The Best of 1UP 2011: Podcasts

1UP's podcasts have seen many changes this year. We saw the end of long-running shows like at1UP and Active-Time Babble, while the Retronauts torch was passed to a new host and Friday mainstay Games, Dammit! undertook a total relaunch. From the return of Oddcast favorite Scott Sharkey to 8-4 Play's excellent launch-day coverage of the Japanese PS Vita launch, 1UP continued to tickle your ear tubes with exciting podcasts all year long. Check out some of our best below.

Jump to: Best of News | Best of Podcasts | Best of Blogs | Best of Previews

Best of Features | Best of Community | Best of Guides | Best of Video

Best of Reviews | Best of Retrospectives

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  8-4
  PLAY 12/17/2011: PS VITA LAUNCH / MONSTER HUNTER 3G HOLIDAY SPECIAL

  
  This extra
  special 8-4 Play podcast holiday special breaks down two of the hottest topics in Japan and crams them together into a massive four-hour episode. First, the crew brings you the most detailed coverage of the PS Vita launch with day one impressions from Japan.
  And after three hours of Vita-filled discussion, the 8-4 Play team comes back at ya' with roundtable impressions of Capcom's latest portable Monster Hunter entry and the 3DS Analog Slide Pad attachment.
  


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  Retronauts
  Live Episode 26: Silent Hill

  
  For this very special
  Retronauts episode, the crew tackles Konami's Silent Hill, with more than two hours of discussion featuring super fan VoidBurger, music from Akira Yamaoka, and lots and lots of the one and only: Bob Mackey. Shortly after recording this episode, Bob wrote a big feature on Silent Hill 2. We hope he's got it out of his system by now.
  

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  at1UP
  Podcast Finale

  
  This marks the end
  of an era. In the words of the cast themselves, the final episode of this 1UP institution is "one last gun-blazin', rootin' tootin', wildest ride in the west, cockney-accented showdown in the Admiral's Club at 1UP Towers." Don't miss the final at1UP podcast.
  


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  Games,
  Dammit!: 03/02/2011

  
  Let Peter Molyneux's soothing voice wash over you in this special GDC edition of Games, Dammit! Back in March, 1UP welcomed the ambitious designer of Populous and Fable into the studio to discuss all things gaming. In this episode, Molyneux is joined by
  Scooter, Matt, and 1UP Alum Justin Haywald. The foursome wax poetic on all manners of GDC excitement, including Battlefield 3, The Last Guardian, and just what the hell the enigmatic number on Molyneux's hand means. Regardless of your opinion on his games,
  there's no denying that the man speaks with an elegant bravado that solidifies him as one of the true visionaries of our medium.
  

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  Retronauts
  Episode 2011-A: 01/13/2011

  
  In the spirit
  of tradition, this annual Retronauts special takes a look back at the history of video games during specific years; for the 2011 installment, Jeremy Parish, Ray Barnholt, Frank Cifaldi, and Chris Kohler examine 1971, 1976, 1981, 1986, along with other memorable
  dates that fit the pattern. If you enjoy retro gaming and/or subtracting by multiples of five, this is the podcast for you.
  


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  The
  Oddcast: 05/10/2011

  
  Alice left, but Sharkey
  returns! Everybody's favorite curmudgeon sits down and chats about the Sony security breach, Alan Wake, and more. And we know this may be hard to believe, but at one point, Tina talks about Call of Duty.
  

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  8-4
  Play 7/15/2011: ¡QUE MAGNIFICO!

  
  Most 8-4 Play episodes
  cover a wide variety of topics. This one does that too, but spends a good chunk of its two and a half hours devoted to Grasshopper's Shadows of the Damned, which the 8-4 team worked on, and then brings on composer Akira Yamaoka for an interview. Check it out
  for rare insights into the development process, and a joke or two along the way.
  


