Here is a YouTube recording of 38Studios and the tiny amount that they are willing to divulge to the public.

It’s very much worth watching.

The team behind Legends of Norrath’s artwork invited a few community members to send in photos to be encorporated into the amazing artwork displayed on their various cards within the game Legends of Norrath, and Calthine, one of the Community Administrators at EQ2 Allakhazam has had her image chosen for the “Fear” card. What an amazing honor to have your image immortalized by the strokes of painted artistry within the cards themselves for hundreds and perhaps thousands of players to be able to see.

…We all hooked up on a conference call with EM Stock, the Senior Community Manager at SOE Austin, who devised some complicated cross between /random, some 20-sided dice, and duck-duck-goose to let us choose which card we’d pose for. Then we were instructed to take lots of pictures, with a focus on interesting angles and being dramatic.

Interestingly enough, the card I got from EM’s lotto was not the card I ended up on. I had one picture come out with an interesting facial expression that definitely wasn’t right for my card, but was really striking so I sent it along. Apparently artist Kieran Yanner agreed, because I ended up on Fright…

Click here to read the entire article posted on EQ2 Allakhazam.

World of Kung Fu Launches Final Closed Beta

VestGame Entertainment, the North American Publisher of the Chinese hit MMORPG “World of Kung Fu” has announced that it will begin its final closed beta test on Wednesday, December 19th. The final closed beta of the game will incorporate many new elements and enhanced features. In addition to new NPCs and new items, the highly anticipated Item Mall will make its debut. Certain gameplay features have also been improved. Beta testers active in the previous beta test will be rewarded with game gold that can be used however they choose within the World of Kung Fu. Participants in the final closed beta will be able to roll their characters over into the open beta when it begins in January. Everyone is encouraged to sign up for the final closed beta test at the World of Kung Fu website (www.worldofkungfu.com).

So there has been this rumor spreading around that the beloved Scott Hartsman, EverQuest 2’s Senior Producer, has left SOE to embark out on his own with a startup company.

This rumor was started on the EQ2 Flames forums, and though people reposted the news/speculation, there is nothing more to indicate its truth or falsehood. Typically, Scott has been very prompt at squelching out the fires of rumor-hood and I haven’t seen this at all. He’s been around as the Senior Producer of the game since the day it launched. John Blakely, the pre-launch Senior Producer, swapped EverQuest 2 over to Scott’s hands upon launch and it’s been there ever since. We’ve seen a lot of Scott’s handy-work and it just seems far too uncharacteristic of him based on the past 3-4 years to up and leave without leaving a word, or even to NOT mention something to the contrary of the rumor.

Quite honestly, I’m wondering if there is really any truth to the rumor at all. Nothing on the his blog site, and he’s made quite recent posts on the official EverQuest 2 forums as well.

I guess we’ll all just have to wait, watch, and see.

BBC News reports the merger of Blizzard and Activision, a transaction with a price tag of $18.8 billion. The article explains the two business’s strengths; Blizzard and its incredible global strength in the MMORPG market, and Activision, renouned for their quality console games which release to most popular consoles such as the Xbox, Sony’s Playstation III, and the Nintendo Wii. These two companies have forged a deal and are coming out of the other end with a new name: Activision Blizzard.

So where is Vivendi, the company who prior to the launch of World of Warcraft, had seriously been contemplating selling everything over to Microsoft Gaming Studios, in on all of this? They are being reported as “the largest” Activision Blizzard shareholders.

Press released attached –> ( read more… )

Inbabble is reporting an interview with Matt Turetzky regarding the various games being released on their incredible success with mobile gaming. First notable mention brings local OGR amusement due to it’s name, Luxor 2. It is a shame that our very own Luxx doesn’t even use a cellphone, so he’s not even able to get in on the fun of playing a game which is so close to his own name.

So what’s new at RealNetworks as far as games go?
Turetzky: We are very excited about our three new mobile games launches this Q4. Coming first, in October, was Luxor 2, our second game based on one of the best selling PC games of all time. The Luxor brand has been downloaded over 60 million times on the PC and we are very pleased to be able to bring it to mobile gamers. We launched the first Luxor mobile game last year and it was our best selling game of 2006. The new version features all new levels and power-ups and much sharper design and effects, thanks to the capabilities of the newer handsets.

The interview is quite informative and interesting regardless of their website fubars. You should seriously check it out and see what they have to say regarding the mobile gaming industry. Click Here to read the full Q&A.

Though the publisher for City of Heroes/City of Villians has always been NC Soft, the actual developer stayed in the hands of Cryptic Studios… until recently.

A FAQ was posted on Cryptic Studio’s website outlining the specifics of the how and why of the finality of the sell and its complete creative control moving to the NC Soft developers.

How did Cryptic Studios arrive at the decision to sell City of Heroes and City of Villains to NCsoft?
When we considered the future of CoH/CoV and the future of Cryptic Studios, we had a difficult decision to make. We’ve invested a lot of time, effort, talent and passion into the games, and we care about them. But we’ve got a lot of other ideas we’re excited about too.

