Posts Tagged ‘console’

E3 2011: Vanillaware Unveils Dragon’s Crown, Co-op RPG for PlayStation 3 and Vita

8 June 2011 | No Comments » | pixiestixy

Although not one of the stars of E3, I’m hoping that Dragon’s Crown will be one of those great little hidden gems. The game was introduced to audiences briefly at E3 2011 yesterday in videos showcasing the PlayStation Vita, and not the game’s official website gives us a few more details on what it’s all about.

This is one cute little 2D RPG with an awesome hand-drawn art style that I am oh-so-looking-forward-to. Dragon’s Crown comes from Vanillaware, the same developer responsible for the irresistible games Odin Sphere and Muramasa: The Demon Blade. The former, in particular, drew me in enough to add it to my favorite-games-of-all-time list. The action, the story, the mechanics and fruit-growing mini-game of sorts all were right up my alley. So I have high hopes that Dragon’s Crown, as well.

Dragon’s Crown, anticipated for a Spring 2012 release date, allows up to four players connect can connect from around the world to play cooperatively via Playstation 3 or Playstation Vita. Although not an MMO, I’m curious to see how the coop feature plays out in RPG form, which still isn’t the most obvious choice for co-op gameplay, at least on consoles. Check out the official website, and watch the trailer below, our first glimpse into the game.

Know Thy Blogger: Kershocker’s MMOG Timeline

9 November 2010 | 15 Comments » | Kershocker

Is there a better way to start my blogging career than letting you all know about my gaming background?  I don’t think so, but somehow someone is going to come up with a better idea in the comments and I’ll end up looking really rogue-ish silly.

Kershocker's Armory Picture

/sigh

Oh well, let me introduce myself first. My name is Carlos, also known as Kershocker. Some of you may recognize that name. If so, that’s because I’ve been following this website since it was launched and I like sharing my opinions with others. I’m currently living in Peru and I’m studying Economics and International Business at the university.

Follow me after the cut to learn more about my gaming years.

I’m pretty sure most of us did not play MMORPGs during our childhood. Well, I didn’t, anyway. During that time, I was deeply in love with console games. Super Nintendo and Mighty Morphin Power Rangers kept me busy for a while until the Nintendo 64 came along, with Star Fox 64 being my game of choice.

After that, I was forced to stay away from video games for a couple of years due to some health issues. I came back during the PlayStation 2 era, which I really enjoyed. Guitar Hero, God of War and Devil May Cry are amazing games. Most recently, the PlayStation 3 came out and I bought it immediately upon release. What can I say? PlayStation is my favorite console.

I’m only 18, so, as you may imagine, I have not played as many MMOGs as my fellow Lore Hounds. Still, I think it would be interesting to recap my history just to let you know I’m not a complete rookie when it comes to video games. Continue Reading

Final Fantasy XIV for PS3 May Support 3D

16 September 2010 | 3 Comments » | Amatera

Oh, god! It's coming right for us!

Oh, ho, ho! I thought I’d get away without having to report any further MMO news tonight, but I was wrong, baby. At this year’s Tokyo Game Show, Sony is pushing two main technologies: their brand new Move controller and 3D television entertainment. The company loves their montage trailers and sandwiched smack dab in the middle of the one for the latter — between Minna No Golf (Hot Shots Golf)5 and Metal Gear Solid: Rising — was a new trailer for Final Fantasy XIV.

Now, it should be noted that some of these games (this one included) were cited as “tech demos,” which means that this footage is only an indication of what it might look like if the full game supports it. If this is something Square-Enix is actually planning to implement,  then this may be part of the reason why Final Fantasy XIV was delayed on the console in the first place. While some games, like World of Warcraft, are compatible with NVIDIA’s 3D Vision system, this would be the first time a MMO is being released with the technology in mind. That said, there seem to be no current plans to adapt it for the PC version that’s just about to hit retail, though you could probably use NVIDIA’s setup in lieu of an official patch.

Of course, taking advantage of it depends as much on Square-Enix’s plans as whether or not you’ve bled your wallet dry on a 3D television yet, which few people have. Still, MMOs tend to stick around for a long time, and that means that by the time they come down in price, FFXIV might still be relevant.

Either way, Sony seems to be giving it a nice, hard shove, with most of their platform’s leading games on board (Gran Turismo 5 and Disaster Report 4 will, for sure) and the Playstation 3 itself supporting the technology from the get-go (if you have an older system, it’s already been patched in through the firmware updated). No fuss, no muss, and that means if you’re prepared to wear a pair of polarized glasses for hours on end, you too might one day experience the joy of Moogles in the third dimension.