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  Active-Time Babble XXXI: Tactics Ogre Dragon Age II

  
  Tactics Ogre and Dragon
  Age II couldn't be more different; the former's an intensely old-school remake of a game that essentially defined a genre, while the latter suffers from paring down its nerdier elements for the sake of wider appeal. Listen in as Kat Bailey, Jeremy Parish,
  and Thierry Nguyen discuss these two RPGs, which may be slightly forgotten thanks to their first-quarter release dates.
  

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  Retronauts
  Live Episode 24

  
  A month before the
  The Retronauts podcast
  delves into B-list RPGs of the past with guests Christian Nutt and Kat Bailey. Everyone's played and knows the big RPG names like Final Fantasy, Elder Scrolls, Dragon Quest, Diablo, etc.; but what about the likes of Wild Arms and Lufia? These long-lost semi-classics
  get themselves a little much-deserved love in an epic two-hour podcast.
  


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  Games,
  Dammit!: 02/11/2011

  
  In this episode, Jeremy
  Parish and then-news/features editor Frank Cifaldi invite Tim Rogers to talk about such things as cookies, real-world cities with the best level design, and dead sites like nothingbut.net. Also, Tim does his best damn Christian Bale Batman impression the whole
  time, so this episode can tide you over until The Dark Knight Rises.
  

Trine 2 Review

A wizard, a knight and a thief walk into a game studio and… well can you imagine Frozenbyte’s publishing pitch for Trine? The idea of three overcooked archetypes featuring in one of the oldest and overused genres of the video game industry is more apt to make publishers groan and fans roll their eyes, but then the footage rolls and immediately it has our attention.

Like its predecessor, Trine 2 begins selling itself as soon as you start playing. While you’re feeling your way around the skills and attributes of Amadeus the wizard, Pontius the knight and Zoya the thief, it’s beguiling you with the most beautifully detailed, two-dimensional environments we’ve ever seen.

Because each level is regularly punctuated with unique, hand-drawn features, the visuals never really become blasé, but by the time we’re zipping along and not paying as much attention to the art, we’ve already been sucked in. Trine 2 has the same surprising depth of the original that belies a traditional platform game. Each of the three characters has a core skillset that complements the team.

The knight can engage in melee combat with a sword and shield or use his hammer to smash his way through certain objects. The thief can grapple and swing from certain surface as well as shoot arrows, while the wizard can conjour boxes out of thin air and levitate some objects, like crates and boulders. Those that haven’t played Trine will most likely take these skills at face value at first – what else can you expect from a platform game? But a combination of Havok Physics and a series of unique puzzles mean we’re soon exploring the many dimensions of each character.

There’s much more to Trine 2 than switching to the knight for a combat situation or the Wizard to shift a big boulder blocking our path. You can use Pontius to take on all five of those goblins in melee, or you can grapple out of their reach with Zoya and swing to safety. Or, better still, you can grapple to safety, switch to Amadeus and then lob that boulder at them for some easy experience points. What Frozenbyte squeezes out of a linear, two dimensional platform game is impressive: the abilties each character begins with can be augmented or added to along individual skill trees, with skill points gained from a collective experience pool.

The Wizard can levitate monsters, the knight can add a frosty defence to his shield and the thief can move stealthily past baddies. Whether we focus on one character or explore the breadth of abilities across all three, we’re never going to find ourselves stuck in a situation where we need an advanced skill to progress.

There’s always another possible way or five, perhaps with another character. Vague criticism ahoy: there’s little that separates Trine from Trine 2. New environments and puzzles aside, there are a few new skills for each of the characters, but if you’d never seen either game you really couldn’t tell the difference.

However, it was such a pleasant experience the first time around, that’s really more of a comment than a poke at a game that we’d be very happy about if it was stuffed into our stocking this Christmas. 8/10

Storm Warriors Online (CN)

For gamers in Asia, you would have played an online game years back called Fung Wan Online. For others overseas, you would perhaps have read about a Hong Kong comic or seen the 2 movies of this franchise. This is Storm Warriors Online, a new MMORPG from China which is trying to re-enact the classic scenes from the movies and comic.

