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RECENT MMO NEWS

1  GamesCom: The 3rd Birthday Hands-On Fri, Aug 27th, 2010, 8:43 am (EST) BY DARRYL The observant amongst us will notice that The 3rd Birthday, despite being part of the Parasite Eve franchise, doesn't mention Parasite Eve anywhere in the title. That's because Square Enix only want it loosely associated with the games that came in the past - they see The 3rd Birthday as a complete reboot for the franchise, a new chapter if you will. It's certainly not a spin-off though, so don't go thinking about it like that. What does this mean on face value? That the game is going away from its more traditional RPG roots and more towards that of a third-person shooter. That's not to say there won't be some RPG elements, there will, but in the grand scheme of the game they will be quite minimal. More »

0  Memory Issues Reason For Final Fantasy XIV PS3 Delay Tue, Aug 24th, 2010, 4:35 pm (EST) BY COLIN The PlayStation 3 version of Square Enix's upcoming MMO, Final Fantasy XIV, was reportedly pushed back to March 2011 due to technical difficulties. Speaking with VG247, producer Hiromichi Tanaka explained that it mostly due to the lack of memory on Sony's platform. "The main reason was memory," said Tanaka. More »

0  What Expectations Should Rise From Dust? Mon, Aug 23rd, 2010, 5:26 pm (EST) BY ADAM MA It's always difficult to look at a game that really challenges modern design concepts and what qualifies as being fun. From Dust is a game that was recently shown at GamesCom 2010, and it already has me wondering how well it will sell. The concept looks fantastic, the graphics look great, and the replay value seems endless to me. But then again, that what most 'God Games' look like. In theory they sound, and sometimes even look great, but in practice things tend to fall apart. Does From Dust have the potential to be its own natural disaster? The most recent failure in creationist-gaming (in my opinion) is Spore. The game promised the idea of taking a creature from one end of evolution to another, while at the same time displaying its insignificance. In the end, the most interesting phases of the game were far too short and a large majority of the game is played in a very modern/futuristic setting. More »

	2  Feud Sparks Between EA and Defence Secretary of Britain Mon, Aug 23rd, 2010, 3:17 pm (EST) BY COLIN Defence Secretary Liam Fox issued a statement over the weekend, condemning EA and Danger Close Game's reboot of the Medal of Honor franchise which allows players to take the sides of American or Taliban forces in the multiplayer component of the game. More »

4  Top Ten Development Studios Right Now Thu, Aug 19th, 2010, 10:43 pm (EST) BY JORDAN DOUGLAS Games have always been behind other creative mediums - such as film, music, and literature - when it comes to making consumption choices based on the team behind a product, as opposed to its franchise tag or brand. That being said, the "hardcore", enthusiast crowd has always had a deep appreciation and sense of loyalty toward the select group of studios that continually produce quality. Thankfully, that trend is slowly beginning to penetrate mainstream gaming. With that in mind, we decided to compile a list of the top development studios at the present moment - studios that generate a great deal of anticipation behind their endeavors, and are an influential force in the industry. This list is specifically directed towards individual teams, not publishers (i.e. Nintendo) or multiple teams that produce games under a common label (i.e. Ubisoft Montreal). More »

0  Are PC Games Finally Hitting Their Stride? Mon, Aug 16th, 2010, 1:05 pm (EST) BY ADAM MA This has been a fantastic year for PC gaming. Steam has gone to Mac, StarCraft 2 hit shelves, and Civilization V is just around the corner. Whether or not PC gaming is still viable when consoles have such a firm grasp on the market is something that gamers love to debate. Some say PC gaming is the only way to go, with mods (and a mouse) making a lot of experiences unbeatable. Others go down the console route, citing less expensive platforms and more developer support as the reason to make the switch. But in recent times, things have been different. Things have definitely changed. That 'thing' is PC gaming, and its identity crisis may finally be over. I use identity crisis because for a while, no one really knew what to do with the PC. Sure it had FPS and RTS games, those experiences that were far more difficult to reproduce on console. There was the mouse and keyboard to consider, voice communication, and mod communities. But as time went on, and consoles slowly began to integrate multiplayer, voice chat, and pretty impressive graphics for a set cost, PC developers got a little confused. Gaming on a PC went from a slow trickle, to a grinding halt outside the realm of MMOs, and even then options were quite limited. Games like Crysis didn't help the situation much either, as most could hardly afford to run the game with its ideal specs at the time. More »