Sequels for MMORPGs = Death

30 April 2008 | No Comments » | LHStaff

A few months ago, last Dec 2007,  Eve Online underwent a huge update with their Trinity expansion. This free expansion not only added new features, ships and items, but was also a complete graphical update to keep up with the next generation of MMOs. Eve Online as far as I know is the first MMO to completely revamp their current game instead of creating a sequel which not only keeps all your current members, but creates enough of a buzz much like a sequel to boost membership numbers.

Taking a look at some past sequels, Asheron’s Call 2, Everquest 2 and Lineage 2, none of these sequels were able to match their predecessor’s in terms of members. Not only that, but if you combined the numbers from both games after a year, they were less than the original game at its peak.

So why can’t MMORPG sequels succeed?

Starting over – After playing an MMORPG for 2 years, do you really want to start over in what basically is the same game with updated graphics? Regaining your levels and items, finding a new guild and friends to quest with? From the numbers it doesn’t look like many do and they end up sticking with the original.

It’s basically the same game - Making a sequal for a MMO is not like making a sequel to Halo. Many, many things must remain the same. Races, maps, towns, ect. Sure there will be new areas, new features, possibly a new race or two a maybe a new skill system, but for the most part your playing the same game with updated graphics.

Dying game - When a sequel to a game comes out, it basically feels like the original game is on its way out. For those members that stay with the original, it feels like your the old man at the bar and eventually you’ll stop going there.

New games – Once a sequel comes out many gamers do not want to make the switch for reasons stated above. They also know that eventually there going to have to move on as the original game begins to die. So if they’re going to have to start over, why not start over with a brand new game with brand new stories and atmosphere.

Not only do subscription numbers plummet after a sequel, but you have to put in the cost of creating the sequel. It will be interesting to see if GuildWars 2 follows in suit with the games mentioned above.

Going back to Eve Online, I think the studio was fully aware of the track records for MMOs sequels when it decided to do a complete update to the current game instead of making a sequel. I’m sure all Eve Online players also prefer this method especially since the expansion was free. Way to go Eve!

How MMOs are Killing the Single Player RPG

5 April 2008 | 29 Comments » | LHStaff

Single player RPGs are few and far in between these days. Even those RPGs that do come out, most now have online game play, which it seems is where gamers want to be. So what’s an RPG do? Unfortunately there isn’t much that can be done. The online revolution is in full swing and has been for some time. Gamers not only want an immersive storyline, but they want to be able to interact with real people while playing and single player RPGs just can’t deliver.

Since Microsoft launched Xbox Live on its console, casual non PC gamers have had the opportunity for the first time to game online with friends and more importantly strangers. With its success Sony has followed with online play and even Nintendo is joining in.

Not only does it seem that gamers want real interaction, but there really isn’t much incentive for studios to make a single player RPG. RPG’s are massive undertakings to create, requiring years of work by huge teams, unlike FPS where you can just pump out a sequel ever year. No, RPGs need characters with voices, thousands of quests, a crafting system, training systems, as well has dozens of cities and towns that all must seem to be alive. With all the work to create an RPG, why NOT make it a MMORPG, where you can generate a stream of revenue for years to come? There are still some very succesful single player RPGs out there, but I wonder how long will it be before they too cross over to become MMORPGs.

What's Next for Final Fantasy? MMO Edition!

11 February 2008 | No Comments » | LHStaff

And I ask this because, in all likelyhood, Square-Enix’s next big MMO project will probably be another Final Fantasy game. Anyways, according to our buddies over at Massively, it would seem that there is a tasty little rumour flying around: Square plans on announcing their next big MMO at GDC this year. Now I’m not going to delve into the where, what, why, etc of this matter. For all that kind of news you can go ahead and click on the link above. What I am going to be talking about here are the possibilities of what that MMO might be and how it pertains to the Final Fantasy world.

In the past couple of years Square has gone on record as saying two things (paraphrased of course):

  1. They wish to expand the Final Fantasy VII universe and add more games to that legacy.
  2. They are currently developing FFXIII to be the next “FFVII” and plan on making at least 3 games in the Novus Crystallis world.

