Category: Play

“Champions Online” Free To Play Relaunch Goes Off Faster Than A Speeding Bullet

Yesterday, January 25th, Cryptic Studio’s superhero MMO ” Champions Online” went Live with it’s new Free To Play model, and the game’s population has octupled.

Yesterday, January 25th, Cryptic Studio’s superhero MMO ” Champions Online” went Live with it’s new Free To Play model.

Twenty four hours since launch, the game’s population has octupled.  You hearing me, “City of Heroes” and “DCUO”?! OCTUPLED!

There’s no official word from Cryptic yet on just how successful this has all been on their end, but I predict some pretty happy faces on some pretty tired developers.

In related news, “Champions Online” executive director also revealed the name of their next Adventure Pack, which is a 2-3 hour story arc that scales with the players level and offers plenty of new titles and costume pieces. It’s called “Resistance”, and we don’t know anything about it right now other than it takes place in Multifaria, an Earth with an alternate timeline where many of Millenium City’s heroes are in face evil tyrants that rule the planet with an iron fist.

And a big ‘congratulations’ to me for winning Cryptic’s “Character Contest“! My character will soon be featured in the game as a quest-giving NPC! More details on that as it arrives!

[Update]

This just in: A new powerset has been revealed called “Heavy Weapons”. The set has you use massive, powerful, but slow melee weapons for incredible crushing damage.

LA Noire – A Glimpse of What’s to Come

The new trailer for Rockstar’s latest title, LA Noire, gives us a glimpse of the new technology they have been raving about


Rockstar Games has been called many things in the past, but more recently the words “game changer” have been thrown around. With their new title, LA Noire, they have taken game graphics to a new level. Rockstar has joined forces with Team Bondi to create some of the most advanced motion capture in game footage we have ever seen.

The way that they achieve such realistic results is to first capture the actor’s body movements with motion capture technology. Then, they send the actor into make up and hair and use scanning technology to get the face and head. They also capture the voice during the scanning process for a more authentic feel to the acting.

The results are almost film-like, but judge for yourselves:

Little Big Planet 2 – Review

Little Big Planet 2 Review

The sequel to 2008’s Little Big Planet has just hit shelves and is creating a buzz amongst gamers. Little Big Planet 2 follows the original’s formula with its platform elements and three planes (back, middle and foreground) but has improved many of the original features as well.

One of the features that has been greatly improved is the Create Mode. In the original LBP, it was difficult to navigate around, which led to my frustration and eventual giving up on the level creator altogether. I couldn’t understand how people were coming up with the amazing levels I would see online. Now, with Little Big Planet 2’s user friendly Create Mode, I can try to compete with the great levels other players are creating.
Besides an improved creation mode, LBP2 has brought their story mode to a new level as well. There are 30 story levels in the game, which will keep you at it for a while, trying to accomplish all of the challenges. Each level has a new feel to it and immerses you in a world of completely different art than the previous one. Little Big Planet 2 has also added a few new features such as a jump pad to launch your Sackboy or girl into the air and a helmet, called the Creatinator, that projects any object that you create into the air.


A look at the Creatinator

This PS3 exclusive title is sure to keep you entertained for hours. It has a high re-play value with challenges for every level and new player created levels popping up every day. It is definitely worth checking out!

Dragon Age II Dead Space Armor

A goodie for fans of EA’s upcoming titles

For those of you who are thrilled for all of EA’s first quarter releases, there’s a little bonus for you.  EA has included Dead Space inspired armor for their upcoming title Dragon Age II with the purchase of Dead Space II.

It looks rad!

Here are more details from Dragon Age:

Ser Isaac’s Armor

The chilling tales of Ser Isaac of Clarke are a favorite of bards performing in the wee hours of the night. In dank taverns throughout Thedas, these horror-filled stories captivate listeners and bring nightmares to those faint of heart.

Properties:
  • Ser Isaac’s Boots
    • Increases armor
    • Requires high dexterity and cunning
  • Ser Isaac’s Armor
    • Heavy Armor
    • Contains a rune slot
    • Increases armor
    • Requires high dexterity and cunning
  • Ser Isaac’s Gauntlets
    • Increases armor
    • Requires high dexterity and cunning
  • Ser Isaac’s Helm
    • Contains a rune slot
    • Increases armor
    • Critical damage factor
    • Requires high dexterity and cunning

Purchase Dead Space 2 today and get a code to unlock a special set of Isaac Clarke inspired armor for the upcoming, Action-RPG from BioWare, Dragon Age 2.


The video for Ser Isaac’s Armor

Dead Space 2 comes out January 25th and Dragon Age 2 comes out March 8th.

MMO “Champions Online” Goes Free To Play

“Champions Online” goes Free To Play, adding a multitude of new features, as well as the option to play without subscribing.

On the January 25, Cryptic’s latest superhero MMO “Champions Online” will be going Free To Play.  This change is going to involve a great deal more than just having the option to not pay, however.  There’s a ton of changes coming at the end of this month, and Millenium City is never going to be the same again.

Now I know what you’re all thinking, “’Champions Online’, isn’t that the crappy superhero MMO that launched last year? It was supposed to be the ‘City of Heroes’ killer but it bombed!” The answer to this is yes and no.  When “Champions Online” was released, it was essentially still in beta, and as such was filled with hundreds of bugs.  Cryptic tried to delay the release date so they could iron everything out, but Atari, in its infinite wisdom, decided to push it to live, and boy were people pissed.

But all that’s changed. They’ve spent the past year squishing all of those pesky bugs, adding tons of new costumes and impressive new powers, and putting in some really impressive new Zones and Adventure Packs.

“Champions Online” has a great community to boot.  The remaining players are very keen on keeping the game afloat, and the developers listen intently to player feedback.  There’s plenty of powers and costume pieces that were added at the recommendation of the players.

Now you can get to the maximum level and go anywhere you please if you are going the Free To Play route, but you’re going to get much more bang for your buck if you pay the monthly fee.  You’ll have access to the a completely freeform power system, where you can choose powers from any number of powersets, and you’ll gets hundreds more costumes to choose from for your caped crusader.  You’ll get a monthly stipend of Atari Points, which you can spend on items in their store to get new costumes, powers, and items, like the giant growth device, or the summonable sidekick.

And to any of you naysayers to the Free To Play model, “Dungeons and Dragons Online” and “Lord of the Rings Online” have both been thriving now that they switched, with the latter tripling it’s revenue since last year.  And with “Champions Online” being the first Free To Play MMO on the market, and DC Universe Online getting poor reviews for the PC, we’re looking at a bright, hero-filled future.

For more information, go to http://champions-online.com/f2p

If you want to contact me in-game, shoot me a message @Loganius