	1  Star Wars Clone Wars Adventures Game To Debut With Season Premiere Wed, Aug 11th, 2010, 9:06 pm (EST) BY COLIN Season three of George Lucas and Lucasfilm's Stars Wars: The Clone Wars will be premiering on September 17 and together with it, Lucasart's and Sony Online Entertainment's collaborative game, Star Wars: Clone Wars Adventures. More »

1  Guild Wars 2 To Defy All MMO Conventions Wed, Aug 11th, 2010, 5:05 pm (EST) BY COLIN NCsoft has released a new trailer for their upcoming sequel to MMO Guild Wars. Dubbed the Manifesto trailer, the dev team at ArenaNet talk it up for Guild Wars 2, promoting the brand new visual style and gameplay system. Unlike many MMOs on the market today, they're looking to remove the grind and put players in a persistent world where they are the hero, where the things they do remain and the consequences to their actions actually matter. Check it out in the trailer below, it sounds truly exciting and quite ambitious. More »

0  Sword 2 Review Mon, Aug 9th, 2010, 5:21 pm (EST) BY DARRYL Most MMO's have to work hard to make themselves interesting. The formula for the genre has become an unchanging thing, and anyone who's played a single game in the genre knows the overall theme. Players kill monsters to gain experience, experience leads to levels, and levels lead into killing bigger monsters. The challenge behind the MMO is getting players interested in killing the monsters, and making a world that most would genuinely want to explore. Sword 2, like most MMO games, faces this issue head-on in its own way. It has some interesting mechanics, some unique aspects, but is it enough to hold attention over other games in the genre? More »

0  New EverQuest Next Game Art Revealed Fri, Aug 6th, 2010, 11:52 pm (EST) BY ADAM MA EverQuest is a game that I never personally enjoyed, but deserves a bit of respect. As the forerunner of a lot of MMO concepts, EQ has slipped quite a long way from being king of the hill. Still, it likes like SOE isn't quite ready to let go of the franchise yet. EQ2 is still receiving support after all, and now Massively has drawn some attention to a few interesting (and beautiful) screenshots. More »

0  Blizzard Policing Saucy Erotic Activity In World Of Warcraft Thu, Aug 5th, 2010, 1:50 pm (EST) BY COLIN Ever heard of the Goldshire Inn on Moon Guard? It's a well known locale for red light role-playing activity in Blizzard's world dominating MMO, World of Warcraft. After complaints were made, Blizzard has affirmed that they will vigilantly police the issue. Goldshire Inn, the start point for the human race, has become More »

0  StarCraft II: What To Expect Next Wed, Aug 4th, 2010, 9:25 pm (EST) BY ADAM MA StarCraft 2 has been a massive hit, and everyone knows it. The game came close to two million copies in its first two days of release, and there's no telling when it'll stop. That being said, there were a lot of things about it that weren't exactly new. The teams were the same, units as a whole remained intact (or were a little rebalanced). For as great as StarCraft 2 is, there's really not much 'new' content as a whole in there; it's really just an updated version of Brood War. This isn't a bad thing though, as it just means that Heart of the Swarm and Legacy of the Void will have a lot more features than we may expect. The first thing that comes to mind is units. Re-balances will come over time with patches and expansions, but looking at the way single player campaign for Wings of Liberty is designed, we're more likely to see unit swaps in the next expansion than anything else. Plenty of units were removed from the multiplayer campaign that fans may want to see - such as Firebats. No doubt Blizzard will want to introduce more units that may not see the light of day for Zerg and Protoss as well. Rather than playing with a game engine that's been clearly well refined at this point, it makes more sense to fine-tune than change. New and returning units would change the game considerably, with little pressure being applied to the core gameplay. More »

