Test

There is so much speculation as to what the capabilities will be for the next Xbox. But one thing for sure, it will not be called the Xbox 720. That being said, lets first go over what the next Xbox specs should be, and then let us all debate on some names for our new precious system.

The next Xbox will be a windows based system, 64 bit processing, 4 to 8 gb of RAM, a hard drive of at least 500 gb to 1 tb, a Bluray player, built in wifi, HDMI port out, a smaller controller, a web browser, DVR capabilities, Bluetooth for our phones, and a graphics card equal or better than the Radeon 6670, which will give us true 1080p! When you start adding all these things up, the price for the next Xbox would be around $599 for the cheaper model, and likely $799 for the everything model. At these prices Microsoft will likely lose around $200-$300 per console sold in the beginning. All this stuff simply means that our gaming experience will be absolutely amazing compared to what we have now….but not immediately from every developer. These increased specs equal triple the man hours to make a game. So unfortunately, our game prices will be going up as well.

Now for the name issue for the next Xbox. Realistically, there is no way that Microsoft would ever name the next Xbox the “Xbox 720″. It simply doesn’t make sense. So what will it be? The “Xbox Life”, “Xbox Sizzle”,  ”Xbox R2″? Perhaps you could name the next Xbox. Comment below and give it your best name.

other next Xbox stories:

http://www.theintelblog.com/2012/01/24/xbox-720-will-be-six-times-as-powerful-as-current-gen/

http://www.techradar.com/news/gaming/consoles/xbox-720-every-rumour-about-the-new-xbox-937167

http://www.t3.com/features/xbox-720-rumours-how-will-the-new-xbox-look

http://n4g.com/user/blogpost/a08andan/517262

by Mona Ibrahim

[Attorney and frequent Gamasutra contributor Mona Ibrahim breaks down what internet blackout bills could mean for video game developers.]

A lot of congress’ time lately has gone to drafting, revising, and negotiating legislation that in some way shape or form controls America’s ability to access content on the Internet. You have likely heard about SOPA, PIPA, and maybe even OPEN—but how does this legislation apply to game developers, and why have these pieces of legislation created such dissention? This FAQ clarifies the details about these bills and how they affect game development.

1. Aren’t SOPA and PIPA already dead?

No. Both acts still have substantial congressional backing and financial support from the MPAA, RIAA, and other supporters. Although the opposition has increased, there is still a possibility that either Act will be become law. Even if both Acts fail, there is a high probability that future legislation closely resembling those acts will appear before congress again—after all, they themselves are reincarnations of an earlier bill, the “Combating Online Infringement and Counterfeits Act” (COICA).

2. So what are SOPA, PIPA, and OPEN?

The “Stop Online Piracy Act” (SOPA) and the “Preventing Real Online Threats to Economic Creativity and Theft of Intellectual Property Act” or the “PROTECT IP Act”(PIPA) are corresponding pieces of legislation that are currently before the House of Representatives and Senate, respectively. Both Acts grant the Attorney General the power to force payment providers, advertisers, search engines, and DNS registries to block access to foreign sites dedicated to infringement. The Acts also give private parties the right to obtain court orders against infringing sites—upon obtaining a court order, private rights holders can turn around and, like the Attorney General, force payment providers and advertisers to cease providing services to the allegedly infringing site. SOPA also imposes criminal penalties for streaming content that’s deemed infringing.

The “Online Protection and Enforcement of Digital Trade Act” (OPEN Act) is a counter-measure to SOPA and PIPA and is currently before both the House and Senate. The OPEN Act puts prosecution power against foreign “rogue sites” in the hands of the United States International Trade Commission. Upon receiving a complaint, the Commission will undergo an investigation to determine whether a site’s sole or primary purpose is an infringing one. Unlike SOPA and PIPA, the penalties to rogue sites are purely financial—the Commission can issue Cease and Desist orders to payment providers and advertisers to cease operations on the rogue site, but there is no corresponding cease and desist forcing search engines or DNS registries to redirect or block access to the site. The owner of the rogue site has an opportunity to raise their defense prior to the Commission’s issuance of Cease and Desist Orders.

3. How do SOPA and PIPA threaten the games industry and game development?

Out of all of the entertainment industries, game development will probably be the most affected if SOPA or PIPA become law. Games rely on the Internet for everything from getting player feedback to promoting their content. So how could the games industry suffer if SOPA or PIPA pass?

