Developers Should Play Games

Game developers should be gamers. Who would have thought!? This seems like a no-brainer, but I know some devs that don't do much (if any) gaming. Interesting article below:

http://www.gamasutra.com/php-bin/news_index.php?story=23993

Alien RPG Canceled

Sega and Obsidian have officially announced that their Aliens RPG has been canceled. Rumors of the cancellation had been floating around for a while and the news was confirmed yesterday.

However, Sega plans to continue working on the Aliens franchise, including a new Alien vs. Predator game in the near future. Sega acquired the Alien license from Twentieth Centruy Fox in December, 2006.

The developers of the canceleld Alien RPG, Obsidian, are responsible for Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic II and are currently working with Bethesda on Fallout: New Vegas.

I have to be honest, when the Alien RPG was first announced I was interested. I like the Alien movies (well, not Resurrection) and I like RPGs. Combine the two? Hopefully even better. But there hasn't been much news or hype of it at all and I sort of forgot the game had ever been announced. I'm still waiting on a GOOD Alien RTS... they seem to have all the ingredients for it.

New Issue at Just-RPG

Just-RPG has posted our latest issue, with plenty of new content. We've also sent our latest newsletter (it's been a while...) so sign up for it if you want the latest updates. Read it all below:

• Star Ocean: First Departure Review


• Warrior Epic Review


• New Champions Online Screens


• Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War II Review


• New Runes of Magic Elven Prophecy Screenshots


• New Marvel: Ultimate Alliance 2 3-D Screenshot


• New WarpForce Screenshots


• And More!!!

http://www.just-rpg.com/

Ugh

I need a vacation...

Maybe I need to start playing more Free Realms. I've been a bit too busy to play.

ZeniMax Media Acquires id Software

ZeniMax Media, the parent company of Bethesda Softworks, just announced today that they have completed the acquisition of id Software.

For anyone living under a rock, id Software developed legendary games such as DOOM, Quake and Wolfenstein... and Bethesda has developed the popular Elder Scrolls series of RPGs and more recently, Fallout 3. This brings two critically acclaimed developers (Bethesda Softworks and id Software) together under ZeniMax Media.

Bethesda will be publishing id Software's upcoming titles other than those that have already been committed to other publishers.

Interesting announcement...

The Dark Side of the Wii

Found this funny. Now we know why old people love the Wii so much. "Borrowed" from Kotaku...

BioShock & The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion Bundle

2K Games has just announced a BioShock & The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion Bundle. Starting July 7th, you can own both games on the Xbox 360 for $39.99, or for $29.99 on Windows PCs.

That's a great deal for two Game of the Year winning games. Two of my personal favorite games, a matter of fact. Although really... who doesn't own these already? On the off chance you haven't played them yet, here's your chance.

Grrr

Ugh, soooooo frustrated right now. Long story, but not really something I can share right now other than the fact that it relates to work. I just needed to get it off my chest.

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

There. I feel at least a little better now.

MagiQuest Visit

So, there's this place called MagiQuest...

I first heard of it during a gaming conference in Atlanta and it sort of grabbed my interest. Although, I have to admit I thought it looked a bit silly. Well, we were heading to Myrtle Beach this weekend and it turns out there is a MagiQuest location there, so I decided to stop and check it out.

I'll be honest, it was pretty fun. It allows you to take on the role of a Magi, weilding a magic wand and questing throughout a fantasy land in order to earn the power of the magical runes. You visit a quest kiosk of sort to learn information about your quest, check your quest status, or to start/cancel a quest. From there, you explore MagiQuest in search of gold, strange creatures, and hidden objects.

Yep, I'm sure you think it sound silly... but it's a lot of fun.

The prices are a little bit steep, but that's because you have to pay the price of the questing and the price of the wand. Once you've gone your first time, you never have to purchase the wand again.

You can also purchase wand toppers that grant your wand special abilities. And your wand will actually record the details of your adventure, so if you go back at a later date, you can start where you left off or review how much experience you have gained or gold you've collected.

Sure, it might be a little bit better for kids. But for a fantasy nerd like myself who really is still a kid at heart, it was a blast. I'm just disappointed that there aren't any locations closer to me because I'd like to go back and finish a few more quests.

