Welcome
to the 1,235th edition
of Loading...
Loading... is the premier daily
MMORPG news, coverage, and
commentary newsletter, only from Ten Ton Hammer.
Imagine if you will a game in
which the performance and visual appearance of your character was
directly linked to your overall physical fitness here in the great big
MMOG called life. That's essentially what Microsoft is
proposing with a recent patent filing, and while many of the specific
applications for the "
href="http://appft1.uspto.gov/netacgi/nph-Parser?Sect1=PTO1&Sect2=HITOFF&d=PG01&p=1&u=%2Fnetahtml%2FPTO%2Fsrchnum.html&r=1&f=G&l=50&s1=%2220090309891%22.PGNR.&OS=DN/20090309891&RS=DN/20090309891">Avatar
Individualized by Physical
Characteristic" are thankfully
still in the realm of the
href="http://www.xbox.com/en-US/live/projectnatal/">what
if, that also means there's
plenty of room for rampant
speculation. So slap on your best pair of +10 Holiday Ram Pants and
strap yourself in for Loading... Aspect of the Cheetos.
Become a
href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/store/">Premium
Member for LIFE for $49.95!
($29.95 for existing members.
Regular
price - $99.95). Get beta keys,
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href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/membership">much
more.
For life.
Offer expires January 3, 2010, so act now.
cellspacing="0" width="100%">
The Pulse
You vote with what you
view at Ten Ton Hammer, and the
result is the Ten Ton Pulse (
href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/thepulse/" target="_blank">What
is The Pulse?).
Here
are today's top 5 Pulse results:
href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/wow">World
of Warcraft
href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/lotro">Lord
of the
Rings Online
href="http://tentonhammer.com/taxonomy/term/117">Dungeons
and Dragons Online
href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/eve">EVE
Online
href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/aion">Aion
Biggest
movers today:
href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/taxonomy/term/43">City
of Villains (Up 7 to #17)
href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/vanguard">Vanguard:
Saga of Heroes
(Up 2 to #11)
href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/taxonomy/term/926">Global
Agenda (Up 2
to #15)
size="-1">Recent Releases
size="-1">
9/22
-
href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/taxonomy/term/254">Aion
(release date)
size="-1">
size="-1">
10/8
-
href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/taxonomy/term/2129">Cities
XL (release date)
size="-1">11/3
-
Dragon
Age:
Origins (release date)
size="-1">
style="font-weight: bold;">11/10
-
Final
Fantasy
XI Ultimate
Collection (release date)
size="-1">12/1
-
href="http://www.lotro.com/gameinfo/464-answer-the-call-of-war">LotRO:
Siege of Mirkwood (expansion)
size="-1">
12/1
-
href="http://www.eveonline.com/Dominion/">EVE
Online: Dominion (expansion)
size="-1">
12/2
-
DOFUS
2.0
(update)
size="-1">
12/15
-
href="http://everquest.station.sony.com/everquest.vm">EverQuest:
Underfoot (expansion)
size="-1">Upcoming
Releases
size="-1">
style="font-weight: bold;">2/1
-
href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/taxonomy/term/926">Global
Agenda
(release date)
size="-1">
style="font-weight: bold;">2/2
-
Star
Trek Online
(release date)
size="-1">
2/16
-
href="http://everquest2.station.sony.com/expansions/sentinelsfate/index.vm">EverQuest
2: Sentinel's Fate (expansion)
size="-1">
March
2010
-
href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/taxonomy/term/998">APB
Loading... Daily
What would you get if you
crossed the highly annoying Fable
2 mechanic
of avatars that gain or lose weight based on virtual food consumption
choices with the awesomness that was
href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/eq2">EverQuest
2's
/pizza
command? Well, if Microsoft has its way we could be on the verge of
seeing virtual worlds in which your character's performance
and appearance is directly linked to how physically fit you are here in
the real world according to a recent
href="http://appft1.uspto.gov/netacgi/nph-Parser?Sect1=PTO1&Sect2=HITOFF&d=PG01&p=1&u=%2Fnetahtml%2FPTO%2Fsrchnum.html&r=1&f=G&l=50&s1=%2220090309891%22.PGNR.&OS=DN/20090309891&RS=DN/20090309891">patent
filing.
An avatar generator for a virtual environment reflects a physiological
characteristic of the user, injecting a degree of reality into the
capabilities or appearance. Thereby, many of the incentives of the real
world are replicated in a virtual environment. Physiological data that
reflect a degree of health of the real person can be linked to rewards
of capabilities of a gaming avatar, an amount of time budgeted to play,
or a visible indication. Thereby, people are encouraged to exercise.
Physiological data that reflect the health and perhaps also mood also
improve social interaction in virtual environments. People seeking to
meet and become acquainted with particular types of people are not
thwarted by the artificiality of avatars.
Mind you the entire thing
sounds like little more than an attempt to
cash in on Nintendo's success with Wii
Fit and any usage
beyond targeted fitness games would no doubt be kept to a minimum.
Otherwise I suspect that any third party developer with half a brain
cell would drop all involvement with the 360 were the technology ever
to become a requirement in future titles. Likewise, given
Microsoft's track record of dropping, selling or cancelling
MMOG projects our favorite pastime is no doubt safe from ever seeing
this type of technology implemented anytime this century.