With the game supervised by the franchise creator, Mr. Ma Wing Shing, Storm Warriors Online depicts the story of 2 expert pugilists, Wind and Cloud, about their exploits in the pugilist world and how they gradually became powerful by learning from various masters.. More information can be found here (link) and here (link). Below is a poster from the 2009 movie, The Storm Warriors, with the prequel known as The Storm Riders.

The game currently boasts 3 classes, with players able to customize skills for different battles, large scale PvP battles, destructible environments, active status such as knock back and even a high level AI program which will cause monsters to behave differently when met with different situation. Yes, I know it looks like yet another Diablo clone, but I think Blizzard does not have the isometric view patent in its safe.

Syndicate Won't Make it to Australia Due to "Arcane Censorship"

Australia's Classification Board has refused to grant Syndicate a rating. In effect this bans the title from being sold in its current form, and publisher Electronic Arts has no intention of changing the game in order to make it acceptable.

It would not be the first time something like this happened -- a number of games have been refused classification over the years by Australia including Mortal Kombat, The Witcher 2, and 50 Cent: Bulletproof. The latter two were ultimately altered to make them more acceptable while Mortal Kombat remains unavailable in Australia.

The reason for this is because the most mature rating available to videogames is MA15+, meaning any videogame released would have to be deemed suitable to teenagers as young as 15. This is not the case with films and other media and has been a hot issue for some time; earlier this year the groundwork was put in place for an R18+ rating, though this has yet to go into effect.

The extreme violence in Syndicate is largely to blame for it not being granted an MA15+ rating that would allow it to be released. The report cites the presence of "decapitation, dismemberment and gibbing" as one issue, as well as the ability to further injure corpses and kill civilians, according to VG247.

"Combatants take locational damage and can be explicitly dismembered, decapitated or bisected by the force of the gunfire," one part of the report notes. "The depictions are accompanied by copious bloodspray and injuries are shown realistically and with detail. Flesh and bone are often exposed while arterial sprays of blood continue to spirt from wounds at regular intervals."

EA's response to this is that it plans to neither appeal nor alter the game, Joystiq reports. With the current rating system in place, the game simply won't be released.

"The game will not be available in Australia despite its enthusiastic response from fans. We were encouraged by the government's recent agreement to adopt an 18+ age rating for games. However, delays continue to force an arcane censorship on games - cuts that would never be imposed on books or movies," said EA corporate communications exec Tiffany Steckler. "We urge policy makers to take swift action to implement an updated policy that reflects today's market and gives its millions of adult consumers the right to make their own content choices."

Syndicate was revealed back in September after years of speculation that Starbreeze was at work on such a project. Rather than simply revive the franchise with its classic isometric camera view, it will instead be a first-person shooter, much like what's happening with XCOM. Syndicate is currently scheduled for release on February 21 in North America and February 24 in Europe.

The Best of 1UP: News

Every year feels like it's full of news for the video game industry, and looking back 2011 was no different. It was a year packed with plenty of highs and plenty of lows. While we saw no shortage of big stories in 2011, we don't want to overlook some of the smaller ones -- sometimes, they're even more interesting than the headline-grabbers. So, for example, despite all the excitement that Nintendo's new Wii U caused at E3, we were just as intrigued to learn why Project Draco won't work with an Xbox 360 controller. Together, these extremes make for a healthy mix that puts everything that happened in gaming this year into perspective. Check out the full list below.

