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Hellgate is cursed... in a good way

Justin Olivetti — Mon, 03 Oct 2011 14:00:00 EST

Filed under: Sci-fi, Events, in-game, Patches, Hellgate: London, Free-to-play, MMOFPS

Just when we thought we'd be stuck in London forever, Hellgate Global took us across the world to the ravaged vista of Tokyo late last month. To celebrate the good times and charred corpses all across virtual Japan, the resurrected MMOFPS is bringing a set of new challenges for players to overcome.

For those who scoff at curses and camping out on top of primitive burial grounds, Hellgate dares you to activate your Curse of Dawn mode and attempt to take out Imhotep and Anaksunamun. Those who do so will be on the receiving end of rewards beyond imagination. Also, in-game currency.

Other challenges heading into the game include a guild battle system, and the return of Boss Time Attack. It's not all work and no play, as players will enjoy bonus supplies, free gifts at specific levels, and XP boosts. For a limited time champion monsters will drop lucky coupons, which can then be exchanged for rare items. These will only be in the game until the end October 15th, as luck can only last for so long.

[Source: T3 Entertainment press release]

Hellgate is cursed... in a good way originally appeared on Massively on Mon, 03 Oct 2011 14:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Hellgate open beta starts tonight

Jef Reahard — Thu, 30 Jun 2011 13:00:00 EST

Filed under: Betas, Fantasy, Horror, MMO industry, New titles, News items, Hellgate: London, Free-to-play

Free-to-play fans are looking at a long weekend filled with new fantasy titles thanks to today's big announcements. If Age of Conan: Unchained isn't your style, perhaps Hellgate Global is. You can find out for sure tonight at 7:30 p.m. EDT as T3 Entertainment takes the wraps off Hellgate's open beta.

The public testing phase will feature four celebratory events: Guild Reservoir, Daily Supplies, To Level in Hell, and Level and Be Rewarded, each of which will grant "valuable prizes" to top players. The open beta also boasts new game modes including PvP duel arenas and the zombie-infested Cow Room.

As an added incentive to check things out, T3's press release mentions a "special prize" in store for everyone who logs in today.

Hellgate open beta starts tonight originally appeared on Massively on Thu, 30 Jun 2011 13:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Cardmon enters open beta

Krystalle Voecks — Wed, 19 Jan 2011 15:30:00 EST

Filed under: Betas, Fantasy, Screenshots, Wallpapers, News items, Free-to-play

The time has come for CardMon Hero's card-summoning free-to-play MMO action to be released on the masses -- although there's still a bit of testing to go. That's why they've finally started open beta for the game as of today. Now players who have been curious are able to get in and check it all out, and T3 Entertainment, Redbana, and Hanbitsoft can get valuable feedback about the direction they're headed from a wider variety of gamers. (As well as the inevitable stress testing that generally goes on during this phase.)

With CardMon Hero's card-based systems, players can build up a store of Mercenaries, skills, and more to set their character up however they'd like to play the game. Whether you are the overlord of a series of powerfully-built minions, or prefer to get into the thick of combat yourself, it offers quite a variety of styles. Aside from that, players will find a deep card crafting system, lots of quests to do, and much to explore. So, if you're interested in checking out the open beta -- or just remember it from back when it was Camon Hero and want to sign up to see the changes -- then head over to the CardMon Hero site. If you'd like a preview before signing up, we have a series of new screenshots and exclusive wallpapers in our gallery below!

If you'd like a full-sized image of any of the exclusive wallpapers, you can snag them by clicking the images after the break to get the large image.

Gallery: CardMon Hero

Continue reading Cardmon enters open beta

Cardmon enters open beta originally appeared on Massively on Wed, 19 Jan 2011 15:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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CardMon Hero gearing up for closed beta, again

Krystalle Voecks — Wed, 27 Oct 2010 20:00:00 EST

Filed under: Betas, Fantasy, New titles, News items, Free-to-play

When it comes to free-to-play MMOs, we're used to seeing lots of imports. That said, this has to be one of the first ones we've seen imported three times to the West, only to keep changing hands. CardMon Hero, developed by Hanbitsoft for the Korean market, was initially picked up and ported by Gamengame. Earlier this year, we saw the game announced as part of the lineup for T3/Uforia, and now it's purely being published by T3 Entertainment/Redbana, along with a rebranding from Orka to Camon Hero and now CardMon Hero.

