SOE has announced a free-to-play version of EverQuest 2, called EverQuest 2 Extended. Yes, a free-to-play version. Rather than switching its business model as some MMOs have, SOE is actually going to operate Extended in parallel with the existing, subscription-based version of EverQuest 2.
Extended uses a smaller web-based application instead of EQ2's full download, and offers both free and optional paid membership content, as well as the option to purchase equipment. It includes access to all the game zones available in the "real" game, including those added in expansions up to "Shadow Odyssey". In other words, everything but the stuff added in "Sentinel's Fate." Find all the confusing details about the membership options after the break, or check the FAQ.
EverQuest 2 Extended is expected to launch in beta form "on or around August 17, 2010." Along with it, UI improvements will be released for the current version of EQ2.
The idea for Flip’s main mechanic – the ability to twist the world, turning gravity on end – came to me from the works of M. C. Escher. Escher was a Dutch artist famous for his mind-bending optical illusions. One of his most famous works is a lithograph titled Relativity, which shows a mixed-up room [...]
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Continuing a trend started by D&D Online and Lord of the Rings Online, Sony Online Entertainment is launching a free-to-play version of EverQuest II, completely separate from the existing game. EverQuest II producer David Georgeson explains why. More »
There are tons of Pokemon hacks out there, with all sorts of variations on the main games in the series. While a lot of these hacks have been accounted for, the story of one particular hack has just turned up. No one can verify if the hack exists, but there’s quite a detailed [...]
How good are you at recognizing video game music, and identifying what games the tunes come from? Listen to the video below while you hit up the link, and enter in your anwsers!
Take the quiz here
Trion Worlds today reveals Gloamwood, the dark, deeply-forested zone where player's worst nightmares literally rise up from the plane-corrupted soil. As players venture into Gloamwood, they'll encounter lurking goblins filled with bloodlust, savage spiders spawned from a giant Broodmother, and a group of cultists tampering with the unnatural power of an ancient planar artifact. See official description below.
It's hard to avoid comparing BlazBlue: Continuum Shift with Super Street Fighter IV. Both are budget-priced updates that add new characters and modes to existing fighting games. But where Capcom's offering improves on its predecessor by expanding the character roster and retooling the online experience, BlazBlue: Continuum Shift's biggest selling point is that it makes it surprisingly easy for newcomers to get in on the action.
The Xbox 360 forecast is absolutely droughtful this week at retail, with the Clash of the Titans theater DVD release tie-in drying up store shelves. Thankfully, the Xbox Live Marketplace is overflowing with new content this week, including today's release of the new Madden demo.
Additionally, DLC for a pool of recent releases -- Alan Wake, Lost Planet 2 and Transformers, to name a few -- flowed out today, and the "Summer of Arcade" shines on tomorrow with Hydro ThunderHurricane. (Did you read our review yet?) Finally, Borderands' trio of add-ons is on sale through Sunday.
Check out complete details of the week's XBLM content after the break.
uly 27th, Charlottetown, PEI, Canada: Other Ocean, the makers of Super Monkeyball 2: Sakura Edition for the iPad, lay out their final argument for puffin power with Puffins Let’s Race. Cute and cuddly as penguins may be, Other Ocean’s Puffins series culminates with downloadable proof that puffins are far better than penguins by showing the [...]
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There are the video games we expect to be great, games from which we expect innovation and sophistication. Trauma Team, an interactive medical adventure sold at a discount price, was not supposed to be in that group. But it is. More »
#screens
The other people's role-playing game sequalizers at Obsidian have released the first two screens from Dungeon Siege 3. Take a quick peek at what the series' console debut looks like. More »
The anti-cheating software embedded in Valve's Steamworks platform recently took on a mind of its own, banning over 12,000 non-cheating Modern Warfare 2 players over the past two weeks. The cause for its insatiable ban lust? Valve president Gabe Newell explained in an email to those affected, "the problem was that Steam would fail a signature check between the disk version of a DLL and a latent memory version." See, we were just thinking that that had something to do with it.
Newell begged pardon for the erroneous bans, adding "this was our mistake, and I apologize for any frustration or angst it may have caused you." An apology and a swift reversal of the ban aren't all that these users will receive -- Newell promised a giftable copy of Left 4 Dead 2 to all those affected, as well as one copy for themselves, provided they don't already have it.
So, you bought Alan Wake at launch, and proceeded to redeem the DLC token code immediately -- because, with no warning on the card, why wouldn't you? Now "The Signal" DLC is out, and you can't download your free copy, and life is terrible. Or is it?
Remedy announced via Twitter that help is on the way for those of you stumbling through a living nightmare of inaccessible post-game content. "If you've redeemed your code prior to release Microsoft will be sending out new codes to you via your email on XBL," the developer said. We're checking with Microsoft to find out exactly when those emails will go out.
In the meantime, catch a new trailer for the DLC after the break. Or don't, if you have yet to finish Alan Wake and fear spoilers.
