Introducing 10 Questions from the Academy: A weekly feature from the Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences wherein significant figures in the video game industry provide their input on past trends, current events, and future challenges and goals for the entertainment software community.
Jay Cohen is a member of the Academy of Interactive Arts and Sciences where he serves as chairman of its board directors. Cohen left Ubisoft earlier this year, after serving as the company's North American vice president of publishing, and now works for Jerry Bruckheimer Games.
AIAS: How do you measure success? Jay Cohen: Review scores and unit sales!
What's your favorite part of game development? Sitting around the table and seeing a spark of an idea ignite into creative wildfire that rallies the team to go the extra mile. Then, seeing that idea implemented into the game and having it actually work as imagined!
You don't see nearly the amount of coverage of Second Life(or as we call it in these parts, PlayStation Home's creepy, aggressively pornographic uncle) these days as you used to, and BBC did a little digging to find out why. Their discovery? Well, not to put too fine a point on it, but Second Life sucks. It's overly complicated to control, it's full of some truly horrific human beings, there are many better social networking hubs and (perhaps most importantly) companies that sunk a bunch of money into it rarely got their investments back.
What the BBC seems to be implying is that Second Life was largely a media-created phenomenon, with journalists and public figures so smitten by the idea of a virtual world, no one stopped to notice that it was a wretched hive of scum and villainy.
Sega is preparing a sequel to its App Store launch title, Super Monkey Ball, due out sometime before the end of the year. According to Touch Arcade, Super Monkey Ball 2 will add 115 new levels, multiplayer functions, and, perhaps most importantly, minigames. Monkey Bowling will be included in the download, with Monkey Golf and Monkey Target (also known as the greatest achievement in human history) to follow as free updates.
Okay, actually, while great, the minigames aren't the most important part of this sequel. That would be the improved controls, which may render this game playable. Check out Touch Arcade for gameplay footage!
Sometimes we do crazy things -- in this case, it's something crazy for you, dear reader. You see, when PS3 Attitude reported users who had run into freezes or other bouts of unsatisfactory performance from their PS3 could report the issue to Sony thanks to firmware 3.10, directly through their console, we thought it was something we'd try to recreate on our own. After scratching our noggin for a few minutes, trying to come up with the best way to put our PS3 into danger, we figured a swift and hard power-down via the back toggle switch on the console would be the best bet to trigger this supposed new error report system. Lo and behold, we received the message you see above.
So that's new, right? After winning that battle in the war of trying to break our PS3, we then decided to pick up our console and shake it like some kind of crazed British nanny, but that did not get us the results we were looking for. As such, we contacted Sony and a spokesperson told us that, yes, firmware 3.10 does add a feature to the console where users can report issues following console freezes and the like. So, now you know!
There's some good news for the PC players of Left 4 Dead 2. You no longer have to worry about whether Valve will be bringing the original Left 4 Dead campaigns into the sequel. You see, crafty modders over at l4dmods.com have already implemented the original maps into Left 4 Dead 2. Valve hasn't actually released an SDK for Left 4 Dead 2 yet, so making this mod work will require users to change some files in the original game (and yes, you do have to own both games to make it work). There are some known issues and bugs and, needless to say, it's not the most user-friendly mod out there, but it's probably a small price to pay for the dedicated users.
So, if you want to see a Spitter on the roof of Mercy Hospital (and we know you do), you can. Watch a video of the mod in action after the break.
Speaking to VentureBeat, Xbox Live general manager Marc Whitten discussed the recent round of Xbox Live bans. According to Whitten, banning users from Xbox Live is "a cat and mouse game." Said Whitten, "These were people that were pirating software." He added that Microsoft looks at banning users "from a safety and anti-cheating perspective" and that the company looks out for its partners. Responding to the widely reported story that Microsoft banned over a million Xbox Live users, Whitten said that the figure is inaccurate. "I cannot explain to you why people would think it was a million people," said Whitten, then adding quite succinctly, "It wasn't a million people."
Whitten went on to state his belief that Microsoft does "a really good job" of monitoring the activity on Xbox Live, specifically in terms of piracy and online harassment. He concluded that the company is "committed to making [Xbox Live] better and better."
