Besides giving players a rapid heartbeat and the jitters, Caffeinated Games aims to not only create games, but also act as a social network for developers and gamers in general to interact as well. Comments the former Zipper and Black Label Games dev, "Our approach...is to make the games we want to play and then pitch those games directly to the gamers." The first such pitch is expected next week, with a timer on the site currently ticking down towards next Wednesday.
Posts with tag LordOfTheRingsLord of the Rings, SOCOM vet launches Caffeinated Games
Besides giving players a rapid heartbeat and the jitters, Caffeinated Games aims to not only create games, but also act as a social network for developers and gamers in general to interact as well. Comments the former Zipper and Black Label Games dev, "Our approach...is to make the games we want to play and then pitch those games directly to the gamers." The first such pitch is expected next week, with a timer on the site currently ticking down towards next Wednesday.
Turbine secures $40 million investment
According to a report by Private Equity Hub, the investment also saw Granite Global's managing partner Hani Nada take a seat on Turbine's board, presumably in order to make sure the money was put to good use and not slipped into the underwear of Elvish hookers after a night on the town. While we remain in the dark as to what exactly the studio will do with its newfound wealth, Turbine is expected to make an announcement regarding its future plans in the next two weeks.
[Via GI.biz]
Turbine, Tolkien to stay in bed together until 2014 (and beyond)
We're very interested to see where Turbine takes the franchise going forward, especially after comments made by executive producer Jeffrey Steefel in January regarding the developer's console-based aspirations for the license. In addition, while no new game announcements have been made, the recent confirmation of a new 2-part Hobbit film finally getting underway would seem to make excellent fodder for the MMO developer, and we expect that the pair will continue to play footsie beneath the sheets for years to come.
Pandemic Studios developing new Lord of the Rings game
Little is known about Pandemic's journey to Middle-Earth, save for EA CEO John Riccitiello's announcement that it will release during the publisher's 2009 fiscal year -- somewhere between April 1, 2008 and March 31, 2009. You'll know more when we know more.
LotR Online dev not averse to console MMO
"I actually think Lord of the Rings is a platform we can build from. Our license is to build massively multiplayer online games based on the books on all platforms, all across the world, so we want to leverage that over time", he said. Later, in discussing the difficulties of a console MMO, Steefel said that "you've got to do everything in a thoughtful way and know why you're doing it, for who you're doing it, and then, what is an MMO on a console? What is that really? It has to be different."
If it has to be different, then, don't expect cross-platform universe play. Ruminations of a developer does not a confirmation make, but we suspect Hobbits won't stray far from a future console release.
Lord of the Rings Online free until April 24
Players will be able to advance to level 15 and transfer that character if they decide to pre-order the game. LotRO also allows those that know they are going to like the game during this free trial to spend $199 for a lifetime subscription, otherwise there is a $9.99/month charge. So, if you're into MMORPGs at all or just want to check out LotRO, go ahead -- it's free.
Buy an MMO calendar, save the children
MMO Portal, a website that chronicles everything MMO related, is selling a nice annual calendar for MMO fans. The bonus? 100% of the proceeds are going to benefit St. Jude Children's Research Hospital. For anyone that hasn't shown up to a movie theater 10 minutes before the show in the past, uh, 5 years, St. Jude focuses on researching cures for diseases -- like cancer -- that take the lives of many children every year. For $14.95, the 2007 MMO calendar is a great way to get that desperately needed calendar in your house and benefit a good cause.
Joystiq impressions: Lord of the Rings Online
Turbine's upcoming Lord of the Rings Online: Shadows of Angmar will usher gamers into a massively multiplayer online version of Tolkien's fantasy universe. I got to play some of the still-beta game at a recent media event; the title's setting and story will be its main selling point, otherwise it resembles other MMOs -- not to say that's a bad thing.
It takes a little work to learn an MMO, and Turbine said the company isn't trying to change Lord of the Rings just to be different. Instead, game controls and quest system felt like other titles, and I was killing defenseless forest creatures right away. Lord of the Rings also looked like other MMOs; what I saw didn't set any new standards, but it matched competitors. I was told that game art and other assets were still being updated for the Spring, 2007 launch.
Lord of the Rings Online's story-driven approach and setting should be unique. The game is based on the original three books and The Hobbit, not the recent movie properties. So while the game looks similar to the movies -- hobbit houses have round doors and passages, and Gandalf looks like Ian McKellen -- Turbine says that's because the game matches the original, detailed prose.
