OnRPG Shotgun News 7/13: RIFT, SimCity Social, Marvel Heroes, and More!


OnRPG Shotgun News 7/13: RIFT, SimCity Social, Marvel Heroes, STO, and More!

By Shannon Doyle (Leliah), OnRPG Journalist

 

 

RIFT Releases New Cat Mount

 

Trion worlds has launched a special new mount via the player account page. The White War Tiger is available for a limited time and has previously been exclusive to Korean players. There is no date for when they will be going away but you can get it now in your account management page for $15.

 

 

NCSoft Account Management Split

During an NCSoft account maintenance yesterday Aion and Linage 2 accounts were separated from other NCSoft accounts to better accommodate their free to play status. Players who played Aion or Linage 2 as well as other NCSoft games will now have two different accounts for these games.

 

 

Rumble Figher Celebrates 5th Anniversary with New Fighting System


 

Publisher OGPlanet announces that they will kick off the 5th Anniversary of Rumble Fighter being in North America with an all new Rune Book system. Runes can be used to invoke blessings which can do things like increasing players speed or strength.

 

 

Amazon Launches Game Connect

Amazon.com has launched Game Connect, a service offering free to play and pay to play MMO titles to Amazon customers. Users who use Game Connect will be able to unlock exclusive in game content in certain titles like Allods, World of Tanks, Fiesta, and Aika. Other games that are available from the start include TERA, and preorders for titles such as Assassins Creed III and Prototype 2.

 

 

SimCity Social Launches on Facebook


EA announced the latest social game SimCity Social has gone live on Facebook. The game features a dynamic friend or foe system which means that not all of your Facebook friends have to be your allies in SimCity Social. A hot air balloon is available in The Sims Social as an in game announcement of SimCity Social. To get the hot air balloon all you have to do is play SimCity Social.

 

 

Global Spending on MMO Games Exceeds $12 Billion

SuperData Research and Newzoo have released a report that estimates spending on MMOs will surpass 12 billion dollars in 2012 and be over 17.5 billion by 2015. The number of MMOs on the market has nearly doubled since the start of 2011 which puts strain on individual titles.

 

 

Marvel Heroes Unleash the Human Torch


 

Fantastic Four’s Johnny Storm, aka the Human Torch has been announced as Marvel Heroes’ newest playable character. He is the first member of the Fantastic Four to join the playable character roster and categorized as an energy based blaster.

 

 

US Game Sales Down 29% in June

NDP’s retail report shows that physical retail sales are down in hardware, software and accessories. It is estimated that 50-60% of all game related sales are physical. Much of this is because of the rise in popularity of digital sales and the relatively few AAA games that were released.

 

 

Star Trek Online Season 6


 

Big new features have come to Star Trek Online in the latest updated Season 6. This includes the all new Fleet feature which allows players to work together in an all new way. There is a new five man event called Colony Invasion designed for characters who are level 50. In addition to these changes there are UI updates, missions changes, and a whole lot more.

 

 

CCP Wins Best Indie Award

The people responsible for EVE and Dust 514 took home an award from the Develop 2012 awards ceremony. CEO Hilmar Pétursson hinted that CCP had a full plate with the 10th anniversary of EVE, the launch of DUST 514 and an event scheduled in September for World of Darkness.

 

 

The Grinns Tale Goes Live on Facebook


 

Nexon’s in house social game team has produced a new Facebook based role playing game set in a gothic themed fantasy world. This is a highly stylized game that features unique monsters, six classes and character customization. Players can build houses as they gather resources and even create a town. Combat is point and click but strategy and teamwork is also important.

 

 

WEBZEN Launches WEBZEN Hub

Leading free to play Korean game publisher WEBZEN has teamed up with Overwolf to create WEBZEN Hub. The software gives access to instant messaging services, TeamSpeak, a music player and an in game browser while in game. An in game app store will be added soon.

 

 

WoW Charity Drive Raises $330,000


 

Blizzard recently auctioned 2,000 of the original World of Warcrafter server blades with the proceeds going to St. Judes Children’s Research Hospital. The auctions were done on ebay and originally announced back in October.

 

 

SWTOR Offers Guide to Group Finder Feature

A community news post on the SWTOR website posted by Toni Phillips a member of the production team gives details and tips on how the new group finding feature works. It covers a variety of issues that are causing a bit of confusion for the players.

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