• Fan-based communities that permit users to post videos or fan-created content will be at serious risk of totally shutting down even in minor cases of infringement by its community members.

• Funding opportunities like KickStarter, which enable small-time developers to create content without relying on a major publisher, are at risk of shutting down if even one project is suspected of infringement.

• Digital distribution channels (we’ve already seen what happened to MegaUpload), including Steam and Impulse, would also be at risk for the same reason.

• Online games and online game communities would be subject to the same threats as those websites threatened by SOPA and PIPA.

• Games in particular are affected by any Act that threatens freedom of speech—especially when that threat comes from private parties asserting IP rights. The opportunity to use such legislation to censor content for motives other than those set forth in the Act is high.

Game developers both large and small rely heavily on digital distribution and their fans. Both SOPA and PIPA pose a direct threat to distribution channels and online communities in particular.

4. What makes SOPA and PIPA dangerous?

SOPA and PIPA are dangerous for a few reasons:

• Both Acts use vague, ill-defined language to identify both foreign sites and sites dedicated to infringement;

• Both Acts give search engines, DNS registries, payment providers, and advertisers clear incentive to proactively block websites even before receiving a court order—a private party/competitor could send a notice to those service providers claiming infringement, thereby giving those service providers the “good faith” belief they need to act in order to protect their immunity. This is particularly problematic if, say, an ISP is also a content provider. It gives them both the power and the incentive to censor their own competitors;

• SOPA expressly criminalizes streaming content that contains infringing material—this could be anything from a fan-made game play video that has infringing music playing in the background to an infringing copy of a music video. Sites hosting that streamed content are subject to the blocking provisions set forth in SOPA (including internet community forums and sites like YouTube);

• Both Acts pose a threat to constitutional rights like freedom of speech and due process. With regard to freedom of speech, the method of blocking and redirecting sites is a model traditionally used for purposes of censorship in more restrictive countries—even if the purpose of the Act is different, there is no question that the censorship of perfectly legal content is a possibility thanks to the incentives created by both Acts. As for due process, court orders are obtained ex parte and action can be taken against a website regardless of whether the website owner has actual notice—in other words, a website can be blocked or redirected without giving the owner an opportunity to raise a defense.

• Many experts believe that the method DNS registries and registrars would have to use to redirect or block websites undermines Internet security.

Opponents of both Acts have raised a number of other complaints citing various problems, but most arguments shake down to the fact that the Acts provide a legal arsenal to censor perfectly legitimate content.

5. How is the OPEN Act any different?

OPEN isn’t perfect, but it is a vast improvement to both SOPA and PIPA for several reasons:

• Private causes of action are eliminated—private parties must submit a complaint to the International Trade Commission, which will then investigate the site and make a determination as to whether it is infringing;

• It expressly protects websites that act in compliance with the DMCA Safe Harbors;

• Sites aren’t blocked or redirected and enforcement is based purely on financial incentives. Cease and desist orders are issued to payment providers and advertisers to terminate financial support to rogue sites;

• Prior to issuing Cease and Desist orders, the Commission provides the owner or operator of the allegedly infringing site an opportunity to raise any available defenses;

• The Act discourages groundless complaints by requiring complainants to post a bond for preliminary injunction orders.

There are other marked difference between the OPEN Act and SOPA/PIPA, but there are some similarities as well. Some of the language used, particularly definitions, are similar to those we see in SOPA/PIPA. However, the OPEN Act is likely a step in the right direction to shut down foreign piracy sites without catching innocent non-infringers in the same net.

6. So what can I as a game developer or fan do to stop this kind of legislation?

Simply being aware of the problem isn’t enough. Opponents to the bill should contact their representatives and request that they withdraw support from bills that threaten a free and open Internet.

All-New Comic Series Bridges the Enigmatic Conclusion of the Original PROTOTYPE^® and the Action-Packed Beginning of PROTOTYPE^®2

Santa Monica, CA – January 17, 2012 – Radical Entertainment, the creators behind one of 2012’s  most anticipated open-world/action games – PROTOTYPE 2 – and Dark Horse Comics, the leading publisher of gaming comics and graphic novels, have joined forces to create an all-new comic series set in the PROTOTYPE universe.  With the game due out April 24, 2012 from Activision Publishing, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Activision Blizzard, Inc. (Nasdaq: ATVI), fans looking for a jumpstart at getting a deeper look into the world of PROTOTYPE 2 should keep an eye out for this exciting collaboration launching February 15, 2012.