The interview also covers the recent integration of Facebook on Xbox, the effect Modern Warfare 2 had on Live activity (hint: a big one) and whether or not we'll be playing Facebook games on our consoles anytime soon. Don't expect a straight answer on that last one though, as the closes Whitten gets is, "In the future, they will move much closer together."
Stardock isn't a publicly traded company, though it strives to be as open as possible about its business. This is where the annual Stardock Customer Report (PDF link) comes in, an annual assessment of the company's financial situation. Stardock, a publisher of games such as Sins of a Solar Empire, is also behind digital distribution service Impulse, which boss Brad Wardell says is the second only to Valve's Steam platform in terms of revenue generation.
"Our estimation is that Steam - as the current market leader - enjoys approximately 70 percent of the overall digital distribution market with Impulse at 10 percent and all others combined at 20 percent in terms of actual dollars generated per month," Wardell explains. As Wardell estimates, 25 percent of PC platform sales will come from digital distribution channels during 2009's calendar year, so we're talking billions of dollars here.
"Steam and Impulse both have the advantage of exclusive content (Left 4 Dead, Half-Life, Sins of a Solar Empire, Demigod, etc.)," he adds, but explains that Valve's strides in getting major publishers to sign on for Steamworks as a DRM solution (Dawn of War II, Modern Warfare 2) effectively nullifies those games' chances of appearing on Impulse. This is a big area where Impulse is missing out and even though it offers its own alternative -- Impulse Reactor -- the company already missed the boat on its share of the big, fat money-filled pie.
We can't be gaming all the time, despite our best efforts, and from time to time we'll actually take advantage of the movie-playing abilities on our gaming systems. JBO features our top picks for XBL, PSN, Netflix's Watch Instantly and Blu-ray each week. Recommendation of the Week:
North by Northwest: 50th Anniversary Edition(Blu-ray) It's been 50 years since Alfred Hitchcock's classic North by Northwest first appeared in theaters, and Warner Bros. has put together an amazing package that includes a new one hour documentary about Hitchcock called "The Master's Touch: Hitchcock's Signature Style," and a new half-hour documentary about the film itself. It also carries over older extras like a documentary about Cary Grant, commentary and more. It's packaged in the Warner Blu-ray Book format that I loathed at first, but now love: No inserts or booklets to lose, and they look fantastic on a shelf. You've probably seen the iconic image of Cary Grant running in terror from a biplane, but never seen North by Northwest. For my money, it's his best film.
Read on for the rest of the recommendations, andas usual, we'll see you at the popcorn sta -- well, actually, we won't see you at all. But you catch our drift. Plus, be sure to tell us what you'll be watching, or what you've seen recently that bowled you over.
"Thank you, to the people of Earth, for embracing our mission of cooperation and understanding. Furthering our efforts, we've decided that we will also share the interactive entertainment interface system of our home planet. Through the diplomatic initiatives employed on our world between what Earth knows as 'corporations,' we have but one entertainment product. The interface is placed on the back of the user's neck and connects directly to the brain through a harmless transfer of chemicals and electrical impulses. All users are connected around the world to each other using a proprietary network that can also translate language in real time. We wish to show you that our technology can not only assist humanity, but also entertain. The device will be available soon. Until then, we wish to know what you are all playing this weekend?
After being banned from the PlayStation Network for hateful comments stated in Resistance's online community, Erik Estavillo launched not one, but two, lawsuits against Sony for infringing on his "first amendment rights" -- an argument that was shot down by Judge Ronald Whyte simply because "Sony is not part of the government."
However, what Estavillo lacks in civil online discourse, he makes up for with sheer determination and persistence. In addition to Sony, he now has both Microsoft and Nintendo in his sights. Estavillo is seeking $75,000 from Microsoft for the "undue stress" and "sadness" caused by his Xbox 360's RROD. "Microsoft should have to bear the burden that is now put on the shoulders of this disabled plaintiff," his claim states -- a burden that is equivalent to the sum of 375 Xbox 360 systems, apparently. Nintendo is being sued for interfering with Estavillo's "pursuit of happiness." And how exactly is Nintendo doing that? "Deleting, blocking or prohibiting the Homebrew Channel and Ocarina applications" via a system update.