Jump to: Best of News | Best of Podcasts | Best of Blogs | Best of Previews

Best of Features | Best of Community | Best of Guides | Best of Video

Best of Reviews | Best of Retrospectives

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  Wii-U Reveal

  
  Nintendo's reveal of its next home console, with a large touch screen that can be used in creative ways, was certainly the biggest news story of the year. It was so big at E3 2011, in fact, that Nintendo has said nothing significant about the console since and it's still what
  everyone talks about when they think 2011 news. We have lots of questions about how it will work, how powerful it is, and what the game lineup will be, but the creative approach got people talking in a way few other announcements did this year.
  


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  Ken Levine on Making BioShock Infinitely Believable

  
  Ken Levine dishes
  on how developer Irrational Games crafts BioShock Infinite's character-driven narrative and points out some of the studio's philosophy and tech during the creative process.
  

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  Why Project Draco Doesn't Support 360 Controller

  
  Director Yukio Futatsugi
  delves into all the reasons why upcoming Kinect game Project Draco -- a game that's reminiscent of the on rails formula from Panzer Dragoon -- wouldn't work using a regular Xbox controller.
  


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  Videogame Journalism Pioneer Passes Away

  
  The word "pioneer"
  is oftentimes thrown around with reckless abandon, but believe us when we say that Bill Kunkel was a true forefather of video games journalism. Without his creative vision, this site would not exist in its current form. As a co-founder of Electronic Games
  magazine, he saw the potential held within the enthusiast press long before it became a mainstream staple of our industry. Kunkel's work influenced every single video game-related website, magazine, and blog that followed, and for that we are all immensely
  grateful.
  

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  3DS Price Drop, Early Adopters Get Free Games

  
  The last thing anyone
  expected from the DS's successor was for it to hit the market with a resounding thud. But thud the 3DS did, in large part because the smartphone gaming market had disrupted Nintendo's turf the way the DS and Wii disrupted Sony's. To their credit, Nintendo
  worked quickly to reposition the system, beginning with a $70 price drop less than half a year after its launch. Early adopters weren't forgotten, either, as Nintendo gave them 20 exclusive NES and Game Boy Advance games by way of apology.
  


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  Lack of Itagaki's Trash Talk Saddens Tekken's Harada

  
  In his closing comments
  during a 1UP interview at Tokyo Game Show, Tekken series overlord Katsuhiro Harrada lamented the absence of trash talk from former rival and Team Ninja general manager Tobunobu Itagaki -- a man who selected the first five Tekken games as his most hated video
  games ever.
  

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  TGS's Coolest Merchandise

  
  The size of the Tokyo
  Game Show in recent years can't match the event's former bi-annual glory, but the lines for strange merchandise seem just as long every year. We looked into this strange gathering and found Mario Dolls, $300-plus Bayonetta Glasses, and Resident Evil 5 gun
  replicas might land you in Jail should you sell them in the US.
  


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  PlayStation Network Compromised

  
  We usually associate
  security breaches with high level affairs such as Watergate or data theft that affected the banking industry. But in early April, the hackers hit our industry. After a sudden outage, which stretched into nearly a week, Sony Computer Entertainment America then
  admitted that there was an intrusion, and that user data -- ranging names and addresses to credit card information -- might have been compromised. It still remains as the largest and most public data breach in games, and a reminder that no one is safe.
  

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  Does a High-Powered Console Fit Nintendo's Strategy?

  
  A month before the
  Wii-U's official debut, news, rumors, and leaks about "Project Café" quickly surfaced. Again, since this was before Nintendo's E3 press conference, all we had to work off of was "a Nintendo system with high-definition graphics." Despite only having that morsel
  of information, we took a step back and examined what this possibility meant for Nintendo. And we also noted how -- despite readers' misgivings and theories about Nintendo abandoning its vision -- such a system was indeed in line with Nintendo's philosophy.
  


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  Hip Tanaka Shares His Thoughts

  
  EarthBound's soundtrack might not be the most important achievement of Hirokazu Tanaka's storied career, but it's one of the most memorable. Jeremy's TGS 2011 interview with the Nintendo visionary covers one of the 16-bit era's most idiosyncratic soundtracks, and the influences that made it so special.
  