The all-new digital comic series will be broken into three original stories that bridge the gap between the original blockbuster game and the highly anticipated sequel, PROTOTYPE 2.  The first entry, “The Anchor,” illustrated by Paco Díaz, continues the story of Alex Mercer, the protagonist from the first game, while the second story, “The Survivors,” illustrated by Chris Staggs, follows a small group of residents of New York trying to escape the city after it has been transformed into NYZ with the outbreak of the Blacklight virus.  The third and final story, illustrated by Victor Drujiniu, is “The Labyrinth” and provides fans a deeper look into the backstory of PROTOTYPE 2’s new protagonist, Sgt. James Heller.  Each comic in the series will be available at Digital.Darkhorse.com every other week beginning February 15, 2012.

“We’re always looking for meaningful ways to expand the PROTOTYPE universe, and Dark Horse Comics is an industry-leading creative powerhouse delivering best-in-class graphic storytelling that integrates deeply to the core of our IP,” said Ken Rosman, Studio Head, Radical Entertainment.  “With this partnership, our fans will finally be given answers to some dramatic loose ends from the first PROTOTYPE game, as well as the truth behind Alex Mercer’s descent and evolution into a twisted shadow of his former self for PROTOTYPE 2.”

“Sgt. James Heller’s heart wrenching backstory meshed with the sheer amount of over-the-top shape-shifting action in PROTOTYPE 2 lend themselves perfectly to a comic book series,” said Dave Marshall, Editor, Dark Horse Comics.  “We worked extremely close with Radical Entertainment’s story team for PROTOTYPE 2, and can’t wait to visually walk fans through the many dark secrets strewn throughout the tattered world of New York Zero!”

The sequel to Radical Entertainment’s best-selling open-world action game of 2009, PROTOTYPE 2 takes the unsurpassed carnage of the original PROTOTYPE and continues the experience of becoming the ultimate shape-shifting weapon.  As the game’s all-new infected protagonist, Sgt. James Heller, players will cut a bloody swathe through the wastelands of post-viral New York Zero with unparalleled locomotion, building up a vast genetic arsenal of deadly, biological weapons and abilities as they hunt, kill and consume their way toward the ultimate goal – to kill…Alex…Mercer!

To find out more about PROTOTYPE 2, follow us on twitter at www.twitter.com/radical_ent or check out www.prototypegame.com for the latest trailers, screenshots, special promotions and more!  And for the truly dedicated, go towww.facebook.com/prototype and join the PROTOTYPE Army – a community of over 360,000 (and growing) fans that receive constant updates from the team at Radical, and early sneak peeks at new information and assets.

PROTOTYPE 2 is currently in development for Xbox^® 360 video game and entertainment system from Microsoft, PlayStation^®3 computer entertainment system and Windows PC.  The game is currently rated “RP” (Rating Pending) by the ESRB, with an expected “M” (Mature – Content that may be suitable for persons 17 and older) rating.

Buy.com has the lowest price on the 12 month xbox live membership that we have seen in a long time. Here is the link….but hurry! The offer expires soon!

http://www.buy.com/prod/xbox-360-live-12-month-gold-membership-subscription-card/223400383.html

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

RED 5 STUDIOS LAUNCHES NEW DEVELOPER AND GAMER NON-PROFIT,LEAGUE FOR GAMERS, IN PROTEST OF ANTI-INDUSTRY LEGISLATION

New Organization Advocates for Developers’ and Gamers’ Rights and Fostering the Gaming Hobby

Laguna Hills, CA – January 17, 2012 – Red 5 Studios™ today announced the League For Gamers (LFG), an organization with the lifelong mission of promoting games in a positive way, spreading the passion of gaming and protecting gaming interests in politics. Red 5 will shut down Firefall and its website on January 18^th in a 24 hour show of solidarity, encouraging gamers, developers and all industry supporters to join LFG and stand together against misguided and overbearing legislative initiatives such as SOPA, (Stop Online Privacy Act), and PIPA, (Protect IP), in order to perpetuate and continue industry growth.

The League For Gamers was founded on January 14, 2012 by Red 5 Studios and its CEO, Mark Kern, through a $50,000 pledge. It was established as a true alternative to the Entertainment Software Association (ESA) and its subsidiary organization, the Video Game Voter’s Network (VGVN).

