E3 Event Coverage

External News Features, Guides, and more

  • MXO Producer's Letter Released

    If the producer's initials are AOK, that counts for something, right?
    The Matrix Online, the troubled brainchild of Warner Bros. Interactive pawned off to SOE 4 months ago, is apparently in transition. Andrew Kaplan, producer, shares his thoughts on the last few months:

    Throughout our transition the story of the Matrix has not skipped a beat. We have delivered three compelling sub-chapters of story missions and cinematics to go with the final event where Morpheus’ killer met his match.

    New content was delivered in the form of an entirely new feature, Pandora’s Box. Players have been progressing through the series of linked missions and mini-events though few if any have been able to defeat the final encounter without a lot of help for fellow players!

    There have also been ongoing tuning and re-balancing. We have adjusted the experience rewards for the introduction missions and for synchronizing hardlines, making progress in the lower levels a bit easier and giving the explorers out there another reason to venture forth.

    Since we're not sure if we're actually in the Matrix or not, we can't deliver content straight into your hear. You'll have to click here for the latest Matrix Online producer's letter.
    Related links:

    • Other Matrix Online news.

    • Want to give MXO a shot? - It's not a proper giveaway, but since I've got a copy of the game sitting here collecting dust, I figured I'd offer it to the first person to sign up on our mailing list (top left of the sidebar) and write me at ethec@tentonhammer.com. Just send your shipping info; anyone brave enough to jump through this rabbit hole deserves a free copy. I've only got one, though, so hurry!
    News
    Fri, Nov 04, 2005
    Ethec
  • TTH First Impressions: City of Villains

    City of Villains first impressions a'plenty
    TTH puts on the tights and practices our best evil laugh as we join the thousands thronging the bad side of town in Cryptic Studios' City of Villains, a standalone sequel to its immensely popular City of Heroes. We bring back a report on what you can expect from the Halloween-released villain-fest if you too want to bring some evil balance to Paragon City.

    The villainous gameplay is compelling, convincing, and enjoyable, but the most fascinating aspects of the game are, as usual, subject to diminishing returns. While I motored through the first five levels, the pace slackened noticeably from level 6 on. Admittedly, part of this was due to my disappointment over the "power pool" abilities granted at the sixth level- supposedly players would be granted abilities like flight, superspeed, teleportation, and the ability to leap tall buildings in a single bound. These power pool abilities turned out to be severely limited teasers for the real thing; flight was replaced by the marginally-cool "hover" defense buff ability, superspeed by an endurance regeneration buff, and so on. Granted, in MMOs what's a curse can also be a long-term blessing, and my fears that CoV would be a flash-in-the-pan "10 level wonder" were allayed now that I'm looking forward to getting superspeed at the casual weeklong goal of level 14. Being able to do a Flash Gordon impression for a city block or two with a long recharge timer on the baseline ability would be pretty cool, yet it doesn't seem to fit the CoV framework where abilities are never truly superceded by better abilities.

    Get the TTH first take on City of Villains.
    Related links:

    Reviews
    Fri, Nov 04, 2005
    Ethec
  • Atari and NCSoft Release Financials

    Atari and NCSoft Open Their Books.
    Both Atari and NCSoft have released their 2006 Second Quarter financial reports. .

    "Net revenue for the quarter ended September 30, 2005, was $38.4 million
    versus $68.0 million in the prior year's comparable quarter, reflecting the
    Company's release of fewer titles in this quarter compared to the prior year.
    Publishing net revenue was $22.6 million, compared to $54.6 million in the
    prior year, and was primarily driven by the release of Indigo Prophecy (PS2,
    Xbox and PC), Dragon Ball GT: Transformation (GBA) and Atari Flashback 2
    (Plug-and-Play). Distribution revenue was $15.8 million versus $13.4 million
    in the comparable year-earlier period.
    "

    You can view the Atari Fiscal Report and the NCSoft Fiscal Report just by clicking...go figure.

    News
    Fri, Nov 04, 2005
    Boomjack
  • Sony Rootkit Helps WoW Hackers

    Sony haXX0rs WoW.
    SecurityFocus is reporting that the Sony BMG content protection software is making it possible for people to hack World of Warcraft and not get caught.

    " World of Warcraft hackers have confirmed that the hiding capabilities of Sony BMG's content protection software can make tools made for cheating in the online world impossible to detect. The software--deemed a "rootkit" by many security experts--is shipped with tens of thousands of the record company's music titles.
    Blizzard Entertainment, the maker of World of Warcraft, has created a controversial program that detects cheaters by scanning the processes that are running at the time the game is played. Called the Warden, the anti-cheating program cannot detect any files that are hidden with Sony BMG's content protection, which only requires that the hacker add the prefix "$sys$" to file names."

