Monthly Archives: October 2013

NYCC 2013: Day 2- Controlled Chaos

By Michael Sagoe (mikedot), and Isaac Sagoe (Afromania)

The morning of Comic-Con Day 2 has arrived, and tons of people were lined up and waiting at the entrance of the Javits center, ready to get in and nerd themselves out.

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However, unlike last year, the huge line was able to be dissolved in less than 10 minutes rather than an hour like last year.  The whole process of entering the convention center has been streamlined with new RFIDs on top of each and everyone’s ticket. Each ticket owner simply has to tap their tickets with one of the NYCC event staff when entering the convention center and tap again when exiting. This little system is also used to prevent fraud as well as cut out the yearly ticket scalpers from selling off their tickets for cheap.

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Yeah, it works just like that…

To my surprise, the crowds were more or less the same as yesterday! It wasn’t too difficult to get from one exhibit to the other, unlike last year where there were so many people on the show floors; everyone was constantly bumping and elbowing each other in the face.

My first stop for the day was a visit with Carbine Studios at their WildStar booth. This was the first time that the public ever get to try out the recently revealed Chau and Mordesh races. This was also the first that –I- would get to try out the game, and I instantly jumped on it after taking a few shots of the booth.

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I played as a Chau Spellslinger for my first play through, to see how good the run & gun gameplay would be. My first quest was given by Mondo Zax, the same mad Chua genius that was featured in their early bits of Wildstar lore, as well as their ongoing web comic series.

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The quests granted by Mondo Zax were a typical set of “Kill this, bring that” quests, but it was quickly pointed out by a member of the staff that the NYCC build was using an outdated quest system. This will soon be replaced by the “Progress system.” (http://www.onrpg.com/articles/editorial/wildstar-pushes-new-systems-for-quests-leveling-and-ability-ui/) Whenever players kill or collect items, a small progress bar in the bottom right corner will fill up. While this may seem like a cosmetic change, the progress system will allow players to either hand in quest items early, or pile their progress up by collecting even more in order to earn greater rewards.

The combat for Wildstar took me awhile to get used to, but soon after I was lining up power shots like nobody’s business. While I was playing on one of the early levels in the game, the combat does a good job of keeping a steady pace, along with adding a layer of risk vs. reward with skill attacks. I was quickly getting addicted to the combat, so I had to stop myself from playing more, otherwise I would have missed out on getting my interview with Carbine Studios staff.

After the members of the staff held a quick raffle contest to give away free Logitech gear, I met up with David “Scooter” Bass to get some questions answered for the OnRPG/MMOHuts community. David wasted no time telling people what they wanted to know, and didn’t shy away from a single question, which was awesome since most of the dev interviewees I’ve met usually beat around the bush when it comes to asking about serious stuff. Every single review question got answered, and I sure hope the OnRPG community will be pleased with his responses. Keep your eyes out for a video interview on Wildstar during the week.

After the Wildstar meet up, it was time to revisit the Dungeon Defenders II booth to get a more in-depth look at the game, which my brother took the helm on. This interview was hosted by a community manager for Trendy Entertainment. The questions were pretty straightforward, and so were the responses. The game was already shaping up to be something great and the devs are hoping to get Dungeon Defenders II out to the public as soon as possible.

I was pretty much free for the rest of the day, so I took the time to check some crazy cosplay. Many costumes seemed to be pretty average this year, but there were a few standouts like these!

NYCC 2013 Day 2 Batman

NYCC 2013 Day 2 Cosplay

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Afterwards, my attention was drawn towards a very weird booth that was related to the ever popular TMC series: The Walking Dead. They were promoting something called “The Walking Dead Chop Shop”, where users can download an app for the iOS and create a zombie survival vehicle, decked out with blades, machineguns, roll cages and more. Users would be able to vote for their favorite vehicles online, or for anyone at NYCC, they could get themselves zombified while taking a gander at a real life zombie survival vehicle.

NYCC 2013 Day 2 Walking Dead Car

Imagine driving around town in this thing…

Last up, me and my brother were “invited” to meet up with the Carbine Studio community team over at a bar called McGarry’s to meet and greet the team, as well as get a free round of drinks at their expense!

Although, we did end up arriving a bit too earlier, so we almost ended up leaving the place before they showed up. While we were the first to have a chat with them, we learned all about their hometowns, their career and gaming backgrounds, their deepest, darkest secrets like whom in the company that each member had a crush on… (*just kidding*)

But overall, it was a cool time spent with cool guys.