“The VGVN and the ESA claim to represent gamers and developers, but they have turned their backs on them by supporting and funding legislation such as SOPA and PIPA,” said Mark Kern. “Developers such as Red 5 Studios and other game makers no longer have an organization to represent their true position on this kind of destructive legislation. LFG’s first action will be to petition the ESA to withdraw their support from PIPA, which still looms large in the Senate.”

While it was announced on Monday that SOPA has been “shelved” – for the time being – its sister bill PIPA is still an immediate threat to the gaming industry and online freedom. The Senate is scheduled to vote on PIPA January 24^th, leaving one week for gamers and developers to add their support and get the attention of representatives. Interested parties can join LFG and its ESA petition at the following link: http://www.leagueforgamers.org/2012/01/17/help-lfg-join-now/

About League For Gamers

LFG is a gathering place for gamers, developers and industry supporters who want to stand against legislation that is detrimental to the games industry. Because individuals often lack the lobbying power and necessary funds to properly represent in Washington, organizations like LFG offer a support group where they can openly voice concerns and opinions about legislation that directly affects their lives. For more information about LFG and to join the fight to save online gaming freedom, visit http://www.leagueforgamers.org/.

About Red 5 Studios
Red 5 Studios is an online game developer located in California, founded by Mark Kern, former team lead for World of Warcraft. Red 5 Studios is dedicated to bringing together millions of gamers across the world by creating immersive worlds, intriguing stories and compelling characters. They believe that online games and persistent worlds are the future of video games. Visit www.firefallthegame.com for more information.

Firefall, Red 5 Studios and all associated logos and designs are trademarks or registered trademarks of Red 5 Studios, Inc. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners.

While dozens of video games have strived to capture the hearts of Star Wars fans through previously untold tales of epic space fantasy, BioWare’s massively multiplayerStar Wars: The Old Republic is the first that’s attempted to tell eight stories to thousands of people at the same time.

From the early days of video games developers have used the medium to explore the shadowy corners of the Star Wars universe, defining and expanding the fuzzy edges of the franchise’s fiction via interactive entertainment. No single developer has done this quite as profoundly as BioWare.

In 2003 BioWare released Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic, creating an entirely new chapter in the science fantasy saga. Set thousands of years before the events of the films, The Old Republic setting was a playground for developers and fans alike, allowing both to tell a new set of stories without worrying about drastically affecting the established fiction.

Knights of the Old Republichelped BioWare establish many of the unique features that define its single-player role-playing games today. Cinematic storytelling, high-quality voice acting, emotional engagement, a strong emphasis on morality; these are the elements that define a BioWare RPG.

It’s that same winning formula that powers Star Wars: The Old Republic, only instead of being applied to a self-contained story crafted with a single player in mind it’s been expanded to cover the daunting framework of a massively multiplayer online role-playing game. When you stretch anything that thin some fraying is bound to occur.

At the center of Star Wars: The Old Republiclies the beating heart of BioWare’s best single-player role-playing games. In fact it’s quite easy to imagine the game as eight separate single-player adventures bound together by massively multiplayer trappings. Each of the game’s eight player classes (four for each faction) features a distinct self-contained story easily enjoyable enough to have carried a standalone title. Had BioWare been less ambitious we might be playing through The Old Republic: Smuggler’s Revenge right now, eagerly awaiting the release of The Old Republic: The Great Huntfor a chance to step into the boots of a Bounty Hunter.

Instead these eight stories form the basis for the game’s single-player experience, helping to define the player’s character through a combination of expertly-acted dialog, well-developed companion characters, and tough moral choices.

This unique single-player experience is satisfying enough that it’s served as the basis for me recommending the game to other fans of the franchise. Even if you completely despise playing with other people you’ve still got eight excellent single-player BioWare role-playing games for the price of entry. You might only have a month to play them before you’ll need to subscribe, but still.

Starting with a strong single-player focus may be a revolutionary way to develop a massively multiplayer online game, but it doesn’t necessarily result in a revolutionary MMO. When you aren’t basking in the cinematic cut scenes or losing yourself in your personal tale of good and/or evil you’ll still encounter the same sort of drudgery you do in other role-playing games.

