to the beat of Phillip Glass. Considering the fact that the game only costs $5, there’s little reason not to join the ranks of gaming’s fairy godmothers.

Image courtesy OneBigGame

See Also:

• Penny Arcade Recognized for Charity Work
• Desert Bus Drivers Raise $132000 for Charity
• Child's Play Raises $1.7M in 2009
• Child's Play Raises More Than $1 Million for Sick Kids
• Ümloud!, a Rock Band Night for Child's Play

Filed under: Fantasy, Lineage 2, MMO industry, News items

Free trials ahoy for Lineage II originally appeared on Massively on Mon, 08 Feb 2010 17:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Easydate owns one of the top ten UK dating brands www.BeNaughty.com , and with this partnership can now address the German, French Spanish and Italian speaking markets using Dating Factory’s white label dating platform. (PRWeb Feb 8, 2010)

Read the full story at http://www.prweb.com/releases/2010/02/prweb3559814.htm

When it comes to action-based shooters like Global Agenda, gear is good but skill is better. Way better. Even the most technologically endowed enemies can come crashing down with a little teamwork and creative ingenuity.

But if you're new to the game, new to action-based shooters, or just not doing so hot in your PvP matches, then you might need some help. That's where we come in.

After playing a huge amount of PvP, PvE, and a decent amount of AvA in Global Agenda, I've found that many players make a few common mistakes. So, while I know this article will result in more deaths for me, I want to help all of you avoid these common mistakes and play a better game.

Continue reading Five tips on being a better agent in Global Agenda

Filed under: Sci-fi, Tips and tricks, MMORTS, Global Agenda

Five tips on being a better agent in Global Agenda originally appeared on Massively on Mon, 08 Feb 2010 16:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Electronic Arts bet big on the Super Bowl this weekend, forking over millions to run an ad for Dante’s Inferno during the big game.

Nielsen Co.’s ratings for Super Bowl XLIV show it as the most-watched program in television history, with about 106 million viewers. That beats the previous record, set by the season finale of M.A.S.H. in 1983. And it put Electronic Arts’ upcoming action game, a hack-and-slash mash-up of the famous poem and God of War, in front of a whole lot of gamers looking for the next big thing. Dante’s Inferno will be released for Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 on Tuesday.

“As a company, we’re feeling really happy with our decision,” said EA product manager Phil Marineu. “We’ve had over three million impressions regarding our Super Bowl spot within the last 72 hours.”

Marineau tapped advertising agency Wieden + Kennedy to create the ad, which pairs the Bill Withers tune “Ain’t No Sunshine” with footage of the game’s protagonist chasing his beloved Beatrice into Satan’s domain.

Super Bowl advertising prices were down this year: According to TNS Media Intelligence, a thirty-second spot on CBS’s broadcast would set advertisers back between $2.5 and $2.8 million, a drop from last year’s $3 million.

Despite the recession discount, the decision to fork over the dough for an expensive Super Bowl commercial wasn’t an easy decision to make for Electronic Arts, Marineau said. But he says that Electronic Arts is concentrating on fewer, better games, “really doubling down on those titles that we feel are solid titles and can break through to the masses.”

Television advertising works when you need to convince the casual masses to buy your game, Marineau said, pointing out that EA’s ad for Mass Effect 2 that aired during the NFC championship saw huge numbers.

“We really need to distinguish ourselves” from competitors in the third-person action genre, Marineau said, calling out Sega’s Bayonetta and THQ’s Darksiders.

See Also:

• Ugly Reprint of Dante's Inferno Aims For Gamers
• Hands On: Dante's Inferno, a Return Trip to Hell
• Video: Ain't No Sunshine Down in Dante's Inferno
• EA, Starz Media Planning Dante's Inferno Animated Film
• Hands On: PSP Dante's Inferno, The Portable Purgatory

Star Wars offers a setting with incredible chances at strong storytelling and it's for this reason I've been watching closely for any hints at the story elements in Star Wars: The Old Republic. This recent developer blog on the driving forces behind the Sith Inquisitor's tale really dug its claws into my mind.

Before now, I'd always assumed most choice elements within the story of any given class would be mostly binary. That was the easiest solution for BioWare, who has created quite the challenge for themselves with the premise of a full singleplayer storyline experience for each class within the game.

Continue reading The Digital Continuum: Can story supplant grind?

Filed under: Game mechanics, Opinion, The Digital Continuum, Star Wars: The Old Republic

The Digital Continuum: Can story supplant grind? originally appeared on Massively on Mon, 08 Feb 2010 15:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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While our sister site, WoW.com, gets the lion's share of World of Warcraft screenshots for their daily Around Azeroth column, we do still get the occasional screenshot from a player -- albeit few and far between! Today's overlook screenshot comes to us from occasional contributor Deadend from the Exodar server, who writes in: Here is Mimiron's joint. Mimiron is, from a game play standpoint, probably one of my all time favorite bosses in WoW.

If you're one of the millions of players who have played World of Warcraft and would like to send in a screenshot, we'd welcome your contribution. All you need to do is email a screenshot to us at oneshots AT massively DOT com along with your name, and a quick description of what's WoWing you in the screenshot. Please make sure your image is at least 1024 pixels wide and has as little visible UI as possible. Yours may be next!

Filed under: World of Warcraft, Fantasy, Screenshots, One Shots

One Shots: Hanging with the boss originally appeared on Massively on Mon, 08 Feb 2010 14:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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