We're hoping you can see the sheer brilliance of Estavillo's strategy. He's offering the perfect opportunity for PlayStation, Xbox and Nintendo fans to agree on something for once.
Japanese retailer Amiami includes a note on its listing for the Xbox 360 version of No More Heroes: Heroes' Paradise that suggests that because it is based on the North American version of the Wii original, it is likely to carry the CERO Z rating (think an ESRB M rating, but harsher) when it is released in February. Because it is the North American version (with "bloodshed" intact), the site says, it will hold a special appeal for game fans.
The same message doesn't appear on the PS3 version's listing, suggesting that it'll be the same censored game that was originally released in Japan. CERO Z-rated games often don't get displayed on shelves, so if this is accurate, it'll ensure that only the hardcore will even know about the Xbox 360 version of the game. That would limit sales severely, if sales weren't already limited severely by its status as an Xbox 360 game in Japan.
We hate to go all Howard Hughes on you guys, but we must admit: This touch-screen equipped arcade version of Cooking Mama fills every bone in our body with germophobic discomfort. That can partially be attributed to the fact that we've seen our fair share of filthy hands attached to the wrists of arcade dwellers. Then again, perhaps we just have a visceral, sickening reaction to seeing raw fish being prepared by the aforementioned unwashed digits. Gyyeeeuuuuhhh.
Check out some footage from the arcade port after the jump, then go ahead and cancel that reservation for Red Lobster. You won't be needing (or wanting) it any time soon.
Now that the big holiday games have already come out, it's time for you to start worrying about the deluge of games in early 2010. One of the games Sony hopes you'll use your post-Xmas trade credit towards is ModNation Racers. Although originally unveiled at E3, Sony has been incredibly quiet with the LittleBigPlanet-inspired racer. With its first public beta getting readied for release, it's time for Sony to pull the curtain.
Here's yet another trailer for the game, which provides an overview of all the major components of ModNation Racers. First you must create a character, then a car -- and if you're feeling creative enough, you can attempt to make your very own track. It looks sleek, but we'll definitely be reserving our judgment until we can get our hands on the beta.
Check out a fast-forwarded look at character creation, after the break.
"They support the living sh*t out of it, and they support it really well," Capybara's Nathan Vella told Gamasutra when talking about Sony's free PhyreEngine. "Any of the parts that are inside Phyre that we didn't know how to fix or we had an issue with, they would fix it for us in a day. Overall, I think Sony's doing a lot of right stuff for small independent developers."
Vella's praise echoes similar sentiments from other PSN developers, like Shatter's Mario Wynands. In addition to free development tools, Vella noted other benefits by partnering with Sony. Critter Crunch was promoted heavily on the PlayStation Network via the PlayStation.Blog, Pulse and banners on the PlayStation Store. Most importantly, though, Sony "treated us like we weren't a small nobody developer from Toronto."
In spite of Sony's best intentions, though, Vella notes that sales aren't quite where they should be on the PSN. "It's still a fraction of what XBLA is doing, and we know that," he admitted. "But that's okay for us because they let us do what we wanted to do." Apparently what they want to do now is work on a zombie game.
Tax breaks are a great way to get developers interested in Canada, according to minister of economic development and trade for Ontario Sandra Pupatello, but they may not be the best way to keep them there. Pupatello worries that while trying to entice devs, competing provinces could drive tax breaks to an untenable position. She says that nuturing a talent pool should be the bigger focus, an approach that has worked in Ontario.
"We knew that Ubisoft establishing a significant footprint in Ontario would in itself would help tell the story of what's available," Pupatello told Develop. "Why would Ubisoft come unless they knew that they were going to get absolutely the best talent?"
Uh, free health care and the staggering availability of Tim Hortons?
Having not played Renegade Kid's first survival/horror-FPS on the Nintendo DS back in 2007, Dementium: The Ward, I had few expectations going into my recent hands-on with the game's sequel, the aptly titled Dementium 2. I knew that the first game enjoyed critical acclaim for more than adequately bringing survival/horror tropes to Nintendo's handheld, and ultimately scored pretty well with reviewers, but ever since Metroid Prime Hunters I've been wary of first-person mechanics on the DS.