Age Of Wulin (CN)

While Closed Beta 2 is hitting this coming weekend with no more data wipes, Snail Game has decided to hold a grand cosplay party on Christmas Eve to apparently celebrate this event. Included in the event list is the live auction for actual game items, which caused a mini backlash once again for the rather outspoken company and its CEO.

1. Out-of-stock Closed Beta keys with special customized numbers

2. One-of-a-kind weapon, mount and armor skins belonging to the ultimate weapons found in Chinese martial arts novels, starting bid for most expensive skin at RMB 10,000 (USD 1575.27). Some skins will only have 1 in the whole game.

3. Absolute VIP customer service with 24 x 7 around the clock personalized service

4. Meeting with the development team

5. Exclusive forum tag

Do note that these are just skins, with no stats or abilities included. On one side, I guess it is a fair deal for a game with no equipment enhancing items sold in the cash shop. What are your thoughts? 

gPotato Reaches 20 Million Users

Gala Networks has hit a 20 million user milestone today across its gPotato portals, with MMOs like Allods Online and Dragonica. Gala Networks Europe has made a signficant contribution to that total:

“Passing 20 million users is a fantastic milestone for the Gala Group,” said Nicola Pajot, chief operating office for Gala Networks Europe, “we’re hugely proud to have contributed to building a loyal user base for free-to-play titles, that continues to grow year-on-year.”

Gala Networks Europe is celebrating by launching a series of special events on its gPotato.eu portal. Allods Online players can look forward to a Christmas events that ends on 6 January, Dragonica will feature special monster loot drops until 10 January and all gPotato games will feature seasonal events until the first week of 2012. You can check out the full range of celebrations on the official European gPotato portal.

Class Action Lawsuit Filed Over Sony's Anti-Class Action Lawsuit ToS

A Terms of Service clause seeking to prevent PlayStation 3 owners from suing Sony or entering into a class action lawsuit against the company has resulted in nothing less than a class action lawsuit against Sony.

GameSpot reports the lawsuit was filed against Sony in Northern California in late November. This was done by a man on behalf of PS3 owners who bought a PS3 and signed up for PSN before September, when the updated version of the Terms of Service were released.

Buried among the legalese these things consist of was a clause that would prevent console owners from being a part of a class action lawsuit against Sony. Sony's interest in doing this is understandable as it's trying to safeguard itself against losing money in a potential lawsuit. Since Sony made the move, both Electronic Arts and Microsoft have introduced similar wording in their respective Terms of Service, so it isn't as if Sony is alone in this and everyone else is a shining beacon of righteousness.

The lawsuit alleges unfair business practices as PS3 owners have to either forfeit their rights or their access to PSN. It's also pointed out that the clause was buried in the Terms of Service, which were not made readily available online, and that the only means for opting out of that clause is to mail a physical letter within 30 days of agreeing to the ToS.

The backlash that emerged after the new ToS were released led to Sony pointing to a Supreme Court ruling as the precedent for it being allowed to do something like this. The Supreme Court ruled earlier this year that ATT was legally allowed to include a clause in employees' contracts stating they could not take part in a class action lawsuit against the company.

An unrelated lawsuit against Sony was recently dismissed by a judge. The removal of the PlayStation 3's Other OS feature, which allowed an operating system such as Linux to be installed, resulted in a lawsuit that hit a snag earlier this year when a judge dismissed almost every one of its claim.

"While it cannot be concluded as a matter of law at this juncture that Sony could, without legal consequence, force its customers to choose either to forego installing the software update or to lose access to the other OS feature, the present allegations of the complaint largely fail to state a claim," U.S. District Judge Richard Seeborg wrote in February, according to the Courthouse News Service. "Accordingly, with the exception of one count, the motion to dismiss will be granted, with leave to amend."

That opportunity to amend was taken advantage of, but to no avail, as Seeborg dismissed the final claim earlier this month.

