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Phantasy Star Online 2 posts a benchmark and character creator for all [Updated]

Eliot Lefebvre — Thu, 05 Apr 2012 19:30:00 EST

Filed under: Fantasy, Sci-fi, New titles, Previews, News items

If you're an American fan of Phantasy Star Online 2 -- or heck, just a non-Japanese fan -- you're kind of out of luck at the moment. The game is currently not anywhere near a translated state, and testing has thus been mostly limited to Japanese players. If you're in that unlucky boat, however, things are getting at least a little bit better now. The game's character creator and benchmark has just been released for all, whether or not you're testing the game or even able to read the language.

A fan blog for the game features both screenshots of the character creator and corresponding benchmark as well as a guide to getting the program to work on your machine. While it's not quite the same as being able to log into the game and enjoy the testing sequence, it's at least a chance to get a taste of what the game will be like when (and if) it comes to our shores.

[Update: Thanks to Venova for the original tip as well as the news that there's an unofficial English patch for this benchmark toy!]

Phantasy Star Online 2 posts a benchmark and character creator for all [Updated] originally appeared on Massively on Thu, 05 Apr 2012 19:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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TERA consolidating servers in Japan [Updated]

Justin Olivetti — Wed, 28 Dec 2011 12:00:00 EST

Filed under: Betas, Fantasy, TERA

While highly anticipated in the West, not all is sunshine and rainbows for TERA overseas. Under assault by bots and bugs, NHN Japan announced that it will be reducing the number of open beta players currently in the game down to 33% by consolidating servers. Players in Japan shell out $38.50 per month to test the game.

TERA's been testing in Japan for five months now and has shown promise, with over 48,000 concurrent players logging in at one point. Even though the beta test is shrinking in players, NHN is making tweaks to the game to improve the experience for those who remain. These improvements include doubling the amount of free time for new players and cutting the cooldown time of dungeons in half while increasing the amount of loot dropped.

NHN Japan says that the population decrease will help to improve the game's performance as it progresses in testing: "Although the CCU has been decreased from the initial start, it is now more stable than we expected. The server consolidation is to promote better cooperative play."

The Korean beta test of TERA conducted a similar server consolidation last May.

[Update: While the developers are currently consolidating servers, TERA is no longer in beta testing in Japan. TERA launched several months back as a subscription-based game. We apologize for the confusion.]

TERA consolidating servers in Japan [Updated] originally appeared on Massively on Wed, 28 Dec 2011 12:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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CCP partners with Nexon to release EVE Online in Japan [Updated]

Brendan Drain — Thu, 07 Jul 2011 11:00:00 EST

Filed under: Sci-fi, EVE Online, Business models, Launches, MMO industry, News items, DUST 514

The Japanese games market can be difficult for western companies to break into, with accurate client localisation and translation acting as a huge potential roadblock. In an unexpected press release today, EVE Online developer CCP Games announced a strategic partnership with Japan-based MMO publisher Nexon to bring both EVE Online and DUST 514 to the Japanese market. EVE is currently available in English, German and Russian, and Japanese players have so far found considerable difficulty in playing the game.

Unlike EVE's Chinese release, the Japanese client will connect to the main Tranquility game server. Nexon will add the game to its portal website and use its own billing system for Japanese subscribers. As we've seen with EVE's sizeable Russian playerbase, it's likely that entire alliances and communities will build up within the game once it hits the shelves in Japan. While the language barrier between players from different parts of the world can limit social interaction, it turns out that everyone understands the language of smashing internet spaceships to bits with lasers. The PC release of EVE Online in Japan will appear later this year.

[Update: CCP has informed us that this deal with Nexon does not apply to anything DUST-related.]

CCP partners with Nexon to release EVE Online in Japan [Updated] originally appeared on Massively on Thu, 07 Jul 2011 11:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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FFXIV gameplay footage explores cities, chocobos and emotes

Kyle Horner — Wed, 31 Mar 2010 16:30:00 EST

Filed under: Fantasy, Video, New titles, News items, Final Fantasy XIV

A lot of news has been coming out for Final Fantasy XIV lately, and we're quite happy to see it. Today we've got what appears to be (the first episode of what's sure to be recurring) in-game footage of players exploring one of Eorzea's cities on the game's official Japanese YouTube channel. There's a moment in the clip where the Japanese players speaking throughout are amazed to find a Chocobo and well, it's pretty entertaining to watch -- especially when the video gets to the part where it reveals that old Tarutaru emotes are fully intact. Panic!