So, what does this mean for MMO gamers? Well, while no details have really emerged as to what these expansions will be exactly, there could, very well, be a planned MMO in the works for either one.  Although, I will go on record as saying that an MMO based off of FFVII is highly unlikely. Most RPG gamers know the world, and also know that it isn’t really big enough to suit the needs of an MMORPG. Without extensive world reconstruction (perhaps making the game 500 years in the past or future) Final Fantasy VII would not work well in an MMO environment. That said, however, Square-Enix does see and understand that there are very real competitors out there who are using the power of branding to aid their games like Lord of the Rings and Warcraft. Square may want to pull out the big guns in order to reinforce their game which would mean reviving their most popular Final Fantasy franchise in MMO flavor. Still though, I find it to be highly unlikely, which leaves us with Final Fantasy XIII.

Now, we don’t know much about Final Fantasy XIII. We don’t really know the world, characters, or any of that mish-mash usually associated with RPGs. We don’t know these things because the game is still in development. This leads me to believe that a futuristic FF MMO could be in the works under this numerical “sequel”. It would make perfect sense:

  1. The game’s world is supposed to be huge and epic.
  2. Developing the game now means that they could be making it so that the game’s storyline and world are easily adaptable to MMO status.
  3. Square-Enix really wants to make this series of games their stand-out titles, and what better way to do that than to allow you to mingle through it with thousands of other players at the same time.

There you have it. Those are my two predictions of what the next big MMORPG from Square-Enix will be. Of course, I have no insider information (I don’t speak Japanese :( ), so this is all based off of my own personal speculations and observations of the market. Square may completely throw me a curve ball and not make an MMORPG based off the Final Fantasy world at all. Maybe they will *gasp* make an MMORPG based off Dragon Quest! I love those games. :)

Thanks for reading.

The Appeal of MMO Rhythm Games

27 December 2007 | No Comments » | LHStaff

So a couple weeks ago I did a short blog about MMO-alternative games. It was all well and good in that it included some RTS, FPS, and strategy games. Something, that I think we can all agree is a rare sight in the world of MMOs. Well, as it turns out, I completely left out an entire genre of MMOs, one that isn’t all that rare: MMO Rhythm Games, a.k.a. MMORGs. I have been thinking a lot about these types of games and it strikes me as odd that there are so many of these games popping up lately, for example Dance Online (above). So what is the appeal? What makes a company decide to invest so much into a game such as this?

Well a quick and easy answer would be: Guitar Hero. Need I say more? The guitar based rhythm game has been a smash hit amongst console gamers so it would only make sense that it would be at least mildly successful amongst MMO PC gamers as well. There is no real question about it, MMORG games are successful. In January of 2007, Nexon sent out a press release that stated it had garnered 100,000 registered members for its free2play MMORG, Audition. One hundred thousand members for a game that essentially has your avatar standing with  with a few other avatars and dancing, while you hit the appropriate up, down, left, right arrows on your keyboard. Well that doesn’t sound like very much fun. So why does Nexon have 100,000 members (as of a year ago) playing there game?

As an owner and lover of Rock Band, I can tell you that one of the greatest parts about the game is getting 3 of my friends together and rocking out to some great songs on the soundtrack. It’s a bunch of fun, and my honest opinion is that rhythm games, in general, derive a lot of their “fun factor” from the communal aspect, e.g. playing with your friends. MMORGs don’t have this factor and yet they are still fun (for certain people). Why, because despite people not actually being with you watching you play, chances are there are people watching your avatar dancing, in whatever appropriate outfit you have given him/her. So is that what it all boils down to? Do people really just want to perform, and be in the spotlight? A lot of people are too shy to do that even in front of their friends, so maybe that’s it. Maybe this is the secret behind the appeal of MMORGs; a safe place to perform without feeling like your being judged, at least not you personally. I am sure people will be judging your avatar plenty.

Anyways, that’s just my two cents on the matter. What do you think?                                        

Phantasy Star goes Offline in Japan

26 December 2007 | No Comments » | LHStaff

Sega has announced that Phantasy Star Online Expisode I & II is set to go offline Feb 1st for Japanese gamers, ending the games 5 year run. I played a bit on Dreamcast a few years ago at a friends house, although I didn’t really get that far since it was my buddies console, I think I got my character up to lev 20 or something. I remember getting a pet, which I though was pretty cool, and chatting with some players. “All your base are belong to us” just became popular and I remember people spamming the chat channel with that phrase. Overall it was ok, I remember liking the game, but not being too impressed.

It’s an interesting thing when a MMO goes offline. Its sorta like that question, “If the world was to end tomorrow, what would you do?” Money, leveling, grinding and everything else becomes pointless. I would expect all out mayhem to ensue, which sounds like a lot of fun.