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Trickster Online and Pangya United want to send you to Las Vegas

Jef Reahard — Thu, 08 Sep 2011 11:30:00 EST

Filed under: Fantasy, Contests, Events, real-world, MMO industry, News items, Free-to-play, Miscellaneous

SG Interactive wants to send you to Las Vegas, and all you have to do to qualify is play one of the company's MMORPGs. A new press release spills the beans, and entering the contest is as easy as completing a couple of in-game events.

Said events are happening in Trickster Online and Pangya United, and one winner from each title will take home a prize pack that includes airfare, hotel accommodations, and tickets to attend the 2012 Consumer Electronics Show.

What's the skinny on the events themselves? First up is The Pirates of Pangya Island contest. The pirate queen Kooh is challenging players to collect gold coins hidden at the 18th hole of each Pangya Island course. All you have to do is collect one coin and you'll automatically be entered into the Las Vegas trip contest. The Pangya event ends on September 21st, and the winner will be announced on the 22nd. Entering the Trickster Online contest is even easier. Rack up 100 hours of game time by September 28th and you'll be eligible to win. The victor will be announced on October 5th.

[Source: SG Interactive press release]

Trickster Online and Pangya United want to send you to Las Vegas originally appeared on Massively on Thu, 08 Sep 2011 11:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Valve's Gabe Newell recognizes the innovation of MMOs

Jef Reahard — Thu, 06 Jan 2011 23:00:00 EST

Filed under: Business models, Culture, MMO industry, News items, Opinion

Think the PC is losing its grip as the dominant platform when it comes to gaming innovation? Not so fast, says Valve's Gabe Newell. In fact, he even cites MMOs as a leading cause of the PC platform's continued innovation. And when Newell speaks, gamers and game makers listen, as his company is an industry heavyweight responsible for the likes of Half-Life, Left 4 Dead, and Counterstrike (not to mention the Steam digital distribution platform).

Yesterday, at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, Newell sung the praises of Intel's new GPU/CPU and also offered a counterpoint to those who feel that consoles like the Xbox 360 and the Playstation 3 have overtaken the PC as industry catalysts.

"We see [the PC] as the center of innovation of everything that's going on, whether it's microtransactions, MMOs, free-to-play, or something like CityVille which -- after its first month -- has 84 million people playing," Newell said. "To us, this is just an indication of why open platforms are where innovations are going to occur."

Valve's Gabe Newell recognizes the innovation of MMOs originally appeared on Massively on Thu, 06 Jan 2011 23:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Global Agenda announces North American tour

James Egan — Tue, 11 Aug 2009 15:00:00 EST

Filed under: Sci-fi, MMO industry, News items, MMOFPS, Global Agenda

The team at Hi-Rez Studios announced they're taking Global Agenda on the road for a North American tour. It'll be a chance for fans, or anyone curious about the shooter-MMO hybrid, to get some hands-on time with Global Agenda and meet the developers from Hi-Rez Studios. The Global Agenda tour kicks off this week at QuakeCon in Dallas and will hit the major gaming events through January. The tour dates announced thus far are:

August 13-15 -- Dallas, QuakeCon

September 4 -- Atlanta, DragonCon

September 4-6 -- Seattle, Penny Arcade Expo

October 22-24 -- Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Games and Media Expo

January 7-10 -- Las Vegas, Consumer Electronics Show

Gallery: Hi-Rez Studios and Global Agenda Gallery

Global Agenda announces North American tour originally appeared on Massively on Tue, 11 Aug 2009 15:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Despite 3.4 million downloads, PlayStation Home announced too early

James Egan — Sat, 10 Jan 2009 19:30:00 EST

Filed under: Business models, Interviews, Virtual worlds, Home

The new virtual world we've written about at Massively, PlayStation Home, seems to have garnered itself a large user base despite getting off to a rocky start. Kaz Hirai of Sony Computer Entertainment mentioned in his Consumer Electronics Show speech that 3.4 million PlayStation 3 users have downloaded Home. It was, however, announced too early according to key members of the Home team in an interview with Develop.

