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EA: Boom Blox always meant for Wii, Bash Party built with game's level creator

by David Hinkle { May 19th 2009 at 4:00PM }

Some things in this world were just meant for one another. Peanut butter and jelly, America and gladiators, and the Wiimote and Nunchuk are just a few of these things, but now EA producer Amir Rahimi would like to toss Boom Blox and the Wii into this prestigious club.

In speaking with Ars Technica, Rahimi says that "Boom Blox is a Wii game through and through." He says EA always had the Wii in mind and that the team never considered the possibility of bringing it to another console. If it were to make its way onto another platform, Rahimi says EA would have to "significantly reconfigure and redesign the core mechanics, but currently we have no plans to do that."

As for sequel Boom Blox Bash Party, Rahimi noted something interesting. Speaking about the improved level creation, he said that the team built the level editor first this time, and used it to create every level in the game, whereas in the first title, the team built the game and level editor simultaneously. This means that the exact tools available to gamers when the title ships will be those the team used to create Boom Blox Bash Party. How cool is that?

Oh, and if you're worried about all of your Wii's memory (or SD card) being taken up by huge files when downloading custom maps, don't. Rahimi says that each file size will only be in the kilobytes, allowing folks to download plenty of maps quickly and without pain. You'll even be able to sample them in the game before committing them to your memory, so you can try before you don't buy. You know, because it's all free.

[Via Go Nintendo]

Gallery: Boom Blox Bash Party

Ragnarok Online DS coming to U.S. store shelves

by Griffin McElroy { May 17th 2009 at 7:30PM }

XSEED's adorable (and highly successful) MMO Ragnarok Online has been wooing players since its Korean launch in 2001. It went on to expand its dominion with the release of Ragnarok Online DS last December in Japan, selling like solid-gold hotcakes. However, XSEED has no plans of ceasing the expansion of the game's enormous empire -- it recently announced in a press release that Ragnarok Online DS will be coming Stateside this winter.

The game will be an action-RPG in the style of its PC predecessor, placing you in the shoes of a young adventurer in search of treasure. The mechanics of the core game are all there -- level progression, job and class selection, et cetera. Though the DS port will doff the massivelyness of its PC iteration, it will allow three other players to join you wirelessly or via Wi-Fi. We expect the game's adorability factor to also be appropriately off the charts.

Gallery: Ragnarok Online DS

Quake Live getting a new map every week for six weeks

by Griffin McElroy { May 17th 2009 at 6:00PM }

As promised in an a forum post earlier in the month, id will be rolling out new maps for their successful in-browser shooter Quake Live in the near, near future. However, we didn't really expect their benevolence to come in such enormous portions -- starting tomorrow, they'll be adding a new map to the game every week for six weeks. Why, that's ... hold on. (Carry the one, find the square root, find the value of B ...) That's six maps!

Tomorrow's new battleground is a remake of Hidden Fortress, ripped from the Dreamcast version of Quake III Arena. id has promised to include more classic maps in its upcoming downloadable salvo, so keep your eyes peeled for more familiar fragging grounds over the next month and a half.

Blizzard confirms new MMO is completely original IP

by Griffin McElroy { May 13th 2009 at 2:30PM }

A year and a half ago, we learned that Blizzard was hiring for an infinitely titillating "Next-Gen MMO," one which we assumed would be based on brand new intellectual property (as repeatedly hinted at by Blizzard COO Paul Sams). We haven't heard much about the project since then. However, the silence was recently broken by Blizzard community manager Zarhym, who confirmed on the official WoW forums that the upcoming MMO will "be a brand new franchise."

While this is the first official confirmation of the franchise's freshness we've heard, it's still up in the air as to what the genre of said project will be. If you'll remember, the game is reportedly being developed on the World of Warcraft engine until its developers work up a fittingly new interface. Therefore, we think it's safe to assume it won't be an online dating sim. (Unfortunately.)