1  Transformers MMO Announced Tue, Aug 3rd, 2010, 2:23 am (EST) BY ADAM MA In the long list of things currently being licensed to become an MMO, Transformers at least makes some sense. It's a big open world, tons of characters, and they can turn into just about anything that relies on some form of electricity. Thankfully we won't have to sit around and imagine what such a game would be like, as NetDragon has just announced they'll be making it. More »

0  Monday Night Combat Preview Mon, Aug 2nd, 2010, 9:43 pm (EST) BY ADAM To address the biggest concern anyone would have about this game, I'll come right out and say it.  This isn't a Team Fortress 2 clone. There's no way it could be, even though there are a lot of things that look the same. It has classes that have unique abilities, squad oriented fighting, and cartoonish graphics. It's understandable how most would look at the game at face value and misinterpret what's going on here. What's going to make Monday Night Combat so much fun - and so very unique - is how those similar aspects are put into play. More »

0  How Starcraft Has Changed Gaming Wed, Jul 28th, 2010, 9:28 pm (EST) BY ADAM MA With the release of StarCraft II, there's no doubt that the game will make its mark on the world, it's already positioning itself to shatter a few sales records, but it's hard to imagine that it will ever change things the way the original has. From internet cafes to LAN parties, StarCraft has (and will continue) to shape the way we play games for better or worse. But before we see what direction the sequel takes us, let us take a look back and see how different things are today thanks to Blizzard. First and foremost would be online gaming itself, which has evolved so rapidly in the last few years it's hard to even imagine how it all began. Counter Strike may claim the title of 'Classic FPS King', but when it comes to online gaming very few titles hold as much recognition on a global level as StarCraft. It was one of the first games to display how powerful and online community could be, and what an untapped resource gamers were as a whole. Korea is a perfect testament to this fact, but not the only example. More »

0  BioWare Mythic Against A RealID Policy Mon, Jul 26th, 2010, 11:03 pm (EST) BY ADAM MA Recently asked if a Real ID policy was under consideration, BioWare Mythic has set down some definitive words on the subject. 'No' and 'Never' to be precise. Very aware of the negative response that the Real ID system met at first announcement, general manager Eugene Evans has laid all fears to rest. More »

	1  DC Universe Online Dated Mon, Jul 26th, 2010, 2:26 pm (EST) BY COLIN Sony's announced the release date for their superhero MMO, DC Universe Online. Players will be able to create their very own superhero as well as try out the more staple characters in a battle simulator come November 2. More »

7  DC Universe Online Gets Full Trailer Sat, Jul 24th, 2010, 11:34 pm (EST) BY ADAM MA Never judge a book by it's cover. It's a rule of thumb that can be safely applied to most aspects of life, video game trailers included. That being said, it's hard not to be absolutely blown away by the amount of detail that's been put into DC Universe Online's CG opener. It explains the plot, provides some character background, and throws down an action-packed gauntlet. More »

0  Space Combat Coming To Star Wars: The Old Republic Fri, Jul 23rd, 2010, 11:43 pm (EST) BY ADAM MA What started as a rumor has turned into a full fledged 'confirmation' in Star Wars: The Old Republic. Officially making the announcement at Comic-Con, SWTOR community manager Sean Dahlberg broke the news that space combat would be in the MMO. The announcement sort of makes sense, considering that player-housing was created in the form of customizable ships. Letting those ships actually fly is the next best thing. More »

	0  Need For Speed World Dated Tue, Jul 20th, 2010, 1:35 pm (EST) BY COLIN The online MMO world of Need for Speed is coming sooner than you think. EA has confirmed that Need For Speed World will be available for purchase on July 27, next week. More »