There’s still a hotkey bar filled with various powers you’ll be constantly clicking (more than average thanks to the purposeful omission of an auto-attack). You’ll still be tasked with killing X number of Y creatures, or looting X number of Y items, or clicking X number of Y objects. You’ll grind unrelated quests for experience points so you can advance to the next level and gain another point for your skill tree. While the presentation is unique to the genre the core gameplay is par for the course.

In fact long-time players of all things massive and multiplayer might take issue with the game’s linear progression. There are two starting planets for each side. Once the missions in those starting zones are complete both sides move onto a single second-tier planet. Once the missions there are done, it’s on to the next planet in the series.

It’s a good thing those thousands of other players are there to break the monotony.

Multiplayer interaction takes many forms inStar Wars: The Old Republic. There are Flashpoints, instanced missions with their own self-contained stories for two to four players. Once you’ve gotten some levels under your belt you can partake in Operations, large multi-group missions that some MMO games call Raids. Or you could simply hop into a group and run regular missions, relying on the safety in numbers principle to see you through.

I’ve found, as is often the case with MMO games, that the quality of the multiplayer content relies heavily on the quality of the people you are grouped with. The agonizing delay in the multiplayer cinematic dialog system while waiting for other players to finish watching a cut scene you’ve already seen four times is lessened considerably when you’ve got a chatty group. An interesting mix of personalities can make even the most mundane fetch quest a memorable adventure. Even the game’s player-versus-player content, which I’ve often called an unbalanced mess, can be enjoyed in the correct company.

That having been said, so far the community that’s sprung up around The Old Republic is one of the best-behaved, most well-mannered, and most generous group of geeks I’ve had the pleasure of sharing a general chat box with. They’ve been considerably more helpful, mature, and tolerant than those I’ve encountered in other games. I’m the sort of player that shies away from grouping much of the time for fear that I’ll screw something up and get booted, but so far I’ve yet to encounter such treatment, even after I allowed a gigantic insect to devour our entire party by breaking crowd control. How am I supposed to tell one swirly red light from another?

It’s a group that not only respects other players (not once did I see anyone get yelled at for role-playing on the role-playing server!), but the Star Wars franchise as a whole. At its very best playing The Old Republic is like attending the world’s largest Star Wars convention, only the lightsabers actually work.

I do worry how BioWare can possibly put out new content at a pace that will satisfy the players voraciously devouring it. Within a week of the game’s release there were already entire guilds of players that had reached the level 50 cap, and with each new mission requiring hours of voice acting (both sexes of each character class, companion characters, and non-player characters) it’s hard to imagine we’ll be seeing a great deal of free content coming down the pipe.

As it stands, however, Star Wars: The Old Republic is one of the most unique, highly-polished products I’ve come across in my long and storied career as a massively multiplayer gamer. Now we have a way to share the experience of playing through a quality BioWare role-playing game with a few thousand of our closest friends.

While dozens of video games have strived to capture the hearts of Star Wars fans through previously untold tales of epic space fantasy, BioWare’s massively multiplayerStar Wars: The Old Republic is the first that’s attempted to tell eight stories to thousands of people at the same time.

From the early days of video games developers have used the medium to explore the shadowy corners of the Star Wars universe, defining and expanding the fuzzy edges of the franchise’s fiction via interactive entertainment. No single developer has done this quite as profoundly as BioWare.

In 2003 BioWare released Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic, creating an entirely new chapter in the science fantasy saga. Set thousands of years before the events of the films, The Old Republic setting was a playground for developers and fans alike, allowing both to tell a new set of stories without worrying about drastically affecting the established fiction.

Knights of the Old Republichelped BioWare establish many of the unique features that define its single-player role-playing games today. Cinematic storytelling, high-quality voice acting, emotional engagement, a strong emphasis on morality; these are the elements that define a BioWare RPG.

It’s that same winning formula that powers Star Wars: The Old Republic, only instead of being applied to a self-contained story crafted with a single player in mind it’s been expanded to cover the daunting framework of a massively multiplayer online role-playing game. When you stretch anything that thin some fraying is bound to occur.

At the center of Star Wars: The Old Republiclies the beating heart of BioWare’s best single-player role-playing games. In fact it’s quite easy to imagine the game as eight separate single-player adventures bound together by massively multiplayer trappings. Each of the game’s eight player classes (four for each faction) features a distinct self-contained story easily enjoyable enough to have carried a standalone title. Had BioWare been less ambitious we might be playing through The Old Republic: Smuggler’s Revenge right now, eagerly awaiting the release of The Old Republic: The Great Huntfor a chance to step into the boots of a Bounty Hunter.