Thankfully, when first faced with manipulating Dementium 2's main character, it became quickly obvious that the game's slow pace helps to account for any discomfort issues that might arise from the control scheme. Over the course of 45 minutes, I put together puzzles, traveled between two dimensions multiple times, and even fought a boss who tried to throw up on me from the ceiling (what a jerk!). Though its content and storytelling seems to be a carefully crafted amalgam of games from the three or so genres it mashes up (fps, adventure, survival/horror) - a handheld Half-Life meets Silent Hill on Monkey Island, almost - the time I spent with a preview build of Dementium 2 earlier today felt like the beginning of what could be a very interesting game.
The unsinkable publisher Gameloft recently revealed that it is planning to "significantly cut" its development on Google's Android platform. Gameloft finance director Alexandre de Rochefort added that "many others" in the industry have scaled back Android development as well. The reason, according to Rochefort, is the organization -- or rather lack lack of organization -- of its application store, the Android Market. Rochefort stated that the Android Market "is not as neatly done" as Apple's App Store. Rochefort noted that Google hasn't really gotten many Android users to buy products, saying, "On Android nobody is making significant revenue."
To put things in perspective, Rochefort said that Gameloft has sold 400 times as many games on the iPhone as on the Android platform. Of course, it's worth noting that Apple's iPhone has a significantly larger market share than Android. According to a recent Gartner report released in August, the iPhone accounted for nearly 14 percent of the smartphone market, while Android phones accounted for less than 2 percent. With more and more carriers offering Android phones -- notably the recent release of the Droid on Verizon -- the Android market is likely to expand in the coming months. It will be interesting to see how the mobile market changes -- and whether Gameloft and others change their tune -- a year from now.
We're usually hesitant to spend real-life money on virtual clothing, but you can bet we'll spring at the chance to purchase the recently revealed Sonic the Hedgehog costume pack for LittleBigPlanet. See, if we dress ourselves up like the series' speedy, cerulean protagonist, then play one of the many, manyGreen Hill Zone stages crafted by the LBP community, we can pretend that we're playing a decent, current-gen Sonic platformer.
We've contacted Media Molecule to try and find out the North American release date and price for this costume pack. We shouldn't let the developer hear us say this, but we'd pay anything for that beautiful illusion.
The Guardian reports that British Intelligence is looking for a few good men. Specifically, the Government Communications Headquarters (GCHQ) is running ads on the Xbox 360 dashboard and within Xbox games to recruit new members. The GCHQ, which works with both MI5 and MI6 (yes, that MI6), seeks to recruit young people with an affinity for "quick thinking, problem solving and team work." GCHQ believes that these criteria are "reflected in game-play experiences on Xbox."
We're expecting a new generation of foul-mouthed, teabagging James Bonds any day now.
If you've ever read a story we've written where some organization touts a piece of research "proving" the overwhelmingly negative effects video games have on youngsters, you've probably heard about the National Institute on Media and the Family. They're infamous for issuing typically low-scoring report cards to the ESRB and other entities in the gaming industry, and for propagating the values of the group's founder, psychologist David Walsh. However, it seems NIMF has executed its final evaluation -- according to the St. Paul-based Star Tribune, the organization will shutter its doors on Dec. 31.
We bet some of you are overjoyed that the immeasurably critical group is shutting down -- however, without their constant panning, we expect violence in video games to grow unchecked within the next few months. Soon, every title, from Peggle to Viva Piñata, will be bogged down by excessive amounts of gore. All games will be federally required to contain guns. Titles from previous console generations which don't adhere to this rule will be destroyed, Fahrenheit 451 style. The industry will crash like a sack of lead bricks -- all because NIMF wasn't there to keep it in line.
To quote Joni Mitchell, "Don't it always seem to go/ That you don't know what you got 'til it's gone."
Considering the devilishly heightened difficulty of Left 4 Dead 2, we're surprised enough outlets managed to complete a single campaign in time to submit a review for the title. We have to imagine GameSharks were somehow involved. Regardless, here's what other sites are saying about Valve's follow-up to last year's Zombocalypse survival sim.