Announcing Home back at the 2007 Game Developer's Conference had the effect of stoking the interest of third parties (not to mention gamers and virtual world residents), but there was no where to run with their projects, given the early stage of Home's development at that time. Indeed, Home's Game Director Peter Edward feels that initially some developers were reluctant to get involved, but that situation is beginning to change. Edward says, "The feedback we've been getting is that, in the early days, it was a bit thin on the ground in terms of support and tools, but now it's mature and everybody's starting to produce some really interesting stuff."

Continue reading Despite 3.4 million downloads, PlayStation Home announced too early

Despite 3.4 million downloads, PlayStation Home announced too early originally appeared on Massively on Sat, 10 Jan 2009 19:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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New SDXC cards to allow for greater MMO portability

James Egan — Sat, 10 Jan 2009 18:00:00 EST

Filed under: World of Warcraft, Fantasy, Events, real-world, Opinion

Massively multiplayer online games tend to take up less space on your hard drive than your standard PC game, as the bulk of the data is stored on farms of servers that power your MMO of choice. However, despite the fact that most of the underlying magic is happening far away from your own screen, MMO clients still take up a number of gigs of space, as laptop users who regularly play different titles know all too well. But since an MMO client is really just an access point then, there's no reason why it has to be tied to any one machine or location, particularly if you're on the go for much of the time.

While the typical solution for some MMO gamers with a preference for portability is to keep their game clients on a portable drive (myself included), even these small drives are beginning to look downright clunky compared to some of the other options available, or soon-to-be available.

Continue reading New SDXC cards to allow for greater MMO portability

New SDXC cards to allow for greater MMO portability originally appeared on Massively on Sat, 10 Jan 2009 18:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Cisco Systems: 1 year in Second Life

Akela Talamasca — Sat, 05 Jan 2008 10:00:00 EST

Filed under: Real life, Events, in-game, Interviews, News items, Second Life, Free-to-play, Virtual worlds

Come celebrate with Cisco Systems on January 8th, 1 PM at Cisco Systems Sim 1 as they celebrate their 1 year Second Life anniversary with a party where the cake is certainly not a lie, even if it is virtual.

A live Q&A session will be on hand to discuss Cisco's Visual Networking Strategy, as well as their presence in the upcoming Consumer Electronics Show. I'm pleased that Cisco is still around, and in fact, shows no signs of leaving, unlike some companies I could mention. They seem to be in it for the right reasons, primary of which is the interaction with residents. Good way to build brand awareness, guys!

You can get more information about the SL event here.

[Thanks, Smiddy!]

Cisco Systems: 1 year in Second Life originally appeared on Massively on Sat, 05 Jan 2008 10:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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SOE plans community meet-up in Vegas during CES

William Dobson — Fri, 04 Jan 2008 22:00:00 EST

Filed under: EverQuest, EverQuest II, Pirates of the Burning Sea, PlanetSide, Events, real-world, MMO industry, The Matrix Online, News items, Star Wars Galaxies, Vanguard, Everquest Online Adventures

Sony Online Entertainment's Community Relations team have put out an open invite for anyone that would like to meet up with them at Las Vegas during the Consumer Electronics Show. The team have planned to be at Quark's Bar and Restaurant, in the Hilton, on the 8th of January. If you're going to be there for CES, or for whatever else it is people do at Vegas, then consider stopping by and meeting up with the folks from SOE.

The details are as follows:

What: Community Get Together

Where: Quark's Bar and Restaurant in the Hilton Hotel, 3000 Paradise Rd. Las Vegas, Nevada 89109

When: 7:00 p.m. PST, January 8th

SOE plans community meet-up in Vegas during CES originally appeared on Massively on Fri, 04 Jan 2008 22:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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