FTC investigating explicit content in virtual worlds

by Griffin McElroy { May 12th 2009 at 3:00AM }

Online gaming news site Virtual Worlds recently had the opportunity to sit down with a couple of FTC attorneys who are currently investigating adult content in virtual worlds. The FTC is apparently working on a report for Congress (which is due in December), spawned by an inflammatory report on Second Life's "rape rooms" from Illinois' Rep. Mark Kirk. Thankfully, according to Virtual Worlds, the FTC is "on a fact-finding mission, not a witch hunt."

Coincidentally, this news comes on the heels of an announcement from Second Life's creators, Linden Lab. The virtual world will soon see a massive redistricting in order to separate the game's adult content from its all-ages content. To put it simply, Linden Lab will soon be creating an "adult content continent" that minors won't be able to access. May we suggest the name "Creepyvania" for this brave new landmass?

[Via GamePolitics]

Jolt Online announces 'casual MMO' Playboy Manager

by Griffin McElroy { May 8th 2009 at 2:15PM }

Utopia Kingdoms and Legend of Zork creator Jolt Online Gaming just announced its next MMO project -- surprisingly, it ditches the company's usual fantasy-themed offerings in favor of ... well, more fantasy, we guess, but a different kind of fantasy. Like, grown-up folks fantasy.

Yes, Jolt recently unveiled its partnership with Playboy as the two develop a "massively casual online game set in the world of Playboy," titled Playboy Manager. Little has been confirmed as far as gameplay details go, though Virtual Worlds reports the title will "combine content from Playboy, trading card and turn-based gaming, and the Playboy brand lifestyle." Also, probably some nudity. We bet there'll be some nudity in there, somewhere.

[Via Massively]

China's online game market may reach $3.8b in 2009

by Alexander Sliwinski { May 5th 2009 at 11:45PM }

Market intelligence firm Niko Partners projects that China's online game market will reach $3.8 billion in 2009. That's up a full billion over the $2.75 billion China's online market made last year. As PC penetration expands outside the major cities, Niko estimates the market will hit $8.9 billion by 2013.

PC MMOGs made up 77 percent of revenue, with "advanced casual" and casual games making up the difference. The company notes that game console sales are on the rise, despite being banned in the country since 2000. There is no note about the financial impact of gold farming.

Nintendo encourages UK Wii owners to go online

by JC Fletcher { Apr 22nd 2009 at 1:15PM }

Nintendo UK has launched an eight-week campaign designed to get more current Wii owners playing online. The first part of the 'Get it Online' campaign includes a section of the Nintendo website that features the above video and instructional clips about connecting the console to the Internet.

In addition to talking up online gameplay for stuff like Smash Bros. and Mario Kart Wii, the campaign actually mentions the Virtual Console and WiiWare, which seems like a rare move for anything aimed at the "expanded audience." There's also a Guitar Hero: World Tour trailer which mentions the game's DLC.

This approach contrasts with Nintendo of Japan's attempt to bring more Wiis online: a campaign through which Wii owners receive 500 Wii Points for helping someone else go online with their Wii.

[Via Edge, New Media Age]

Metal Gear Online's Scene expansion adds new skills and emblems

by Majed Athab { Mar 16th 2009 at 7:00PM }

Click to embiggen

Metal Gear Online's Scene expansion will be available tomorrow for $10. It'll include content such as new maps, characters and customizable parts. In addition to all that, Konami has revealed today that Scene also includes two new elite emblems and three upgradable skills. The Fighting Fish emblem is earned by "playing a series of Deathmatches," while the Arctic Skua emblem is earned by "playing a series of Solo Capture missions." Unlock these two and get a free in-game shirt for your troubles.

Check out the emblems and some new screenshots in our gallery. Also, details on the three new skills: CQC EX, Toughness and Charm can be found after the break.

Gallery: Metal Gear Online: SCENE Expansion

Continued →

Bethesda parent company looking for MMO talent

by Jason Dobson { Mar 11th 2009 at 8:25AM }

While Oblivion and Fallout 3 offer an MMORPG experience without all of the lumbering masses, Bethesda father figure Zenimax Media continues to eye the real MMO market. The company is looking for new talent to help its cause, announcing that it has entered into a second hiring phase at its MMO-focused ZeniMax Online Studios.

