Feb 23 2010
Last week, Will Wright was talking in New York City and saying brainy things. Among them was an idea I’d never considered before, that people will play the virtual reality that is a video game before…
Feb 23 2010
Filed under: Betas, New titles, News items, Free-to-play, Allods Online
You’d have to be hiding under a rock to not have noticed the brouhaha that’s been going on with the Allods Online cash shop. Players have been in an uproar about the Fear of Death mechanic coupled with the $13.50 price-tag for perfumes; the $20 pricetag for an additional 6 bag slots; as well as the changes coming to the Russian version of the game on patch 0.7 with mounts requiring a cash shop item to go faster than walking. They gave us a public statement before, but many people felt that it was marketing double-speak that effectively said nothing at all — at least if our comments section is any indication.
When you add in the swirling rumors that the original developers had left the building and were no longer actively involved in helping to develop Allods Online, you can imagine the din. The forums were alight with people asking for some type of statement — or just ragequitting.
Last night, the folks at gPotato finally decided to respond to player concerns with a statement many in the player community seem to feel is a far better one than last time. This one not only answers the question as to whether or not the original developers are still on board (short answer: yes), but also addresses the cash shop pricing, and opens a thread where they’re soliciting constructive player feedback. if you’ve been concerned about this, now’s the time to head over there and have your say. Also, be sure to check out Massively Speaking tomorrow, when our Editor-in-Chief, Shawn, will be asking a representative from gPotato the hard questions about Allods Online. We’re sure you won’t want to miss that!
Allods Online releases updated statement, solicits player input originally appeared on Massively on Tue, 23 Feb 2010 15:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Feb 23 2010
Over at the blog Dubious Quality, Bill Harris has been spotting some dots and trying to connect them. The picture he’s got is of Activision making a play for MTV-owned Rock Band studio Harmonix,…
Feb 23 2010
PS3 system sales increased at Amazon.com this week by 160% to coincide with the release of Heavy Rain. Coincidence? Highly doubtful, as this heavily anticipated game has almost perfect reviews from everyone. I also personally know 3 individuals who bought PS3 systems this last week mainly to play this game. One of them even sold his X-box 360 to purchase it.
Feb 23 2010
Feb 23 2010
Filed under: World of Warcraft, Fantasy, Screenshots, One Shots
It’s always sad to see our friends in MMOs go away. With that said, it’s a little bit strange when your friend in an MMO is a cow. How does one moove on from the loss of such a bovine friend in World of Warcraft? Well, if you’re occasional One Shots contributor Johanis, you could snap a picture of the poor perished pal and send it in to us with the following note: Here is Bambuzel my level 32 Mage in World of Warcraft. He had a cow he would often visit on this farm…until one day…well the picture says it all. Bambuzel thought he was only sleeping but soon thought otherwise…. As for others, well, it’s a cow. That’s a lot of virtual steaks (and potential related food buffs) going to waste!
We love to see silly screenshots of what you’re doing, but you have to send those in to us. It’s easy to do. Just email them in to oneshots AT massively DOT com along with your name, the name of the game, and a quick description. We’ll post them out here for everyone to enjoy and give you the credit.
Gallery: One Shots: Gallery II
Gallery: One Shots
One Shots: Ground beef originally appeared on Massively on Tue, 23 Feb 2010 14:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Feb 23 2010
TOKYO — Of all the make-believe guns I fired last weekend, only one had real bullets in it. OK, maybe they were more like pellets. Either way, they could put an eye out.
Saturday was the AOU Amusement Expo 2010, Japan’s annual trade show of the All Nippon Amusement Machine Operators’ Union. Japan’s arcade game makers showed off several new titles, most of which involved expensive, elaborate setups that can’t be replicated in the home.
Ace Sniper is less of an video game and more of an enclosed shooting gallery with Airsoft guns. The unit is a long bunker with small windows, so passersby can get a glimpse of the gun rack and watch you shoot (see below). An extremely short tether and a door that locks keep anyone from taking or even pointing the gun outside.
This is important because the guns look extremely realistic and are closely modeled after actual weapons. I saw five choices on display, ranging from a handgun to a full-on assault rifle. Having never held an authentic machine gun before, I was taken aback by the weight, particularly in contrast to the flimsy plastic toy I was holding in Metal Gear Arcade an hour earlier. Even without bullets this thing could probably kill someone if swung hard enough. That explains why melee attacks in video games hurt so much.
One session includes three rounds of escalating difficulty in the gallery; each round was timed and my ammo was limited. At first, the targets stood still and appeared in order, but soon they began sliding back and forth. Any target left standing for too long began to flash red before disappearing.
The final round was a single target at the rear of the machine. I had ten seconds and only three shots. I only needed one.
There was a burst of yellow, as if I had popped a balloon (I hope that color cannot be changed to red or the game would be far too macabre to enjoy). The game evaluated my score and rated me a “normal sniper,” the second of four possible levels. This was accompanied by an pitiful “awww” sound effect from an audience, suddenly making me feel inadequate as a potential sharpshooter.
Luckily, an ego boost was forthcoming when the attendant hooked up a paper target and I got to take aim one last time. Shooting pellets at an unmounted piece of paper is harder than it sounds because there’s very little visual indication when you strikes the target or not. Had the attendant not told me to “aim lower,” I might never have hit the bulls-eye. He let me take my target home as proof of my pellet-firing ability.
Even though the game’s distributor KNT Co. routinely deals in arcade machines overseas, I cannot imagine Ace Sniper appearing in the United States in my lifetime. Not only would anti-game crusaders and victims of shootings be up in arms, customers would be scarce as I was told that units will cost 3.5 million yen (approximately $39,000). Isn’t that more expensive than an actual AK-47?
Photos: Daniel Feit/Wired.com
Feb 23 2010
John Carmack, co-founder of id Software, will be honored with a Lifetime Achievement Award at the 2010 Game Developers Choice Awards. Carmack will recieve the award at the Game Developers Conference on March 11 in San Francisco.
Carmack, who co-founded id in 1991, was a pioneer of 3-D graphics and first-person shooters, instrumental in the creation of beloved gaming franchises Doom, Quake and Wolfenstein. He was selected for the award by a panel of game industry veterans.
Previous recipients of the award include Sid Meier, Shigeru Miyamoto and Will Wright. Wright will be on hand at GDC to present the award to Carmack.
Photo: Hachimaki/Flickr
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Feb 23 2010
Gaming tends to take over things. We get video games molding movies, video games infesting Facebook. At Toy Fair 2010, I expected to see gaming infecting and influencing toys. I did. But I also saw…
Feb 23 2010
Filed under: Betas, News items, Opinion, Second Life, Virtual worlds
Over about the last 60-90 minutes, Tom Hale’s been delivering a keynote at the SL Pro! conference held in Second Life. There are multiple hefty announcements from Linden Lab involved, and some of that should be reaching the official Second Life blogs as you read this.
Golly, what do we have among all of this? We’ve got the Second Life 2.0 viewer public beta, which should be available right now. We’ve got the new third-party viewer registry and third-party policies being announced today; We’ve got changes in the names of content-ratings. We’ve got the official release of open source viewer Snowglobe and the announcement of Snowglobe 2; and all capped off with a slew of supporting FAQs, guides, video tutorials, wiki pages and what-have-you!
Continue reading A red-letter day for Second Life, Second Life 2.0 viewer and more
A red-letter day for Second Life, Second Life 2.0 viewer and more originally appeared on Massively on Tue, 23 Feb 2010 13:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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