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NCsoft's Aion perches atop the US PC charts for Sept.

by Alexander Sliwinski { Oct 20th 2009 at 11:30PM }

If the packed queues didn't hint that this was coming, NPD stated that NCsoft's Aion was the top-selling game in the US during September. The MMO overthrew the virtual souls of The Sims 3 -- not that it matters to those ever-present dolls of the PC charts, as the franchise occupies two other spots on the "top 20" with Sims 2 bundles.

Champions Online showed up to the party in third place, with World of Warcraft taking three separate spots on the chart. Check out the full list after the break.

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Watch the Aion launch trailer while you wait for a server

by Ben Gilbert { Sep 22nd 2009 at 7:29PM }

Approximately 12 hours ago, NCSoft flicked the proverbial switch in the US, thus opening the flood gates to its new MMO, Aion. Unfortunately, many users are still running into some unusually long server queues. If you've already run out of ideas from Massively's server queue survival guide, why not watch this launch trailer for the game you're waiting around for? It's pretty sweet! Don't you wish you could just play the game right now?

...

Oh. Right.

Gallery: Aion Beta: Asmodae

Gallery: Aion Beta: Elysea

Pre-order early admission creating long queues in Aion

by Ben Gilbert { Sep 21st 2009 at 8:00PM }

And so the story goes: Gamer meets MMO, many other gamers meet MMO, hours-long queues result, forcing gamers to find something else to do. Such is the case with the soon-to-be released Aion, forcing those wishing to play the game to turn to (gasp!) other things.

The problem arose as folks who pre-ordered the game were allowed early entry into servers on September 20. It appears as though so many people put down their money early for Aion that the game's servers simply couldn't handle the flood of new players, creating two or more hour waits for some folks. Our sister site Massively has put together a list of things to do while waiting for the queue time to die down, though we'd suggest you buck the trend now and hop right back into World of Warcraft like you know you're going to do anyway in a month's time.

Gallery: Aion Beta: Asmodae

Gallery: Aion Beta: Elysea

NCSoft promises at least one major Aion update every year

by Griffin McElroy { Sep 21st 2009 at 6:30PM }

Though NCSoft's winged MMO Aion doesn't go live until tomorrow (or Friday for Europeans), the developer is already promising additional content for the title. Speaking to VG247, NCSoft's Christian-Peter Heimbach explained, "there will be at least one major update a year," and later added "there will be free content updates for all players, and we're looking then at how big the major updates will be."

It's awfully presumptive for an MMO developer to assume its game will still be alive and kicking one year after its launch date -- however, with a strong base of 400,000 pre-orderers, it seems unlikely that Aion will hastily go the way of Auto Assault.

Gallery: Aion Beta: Asmodae

Gallery: Aion Beta: Elysea

NCSoft announces Aion open beta dates, pre-orders get early access

by Griffin McElroy { Aug 27th 2009 at 6:00PM }

If you're itching to try your hand at NCSoft's upcoming winged MMORPG, Aion, before its September 22 release, a recent press release has announced two methods of doing so. The first is probably the more noteworthy option -- the game is going into open beta for one week only starting Sunday, September 6. The sneak preview will allow players from both of the game's factions to reach level 30, and lets them fly, fight and fly-fight through every locale from the full game.

The second opportunity to beat the release day rush is by pre-ordering the game -- those who pursue this option can pre-select their servers and character names on September 18, then start playing a full 48 hours in advance on September 20. Is the five-dollars-down worth the exclusive pre-launch access? Sadly, we can't make that decision for you. We can, however, tell you what to have for lunch: Nachos. You're welcome.

Aion collector's edition announced, spec'd

by Randy Nelson { Jun 18th 2009 at 4:00AM }

In the ramp-up for the US release of its latest MMO, Aion, on September 1, NCsoft has taken the shrinkwrap off the game's $70 limited collector's edition and -- what's this? -- there's a pretty cool looking figure inside. Okay, it's a "hand-painted Asmodian Daeva." Still looks cool.

Pre-ordering the set will also get you some exclusive in-game items, which range from the ominous sounding Black Cloud Wings to the yawn-inspiring, single use "colored dye." To counter the latter's lameness, you'll be able to blast the included soundtrack CD whilst performing one of the two pre-order exclusive emotes: the "Aion Boogie." In the game, of course.

If the LCE's too pricey, the regular ol' edition comes in a steel case. And ... that's all. Still: steel.