    You can read the entire World of Warcraft Hackers Using Sony BMG Rootkit at SecurityFocus.
    Other Interesting Links:

    News
    Fri, Nov 04, 2005
    Boomjack
  • LotRO Screenshots at The Official Site

    Two fancy new shots, including one of a squirrel. Say that five times fast.
    Turbine has posted two new Lord of the Rings Online: Shadows of Angmar screenshots on the official site.

    " In a time of war, an ancient evil stirs..."

    You can view the Lord of the Rings Online Screenshots at The Official Site.
    Other Interesting Links:

    Images, Media
    Fri, Nov 04, 2005
    Boomjack
  • ROSE Preview at MMORPG.com

    A rose by any other name is a hacking, slashing massively multiplayer online game.
    MMORPG.com has posted a preview of ROSE Online based on their chat with David Kim at the Austin Game Conference.

    " While at the Austin Gaming Conference I got to meet with David Kim of Gravity Interactive’s ROSE Online, a new Korean MMO that is currently in open beta. This kid-friendly MMO takes place in a huge world, or rather, universe — players can travel between seven different planets, three of which are already in the game, to fight monsters, do quests, and make friends. "

    You can read the ROSE Online Preview at MMORPG.com.
    Other Interesting Links:

    Features, Previews
    Fri, Nov 04, 2005
    Boomjack
  • Hero's Journey Peek #10 at RPGVault

    Hero's Journey, not your sit around the house playing WoW kind of story.
    RPGVault has posted their Hero's Journey Peek #10. The included screenshots look superb. Who would have thought that a wagon could look so cool?

    " Hero's Journey is a fantasy persistent state world being developed by one of the pioneers in the category, Simutronics. It takes place in the world of Elanthia, where a savage war has shattered entire societies. The remnants have ceased hostilities lest none survive, and are attempting to build a new civilization by working together within an alliance called the Triumvirate. Sadly, private agendas, greed, the blinding desire for power and simple malevolence stand in their way, including external threats like the otherworldly Rakshaal plus some that aren't as obvious. In this series, the team has agreed to tell us more. "

    You can read Hero's Journey Peek #10 at RPGVault.
    Other Interesting Links:

    Features, Previews
    Fri, Nov 04, 2005
    Boomjack
  • CoV Interview at MMORPG.com

    Another Q&A from Cryptic's evil lair
    Jack Emmert, "statesman" emeritus and creative director for Cryptic Studio's City of Villains, answers a cornucopia of questions (hey, it's November, right?) from MMORPG.com about the infant super-baddie MMO.

    MMORPG.com: What sort of costume goodies are you planning to add for City of Villains in the future?


    Jack Emmert:
    We’re planning on adding trenchcoats to both games…eventually. Many other things to come in the future as well.

    Put on your tights and fasten your utility belt, it's time for another City of Villains interview at MMORPG.com.
    Related links:

    Features, Interviews
    Thu, Nov 03, 2005
    Ethec
  • WoW One-Day Extension

    Wow! A free day of WoW.
    Blizzard announced via their forums that they have given all World of Warcraft subscribers a free day of service.

    " There were a variety of issues with the authentication server yesterday and today that caused players to have issues logging in to the game and forums. Several realms came down for unscheduled maintenance yesterday to resolve a few continent crashes. The extended maintenance today also caused a great deal of inconvenience to many. As a result, we are giving all accounts a 24-hour credit on their subscription. This credit should show up on your account by the end of the week.



    As of this post, things are back to normal, but we will continue to closely monitor the realms and be prepared to take action should any other issues arise. We regret that the game was unavailable for a number of players both before and after the regularly scheduled maintenance period, and we would like to thank you all for your patience during this time.     "

    You can read the original World of Warcraft One-Day Extension Post at the Official Site.
    Other Interesting Links:

    News
    Thu, Nov 03, 2005
    Boomjack
  • RF Online Screenshots at 3D Gamers

    Fancy pictures of a game you can't play.
    3D Gamers has posted some fancy new RF Online screenshots for your viewing pleasure.

    " A dozen new screenshots for RF Online are now available for download to illustrate this futuristic fantasy MMORPG by Korean company CCR that already came out last year in their home country "

    You can view the RF Online Screenshots at 3D Gamers.
    Other Interesting Links:

    Images, Media
    Thu, Nov 03, 2005
    Boomjack
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