Check it out!

http://www.magiquest.com/home.html

Missing Magic

I just realized how long its been since I played Magic: the Gathering. Wow.

I used to play a ton back in High School and early College and had amassed a very large collection. I think the main reason I stopped was because I've moved away from all of my ol' Magic buddies after college.

The other big reason is because I think I just got overwhelmed. I was a bit obsessed with Magic and bought a lot of cards... tried to keep a pretty massive collection and acquired cards from each new set. But they kept releasing so many cards, so many sets, so many new card types, and a wide variety of zany abilities... it just became too big of a hassle to try and keep up with it. By the time I managed to collect a good amount of cards from one new set and learn their abilities, it seemed like TWO new sets would be released.

Either way, I've always been very passionate about Magic. It's a great game, and even though I don't actively play, I consider myself a pretty big fan. I had jumped into Magic Online a few times... maybe I'll sneak back in there for a little bit and see what I've been missing. And perhaps I can reconnect with some of my old Magic buddies through there.

Free Realms Safety Observation

So I just realized in Free Realms, players under age 13 cannot chat at all. Wow, that totally stinks for them. Although, from what I've observed, Free Realms isn't a horribly chatty game anyway. Obviously I'm over 13, though, so I didn't notice this restriction earlier.

But, it makes perfect sense. By keeping the kiddies from being able to chat, they're also preventing them from being able to give out dangerous personal information, such as age, location, phone numbers, email addresses, or any means to contact someone outside of the game. Sure, harassment and vulgarity are issues in any virtual world, but the release of personal information is the real threat because it allows potential predators to contact kids online and lure them to an unmoderated environment.

Yet at the same time, taking away chat from kids isn't limiting the experience for the older users by imposing a super strict chat filter or dictionary.

Free Realms has some obvious safety features for kids, such as a number filter, usernames that have to be approved, and the lack of chat for those under 13. Although, in a lot of ways it seems more like a traditional MMORPG that has made itself "kid friendly" as oppossed to a full fledged kids virtual world. A lot of virtual worlds out there take it to the extreme one way or another, and as a result scare away plenty of potential players... they're either too strict with child safety restrictions, thus scaring away older players, or they're too liberal with their safety policies, which makes the game unsuitable for children.

It broadens the audience so everyone can enjoy it whether you're young or old. So adults who are looking for a user-friendly, free to play MMO can really enjoy Free Realms just as much as the kids that need a safe experience.

Of course, I'm sure all the kids are just going to lie about their ages. So, it problably doesn't really matter anyway!

Damn Bugs

Ugh, a bit frustrating when your level rolls back over and over and you keep losing progress. And then the stars that you earn for distribution into your abilities to strengthen them? Yeah, those all disappear too. Not fun. Damn bugs!!!

Oh well. Good customer service and GM tools make up for it, because I'm back to normal now.

The Dares in Free Realms

So I just attended a concert of the Dares (the who?) in Free Realms. Sure, it was short... and silly... and the lag was awful... and kids were running all over the stage... it started 25 minutes late.. and everyone complained afterwards for 20 minutes straight. Overall, I guess it was a FAILfest. But of course, when you're dealing with kids, you're always going to have a bunch of hard to please whiners. Nice to see some special events, and the players DID enjoy it for the 30 seconds that it lasted.

FAIL or not, it was amusing to see a large gathering and mingle a bit with the Free Realms community, dancing and shouting woot! This game has really grabbed onto the age group that's a bit too old for Club Penguin, but still a bit too young for World of Warcraft. I'm also impressed that they managed to pull this off live from E3 so soon after the birth of the game.

I'm enjoying Free Realms more and more each day, and there is so much that I've yet to explore. I haven't even touched the card game yet... and considering I'm a big CCG fan, I'm sure that I'll end up addicted.

Oh well, back to Free Realms!

PS - for concerned parents, Free Realms seems to have blocked out all numbers within the last week or so. I remember toying with it last week and I was able to say a full 10 numbers in a row like a phone number. Although this week, numbers are ALL filtered. Glad to see since it prevents kids from giving phone numbers to pervs. Of course, I've seen some bad language... their filter could use some work, but definitely improving!