Eurogamer(9/10): "Whereas once we treated Left 4 Dead as a stopgap between Half-Lifes, this is no longer a weird little side project with modest expectations, and Valve is confident enough to play around with it, safe in the knowledge that you can trust your players. Left 4 Dead proved it. And whereas that game had a personality, this one is overflowing with it."
IGN(9/10): "It remains one of the most distinctive co-operative titles out there, and allows for some of the most nerve-searing team-based multiplayer gaming on the market."
GameTrailers(8.7/10): "Though not an astounding improvement over the original, Left 4 Dead 2 successfully rekindles that magical zombie-hunting feeling with great new content, and a cool competitive multiplayer mode to boot."
Giant Bomb(4/5 Stars): "The core of Left 4 Dead may have lost some of its newness in the last 12 months, but the wealth of additions in this sequel ought to keep you blasting zombies and munching on brains for a good long while."
Some of those eager to immerse themselves in Altair's portable crusade in Assassin's Creed: Bloodlines have allegedly been denied entry into the Animus. This has, in turn, led to animosity being expressed on Sony's message boards and our tips line. According to complaints, the downloadable version (the game is also available on UMD) freezes during its initial loading screen, regardless of PSP model.
Based on user comments, the hobbled file originated from the European PlayStation Store and has since been bumped off -- to be replaced with a working version soon, hopefully. We'll keep an eye on things (and your comments below) while we await a response from Ubisoft.
Source -- Official PlayStation Forums Source -- EU PlayStation Blog comments Source -- Youtube video [Thanks, Gian]
The latest trailer for The Legend of Zelda: Spirit Tracks, featuring what appears to be the game's introduction, highlights what is certain to be one of the most bemoaned features of the new game: the Tower of Spirits. Yes, like Phantom Hourglass, this game has a central dungeon area to which you'll return throughout the game, though players will be able to skip areas they have already completed this time.
The trailer also seems to suggest that all the train tracks are magical shackles placed on the ground to imprison an evil presence. So that's why there are train tracks around! We would have guessed "interstate commerce."
A super big show this week as we welcome both your hostile criticism of our Left 4 Dead 2 reviewandCheap Ass Gamer founder CheapyD for an exhaustive discussion of Black Friday deals.
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Though yesterday's Sony investor's conference featured a concerning reference to the PSN's "new revenue stream from subscription," another slide from the presentation seems to indicate that the platform is already making money hand over fist. According to the slide (seen above), the company has set a lofty goal for the current fiscal year: It expects the PSN to bring in ¥50 billion (roughly $561 million) in revenue by the end of FY 2009. That's three times the amount of cash collected by the platform in the last fiscal year.
Exactly how Sony plans to boost its revenues so drastically is outlined by other statistics on the slide. According to the company's calculations, the PSN currently has 33 million registered users, 1.4 million of which visit the PlayStation Store on a daily basis. We fall into the latter group -- but only because we can't stop window shopping for celebrities we can fling into oncoming traffic. We confess: It's one of our dirtiest, guiltiest pleasures.
Croteam has announced that Serious Sam HD will be available on PC starting November 24. As the name implies, Serious Sam HD is the high definition remake of Croteam's flagship first-person shooter. Apart from the redone graphics, the game's major feature is gigantic hordes of furiously attacking enemies. It is, in short, seriously old-school FPS designed to engender mad, constantly quick-saving fear in its players.
Some folks over on the official PlayStation Forums allege to be having trouble playing God of War Collection. Several users are complaining that the game has been locking up on them, specifically after God of War's first cutscene and during the first mission. Most of the people who claim to be running into this freezing issue are running the game on 60GB launch PS3s, though a few PS3 Slim owners have also jumped into the threads to report the game is locking up on them, too.
Additionally, commenters on PlayStation.Blog have reported the same problem and specifically implicate 60GB PS3s. While we didn't experience such issues playing the final game code on a debug PS3 unit, we've contacted Sony for comment on this report and will update as necessary.
Okay gang, fun's over. We all had some good times with the few non-delayed Q4 2009 blockbusters that dropped during the past two weeks, but now it's time to start agonizing over every scrap of news for next year's highly anticipated titles. We'll kick things off: Hey, the StarCraft II site just received a major update, delivering a whole mess of feature articles and screenshots to the series' fast-clicking fanbase!