Continue reading Joystiq impressions: Lord of the Rings Online
Travelers ad imitating Katamari: just coincidence
We got in touch with Todd Riddle, Group Creative Director at Fallon about the current Travelers commercial that bears a striking resemblance to Katamari Damacy. The spot (high-quality version) in question shows a mass enveloping people, trees, and cars, as it bounces through San Francisco. Riddle said that there's no Katamari relation, but the spot is connected to Peter Jackson's special effects house.Riddle has been in advertising for 20 years and has won of dozens of accolades including Cannes, Clio, and One Show awards. We asked him a few questions about games and the spot, titled "Snowball," via email.
Continue reading Travelers ad imitating Katamari: just coincidence
Peter Jackson and Fran Walsh to make new Halo game, original IP
Microsoft has confirmed that the Academy Award-winning duo Peter Jackson and Fran Walsh (Lord of the Rings, King Kong) are set to create two "new interactive series" for Xbox 360 and XBLA. The first is a "collaborative effort with Bungie Studios to co-create the next great chapter in the Halo universe."
"It's not Halo 3," said Scott Henson, Director of the Game Development Group at Microsoft. "It's a brand new game based in the Halo IP. In a phone conversation with Joystiq, Henson disclosed that writing credits will be given to Jackson and Walsh. As for how the full-fledged game will fit within the continuity of the Halo universe among three installments, a real-time strategy game, and a film, Henson was tight-lipped. "It's going to remain a mystery," he said.
The second title will be an entirely new intellectual property -- "completely from scratch," Henson clarified -- created with the intention of "bringing new audiences into the captivating world of interactive entertainment." The game will be made in conjunction with Wingnut Interactive, a new studio created via a collaboration with Jackson/Walsh and Microsoft Games Studio.
"Fran is a really big gamer and really excited about telling stories through games," said Henson. "We haven't talked about any details and we will when we're ready." If the focus is mass appeal, then Jackson/Walsh -- who managed to make Hobbits cool -- are the best people to have at the helm.
A Bungie with business sense would make Halo 4 and 5 and...
The first two Halo games combined have sold 14.3 million units. That puts the Halo franchise within the top 30 best-selling game franchises of all time. Without Halo, Microsoft might as well not have bothered with the Xbox; Halo and Halo 2 sold more units than the next six best selling games on the Xbox combined (if you're wondering, these games are Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell, Fable, GTA: Double Pack, Project Gotham Racing, and Need for Speed: Underground 2). With a Halo movie on the way, and the facts that Halo 2 sold more units than the first and is still the #1 game played on Xbox Live under Bungie's belt, it wouldn't be wrong to say that the Halo franchise is increasing in popularity.
The bottom line is that Bungie and Microsoft would have to be stupid to end their most lucrative franchise ever after #3. We don't claim to have any insider information, we don't dispute Marty's statement and we don't deny the possibility that Bungie will create new franchises, but based on pure business logic we'd expect to see at least another two games based on the Halo universe. From a business perspective, for Bungie to dump the Halo franchise after 3 would be sheer stupidity.
[Source for sales figures, Image from 1001 Fonts]
Metareview - LOTR: The Battle for Middle-earth II (Xbox 360) [update 1]
The PC game already debuted in March to decent reviews so, instead of recapping what's right and wrong with the game as a whole, let's get right down to the issue we're all wondering about: the controls.EA's Los Angeles studio contains the venerable Westwood Studios, well known as RTS pioneers for titles like Dune II and Command & Conquer. So it is, under their watchful eye, that they sought to deliver the heretofore mouse-centric experience of real-time strategy games to the console world. So, how did they do?
- IGN (82/100) is equivocal in their praise saying: "The controls aren't perfect and they're by no means the equivalent to the quick, precision controls of the PC's mouse and keyboard duo, but they do in fact work. I'll even go so far as to say they work better than any other console RTS -- period."
- GameDaily (80/100) wonders where the tutorial is (and apparently missed it): "While the control scheme is listed in the manual and through the in-game pause menu, there's no tutorial mode. The control scheme works extremely well once you've adjusted to it, but the moment you pick up the game, you won't know what you're doing. A training mode of some sort (at least as an option) would've been nice for a game of this nature, but Xbox 360 owners should be adjusted to the control scheme by the second or third mission."
- Yahoo! Games (90/100) seconds the manual recommendation and steep learning curve: " So yes, you need to read the manual. You're probably going to want to have it on your knees for the first few hours of play, and within arm's reach for a day or two more. The controls are well thought out and comprehensive, but the advanced functions are not intuitive. Many commands rely on double or triple combinations of face buttons and triggers or bumpers. You'll need to learn them."
[Update 1: whoops! GameDaily missed the tutorial mode, as Major Nelson helpfully points out here. He says, "scroll left on the D-pad from Single Player->Tutorial." Sounds easy.]