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Along the lines, I noticed a trend throughout the event: The trend for this year’s NYCC seems to be hosting events AWAY from the convention center in order to get more personnel and attention for your products or services. Or possibly it may just be an excuse to host some wild parties, but overall it’s a plan that works.

Tomorrow and Sunday will more than likely be the slowest days of the convention, so I plan to spend it going hands-on for just about every game I can play. Stay tuned.

Shotgun News 10/14: LoL, Blood & Jade, and 9Dragons

Twitter Account of Riot Games’ President Hacked

Riot Games’ President Marc Merrill over the weekend revealed that his twitter account had been hacked. The tweets have since been deleted but the hacker, who goes by the name Jason revealed images of what he called a standalone, and fully complete League of Legends card game, League of Legends: Supremacy. Merrill later said that they were prototypes and suggested that Riot is always working on new ideas, many of which will never see the light of day.

 

R2Games Announces Beta Testing of Blood & Jade

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Beta testing has begun for R2Games’ new MMORPG Blood & Jade. Set in Ancient China during a period of warring states players enter a world of mysticism and mystery. More information about the new MMORPG can be found on the official website for Blood & Jade.

 

9Dragons Celebrates Birthday with Giveaway

GamesCampus is celebrating the second birthday of martial arts MMORPG 9Dragons in a big way. Teaming up with OnRPG’s sister site MMOHuts.com 9Dragons is giving away $10,000 in ipad minis, Logitech headsets, mice, and keyboards. To be in for a chance to win grab a 9Dragons 2nd Anniversary Prize Pack from MMOHuts, then apply it to your 9Dragons account.

Realms of Goldesia

Realms of Goldesia is an immersive virtual reality MMORPG that utilizes the Oculus Rift VR headset. Boasting raw, mature content, Goldesia is independently developed by a small game studio called Aarianna Publishing, Inc.

Note: This project’s Kickstarter was suspended and further information or news has not been heard from the team since October 2013.

Features:

Unique Katagon Combat System: A specially developed combat system, Katagon handles a complex range of movement and attacks called Katas, which may be created and edited by players to create a unique combat experience.

Morality and Alignment: Every decision you make will reflect on your character’s morality and future gameplay experience, creating a unique storyline for every player.

Massively Multiplayer: Join up with friends and groups to tackle tough opponents; battle each other head to head in honorary challenges; challenge squads in arena combat; or even train NPCs in the Dojo.

Shotgun News 10/11: Activision, Skyjacker, and Cannons Lasers Rockets

Activision Sale Cleared by Court

The Delaware Supreme Court has overturned the injunction blocking the sale of Activision. The sale of Activision was put on hold after a lawsuit was filed by shareholder Douglas Hayes. The Delaware Supreme Court ruled that as the sale is a stock repurchase it did not require the approval of minority shareholders. Vivendi and Activision expect to have the sale closed by October 15th.

 

Digitilus Launches Kickstarter Campaign for Space Combat Simulator

Skyjacker

Skyjacker, a new first person space combat simulator from indie game developer Digitilus LLC is looking to raise funds via Kickstarter. They’re looking to raise $150,000 which will be used for co-op multiplayer, and a mission creator system. Skyjacker is scheduled to release in the summer of 2014 on PC, Mac, and Linux. The Kickstarter will be running until November 22nd and has a variety of rewards for backers.

 

Cannons Lasers Rockets Arrives on Steam Greenlight

Net Games Laboratory has launched their team based space shooter Cannons Lasers Rockets on Steam Greenlight. The highly competitive shooter is currently in the last phase of closed beta and plans to launch in November of this year.

New York Comic-Con 2013 – Day 1: Calm before the storm

By Michael Sagoe (Mikedot) and Isaac Sagoe (Afromania)

 

The greatest four days of the year have finally arrived! Me and my brother have returned to the Jacob K. Javits Center in New York City for NYCC 2013 and this year,  things are starting off even smoother than ever. It was a cloudy New York day as we first arrived at the Javits Center and the place was looking even larger than I remembered it from last year.

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The first day was primarily focused to press & exhibitors only, with public openings starting at 4PM EST, so there wasn’t much action going on. However, our first venture into NYCC 2013 would actually behind in a place AWAY from the convention center.

After a quick browse throughout some of the un-opened exhibits, we went down to a small place called SHOP STUDIOS, where Square-Enix was hosting a small press suite, showcasing several upcoming and previously released titles including Thief (2014), Kingdom Hearts 1.5 HD Remix and Deus Ex: Human Revolution – Director’s Cut. There was even a playable demo for the upcoming LIGHTING RETURNS: Final Fantasy XII.