The articles include a short story about the ever-devious Zerg Changeling, a design overview of the campaign story, insight into creating one of the multiplayer maps, and character bios for three of the game's combatants. Are you adequately excited by these updates? Good. Now, prepare to not play the game for an undisclosed period of time. Yeah, it's all coming back to you now, isn't it?
A live version of Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers' "Mary Jane's Last Dance" is available next week within the band's Rock Band DLC six-pack. The song may not be everyone's cup of formaldehyde, but it's certainly memorable for conjuring up one of the creepiest music videos of all time. We have no idea what the song is actually about, but it will always be the story of Tom Petty stealing Kim Basinger's corpse from the morgue, dressing her up, and then at the end .... AHHhhHhHHHH!
Check out the full update after the break, no new Rock Band Unplugged DLC next week.
Select a platform below to view complete DLC listing:
Jill Valentine knows what's up: Only the most refined individual understands the elegance of the crank. Chris Redfield and his personal gun show may complain that an entire mansion is being run on the archaic device in this teaser for upcoming Resident Evil 5 DLC episode, Lost in Nightmares, but that's because the dude doesn't respect the crank's noble history. We're just glad one of the two survivalists has enough class to acknowledge the significance of history's great gate opener.
We had an icky feeling when we first watched the Mass: We Pray teaser. Not because of the toll excessive devotional gameplay might take on our souls, but because we were pretty sure we were being virally marketed to in some way or another. It turns out, our unease (also felt by a few others, including The Escapist) was spot on, as We Pray has been revealed as the latest move in the Dante's Inferno marketing campaign's fight against good taste.
Clicking to pre-order the game on the website or to get a better look at the controllers, now triggers a message about heresy, along with a trailer for Dante's Inferno and a link to the Facebook app, "Go to Hell." Sorry if you were looking forward to We Pray!
In an AP interview, Sony executive VP Kaz Hirai declared the upcoming Sony Online Service, which adds PSN-like features (possibly including game, music and movie downloads) to a wide variety of Sony devices, a major selling point. "That's the kind of combination that I think is not seen anywhere else," Hirai said. "That I think is where our core competence lies, and that's a differentiator for Sony."
Additionally, Hirai told Business Week that Sony hopes to get the service into other devices next year and, "Earlier in the year would be a lot more preferable." In the interview, Hirai said that the Sony Online Service would take the iTunes-like approach of registering users as soon as the device is powered on, to register their accounts immediately. Once invested in such an account, the implication is that users will be more likely to continue purchasing media on that same account and buy more Sony devices to get additional use out of it -- much like iTunes users are driven to continue buying iPods to play iTunes Store's AAC-format music.
Hirai also looked to social networking elements, along with the cross-device connectivity, to push Sony's future offerings. "What are your friends watching right now? There's a screen that says all the programming that's available. It highlights all the things that your friends are watching, for example. It's a community experience."
As for sharing the actual content (not just the experience), Hirai wasn't so sure. He concluded that the "debate is still going on" about how many devices will be able to share content.
Star Trek Online may launch on Stardate 63554.5 (February 2, 2010), but beginning January 12, fans can beam into the open beta. The intergalactic guinea pig session will take place from January 12 until January 26. Players interested in kicking the warp nacelles should head on over to startrekonline.com to enroll.
If you're also interested in learning more about life in the 25th century, check out some of Star Trek Online's videos and developer interviews.
When Valve announced Left 4 Dead 2 during Microsoft's E3 2009 press conference -- less than seven months after the release of the award-winning original -- gamers were, perhaps rightfully, shocked. This was the same Valve that spent nearly ten years iterating on Team Fortress 2 and whose experiment in episodic gaming has forced us to reevaluate our expectations for future installments of Half-Life 2 using the "Star Wars-definition" of episodic.
So when Valve announced a direct sequel to the ground-breaking Left 4 Dead on what could only be considered an accelerated schedule for normal developers (and an impossibly accelerated schedule for Valve) we had every right to be shocked. Valve answered this concern with assurances that Left 4 Dead 2 was an entirely new game, with changes that could not be simply grafted onto the original. And the team was right! ... But that's the problem.