We're also getting another tiny peek at the user interface for Final Fantasy XIV in the video. From what we can see here, Square Enix is keeping the memorable "Send/Receive" graphic, which blinks with a strange hypnotic rhythm. The mini-map and health/mana bars both look quite useful yet unobtrusive, too. Overall, everything about this game screams, "Final Fantasy XI, but newer and hopefully improved." We hope that proves to be wholly true in the coming months.

FFXIV gameplay footage explores cities, chocobos and emotes originally appeared on Massively on Wed, 31 Mar 2010 16:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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EVE Online extending reach into Russia and Japan

James Egan — Tue, 03 Mar 2009 20:00:00 EST

Filed under: Sci-fi, EVE Online, Business models, Culture, News items

The sci-fi massively multiplayer online title EVE Online is very much a game of galactic conquest. In that spirit of world domination, CCP Games has been working on establishing the title's presence in both Russia and Japan. EVE developer CCP Caedmon is part of the company's localization team, and has written a dev blog titled "Machine Translation's Bad, M'kay?", dealing with CCP's efforts to reach out to Russian and Japanese gamers.

Both Japanese and Russian localizations of the EVE client are now up on the Singularity test server. By all indications, the Russian client's localization is further along, as CCP Games opened up the client for public testing in 2008. However, they're interested in pushing ahead with Japanese localization as well. CCP Caedmon writes, "We know there is a highly dedicated community of Japanese players out there who have been with EVE since the early days and we are excited to hear your feedback."

For more on the status of EVE Online as it applies to other markets, see CCP Caedmon's "Machine Translation's Bad, M'kay?".

EVE Online extending reach into Russia and Japan originally appeared on Massively on Tue, 03 Mar 2009 20:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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A tale of geek purgatory

Kyle Horner — Wed, 03 Dec 2008 19:00:00 EST

Filed under: Culture, News items, Humor

What's it like being stuck in the Japanese equivalence of a Korean cybercafe? Apparently, it's like hell, or at least it was for one gamer who wrote an article on Eurogamer discussing his several-hours within just such a place. We began reading the article with a twinge of inner pain as the place is described in such a way that would make anyone feel claustrophobic. Not very far into it though, you'll learn about some of the oddities of Japanese MMO players and their tendancy to be really, well, obsessive compulsive.

We're not gonna lie, the typical Japanese MMO game and player scares the living daylights out of us -- mostly because they seem like machines. And we all know what happens when machines start posing as humans, right? The entire world is either bombed, or the human race is enslaved and sent back into time repeatedly until a paradox destorys time itself. Bad stuff.

A tale of geek purgatory originally appeared on Massively on Wed, 03 Dec 2008 19:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Joystiq looks at South Korea's PC Baang culture

Matt Warner — Wed, 09 Jul 2008 21:00:00 EST

Filed under: Culture, MMO industry

No PlayStation, No Nintendo, No Sega. In a sprawling metropolis on the brink of a technological revolution what place would eschew console gaming? It was South Korea, and for the longest time there was an embargo against Japanese made imports. In the embargo's wake an unstoppable PC gaming utopia and a molding of an anomalous social culture evolved. With the government push for broadband access and the proliferation of PC Baangs, online PC-game rooms, a remarkable 70% of South Korean internet users have played some kind of MMOG.

The Korean MMOG invasion on the western market has spurned resentment but some MMOs like Nexon's Maple Story found a successful niche. What is fascinating, are not the endless failed imports or the lucky few that do succeed in the US but the radical differences in our gaming cultures. Joystiq's Geoffrey Brooks is residing in Seoul, South Korea for the summer. Indulging his senses in this part of the world Brook posits about South Korea's PC Baangs and the masterful technological wired revolution and contrasts it to the lagging-behind United States. It's a must read, especially if you know nothing of the PC gaming culture in South Korea other than asking "isn't Starcraft big there?"

Joystiq looks at South Korea's PC Baang culture originally appeared on Massively on Wed, 09 Jul 2008 21:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Anti-Aliased: Keep crying, sportsmanship is dead

Seraphina Brennan — Sun, 29 Jun 2008 15:30:00 EST

Filed under: Culture, Opinion, Anti-Aliased

One harsh world PvP battle later, your corpse lies on the ground as your opponent stands triumphant over you. Both of you put up one good battle, as even your opponent is down to barely any hit points -- the kind of battle where a few randomly generated misses turned the tide of the engagement. Yet, what do you get for your efforts against this opponent? Do you get a /salute, or a /kneel? Maybe even the honor of a /bow? No, of course not, you get the /spit and an orcish teabag in your face just so the 12-year-old on the other side of the keyboard can get his daily jollies.

Of course, that's not counting the 7 more times he's going to camp your corpse just so you can't progress for the next 3 hours. And it's also not counting the ninja looters, the belligerent kids in battlegrounds who take orders from no one, and the lying little brats who spew language fit for a factory worker but cry to their parents the second you try to enforce some authority.