Currently ZeniMax's online branch employs a team of 60, with former Gamecock and BradyGames exec Steve Escalante and Blizzard support guru Rich Barham making up the latest additions to the studio's roster. Studio president Matt Firor teases that devs of all disciplines looking to help "create the next great MMOG" should apply within. No specific project has been announced, but in this shrinking economy any sign of positive growth is cause for celebration.

Noby Noby Boy might get offline multiplayer

by Majed Athab { Mar 10th 2009 at 11:45AM }

Noby Noby Boy primarily functions as a strange single-player online PSN title; however, that might change soon. The game's official website suggests that an update bringing an offline 4-way multiplayer mode is on its way, as well as some new music ... featuring maracas. This could be that "big update" that was promised previously. Hopefully, offline play won't be too distracting, as we've still got a long way to go before unlocking Mars.

[Via Eurogamer]

LittleBigPlanet commercials: The World of Fart

by Majed Athab { Mar 9th 2009 at 5:00PM }

Whenever you have a do-it-yourself creation game like LittleBigPlanet, it's almost certain that obscene user-created levels (NSFW) are sure to follow. Sony's advertising gang know this too and thought it'd be fun to highlight something of that nature in its latest TV spot.

From the UK comes "The World of Fart" -- a level filled with gas hazards and pull my finger jokes. Despite its childish concept, it looks like a well-designed and realized world. You'll want to watch the commercial after the break to refresh yourself.

Continued →

SOCOM Confrontation gets 1.41 patch

by Majed Athab { Mar 9th 2009 at 4:00PM }

Slant Six released a version 1.41 patch for SOCOM: Confrontation this morning. It's available for download right now and fixes some of the game's slowdown issues. It also adjusts some minor display settings and tweaks a bit of the gameplay.

The last patch for Confrontation was the 1.30 update in January, which added Trophies. So, why are we now on 1.41 without a 1.40 update? Slant Six had this to say: "The 1.40 was intended to support the European release, we combined the 1.40 and the 1.41 together to speed the deployment of the above fixes." Check after the break for the full list of patch notes.

Continued →

Incognito, MyHawk collaborate on Warhawk stat tracking

by Majed Athab { Mar 3rd 2009 at 4:30PM }

If you consider yourself to be a veteran Warhawk player, then you might want to check out MyHawk.org. The fan site, in collaboration with developer Incognito, tracks in-game Warhawk stats and has just undergone a major update which added in new stat features such as: "clan matches & tournaments, daily leaderboards, new graphs, per-weapon stats, stats on individual games, [and] game calendar."

The game's director, Dylan Jobe, revealed on the PlayStation Blog that this is all possible because of a little experimental XML feed. The XML feed streams raw Warhawk data, which any community -- not just MyHawk -- can get access to. Jobe calls it the "democratization of the player community." That means if you run a Warhawk community and want access to the global feed, Jobe says to "hit the Warhawk forums and post your info."

Metal Gear Online 'Scene Expansion' adds playable Raiden, Vamp

by Majed Athab { Feb 18th 2009 at 12:15PM }

click to embiggen

It's about time that Metal Gear Online got back on the scene with a brand-new expansion pack. As revealed by Famitsu, this third DLC pack from Konami, titled "Scene," brings more Metal Gear Solid 4 characters and new map locales into the online battlefield. Both Vamp and Raiden will be added to the playable roster in this expansion, and three new territories are available to explore: "Hazard House" (a countryside manor), "Outer Outlet" (a shopping arcade) and "Revaged [sic] Riverfront" (a riverside town).

Though these first details currently only pertain to a Japanese release, we expect Scene to hit worldwide just like the Gene and Meme expansions that came before it. There are only two questions left that need answering: When should we expect Scene to arrive .... and what new word that rhymes with "spleen" will Konami use for the next expansion?

[Update: Konami just sent out a press release stating that the Scene expansion will be available in North America by March. Those who pre-order the pack off Konami's shop one week ahead of release will get complimentary "cardboard man" headgear. We've also got new screen shots and some new details on the maps after the break.]