Instead these eight stories form the basis for the game’s single-player experience, helping to define the player’s character through a combination of expertly-acted dialog, well-developed companion characters, and tough moral choices.

This unique single-player experience is satisfying enough that it’s served as the basis for me recommending the game to other fans of the franchise. Even if you completely despise playing with other people you’ve still got eight excellent single-player BioWare role-playing games for the price of entry. You might only have a month to play them before you’ll need to subscribe, but still.

Starting with a strong single-player focus may be a revolutionary way to develop a massively multiplayer online game, but it doesn’t necessarily result in a revolutionary MMO. When you aren’t basking in the cinematic cut scenes or losing yourself in your personal tale of good and/or evil you’ll still encounter the same sort of drudgery you do in other role-playing games.

There’s still a hotkey bar filled with various powers you’ll be constantly clicking (more than average thanks to the purposeful omission of an auto-attack). You’ll still be tasked with killing X number of Y creatures, or looting X number of Y items, or clicking X number of Y objects. You’ll grind unrelated quests for experience points so you can advance to the next level and gain another point for your skill tree. While the presentation is unique to the genre the core gameplay is par for the course.

In fact long-time players of all things massive and multiplayer might take issue with the game’s linear progression. There are two starting planets for each side. Once the missions in those starting zones are complete both sides move onto a single second-tier planet. Once the missions there are done, it’s on to the next planet in the series.

It’s a good thing those thousands of other players are there to break the monotony.

Multiplayer interaction takes many forms inStar Wars: The Old Republic. There are Flashpoints, instanced missions with their own self-contained stories for two to four players. Once you’ve gotten some levels under your belt you can partake in Operations, large multi-group missions that some MMO games call Raids. Or you could simply hop into a group and run regular missions, relying on the safety in numbers principle to see you through.

I’ve found, as is often the case with MMO games, that the quality of the multiplayer content relies heavily on the quality of the people you are grouped with. The agonizing delay in the multiplayer cinematic dialog system while waiting for other players to finish watching a cut scene you’ve already seen four times is lessened considerably when you’ve got a chatty group. An interesting mix of personalities can make even the most mundane fetch quest a memorable adventure. Even the game’s player-versus-player content, which I’ve often called an unbalanced mess, can be enjoyed in the correct company.

That having been said, so far the community that’s sprung up around The Old Republic is one of the best-behaved, most well-mannered, and most generous group of geeks I’ve had the pleasure of sharing a general chat box with. They’ve been considerably more helpful, mature, and tolerant than those I’ve encountered in other games. I’m the sort of player that shies away from grouping much of the time for fear that I’ll screw something up and get booted, but so far I’ve yet to encounter such treatment, even after I allowed a gigantic insect to devour our entire party by breaking crowd control. How am I supposed to tell one swirly red light from another?

It’s a group that not only respects other players (not once did I see anyone get yelled at for role-playing on the role-playing server!), but the Star Wars franchise as a whole. At its very best playing The Old Republic is like attending the world’s largest Star Wars convention, only the lightsabers actually work.

I do worry how BioWare can possibly put out new content at a pace that will satisfy the players voraciously devouring it. Within a week of the game’s release there were already entire guilds of players that had reached the level 50 cap, and with each new mission requiring hours of voice acting (both sexes of each character class, companion characters, and non-player characters) it’s hard to imagine we’ll be seeing a great deal of free content coming down the pipe.

As it stands, however, Star Wars: The Old Republic is one of the most unique, highly-polished products I’ve come across in my long and storied career as a massively multiplayer gamer. Now we have a way to share the experience of playing through a quality BioWare role-playing game with a few thousand of our closest friends.

While dozens of video games have strived to capture the hearts of Star Wars fans through previously untold tales of epic space fantasy, BioWare’s massively multiplayerStar Wars: The Old Republic is the first that’s attempted to tell eight stories to thousands of people at the same time.

From the early days of video games developers have used the medium to explore the shadowy corners of the Star Wars universe, defining and expanding the fuzzy edges of the franchise’s fiction via interactive entertainment. No single developer has done this quite as profoundly as BioWare.

In 2003 BioWare released Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic, creating an entirely new chapter in the science fantasy saga. Set thousands of years before the events of the films, The Old Republic setting was a playground for developers and fans alike, allowing both to tell a new set of stories without worrying about drastically affecting the established fiction.