Harmonix and Child's Play have announced that they're banding together for a charity benefit Rock Band night at San Francisco's DNA Lounge the night of December 9. "Ümloud!" is an all-ages event organized by GameLife's Chris Kohler, Gamehelper's Joe Markert and Telltale Games' John "Seg" Seggerson, and staffed by a number of Bay Area games bloggers, including yours truly.
The party kicks off at 7PM PT and runs through 2AM PT on December 10, with a suggested $10 donation for admission. Everyone who attends will automagically be made eligible for a chance to win some of the many raffle prizes that'll be awarded throughout the night, but those who wish to donate more can sign up for two different "band packages" -- which include reserved songs and the chance to play on DNA's main stage -- at the Ümloud! site.
Proceeds from the event will go to provide toys and video games to children's hospitals nationwide, including the local Oakland Children's Hospital.
Edutainment title Code of Everand is the UK Department of Transport's effort to teach children road safety. The free MMO is targeted at 9-13 year olds and attempts to "encourage and reward" repetition of good behaviors for the real world. The premise is actually surprisingly clever, with players taking the role of the Pathfinders and endeavoring to safely cross "the Spirit Channels," which are glowing streams, laid out like roads filled with monsters.
On that note, if children from almost any other country play the game, remember to first look left before crossing the Spirit Channels and not right -- that's a free protip. Check out the Everand trailer after the break.
Paramount has announced that it's bringing the downloadable Star Trek D-A-C -- based on the recent film -- to the Mac. The game will be released with the help of TransGaming, meaning it will utilize Cider, software that allows PC games to be run on Macs. In other words, your hopes of experiencing the mediocrity of Star Trek D-A-C in an Apple native format have just been dashed. Sorry.
The game is scheduled to launch this December and is currently available for pre-order at GameTree Online.
When it comes to MMO news and special features, Joystiq sister site Massively.com has you covered. Whether you're looking for info on the hottest new MMO, or you're just curious about an old favorite, you'll find it at Massively. Check out our biggest features of the week:
A visual tour of LotRO: Siege of Mirkwood If you haven't had a chance to see Turbine's latest creation, check out our video tour of the expansion just after the jump below. Also, be sure to watch Massively for more coverage on Siege of Mirkwood from now to December 1st and beyond!
Is a Call of Duty MMO in the works? Well, it's a possibility, at any rate. Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2, was officially released November 10th with what the LA Times described as a "Hollywood-scale launch". The launch expenses turned out to be money well spent, as the game had generated $550 million in sales as of last Saturday. Fans lined up days in advance to pick up their copy of Modern Warfare 2, complete with free night vision goggles.
First Impressions: Allods Online In this one for gPotato's upcoming free-to-play Allods Online, we did something a bit different. Instead of just a write-up, we've also done a short video to show the visual side of our impressions. Why? Because Allods Online deserves it, in our opinion. Keep reading after the jump for the embedded video and a brief run-down of what we thought.
You know how old-timers always talk about how it was better in their day? Well, if their day was the early nineties, then for once they're right. This clip from 1993's City Hunter starring Jackie Chan (we guess he's a cop prowling the streets for law-breaking skyscrapers?) takes us back to a magical time of innocence, before Chan became the superstar he is today -- back to when he was a lesser star in Hong Kong cinema and had no qualms with playing dress up as Street Fighter IIcharacters like Chun-Li and E. Honda in one of the craziest things we've ever seen. Head past the break to have your mind blown by something that Capcom actually approved!
Supreme Commander 2 has registered a deployment date of March 2 and 16, 2010, for PC and Xbox 360, respectively. Gas Powered Games' real-time strategy sequel, which is set 25 years after the first game's "Infinite War," will enter retail right in the middle of what we are slowly thinking of calling "the endless Q4." Then again, it is an RTS -- and a console title as well -- so the field isn't as crowded.
The original Supreme Commander was well received back in 2007, and Gas Powered's Creative Director Chris Taylor states that the team has "continually exceeded all of [his] expectations throughout [the] development." Check out the video above and see if you agree with how the game is coming along.