Ultimately, we decided that selling to NCsoft was the best and right thing to do for the CoH community. CoH/CoV will be in good hands at NCsoft, and the transition will be as seamless as possible. With this move, we now have complete creative freedom and the resources we need to develop new games.

To view the entire FAQ, click here.

Sony Online Entertainment has released a behind the scenes tour of Everquest’s upcoming expansion, Secrets of Faydwer. Take a glimpse below at some of the selected footage narrated by various developers. This expansion is set to launch on November 13th.

Download the movie by clicking here.

Read More to view in browser windows media player…
( read more… )

Tomorrow is Halloween and though many will be taking their kids door to door or hovering around the door in some creepy costume to scare the kiddies, gamers by the thousands will instead be turning the lights off and sitting down to the glow of their computer and television screens this halloween due to several highly anticipated titles being released tomorrow morning.

Manhunt 2 - (Rating M for Mature content)
Releasing on multiple consoles including the Nintendo Wii, Playstation 2(PS2), and Playstation Portable(PSP), this game is on a second release stage after its initial release was rated AO (Adult Only) which caused it to not only be barred from any platform besides the PC, but also cut them from the retail shelves of most retail establishments. Though the company refuses to comment on what parts were cut or outright edited, this game has been put through the rating mill time and again until it was able to be whittled down to a good solid M for Mature rating so they could release on multiple platforms. Unfortunately this game has hit those involved with rating a few too many times and it appears that the European market has decided to outright ban this game upon principle. As always, Rockstar, the developers of ManHunt 2, are trying to toe the line of decent entertainment and violent smut among other things.

From the reviews that I’ve read about this game, regardless of them winning their M for Maturity rating, it’s still by far considered one of the most violently graphical games which is viewed as so far extreme that people who typically embrace games of gory nature are even going conservative towards this game saying that it comes too close to home and is far too disturbing to continue playing. So this might not be your type of game even if you’re typically into the blood and violent gaming scene. http://www.rockstargames.com/manhunt2/

The Witcher - (Rating M for Mature content)
Though this game shares the same rating as Manhunt 2, it’s very VERY far from similarity in content. Some have rated this game as THE RPG of the 2007 year. If you are a person who enjoys a game with a very strong backstory that takes you out of your world and sucks you into the game, then The Witcher is a must-have. Inspired by renowned Polish author, Andrzej Sapkowski, The Witcher is full of conflict of all natures including social, political, and racial. The world The Witcher is set in is neither black nor white, and instead dwells within the grey areas of a world gone wrong.

The Witcher features real-time combat with over 600 unique animations instead of the few that most games tend to use. If their website is to be used as a measuring stick to rate this game by, then the game is just going to be amazing. The website is amazing and has definitely caused me to look closer at this game, so check it out. http://www.thewitcher.com/

Hellgate London (Rating M for Mature content)
Also coming in with a Mature content rating is Hellgate London. Another game which is said to bring back a feeling of nostalgia from the Diablo 2 days but with guns and a slight first-person shooter feel thrown in the mix. This game has earned its Maturity rating for obvious reasons with zombies coming and trying to overrun the place, you’ll have to fight your way through epic battles. This game, much like the Diablo 2 series, is not only single-player, but also has multiplayer gameplay where you can meet up with thousands of gamers from across the globe to battle against in a very similar way that Dungeons & Dragons Online has presented to the MMORPG market. http://www.hellgatelondon.com/

ARRR MATEYS!

PIRATES OF THE BURNING SEA™ RETAIL PRE-ORDER
TO START OCTOBER 23

Tuesday, October 23, 2007 - Pirates of the Burning Sea, the MMORPG featuring high seas action and adventure in a bold world of pirates and plunder, is scheduled to be available for pre-order starting Tuesday, October 23rd at participating retail locations.

Players who pre-order the game will receive the following:

• An invitation to the “Pre-Boarding Party” allowing them access to the live game up to 15 days prior to launch, and the ability to keep their characters, skills and equipment after launch with purchase of game and paid subscription (characters will have a level cap of 20 during the pre-boarding party)
• Captain’s Best Friend – a blue and yellow parrot
• Mighty Blades - Swedish Rapier, Old World Steel or Musketeer’s Matching Blades (depending upon which fighting style is selected.
• Original Game Soundtrack CD – 60 minutes of pirate themed music (comes in pre-order box)

Pirates of the Burning Sea is scheduled to be available for preorder in North America on Tuesday, October 23, 2007. A European pre-order date has not been set at this time.

For more pre-order information on Pirates of the Burning Sea log onto www.piratesoftheburningsea.com

About Pirates of the Burning Sea
Pirates of the Burning Sea is an MMORPG featuring high seas action and adventure in a bold world of pirates and plunder. Set against the backdrop of the New World of the 18th Century, players can choose one of three nations – England, France or Spain – or choose the role of a Pirate and battle it out for glory and power.