MMO Clerks

It was bound to happen. Jokes and lists about “you know you’ve been playing too much [your MMO] when…” abound. Suggestions for balancing your real life with gaming are almost as numerous. They’re truth in jest, sometimes hitting a little too close to home because — let’s be honest — who has not procrastinated on something like taking out the trash until they just kill one last boss or wrap up one last quest?

On the other hand, there’s a potential for an upside to the real life/gaming crossover. For example, one particularly awesome teen got in great shape by applying gaming principles to his life. Treating his goals and challenges like a game — “your score has to be high at the end of the day” — took him pretty far and it was only a matter of time before someone else picked up on the idea.

Meet the real-life quest tracker. This clever little tool lets you add quests, sort them into categories, keep up with their completion status, and even add your own quest summaries. It’s a free download, and all ready for you to use. Quest rewards are entirely up to you, of course.

Bonus points if you pick up every pop culture reference in the example.

Filed under: Culture, Humor

Quest tracker sends you on a RL quest line originally appeared on Massively on Wed, 28 Apr 2010 11:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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What if you could play the original Super Mario Bros. with other classic video game characters, controlling just as they did in their own titles? Well now you can, with Simon Belmont, Link, Samus, Mega Man, and Bill from Contra. More »

There was a time when a game manual wasn’t just a place to print out what each button did. Manuals were, at one point, the first step of the journey into a intricate fantasy world. More »

To be honest, I was pretty darn happy that I got to write this Free Realms “look-back,” being that I have always been a player and fan of the game. It would be more accurate to call me a “follower” or “citizen,” considering that there are so many activities to do in-world that have nothing to do with gaming. When they introduced the spring-board bounce game, for example, I knew that many hours would be spent just jumping on those things. (And that theory has been proven correct.)

I remember the first real look at Free Realms, two years ago at Fan Faire (SOE’s fan festival.) Within the span of 5 minutes, Creative Director Laralyn McWilliams charmed me with surprisingly good graphics and a virtual dog that pooed and peed. I knew at that moment that Free Realms would be much more than just “a kids game.” Let’s take a look back at the last year and see if that is so.

Continue reading A look back at a year of Free Realms

Filed under: Free-to-play, Browser, Casual, Virtual worlds, Free Realms

A look back at a year of Free Realms originally appeared on Massively on Wed, 28 Apr 2010 11:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Petroglyph’s massive multiplayer online action strategy game Mytheon has entered open beta, with a laptop, iPod Touches, and iTunes gift cards up for grabs for those who give the game an early go. More »

It probably shouldn’t come as much of a surprise. James Cameron’s Avatar caught the attention of gamers from the moment the first trailer was released. Its appearance alone was extremely familiar to anyone who’s spent more than a few minutes in any number of fantasy MMOs, and the movie’s plot centered around what could be called the most immersive MMO ever.

The movie has already been turned into a single player game, and now our friends at G4TV report that Producer Jon Landau says he’s “very interested” in the creation of an Avatar MMO. Before you groan in despair, hear him out. The focus doesn’t seem to be on shoving something out the door right away while the money machine is still running at full speed: “it’s something we’d want to do, would be very interested in doing, but we’d have to do it right. To create those worlds is sometimes a long time endeavor.”

Landau continues by exploring the concept of 3-D gaming — a feature that would be almost a given in an Avatar MMO: “I think that the addition of 3-D in gaming tends to be more transformative than 3-D is to movies. [...] I think we’re starting to see the start of 3-D becoming commonplace in gaming.”

Follow along after the jump to see the full video of Landau’s talk with G4TV.

Continue reading Avatar movie producer interested in Avatar MMO

Filed under: MMO industry, News items

Avatar movie producer interested in Avatar MMO originally appeared on Massively on Wed, 28 Apr 2010 10:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Aksys’ Really Naughty Limited Edition of Record of Agarest War is out for the Xbox 360, and its contents are so interesting that one girl and two cats gather to see what’s inside. Warning: Simulated boob poking ensues. More »

“I have such fond memories of exploring Kokiri forest that morning. My mom says the game’s music gives her chills.” As seen on Reddit, as posted by mattroidprime. More »

This week’s decision by the United States Supreme Court to hear arguments both for and against the State of California’s attempt to make the sale of very violent games to kids illegal raises a question: Which games would be affected? More »

Gamania Digital Entertainment has announced the upcoming closed beta of a new MMO for the younger set: Hero:108. This new MMO, set to enter closed beta in May, is based on a Cartoon Network series of the same name.

Gamania COO Davig Wong hopes that Hero:108 will server as an introduction for the next round of up-and-coming MMO fans: “This teen-centric free-to-play online video game was developed to ease young gamers graduating from casual games into the exciting world of MMOs.”

The game is described as part of a “cross-platform” collaboration between Gamania, Cartoon Network, Moonscoop Entertainment, and Playmates Toys, so besides the television show and MMO, you’ll be seeing a line of products including collectible toys in the near future.

For now, however, their focus is on the MMO. If you’re interested in giving it a look for yourself, you’re in luck. Gamania has arranged for a beta key giveaway, and it’s as simple as visiting their site to sign up. While we don’t have a specific date for the beginning of closed beta yet, May is just a few days away so it’s bound to be soon.

Filed under: Betas, Fantasy, New titles, News items, Free-to-play

Hero:108 Online announces closed beta originally appeared on Massively on Wed, 28 Apr 2010 09:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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