We have many ways of quantifying these behaviors; things like "If you can't stand PvP then go to a carebear (normal) server," "If you don't like it being done to you then do it to someone else," or "Get better gear, n00b." We all know what's going on here, and it's none of the above. Let's just say it aloud and come clean about it: Sportsmanship is dead, and it's been dead for a long time.

Continue reading Anti-Aliased: Keep crying, sportsmanship is dead

Anti-Aliased: Keep crying, sportsmanship is dead originally appeared on Massively on Sun, 29 Jun 2008 15:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Cinemassively: Japanese machinima in Second Life

Moo Money — Sun, 18 May 2008 12:30:00 EST

Filed under: Video, Second Life, Free-to-play, Cinemassively, Machinima, Virtual worlds

Bonkkyu Bonetto created this machinima, which, according to Google Translate, comes out roughly titled, "SL beans Hall's promotional style animated movie OP." Regardless of what the title is, the video itself is quite fascinating. It is styled like an animated program, complete with beginning character introductions, action sequences, split screens, and more. Most Second Life machinimas simply try to emulate real movies, so something that is cartoon or anime-like is a special treat.

[Thanks, Toirdealbach!]

If you have machinima or movie suggestions from any MMO, please send them to machinima AT massively DOT com, along with any information you might have about them.

Cinemassively: Japanese machinima in Second Life originally appeared on Massively on Sun, 18 May 2008 12:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Dream of Mirror Online open beta incoming

Mike Schramm — Thu, 15 Nov 2007 09:00:00 EST

Filed under: Betas, Video, Classes, New titles, Consoles, Dream of Mirror Online

To be honest, I'm not sure if a game like this floats any boats here at Massively, but surely in our (growing) audience there's someone out there who cares for cel-shaded graphics and wacky Japanese RPGs with surfer swords and anime nose bubbles. For you, dear reader, we cover the news that Dream of Mirror Online (DOMO, for short), a very Japanese (and Maple Story-esque, I believe) MMO is finishing up closed beta and will have an open beta before the end of the year.

The open beta will also add Hunter, Mercenary, Musician and Wizard classes, and Gametribe promises more new content to come. I kind of like how bright and shiny the graphics are-- it's a good change from the dark and increasingly bump-mapped graphics of Western games. But I worry that the gameplay will end up as cutesy as the models are. Anyone excited about this one and want to tell us why?

Dream of Mirror Online open beta incoming originally appeared on Massively on Thu, 15 Nov 2007 09:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Japanese residents to win free rent in Second Life

Akela Talamasca — Wed, 07 Nov 2007 16:10:00 EST

Filed under: Contests, News items, Second Life, Player Housing

Steve Mahfouz of Ecstacy Realty has offered free rent for a year on his sim in Second Life, which includes the use of a parcel sized 2048 square meters, to any Japanese resident who was born in and currently lives in Japan. Why has he done this? From his press release: "I like good karma. I do something good for you, and *maybe* eventually something good will happen for me. All you have to do is obey the Land Covenants on the parcel you live (or work) on, and that's all. No hidden strings. No hidden expectations. No fees. No tricks. No games. Free rent for one year. In one year, you can either pay the market rental price for the parcel or leave. Very simple."

Not so fast -- this is actually a contest. To enter, one must send an email to steve at ecstasyrealty.com, detailing why exactly you're the most qualified resident to receive a year's free rent. He'll choose the winner in 2 week's time, and will announce the winner on his blog. Good luck, Nippon!

(Thanks, Steve!)

Japanese residents to win free rent in Second Life originally appeared on Massively on Wed, 07 Nov 2007 16:10:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Fujitsu opens islands in Second Life

Tateru Nino — Fri, 02 Nov 2007 18:30:00 EST

Filed under: Real life, News items, Second Life

Japanese IT and Communications giant Fujitsu yesterday opened three islands in the virtual world of Second Life, to interact with customers, evaluate virtual worlds as a tool, promote their brands and host experimental projects. The islands opened on 2 November at 6PM (Japan Standard Time).

The three islands are Fujitsu, featuring company information, history, services and general activities; Fujitsu 2, exhibition spaces, attractions and collaborative projects; Fujitsu 3, results of collaborative research on brain functions undertaken with Riken and Japan Shogi Association, exhibition space on shogi history, a shogi game hall, and more.

The island is the work of Japanese Metaverse developer Meltingdots, and while the bulk of material is in Japanese there are tidbits for English speakers as well.

Fujitsu opens islands in Second Life originally appeared on Massively on Fri, 02 Nov 2007 18:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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