hologames

MMORPG publisher prepping all-new, alternate history installment in long-running fantasy universe; Fan Faire 2010 highlights offer first concept art.

Over the weekend, Sony Online Entertainment held its annual Fan Faire, a meet-and-greet for those interested in finding out everything that’s going on with EverQuest, EverQuest II, DC Universe Online, The Agency, and more. However, that’s not all that SOE had in store, as the massively multiplayer online role-playing game company also took the opportunity to announce its latest evolution of the EverQuest franchise, tentatively titled “EverQuest Next.”

Kelethin appears to be in for a facelift.

As detailed in a panel posted to SOE’s official Facebook page, EverQuest Next will be an all-new MMORPG effort from the storied developer. However, unlike 2004’s EverQuest II, the new title will not be a continuation of the events that began in the 12-year-old original. Instead, the studio is positioning EverQuest Next as a “reimagining of the EverQuest universe,” one that will have “familiar faces, races, and places” but operate as an alternate dimension and with a “clean slate.”

Those statements were supported by a batch of concept art that accompanied SOE’s EverQuest Next panel. The shots showed a variety of familiar environments, including the human town of Freeport and the elven forest of Faydark. Other shots showed detailed images of familiar races and monsters, including dark elves, ogres, and ghouls.

The design panel also noted that the next EQ will include a range of classes more in line with the original rather than the more specialized slate available in EQ2.

“We wanted to make the next EverQuest be something that still keeps the flavor the original and the lore and core tenants of it, but we wanted to make something that is truly next generation,” said SOE president John Smedley of the game’s direction. Smedley also said that SOE plans to provide a wide range of scalability for the game, noting that EverQuest Next will accommodate cutting-edge tech right down to minimalist laptops.

EverQuest Next remains in the early development phase, and SOE did not offer an expected release window or platforms.

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Star Wars studio confirms former Ubisoft Montreal creative director has joined its staff to work on an unannounced project.

Earlier this summer, word surfaced that Ubisoft Montreal creative director Clint Hocking had left the employ of the French publisher. Within the development community, speculation ran rife about where one of the primary architects of Far Cry 2 and the Splinter Cell series would wind up.

Clint Hocking will be feeling the Force at LucasArts.

Today, that question was answered. Following Twitter posts by a Ubisoft community developer, LucasArts has confirmed to GameSpot that Hocking is now in its employ. “We are pleased to announce that Clint Hocking has joined LucasArts as creative director on an unannounced project,” a LucasArts rep said.

What exactly that unannounced project is remains a mystery. One possibility is the unnamed Star Wars game Microsoft showed off at the Electronic Entertainment Expo to promote its Kinect motion-sensing system. The San Francisco-based game arm of the LucasArts empire is also currently hard at work on Star Wars: The Force Unleashed II, the sequel to the septuple-platinum 2008 action game that launches October 26. The publisher is also collaborating with BioWare on the massively multiplayer online-role playing game Star Wars: The Old Republic, due out early next year.

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Finally, a reason to do the everyday crap you don’t want to do. You know, things like washing the dog, cleaning your apartment and pulling over when the cop behind you hits the siren.

Well, at least some of those work perfectly with Epic Win, an upcoming iPhone app that turns your to-do list into a role-playing game. By completing tasks in the real world, you gain experience points in the game that you can then use to level up your character. If that isn’t incentive enough to drive little Timmy to soccer practice, we don’t know what is.

In the spirit of the game, here’s your first to-do item: jump past the break and watch the introductory video for Epic Win. It’s about the easiest boss fight you’ll undertake today — that is, unless you actually fight your boss. We hear he’s a bit of a weakling.

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Epic Win turns everyday chores into a game originally appeared on Joystiq on Fri, 09 Jul 2010 08:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Import publisher confirms sequel to action platformer, port of DS strategy game will be at E3 alongside Etrian Odyssey III and next project from Zeno Clash developer Ace Team, Rock of Ages.

The Electronic Entertainment Expo is often thought of as a show packed with surprises, but many publishers give at least a glimpse of what they’ll have on display long before the show floor at the Los Angeles Convention Center opens. Atlus is the latest to join the club, announcing four games it will be showing to the press next week: Trine 2, Rock of Ages, Etrian Odyssey III, and Knights in the Nightmare for the PSP.

Knights in the Nightmare’s art was almost as complex as its gameplay.

Trine 2 is the follow-up to last year’s downloadable PC and PlayStation 3 action platformer from Finnish developer Frozenbyte. The studio will be handling development duties on the sequel, but Atlus has not confirmed platforms or a release date for the game.

The publisher was similarly tight-lipped about Rock of Ages, saying only that the game is being developed by Ace Team. Based in Santiago, Chile, Ace Team is best known for making Zeno Clash, the downloadable first-person action fighting game released last year on the PC. An Xbox 360 “Ultimate Edition” of Zeno Clash was released last month.

Atlus’ lineup isn’t strictly downloadable, as the publisher confirmed that it would be localizing a pair of Japanese retail releases. Etrian Odyssey III for the DS will be the publisher’s third time around the block with the turn-based strategy series, while Knights in the Nightmare for the PSP will adapt last year’s DS hybrid strategy-action-role-playing game to work using more conventional controls.

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Warner Bros. is to make its recently acquired flagship MMO free-to-play this fall, beta to start June 16.

Massively multiplayer online role-playing game Lord of the Rings Online is to go free-to-play, Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment and Codemasters announced today. This will make LOTRO Warner Bros.’ second free-to-play MMO game, after the successful switch away from a subscription model for Dungeons & Dragons Online last year.

No word on whether WBIE plans to charge extra for torches.

Lord of the Rings Online: Shadows of Angmar was released to critical acclaim in 2007, with expansions following in 2008 and 2009. Subscriptions to play currently cost up to $15 a month. The game will be free to play, but a new online LOTRO store will allow players to purchase “expansions, quest packs, items, and account services a la carte,” according to Warner Bros. As with DDO, players will also be able to buy a VIP package, which gives players access to all of the premium features for one price–though the price itself was not revealed.

The project will be among the first overseen by Jeff Junge, WBIE’s newly appointed senior vice president of online games and digital games platforms. Junge was given responsibility for the firm’s entire digital games business in May. Codemasters will continue to publish the title in Europe alongside DDO, which it also publishes in the region.

LOTRO is developed by Turbine, which WBIE acquired in April to consolidate its control of the Lord of the Rings gaming licences. The acquisition followed Warner’s reacquisition of non-MMO game rights to the franchise in March 2009. LOTRO was originally published by the now-defunct Midway Games.

The move will see LOTRO and its expansions disappear from store shelves, as all the distribution will be done through the new LOTRO online store. WBIE has said that the free-to-play version of the MMO game will be available to play at the Electronic Entertainment Expo later this month.

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