Knights of the Old Republichelped BioWare establish many of the unique features that define its single-player role-playing games today. Cinematic storytelling, high-quality voice acting, emotional engagement, a strong emphasis on morality; these are the elements that define a BioWare RPG.

It’s that same winning formula that powers Star Wars: The Old Republic, only instead of being applied to a self-contained story crafted with a single player in mind it’s been expanded to cover the daunting framework of a massively multiplayer online role-playing game. When you stretch anything that thin some fraying is bound to occur.

At the center of Star Wars: The Old Republiclies the beating heart of BioWare’s best single-player role-playing games. In fact it’s quite easy to imagine the game as eight separate single-player adventures bound together by massively multiplayer trappings. Each of the game’s eight player classes (four for each faction) features a distinct self-contained story easily enjoyable enough to have carried a standalone title. Had BioWare been less ambitious we might be playing through The Old Republic: Smuggler’s Revenge right now, eagerly awaiting the release of The Old Republic: The Great Huntfor a chance to step into the boots of a Bounty Hunter.

Instead these eight stories form the basis for the game’s single-player experience, helping to define the player’s character through a combination of expertly-acted dialog, well-developed companion characters, and tough moral choices.

This unique single-player experience is satisfying enough that it’s served as the basis for me recommending the game to other fans of the franchise. Even if you completely despise playing with other people you’ve still got eight excellent single-player BioWare role-playing games for the price of entry. You might only have a month to play them before you’ll need to subscribe, but still.

Starting with a strong single-player focus may be a revolutionary way to develop a massively multiplayer online game, but it doesn’t necessarily result in a revolutionary MMO. When you aren’t basking in the cinematic cut scenes or losing yourself in your personal tale of good and/or evil you’ll still encounter the same sort of drudgery you do in other role-playing games.

There’s still a hotkey bar filled with various powers you’ll be constantly clicking (more than average thanks to the purposeful omission of an auto-attack). You’ll still be tasked with killing X number of Y creatures, or looting X number of Y items, or clicking X number of Y objects. You’ll grind unrelated quests for experience points so you can advance to the next level and gain another point for your skill tree. While the presentation is unique to the genre the core gameplay is par for the course.

In fact long-time players of all things massive and multiplayer might take issue with the game’s linear progression. There are two starting planets for each side. Once the missions in those starting zones are complete both sides move onto a single second-tier planet. Once the missions there are done, it’s on to the next planet in the series.

It’s a good thing those thousands of other players are there to break the monotony.

Multiplayer interaction takes many forms inStar Wars: The Old Republic. There are Flashpoints, instanced missions with their own self-contained stories for two to four players. Once you’ve gotten some levels under your belt you can partake in Operations, large multi-group missions that some MMO games call Raids. Or you could simply hop into a group and run regular missions, relying on the safety in numbers principle to see you through.

I’ve found, as is often the case with MMO games, that the quality of the multiplayer content relies heavily on the quality of the people you are grouped with. The agonizing delay in the multiplayer cinematic dialog system while waiting for other players to finish watching a cut scene you’ve already seen four times is lessened considerably when you’ve got a chatty group. An interesting mix of personalities can make even the most mundane fetch quest a memorable adventure. Even the game’s player-versus-player content, which I’ve often called an unbalanced mess, can be enjoyed in the correct company.

That having been said, so far the community that’s sprung up around The Old Republic is one of the best-behaved, most well-mannered, and most generous group of geeks I’ve had the pleasure of sharing a general chat box with. They’ve been considerably more helpful, mature, and tolerant than those I’ve encountered in other games. I’m the sort of player that shies away from grouping much of the time for fear that I’ll screw something up and get booted, but so far I’ve yet to encounter such treatment, even after I allowed a gigantic insect to devour our entire party by breaking crowd control. How am I supposed to tell one swirly red light from another?

It’s a group that not only respects other players (not once did I see anyone get yelled at for role-playing on the role-playing server!), but the Star Wars franchise as a whole. At its very best playing The Old Republic is like attending the world’s largest Star Wars convention, only the lightsabers actually work.

I do worry how BioWare can possibly put out new content at a pace that will satisfy the players voraciously devouring it. Within a week of the game’s release there were already entire guilds of players that had reached the level 50 cap, and with each new mission requiring hours of voice acting (both sexes of each character class, companion characters, and non-player characters) it’s hard to imagine we’ll be seeing a great deal of free content coming down the pipe.

