Latest Gaming and MMORPG Updates

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• The Best of 1UP: News
• Age Of Wulin (CN)
• gPotato Reaches 20 Million Users
• Class Action Lawsuit Filed Over Sony’s Anti-Class Action Lawsuit ToS

The Best of 1UP: News Posted: 20 Dec 2011 03:04 AM PST Every year feels like it’s full of news for the video game industry, and looking back 2011 was no different. It was a year packed with plenty of highs and plenty of lows. While we saw no shortage of big stories in 2011, we don’t want to overlook some of the smaller ones — sometimes, they’re even more interesting than the headline-grabbers. So, for example, despite all the excitement that Nintendo’s new Wii U caused at E3, we were just as intrigued to learn why Project Draco won’t work with an Xbox 360 controller. Together, these extremes make for a healthy mix that puts everything that happened in gaming this year into perspective. Check out the full list below. Jump to: Best of News | Best of Podcasts | Best of Blogs | Best of Previews Best of Features | Best of Community | Best of Guides | Best of Video Best of Reviews | Best of Retrospectives Wii-U Reveal Nintendo’s reveal of its next home console, with a large touch screen that can be used in creative ways, was certainly the biggest news story of the year. It was so big at E3 2011, in fact, that Nintendo has said nothing significant about the console since and it’s still what everyone talks about when they think 2011 news. We have lots of questions about how it will work, how powerful it is, and what the game lineup will be, but the creative approach got people talking in a way few other announcements did this year. Ken Levine on Making BioShock Infinitely Believable Ken Levine dishes on how developer Irrational Games crafts BioShock Infinite’s character-driven narrative and points out some of the studio’s philosophy and tech during the creative process. Why Project Draco Doesn’t Support 360 Controller Director Yukio Futatsugi delves into all the reasons why upcoming Kinect game Project Draco — a game that’s reminiscent of the on rails formula from Panzer Dragoon — wouldn’t work using a regular Xbox controller. Videogame Journalism Pioneer Passes Away The word “pioneer” is oftentimes thrown around with reckless abandon, but believe us when we say that Bill Kunkel was a true forefather of video games journalism. Without his creative vision, this site would not exist in its current form. As a co-founder of Electronic Games magazine, he saw the potential held within the enthusiast press long before it became a mainstream staple of our industry. Kunkel’s work influenced every single video game-related website, magazine, and blog that followed, and for that we are all immensely grateful. 3DS Price Drop, Early Adopters Get Free Games The last thing anyone expected from the DS’s successor was for it to hit the market with a resounding thud. But thud the 3DS did, in large part because the smartphone gaming market had disrupted Nintendo’s turf the way the DS and Wii disrupted Sony’s. To their credit, Nintendo worked quickly to reposition the system, beginning with a $70 price drop less than half a year after its launch. Early adopters weren’t forgotten, either, as Nintendo gave them 20 exclusive NES and Game Boy Advance games by way of apology. Lack of Itagaki’s Trash Talk Saddens Tekken’s Harada In his closing comments during a 1UP interview at Tokyo Game Show, Tekken series overlord Katsuhiro Harrada lamented the absence of trash talk from former rival and Team Ninja general manager Tobunobu Itagaki — a man who selected the first five Tekken games as his most hated video games ever. TGS’s Coolest Merchandise The size of the Tokyo Game Show in recent years can’t match the event’s former bi-annual glory, but the lines for strange merchandise seem just as long every year. We looked into this strange gathering and found Mario Dolls, $300-plus Bayonetta Glasses, and Resident Evil 5 gun replicas might land you in Jail should you sell them in the US. PlayStation Network Compromised We usually associate security breaches with high level affairs such as Watergate or data theft that affected the banking industry. But in early April, the hackers hit our industry. After a sudden outage, which stretched into nearly a week, Sony Computer Entertainment America then admitted that there was an intrusion, and that user data — ranging names and addresses to credit card information — might have been compromised. It still remains as the largest and most public data breach in games, and a reminder that no one is safe. Does a High-Powered Console Fit Nintendo’s Strategy? A month before the Wii-U’s official debut, news, rumors, and leaks about “Project Café” quickly surfaced. Again, since this was before Nintendo’s E3 press conference, all we had to work off of was “a Nintendo system with high-definition graphics.” Despite only having that morsel of information, we took a step back and examined what this possibility meant for Nintendo. And we also noted how — despite readers’ misgivings and theories about Nintendo abandoning its vision — such a system was indeed in line with Nintendo’s philosophy. Hip Tanaka Shares His Thoughts EarthBound’s soundtrack might not be the most important achievement of Hirokazu Tanaka’s storied career, but it’s one of the most memorable. Jeremy’s TGS 2011 interview with the Nintendo visionary covers one of the 16-bit era’s most idiosyncratic soundtracks, and the influences that made it so special. Posted by: admin in Gaming News Find related article at: http://www.1up.com/features/1up-2011-year-review Thank you for Visiting Gameforumer.com, Hope you enjoyed the stay with us.