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One game from the press suite that caught my attention was definitely Thief 2014, a first-person stealth action title based off the series originally created by Looking Glass Studios. A demonstrator was present to give press members a quick look at the game, and he mentioned that the game was not a sequel, nor was it a prequel, and he wouldn’t have gone as far as to say that it was a reboot of the series, either. Rather, the demonstrator says that Thief 2014 is more of a “re-imagining” of the Thief universe. Sort of like an alternative dimension, if you will (Sounds like a reboot of the series to me.) Some characters from previous Thief titles will also make their way into the “not-reboot” of the game, including the main protag: Garrett.

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After the small demonstration, I gave the game a try, and instantly got a good feel for the gameplay, since I used to play the original Thief games a lot… (Or rather, I re-played the Thief 1 DEMO a whole lot.) Either way, the main gameplay mechanics of sneaking around in the shadows, stealing goodies and making your way through the dark streets while leaving no trails for enemies to detect you is still present.

The new swerve ability also allows Garrett to dash from spot to spot, which comes in handy for those moments when moving around in the light is unavoidable, but it’s tied to a stamina meter, so players will have to use it sparingly. With the option to use crossbows with many different arrow sets, including blunt arrows to activate switches from a distance and water arrows to douse lit torches, Thief 2014 seems to present a lot of features that stays true to the roots of the series.

There was very little time left on my schedule for me to try out the other games, so I didn’t get a chance to take an early look at LIGHTING RETURNS, but hey, it was under an embargo anyway, so I would have been able to talk about play experience for that title until months later, anyway.

After the Square-Enix press suite and a quick pitstop at my arranged hotel, we arrived back at the Javits Center to witness very little chaos as the NYCC had officially been opened to the public by 4 PM, and braving the crowds were a lot easier than last year.

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The first thing we got to check out on the show floor was a playable demo of Dungeon Defenders II. Many people were eager to give this game a try, as it was the first ever public preview for the game. While I wasn’t too familiar with the original Dungeon Defenders, Dungeon Defenders II features bright and colorful visuals while fusing a mix between Third-Person hack ‘n slash action and tower defense. With the original Dungeon Defenders being a MOBA-style game, the Trendy Entertainment team is taking the series in a bold new direction.

I and my brother tried the game out for ourselves during a 15-minute session with the developers, who walked us through a co-op mission with four of the available classes and their abilities. Soon we’ll be showcasing a full run through of the game to give you guys an even closer look at the game!

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Next up, Intel maintained their presence from last year to host their yearly Intel Masters competition, this year featuring Starcraft II, as well as showcasing their latest Intel tech, including new tablets and prebuilt PCs using the latest i7 Core CPUs.

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Ever played Portal 1 or 2 without a controller or keyboard? We did at this year’s Intel booth, as they were showcasing a brand new motion-based camera. It takes a bit of getting used to, but it allows players to grab and move companion cubes on screen by using simple gestures. Too bad that the Portal demo was very short and didn’t allow for any exploration or deep puzzles.

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The last stop of the day was set in another place outside of the Javits center: A place called Hudson Terrace Salon. We got invited to attend a party for an upcoming mobile MORPG title called “Hello Hero”, and when they said they were hosting a party, I was just expecting a simple get-together with the developers so they could demonstrate and promote their game, plus maybe a few snacks here and there…

…but boy, me and my brother were in for a treat.

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The Hello Hero party was crazy! There was live DJ music, cute dancers with hula-hoops, guys dressed up in a silly cactus costume and even free beer!  And all this for a freaking MOBILE game?!

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Exhibitors, PR guys and advertisers should take notes. THIS is how you do a product promotion!

We even got a chance to talk with Sean Lee, the head of Business Development for Fincon, and the details we learned about the humble beginnings for Hello Hero, as well as the development team behind it, were quite surprising.

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Keep your eye out for Afromania’s interview with Sean Lee as we gain some insight on this new mobile title.

Overall, this was quite easily the sanest first day of Comic-Con that me and my brother has ever experienced, but of course, it is only the first day made for press & exhibitors. Friday is when the NYCC will TRULY begin…

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Game of Thrones Ascent

Experience a world of might and mystery where political intrigue runs rampant. Based on the novel series A Song of Ice and Fire, Game of Thrones Ascent takes players into a social and strategic empire building simulation where your decisions carry real impact on the world around you. Players will claim their birthright by choosing which of the great houses they’ll swear allegiance to, securing their holdings, developing their lands and personal reputation, and assigning sworn swords to quests–while forging alliances with new friends and much more!