As it stands, however, Star Wars: The Old Republic is one of the most unique, highly-polished products I’ve come across in my long and storied career as a massively multiplayer gamer. Now we have a way to share the experience of playing through a quality BioWare role-playing game with a few thousand of our closest friends.

The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim Review

By Alex Silver

Everyone remembers the first time they truly connected with a video game.  For myself, that occasion was when, mostly due to the nagging of my friends, I invested in a gaming PC in 2001.  The very first software purchase I made (as per the rather adamant recommendation from the salesman at Best Buy), was a title called “The Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind”.  I went home, excitedly assembled my new toy, and installed the game.  From the initial striking chords of Jeremy Soule’s epic string and horn based instrumental score, to the moment I took my first steps into into the kingdom of Tamriel, I never looked back.  The sheer sense of expanse and immersion the game presented was completely unrivaled until slightly over a decade later when, in November of 2011 I unboxed the fifth entry in the highly acclaimed Elder Scrolls series, “Skyrim”.  While Morrowind remains my favorite game of all time despite its uncountable amount of issues, Skyrim may take a spot in the top ten.

Depending on how observant you are, you may or may not have noticed that I completely disregarded the fourth entry in the series, Oblivion.  This is because, while it is still a great game, Oblivion lacked almost all the ingredients that make up a great Elder Scrolls title.  One of the main complaints about Oblivion was the severe lack of atmosphere.  While Morrowind could jump around from dark and gloomy to bursting with energy in a split second, Oblivion oftentimes felt like every square foot was a carbon copy of the last one.  Skyrim completely remedies this issue.  Whether you’re strolling through the wide breezy plains outside of the first city you encounter, Whiterun, or you’re making the hike up the seven thousand (count ‘em) steps up Skyrim’s tallest (and snowiest) peak, High Hrothgar, every single detail feels as if it was built from the ground up, specifically for the location it happens to be in.  Not only does that completely blindside you when you first begin to play, it’s the little things like that which keep you feeling as if you’re an actual citizen of Tamriel. Immersion has almost never been done so well in a video game before, and I say that with utmost certainty.

All the new mechanics Skyrim adds to The Elder Scrolls arsenal is where the title shines, though.  Almost every aspect of gameplay or character development touched upon is improved over the previous titles.  Things like alchemy and smithing (both of which I completely ignored in Oblivion and Morrowind surreptitious because thy were too tedious) are improved to the point that they’re almost fun to use.  After creating my first simple  Potion of Restore Health, I felt like I’d actually accomplished something.  Leveling is also greatly improved from Oblivion, as Bethesda completely ditched the scaled experience system that frustrated so many gamers.  No longer will you, at level one, be able to storm around the countryside, fast-traveling from town to town, beating quests, slaughtering civilians without the need to gain experience, nor when you hit level twenty will you begin to see bandits running around in high-level Daedric and Ebony armor.  Everything, rest assured, is balanced with utmost care.

Now I warn you dear reader, whenever I talk about The Elder Scrolls, not unlike when I talk about Dungeons and Dragons, Return of the Jedi, or all you can eat Chinese food buffets, I tend to strap on blinders so as to block out any bad stuff those things might contain (especially that last one).  No, Skyrim is not the perfect game.  Many issues that are considered commonplace in Bethesda games are still present here, including wonky A.I. that results in NPCs occasionally staring you down while they’re in a conversation completely unrelated to you, and some strange physics bugs including one that that lets you ride your horse up completely vertical surfaces.  That being said, it wouldn’t be a Bethesda game without these strange little quirks that we’ve come to know and love, would it?

There is one very large aspect of Skyrim that I’ve left out-the voice acting.  Oh dear god, the voice acting.  With a cast that includes Max Von Sydow, Christopher Plummer, and Joan Allen, Skyrim sees its fair share of incredible emotional performances.

Skyrim is the exact reason I insist that games are, in fact, art. No medium that can result in something as organically beautiful as Skyrim can possibly be looked at as culturally irrelevant, and every gamer needs to experience the incredible journey firsthand.  I’ve dedicated over sixty hours to the game, and still can’t stop playing.  For this reason, I give The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim 4 gravity defying horses out of 5, and name it as my runner up for Game of the Year.