The ‘First’ MMORPG?

In reading this article about Nexon, I'm reminded of the perennial:

What was the worlds first graphical MMORPG?

The problem, of course, is what constitutes "first".

Continue reading The ‘First’ MMORPG?…

Whoa. Mom was right!

When I was a kid and young teenager (in the days before the term "tween" was used), I was forbidden to use my Apple //e during the school week. The theory was that not getting sucked into programming and gaming during the week would let me focus on schoolwork.

While I hated this rule at the time, as a parent now I can see the value of it, or at least some variant.

And, according to Ars Technica, so does the magazine Pediatrics.

Continue reading Whoa. Mom was right!…

Numbers Game part 2: Comparisons

Many have long dragged out their calculators, multiplied a games number of subscribers by that games flat monthly fee, and arrived at an assumption of how much revenue that company is collecting each month. They've extended this practice across all games in the genre, attempting to use the number of subscribers as the basis by which all games are measured, thinking this was an apples-to-apples comparison.

In this conversation with Dellaster though, I feel like it's high time we ask the fundamental questions:

What is the apple?

And, is there one by which all games can be measured?

Continue reading Numbers Game part 2: Comparisons…

Blue Ocean Thinking: Nintendo Wii

While I'm an MMORPG fanboi, I've also been following the seventh generation consoles on and off for awhile. This is not because I'm all enamored of the graphics. Rather, it is because each company is attempting something unique, something to both grow their market share beyond the core 18-34 male purchaser/player and, in some cases, beyond gamers themselves.

Throughout the year, my eye has been on the Nintendo Wii. This is likely the first console I'll actually buy since the Nintendo 32bit machine from the mid-1990s.

Today this decision was nailed home for me.

Continue reading Blue Ocean Thinking: Nintendo Wii…

Risky bar raising: TR spec

Not sure who else is following Tabula Rasa, but I like what they're trying to do, both now and what they designed for previously.

But one thing I just got concerned with is the minimum system specs, as posted on Stratics:

Continue reading Risky bar raising: TR spec…

Out of touch: Archive.org

For someone who likes to dig way back into the earliest history of MMORPGs, I'd have thought I'd have come across Archive.org long ago. That was not the case. And worse, I found out about it from a print magazine. So much for being online.

In any case, the Wayback Machine feature at the site is so very wonderful. Have a page you just knew existed years ago but which is now broken (like, the WinXP tweaks site Blackviper.com)? Throw the URL into that text box there and be presented with a list of links pointing to snapshots of the site on specific days. It doesn't seem to follow links very deeply, but I am just beginning to look at what they archive and how.

Could be an interesting problem for folks who want to have pages forgotten and went so far as to ask Google to de-list them. Yet another example of revisionist historians butting up against modern tech

Games and Graphics Engines

I posted this over at Grimwell the other day, but didn't get a chance to run it here until now.

By way of GameSpot, I have long wondered, in a number of places, about this fascination with creating graphics engines from the ground up for MMOGs. That has felt to me like a big money sink for results that, to the average end user, are more different in aesthetic and style than in any nuance of performance and scalability.

There's good reasons to make an engine of course. That scalability for one, owning it being another and being able to tweak it for your exacting needs a third (not in order).

Yet, SOE is licensing the Unreal Engine 3 from Epic Games for use in the DC Comics MMO.

Continue reading Games and Graphics Engines…

No DirectX10 for WinXP?

As reported today by Gamasutra, sources reference a recent event in London, and statements by ATI Technologies chief Richard Huddy, as strong indictors that Microsoft will not be releasing DirectX 10 APIs for Windows XP. Continue reading No DirectX10 for WinXP?…

E3 Day 2- and End

So the daily surprises that are no longer surprises kept me from the show until almost noon. Meetings, emails, teleconferences from what would, in the real world be considered "noisy" but which actually was rather quiet relatively. I've theoretically been at the show for two days and I've gotten to actually walk it for about nine total hours.

But it all ended and I was free once again. While I wanted to hit South Hall again to finish up with games I hadn't learned enough about yet, it was my duty to actually, you know, see the other 2/3 of the show. To Kentia and West I did go.

Continue reading E3 Day 2- and End…

E3 Day One

So it's that time of year again. Time to dust off the camera, brush up on your inner geek and get ready for the year's biggest arcade game. Yes folks, the Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3) is in full swing, and so far it has been pretty interesting.

Continue reading E3 Day One…