One would hope this new lawsuit doesn't meet a similar fate.

Ragnarok II (KR)

(Game website) As mentioned earlier (link), Ragnarok II will be entering Open Beta in Korea sometime early next year. With this, the final test phase has been announced, starting from 26th December till 30th December. The main priorities of this phase is to test out new content scheduled to appear for launch and server stability as well.

Along with this phase where registered member can join, there are various events with prizes worth a few hundred million Korea Won and exclusive in-game items. Since Ragnarok II started its first beta test back in May 2007, development has been delayed several times and almost leading to its cancellation. Will the game finally see the light?

Why Was Grand Theft Auto III's Star Silent?

After celebrating Grand Theft Auto III's 10-year anniversary with the release of an iOS and Android port, Rockstar is now answering a variety of questions fans have about the game. Among those are the obligatory questions about its protagonist, Claude, and the rationale behind him never uttering a word.

Every Grand Theft Auto game since III -- the first to bring the series into 3D -- has featured a star who could speak. Why was Claude made to do a crowbar-free Gordon Freeman impression?

"It may now seem obvious that people should all talk in games, but this was not necessarily the case in 2001, certainly not in an open world game," reads an answer on Rockstar's website. "We were making up a lot of procedures as we went along, and we decided that the NPCs (Non Playable Characters) should talk and we would have to figure out how to make them talk (using motion captured cutscenes, something that had never really been done before, at least not on the scale we were doing it).

"So we decided that the game's protagonist would not talk, partly to aid people identifying with him, but mostly because we had so many other problems to solve and this did not seem like a major issue. We started to discuss introducing a talking lead character when working on Vice City, but it was a lot of work. While the structure of GTA3 may seem obvious or natural now, and the use of cutscenes made in the game's engine that look and feel like the game may seem simple and easy, it really was not the case back in 2001 when we had to figure out all of these things for the first time. Oh and in San Andreas, CJ calls Claude a mute because he does not talk and CJ finds this unnerving."

Several people submitted questions regarding an old trailer, embedded above, showing Claude demand, "Get out of the car!" while hijacking someone's vehicle. This is not a sign that Claude was, once upon a time, intended to speak; it turns out this isn't real. Rockstar suspects "the voices were added at a later date by someone online as at no point did we plan for Claude to have a voice or even design how a speaking protagonist would be implemented until Vice City."

As for the way he was designed, there was not any single character or person who served as the inspiration for him. "We just liked the idea of a strong, silent killer, who would be juxtaposed with all of these neurotic and verbose mobsters in an amusing way," another answer reads. "He seems stronger and in control, while they seem weaker and frantic."

Rockstar wasn't willing to share any information on his background beyond what we know (he's "a bank robber with a noisy and psychotic girlfriend"), but it was noted he isn't dead and his "surname may or may not be Speed." Claude Speed is the name of Grand Theft Auto 2's protagonist, whom some believe to be the same character as GTA III's Claude.

Rockstar also shared some concept art revealing earlier versions of the design for Claude, which can be seen on the next page.

As for Darkel, a character never seen in the game but referred to in its manual and seen on Rockstar's website, he was described simply as "a crazy bum who gave you some crazy missions." These missions were slowly cut out "because they just weren't as good as the rest of the game, and tonally they were a little odd." Rumors of one of these missions involving blowing up a school bus full of children aren't true ("although that is a funny rumor!"). Series fans eager to eventually see these Darkel missions released aren't likely to ever get their hands on them as Rockstar North is busy working on new stuff.

Rockstar plans to answer more questions next week, so if there's anything you've been dying to know for a decade, submit a question and maybe you'll get an answer. If it's GTA2 that intrigues you, the design documents released earlier this year might be right up your alley.