Age Of Wulin (CN) Posted: 20 Dec 2011 03:04 AM PST While Closed Beta 2 is hitting this coming weekend with no more data wipes, Snail Game has decided to hold a grand cosplay party on Christmas Eve to apparently celebrate this event. Included in the event list is the live auction for actual game items, which caused a mini backlash once again for the rather outspoken company and its CEO. 1. Out-of-stock Closed Beta keys with special customized numbers 2. One-of-a-kind weapon, mount and armor skins belonging to the ultimate weapons found in Chinese martial arts novels, starting bid for most expensive skin at RMB 10,000 (USD 1575.27). Some skins will only have 1 in the whole game. 3. Absolute VIP customer service with 24 x 7 around the clock personalized service 4. Meeting with the development team 5. Exclusive forum tag Do note that these are just skins, with no stats or abilities included. On one side, I guess it is a fair deal for a game with no equipment enhancing items sold in the cash shop. What are your thoughts?  Posted by: admin in Gaming News Find related article at: http://www.mmoculture.com/2011/12/age-of-wulin-cn-game-items-up-for.html Thank you for Visiting Gameforumer.com, Hope you enjoyed the stay with us.

gPotato Reaches 20 Million Users Posted: 20 Dec 2011 03:04 AM PST Gala Networks has hit a 20 million user milestone today across its gPotato portals, with MMOs like Allods Online and Dragonica. Gala Networks Europe has made a signficant contribution to that total: "Passing 20 million users is a fantastic milestone for the Gala Group," said Nicola Pajot, chief operating office for Gala Networks Europe, "we're hugely proud to have contributed to building a loyal user base for free-to-play titles, that continues to grow year-on-year." Gala Networks Europe is celebrating by launching a series of special events on its gPotato.eu portal. Allods Online players can look forward to a Christmas events that ends on 6 January, Dragonica will feature special monster loot drops until 10 January and all gPotato games will feature seasonal events until the first week of 2012. You can check out the full range of celebrations on the official European gPotato portal. Posted by: admin in Gaming News Find related article at: http://www.totalpcgaming.com/latest-pc-news/gpotato-reaches-20-million-users/ Thank you for Visiting Gameforumer.com, Hope you enjoyed the stay with us.

Class Action Lawsuit Filed Over Sony’s Anti-Class Action Lawsuit ToS Posted: 19 Dec 2011 03:01 PM PST A Terms of Service clause seeking to prevent PlayStation 3 owners from suing Sony or entering into a class action lawsuit against the company has resulted in nothing less than a class action lawsuit against Sony. GameSpot reports the lawsuit was filed against Sony in Northern California in late November. This was done by a man on behalf of PS3 owners who bought a PS3 and signed up for PSN before September, when the updated version of the Terms of Service were released. Buried among the legalese these things consist of was a clause that would prevent console owners from being a part of a class action lawsuit against Sony. Sony’s interest in doing this is understandable as it’s trying to safeguard itself against losing money in a potential lawsuit. Since Sony made the move, both Electronic Arts and Microsoft have introduced similar wording in their respective Terms of Service, so it isn’t as if Sony is alone in this and everyone else is a shining beacon of righteousness. The lawsuit alleges unfair business practices as PS3 owners have to either forfeit their rights or their access to PSN. It’s also pointed out that the clause was buried in the Terms of Service, which were not made readily available online, and that the only means for opting out of that clause is to mail a physical letter within 30 days of agreeing to the ToS. The backlash that emerged after the new ToS were released led to Sony pointing to a Supreme Court ruling as the precedent for it being allowed to do something like this. The Supreme Court ruled earlier this year that ATT was legally allowed to include a clause in employees’ contracts stating they could not take part in a class action lawsuit against the company. An unrelated lawsuit against Sony was recently dismissed by a judge. The removal of the PlayStation 3′s Other OS feature, which allowed an operating system such as Linux to be installed, resulted in a lawsuit that hit a snag earlier this year when a judge dismissed almost every one of its claim. “While it cannot be concluded as a matter of law at this juncture that Sony could, without legal consequence, force its customers to choose either to forego installing the software update or to lose access to the other OS feature, the present allegations of the complaint largely fail to state a claim,” U.S. District Judge Richard Seeborg wrote in February, according to the Courthouse News Service. “Accordingly, with the exception of one count, the motion to dismiss will be granted, with leave to amend.” That opportunity to amend was taken advantage of, but to no avail, as Seeborg dismissed the final claim earlier this month. One would hope this new lawsuit doesn’t meet a similar fate. Posted by: admin in Gaming News Find related article at: http://www.1up.com/news/class-action-lawsuit-filed-sony-tos Thank you for Visiting Gameforumer.com, Hope you enjoyed the stay with us.

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