NCsoft has solid Q1 sales, profits thanks to Aion

by Alexander Sliwinski { May 11th 2009 at 2:00PM }

NCsoft is apparently off to a good start in 2009 -- notwithstanding Richard Garriott's lawsuit -- thanks to "solid maintenance" of Lineage and Lineage II, along with sales of its new MMO, Aion. The publisher's sales were up 51 percent year-over-year to $107.7 million in the first quarter, with net income enhanced to $27 milllion, a 315 percent increase. It appears the Korean-based company's numerous international workforce cuts paid off.

NCsoft's CFO, Jaeho Lee, was happy that Aion's launch did not affect the performance of the Lineage series in Korea. Now we wait to see how the rest of the globe embraces Aion. The MMO is prepped to launch in China during Q2, with other major markets set for the second half of the year.

NCsoft Austin to expand at a 'dramatic pace'

by Jason Dobson { Sep 19th 2008 at 5:00AM }

This according to David Reid, the president of publishing at NCsoft's recently christened Seattle office, who despite rumors to the contrary recently assured Edge that the company's Austin office, which includes customer service, QA and the Tabula Rasa team, isn't going away anytime soon. Quite the opposite, in fact, as Reid describes Austin as "critically important" to NCsoft.

"We really do believe that Austin is going to grow at a fairly dramatic pace over the next few years," noted the exec. Growth is expected to be fueled by the company's upcoming MMO Aion, as well as other unannounced projects based on NCsoft's existing franchises. Truly, we're excited to hear of NCsoft's future plans, though we imagine not half as much as those in Austin who can now rest easy knowing, for the time being at least, any slips they may find at their desk when they arrive in the morning will be anything but pink.

PAX 2008: Appealing to an MMO Newbie

by Xav de Matos { Sep 4th 2008 at 11:00PM }

Worth it or not, to me personally, pay-to-play MMOs always felt like a ridiculous proposition. Paying to play a game I already paid for is like paying $5 to bite into a delicious burger I just got at the drive-through. Still, the genre continues to spawn new titles as proven at the 2008 Penny Arcade Expo.

While many MMO titles were on display, two were the most talked-about massively multiplayer role-playing games of the show: Warhammer Online and Aion: The Tower of Eternity. Realizing my limited experience with MMOs in the past, the team at Joystiq tasked me with learning as much as I could about each title and see if they could appeal to a genre newbie willing to jump into the online fray.

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The Best of Big Download: August 18-24

by Joystiq Staff { Aug 24th 2008 at 5:00PM }

Games Convention generated a ton of new HD trailers for upcoming PC games and we have them ready to download, along with a ton of original content and news stories. Indeed, there were a lot of new PC games announcements this week (more than at E3). Take a look at all of them on our site:

Exclusive Features

Reviews: Check out our reviews of the PC version of Bionic Commando Rearmed and the latest chapter of American McGee's Grimm.
Hands-on previews: Check out our hands-on impressions of Aion, Battleforge and Battlefield Heroes
BigVersus: Our latest game comparison column takes a look at the PC and Xbox 360 versions of Bionic Commando Rearmed.
Big Iron: Our latest PC hardware column takes a look at power . . . power supplies for your rig that is.
Big Ideas: Our latest column on themes in gaming takes a look at the so called "new games journalism."
Alt-Tab: Our newest column takes a look at RTS gameplay conventions and how Relic could change them with Dawn of War II.
Freeware Friday: Our latest look at free PC games is the classic Nethack.
BigCast: It's our regular podcast with team members chatting about all things PC gaming.

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PC impressions: Aion

by Jennie Lees { May 12th 2006 at 3:30AM }

We spent some time with Aion, an upcoming MMO from NCsoft. The gameplay is immediately familiar -- we've been here before. Floating exclamation points, a variety of quests and skills and a fantasy setting all combine to make a surprisingly uninspiring cookie-cutter game.

Aion has some beautiful environments -- we saw a range of lush, green settings. Combined with fairly realistic faces, the game certainly looks good, but the pretty mask hides a reinterpretation of standard MMO features with little to differentiate it from the crowd. Combo-style skills -- execute a main hand attack, then an off-hand attack, then a followup -- make combat a little more varied than in other games. A quest system with a detailed breakdown of goals helps navigation.

Ultimately we saw nothing about Aion that seems to appeal to anyone other than those currently engrossed in fantasy MMOs. If that's your genre of choice, you'll likely love Aion for its graphics and good-vs-evil setting, but anyone else will have to look hard to find anything special about the game.