The iOS and Android versions of Grand Theft Auto III are now available for $5. Only a select number of devices are capable of running the game; you can see which ones here. Those that can run it are unfortunately saddled with touchscreen controls which you may or may not find acceptable, though the novelty of having GTA III on your phone or tablet may be enough to justify looking past the imperfect controls.

Skyrim: Steam’s Fastest Seller Ever

Valve has declared The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim its fastest-selling game ever. Valve’s director of business development, Jason Holtman, said in a recent statement that, “Skyrim is the fastest selling title in Steam’s history,” after it sold 3.5 million copies in 48 hours when it launched in the second week of November.

“Bethesda’s commitment to and understanding of the PC as a gaming platform shows in the great review scores, spectacular launch, and continued high player numbers that Skyrim has received.”

Bethesda has shipped 10 million units of Skyrim on all formats and estimates that RPG has made $650 million (around £418 million) since its launch.

Watch 1UP's Final Fantasy XIII-2 Livestream on Monday

What : Final Fantasy XIII-2 Livestream
When: 2 PM Pacific/5 PM Eastern. Monday, December 19, 2011
Where:Right here on this very page via TwitchTV
Why: See Final Fantasy XIII-2 over a month before its release

Square Enix plans to release Final Fantasy XIII-2 over an entire month from now, but why wait that long to check out the game for yourself? Join 1UP's Jeremy Parish and Ryan Winterhalter for a live, in-depth look at the game this Monday at 2 P.M. PST/5 P.M. EST.

Handy time zone guide:

Pacific - 12/19 at 2 P.M.
Eastern - 12/19 at 5 P.M.
UK - 12/19 at 10 P.M.
Australia - 12/20 at 9 A.M.

ArcheAge (KR)

The good folks at XLGAMES are really making their promise stand, with a patch almost everyday so far, the largest standing at a hefty 6GB. After a tough time playing as an archer using the Ferres race, I thought it would be a good time to move on the a familiar mystical being found in almost all fantasy games. With the Elven race, the first class which comes into mind would be "mage", and that's the class I chose this time round.

While the Ferres race got to experience mountain scaling, tree climbing is the mechanic found at the beginning. While not a really "awesome" feature when first mentioned, I can guess players who are exploring the new continents climbing up to have a good look at the area and sight some possible boss mobs. Over at the old continent where the PvP and castle siege are taking place, I guess this is a strategic feature for players to scout any incoming hostiles.

Boat rowing is one of the many transport modes in ArcheAge. Although it is really the beginning of sailing (with sail boats coming later into the game), the speed of traveling on water is the fastest, compared to swimming or riding on a swimming mount *laughs*. I was rather clumsy at the steering part, but I guess that is why I am not doing the same activity in real life :)

The standard mage class is easy to use, with the spells nothing less than gorgeous even at low levels. Yes, point and click, I hear the groans already. But it is not really what ArcheAge is about in the first place. The effects are some I have never experienced in most MMORPGs, and I can't wait to find out what spells me and new monsters can cast as I progress in the game. I guess I will be playing this character for the week or 2 to come. Stay tuned for more footage!

Review: Terrible APB Gets Resurrected as Mediocre APB: Reloaded

In a season riddled with life-changing mega-sequels, Corpse Party couldn't have arrived at a worse time -- especially on a platform so ravaged by the deadly tag team of piracy and disinterest. With its distinctly fan-made presentation and digital-only availability, XSEED's latest isn't going to turn heads like the Uncharteds and Modern Warfares of the world; though, in the case of Corpse Party, this lack of attention just might be for the best. While most of our modern gaming blockbusters seek to offer either awkwardly bloodless violence for the sake of the coveted catch-all Teen rating or Bruckheimer-esque glorification of combat, the folks at Team GrisGris obviously didn't suffer under these same publisher pressures. Corpse Party doesn't seek to cast the widest net possible with a series of escapist power fantasies that gently nudge players down a path of rewards; from the outset, the game wears its heartlessness on its sleeve, dispatching characters in ways that have yet to debut in your nightmares (but soon will). This glorified visual novel may resemble a B-tier Super Nintendo game on the surface, but nothing else I've played over the past 25 years has been so relentlessly brutal, bleak, and terrifying.