But that doesn't mean it isn't
fun to speculate on
the possibilities! For example, what if the only way to /dance in an
MMOG was to get up out of your chair and bust a move in front of your
PC? The corrugated cardboard industry would no doubt see a massive
upswing in net profits as millions of
href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/wow">World
of Warcraft
players rush to
their local gaming retailer to purchase their very own branded
breakdancing mat. The mats would
naturally come in common, rare or epic quality further bridging the gap
between the hardcore and casual crowd and spark numerous heated debates
on whether or not the purchase should be considered a micro-transaction.
style="margin: 2px; width: 210px; float: right;">
href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/node/78516" target="_blank">
style="width: 200px; float: right;" alt="Aspect of the Cheetos"
src="http://www.tentonhammer.com/image/view/78516">
Or what if your characters'
skills could dynamically change
based on your real world actions? Spending five minutes on a treadmill
could unlock faster movement speeds in-game, while reaching for that
bag of Cheetos would have the opposite effect. The net result would
take
href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/eve">EVE
Online's
concept of real time skill training to a
whole new level.
On that note, I'm off to embark
on an epic quest involving a
long holiday weekend filled with plenty of activities that would no
doubt have an adverse effect on my avatar's physique.
I'm also hoping to sneak in a few extra hours of gaming, so
at least my hand/eye coordination skills will get some extra exercise
if nothing else.
So have a happy holiday all,
and be sure to share your thoughts on
Microsoft's latest money-grab patent and your holiday gaming
binge plans in the Loading... forums!
Shayalyn's
Epic Thread of
the Day
From our
href="http://forums.tentonhammer.com/forumdisplay.php?f=4">/OOC
(Off-Topic) forum
href="http://forums.tentonhammer.com/showthread.php?t=48647">
style="font-weight: normal;">The Official Happy
Holidays Thread
As
I write this, I'm watching our trees outside take on a thin coating of
ice as sleet pelts against the window. Tomorrow morning, everything
should look crystalline and magical. Everyone will tear open their
Christmas presents as the scent of cooking turkey fills the air. Later,
my son will nearly shoot his eye out with an official Red Rider carbine
action bee bee gun, and the Bumpus's smelly hound dogs will break into
our home, consume our turkey, and we'll have to eat roast duck at the
local Chinese restaurant while several Chinese chefs sing Deck the
Halls. (Fa-ra-ra-ra-ra!)
Or maybe that's someone else's
Christmas story. But either way, here's wishing you all a wonderful
holiday. And if you have a moment to send holiday wishes to your fellow
Ten Ton Hammer community members, you can do that
href="http://forums.tentonhammer.com/showthread.php?t=48647">right
here.
==============================
Awesome
Quotes from the
Epic Thread
The
epic quote is off eating figgy pudding.
==============================
Have you spotted an Epic Thread on our forums?
href="http://forums.tentonhammer.com/showthread.php?t=32559">Tell
us!
3 new Ten Ton Hammer
MMOG
features today! 111 in December! 2,293 in
2009!
Exclusive Features and Guides
Today at
Ten Ton Hammer
href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/co/editorial/wintereventreview">Champions
Online: Winter Event Hands-On
Impressions
With the Winter Event for Champions Online well underway, Ten Ton
Hammer reviews this yuletide-themed event to see if it was naughty,
nice, or a little bit of both. So, grab yourself some eggnog and settle
back to see if we thought this event was worthwhile or not.
href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/node/78514">Ten Ton
Hammer's Mass Effect 2
Portal Goes Live
BioWare's Mass Effect 2 is set to be one of the biggest games of the
new year. This week we've gotten or hands on several videos from the
game and are pleased to bring you Ten Ton Hammer's Mass Effect 2 Video
Portal. Here you will find the latest videos for ME2, including class
and character videos, a behind the scenes look at the talented voice
actors and actresses that will be lending their voices to the game and
much more.
href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/node/78523">Flying
the Drake Battlecruiser in EVE
Online
Whether it's blowing up enemies or accumulating cash, the Drake is one
of the most powerful battlecruiser-class ship in EVE Online. Ten Ton
Hammer Contributing Writer, Space Junkie, shows us how to fly them in
style.
href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/aion/guides/tailoring_pt2">Aion
Tailoring Guide: 100-199
There's just something magical about wearing the skin of your enemies
as a hat. Tailoring in this game allows you to do just that, in
addition to stuffing your clothes with various renamed forms of cotton.
In tier 2 of Tailoring, things get more serious due to the sheer number
of recipes available! Leveling it is as simple as doing work orders,
but is that really the way to go? We break it down in our next article
on Tailoring in Aion at Ten Ton Hammer!
Today's
Hottest Content
href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/awards/2009/best_of">The
Ten
Ton Hammer
Best
of 2009
Awards
href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/node/78492">
style="font-weight: bold;">Mythos
Q&A
With Redbana Global Manager - Eric Liu
href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/node/78369">Star
Trek Online
href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/node/78369">:
Klingons and PvP Q&A with Cryptic Studios
href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/node/78431">The
Cause of
Mass
Effect
- An Interview with the
BioWare Founders
href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/giveaways/lotro/holiday09">
LotRO
Siege of Mirkwood Complete
Edition Holiday Giveaway
href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/aion/reviews/soloriusevent">Aion
href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/aion/reviews/soloriusevent">
"Solorious" Holiday Event Review
href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/node/78397">A
look back at
Aion
in 2009
href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/node/78479">
style="font-weight: bold;">Dungeons & Dragons
Online: New Character Build
- The Summoner
href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/node/78196">Mass
Effect 2
Hands-On Preview
href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/node/78174">Playing
it
Forward: A Mass Effect 2
Video Q&A with
BioWare's Casey
Hudson
Thanks
for visiting the Ten Ton Hammer
network!
- Reuben "Sardu" Waters
and the Ten Ton Hammer team