All of you tree-hugging druids out there are about to get your own custom bear form and honestly, it looks pretty neat. The Tauren is getting their own, why not the Night Elves as well?
Blizzard is slowly rolling out the models for the new form changes coming soon to your nearest World of Warcraft screen. The models have definitely been cleaned up, with sleeker fine edges and shiny night elf eyes. Exciting? I think so.
While World of Warcraft still reigns supreme as king of the MMOs, Blizzard has an unusual competitor entering the market: NASA. The government space agency is developing an MMO that takes place around 2035 and focuses on “being in a habitat on a planetary surface and doing things like mining Helium-3 for fuel, operating a hydroponics facility to grow plants and create oxygen and operating robots and vehicles.” Sounds pretty entertaining if you’re interested in outer space.
The working title for the MMO is called Astronaut: Moon, Mars and Beyond and it’s being developed using the Unreal 3 engine. The prospect of being able to walk around on Mars and level up through real-world applications (as opposed to casting Fire III) should excite dorks of all walks of life. Judging by the screenshots, NASA’s MMO is looking to be a lot of fun for any gamer.
Say goodbye to Google’s attempt at making a virtual social network. Announced back in July, Google is now closing the door on its Google Labs project “Lively” at the end of this year and says it wants, quote:
“to ensure that we prioritize our resources and focus more on our core search, ads and apps business.”
I guess it’s back to Second Life for me. Maybe I’ll start an online band and perform for other users of Second Life. I’ve always had an intense fear of crowds, yet find comfort and support with virtual crowds.
In Japan, you apparently can be charged with illegal access of a computer and manipulating electronic data if found guilty of intentionally “killing” someone’s MMO character. Some guy divorced his online wife’s avatar in Maple Story and in her anger she killed his character. Now, she faces a prison sentence of up to five years or a fine of up to $5,000 dollars.
Yowch! I believe a few lessons can be learned here. Firstly, never marry in a video game. Virtual settings and life-long relationships don’t mesh. Secondly, don’t play Maple Story. It sucks.
Star Wars MMO, round two! LucasArts managed to completely destroy any redeeming concept that a MMORPG held in the Star Wars universe, with help from Sony Online Entertainment. Forget Star Wars Galaxies because a new Star Wars MMO has been announced and it’s going to take place in the time frame of Star Wars: The Knights Of The Old Republic.
I didn’t know that different time frames require seperate liscensing for the same series or is this just a way to pretend like Star Wars Galaxies never happened? With the length of the Star Wars time line, I wouldn’t be surprised if the next three MMOs LucasArts announces are each individually based on the time line of the new Star Wars films that no one enjoys watching. Until I play the beta for Star Wars: The Old Republic, I’m slapping the “suck stick” on it. With everything LucasArts has been doing with this franchise, I feel my opinion is justified.
For those not familiar with Marc Owens’ work, he’s the man behind the Avatar Machine. It’s a suit which allows the user to view themselves as a virtual character in real space via a head mounted interface. Now he’s working on another suit that’s sure to turn heads. According to a study that found that 54 percent of all males and 68 percent of all females gender swap in a virtual setting, psychologists have proven that the majority of people aren’t satisfied with their gender and want to cut their genitals out.
Thankfully, Marc Owens has the cure. If you’re the kind of guy that feels comfortable dressing up in your mother’s clothes or the kind of girl whose always wanted to play QB on the high school football team then the Virtual Transgender Suit was made for you. It replicates the aesthetics of the typical virtual female form while portraying it in physical form, kind of like if you were to act out Facebook in a real life setting. So, if cross dressing just seems a little too gay for you, how about trying out the Virtual Transgender Suit? You’ll look like a woman but no one will criticize you because you’ll look like a virtual woman.
If you’ve ever played an MMORPG habitually, you know how difficult some bosses can be. Especially if your fellow guild members are shit-for-brain newbs. When you’re guild name is “Beyond the Limitation”, there’s little doubt that any one of your members gets out of the house on weekends. You’d think a bunch of geeks who never leave their rooms would be able to take down the infamous Pandemonium Warden.
Nope. This was not the case after 18 hours of play and 20 different forms of the boss. Beyond the Limitation became Beyond the Dead because they wiped so many times. Eventually, everyone gave up or got sick, reinforcing the thought that they are utter failures. You see, they’re not failures for failing to drop Pandemonium Warden; they’re failures for trying.
The main reason you bought a Playstation 3 was probably due to Killzone 2 or Playstation Home, Sony’s new online service that’s supposed to be something like Xbox Live meets Second Life. You and your friends can meet up with your avatars, talk, chat, shoot the shit and so on. Oh, and more importantly, you can play games together too.
As of today, Sony is accepting applications for the closed beta test of the Home service. Right now it only looks like Japan is lucking out but the US market could soon follow:
Applications are initially being accepted from Thursday until Aug. 11 from users in Japan only. Sony expects to offer access to about 10,000 gamers during the beta, which will begin in late August.
During the beta stage users will be able to play the games that make up Bandai Namco’s “Namco Museum” package, which include PacMan, in the service’s “Game Space.”
Step aside, Second Life. There’s a new time-wasting virtual social network just released by Google. It’s called Lively and it’s your ticket to the cyber world, complete with emotes and customized avatars. Screw that pay to play bullshit on Second Life. Hell, no one wants to hear your lame cyber concert anyways. Play on a real stage or go home!
Lively’s client is free to download and runs with IE or Firefox. Images and videos are viewable in Lively, as well as the ability to embed websites, like your Tumblr or other blogs into your Lively “living space.” Though the content isn’t quite there on Lively (lacking an economy like that of Second Life), it’s still free to play and you’ll feel less dorky playing it than you would with Second Life. Give it a try and let us know how it is.
Back in November, Blizzard released a slew of celebrity World Of Warcraft commercials, one of which starred William Shatner as the nature grasping Shaman. Oh sure, we’ve seen our share of gamer themed cakes, but this super-chocolaty cake showcases the Shaman symbol from the popular MMO.
I don’t think Star Trek ever had a sweets-themed episode, but Shatner’s slight belly paunch leads me to believe he is no stranger to the ways of the baked good. The Shaman cake is also one of those delicious and savory desserts which leaves your teeth covered in a black film, emulating pirates and the Undead. All I can say is, OM NOM NOM. — Andrew Dobrow