Though Corpse Party looks like an ancient JRPG, trappings like hit points, an inventory, and tile-based movement only exist as lip service; the "game" portions of Corpse Party act solely as a conduit for the narrative. Like Phoenix Wright and 999, Corpse Party is a visual novel, though it looks and plays decidedly more "gamey" than other entries in the genre. Instead of transitioning from static scene to static scene from a first-person perspective -- typical of the genre -- the game employs 2D sprites and an overhead perspective, providing players with a more familiar means of input. And since you're tasked with controlling a group of defenseless teens, combat simply isn't an option; the few foes found in the game most often kill with a single touch, making their presence more disturbing than any turn-based ghost battles ever could.

APB Reloaded surpasses 3 million users

It seems GamersFirst have succeeded in breathing new life in to APB with their recent Free To Play re-release. Since it’s launch on Steam APB Reloaded has surpassed expectations to become the second highest ranking Free To Play game on Valve’s digital download service.

“We recognized the potential for APB Reloaded to be a true breakout hit in the Free2Play category all through beta testing,” said Rahul Sandil, SVP of marketing and business development for GamersFirst.  “We quickly amassed a vocal, dedicated community, and they’ve been instrumental in growing the game and helping better the experience.”

One of the new features added to APB Reloaded is Fight Club, a fast paced in and out of car combat mode that lets up to 32 players fight it out in closed-off areas of the city of San Paulo. You can learn more about the game on the APB Reloaded homepage.

ArcheAge (KR)

2 days ago, an expedition in ArcheAge Closed Beta 4 secured the game's first every territory capture. Called "Renaissance", this team of over 100 players braved through the many near-impossible tasks to secure this milestone. Korean website ThisIsGame had a chat with the team's leader, who happens to be just a 20 year old teen.

A: I am 20 years old currently, hitting 21 soon, so it is 2NE1 (a popular South Korea female pop group). Renaissance was established in July 2010, and it will be 2 years old in a few months' time. There are a total of around 170 players who took part in the expedition in ArcheAge, and our main aim is to seek adventures and to quest. We do meet in real life as well, having small gatherings for drinking sessions.

A: Very proud. All of the players worked hard together, and thank you all for your hard work. The original land was a place filled with volcano soot and barren lands. But after we placed the AKIUM (mineral to signify ownership of the piece of land), grass began to sprout out. We are happy to play a part in cleaning up the continent.

A: Collecting the required materials, especially the sunlight AKIUM which is rare.

A: The system changed, we need to pack up the materials to build the ships, each time only allowing one bag to be transported over.

A: After collecting 100 materials, we need to pack them up and carry. We need to reach the destination without dying.

A: Yes, if the player dies, the pack will drop and anyone else can pick it up.

A: There is actually no strategy, everyone just collected the AKUIUM dusts and pieces and merge them together.

A: For lumber, we just needed to get more players to scout for trees to chop and monitor the progress. Clothing material can be dropped from a certain humanoid hunter monster.

A: Within our expedition team, there are the information group, combat group and gathering group. Each group has its own mission and functions, for example the gathering group will find out where and where drop certain materials while the combat group will research on character skills and PvE combat. Our team has a number of veterans since Closed Beta 1, so we were able to guide them.

A: For sail boats, 1000 materials are needed, which means 10 packages. The new system also requires players to follow a standard pattern for inserting the materials to make the sail boat.

A: Yeap, and that is only for the smallest sail boat. When the bigger size ones are out...

A: Different boss has different attack patterns, so we had to devise different strategies as well for each.

A: When we were low level, 7 of us took down a boss. I guess it will only require 3 of us now.

A: We will be gathering information about the castle building system and go gain some levels to prepare for castle siege.