The principles of the game remain the same: players who enjoy card games can travel around the world, picking up cards that will allow them to summon henchmen to fight for their side. The closed beta will start on November 10th, and signups are open if you'd like to take a whack at some thrice imported card-summoning MMOness. Perhaps the third time will be the charm for the game. In either case, we have a new trailer beyond the break for you to check out and decide if this triple-take title is your flavor of fun.

Continue reading CardMon Hero gearing up for closed beta, again

CardMon Hero gearing up for closed beta, again originally appeared on Massively on Wed, 27 Oct 2010 20:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Camon Hero closed beta is in the cards

Krystalle Voecks — Mon, 01 Mar 2010 15:00:00 EST

Filed under: Betas, Trailers, New titles, News items, Free-to-play, Camon Hero

If you're one of the multitudes who grew up playing a lot of Yu-Gi-Oh or other card battling games, then we've got news about an upcoming MMO that may well interest you. Camon Hero, also known as Orka in other parts of the world, is coming to the West with fast-paced free-to-play card game MMO fun -- and a closed beta that starts tomorrow.

In Camon Hero, players explore the world, attempting to rid the lands of evil, and picking up different cards along the way. The game offers a classless system based entirely on the cards you have selected at the time. In the mood to be a battle mage? Load those cards up and get to playing. Prefer to go full-on melee or pure caster? You can do that too. From there, it's all about who has the better cards as you pit your deck (and thereby character) building skills against players in PvP, or against the world in PvE. Only unlike playing a traditional TCG, the cards spring to life and fight for your side!

For now, we've embedded the trailer for Camon Hero behind the break, which shows off some tantalizing hints of game play. Hopefully we'll hear some more news about this interesting MMO (or maybe score some beta keys) in the days to come.

Continue reading Camon Hero closed beta is in the cards

Camon Hero closed beta is in the cards originally appeared on Massively on Mon, 01 Mar 2010 15:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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HanbitSoft acquires worldwide publishing rights for Hellgate: London

James Egan — Mon, 18 Jan 2010 15:00:00 EST

Filed under: Horror, MMO industry, Hellgate: London, Legal

It's been a long and turbulent ride for Hellgate: London, stretching all the way back to its rather troubled Halloween 2007 launch under the banner of the ill-fated Flagship Studios. This stretched through a bewildering morass of licensing disputes, general misinformation, and mixed signals (like continual English press releases for the game in a non English-speaking market. *ahem*) in the wake of the Flagship Studios closure and subsequent legal wranglings between T3 Entertainment/HanbitSoft and NAMCO BANDAI. Still, despite some of the flaws both in terms of business decisions made and the game itself, the title has its fans and many were sad to see Hellgate: London's servers in North America and Europe go dark.

Liken it to a yo-yo, a roller coaster, or what have you -- it's been confusing, but there have been glimmers of hope of the game one day returning to Western regions. An official release from Hellgate: London's license holder HanbitSoft today is perhaps the most solid bit of info we've received about the future of the game outside of Korea. In HanbitSoft's own words: "HanbitSoft Inc., announced today that the company has obtained the publishing rights for Hellgate in North America, Europe and Japan from NAMCO BANDAI Games America Inc.. HanbitSoft and NAMCO BANDAI Games America, the formal owner of the publishing rights in these regions, have entered into an agreement for the game to be distributed by HanbitSoft in the future."

Continue reading HanbitSoft acquires worldwide publishing rights for Hellgate: London

HanbitSoft acquires worldwide publishing rights for Hellgate: London originally appeared on Massively on Mon, 18 Jan 2010 15:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Are all MMOs just extended vaporware?

James Egan — Sun, 02 Nov 2008 13:00:00 EST

Filed under: Fantasy, Horror, Fury, MMO industry, Opinion, Hellgate: London

Massively multiplayer online games can be a difficult industry to break into and succeed. For every Blizzard or Sony Online Entertainment, there are several smaller companies brimming with ideas about how to inject change into the MMO market. Some succeed by breaking from the World of Warcraft paradigm. Most do not.

Writer James Matson writes about these titles that begin full of promise but ultimately meet a chilly reception by MMO gamers, in an article at Atomic. He touches on the fact that the sometimes high price of the box sale paired with monthly MMO fees, sustained over some months, leads to some serious disappointment when the MMO fails and the servers go dark. Matson specifically cites the examples of Auran's Fury and (what is currently Namco-Bandai's) Hellgate: London. "This would appear to the be the first tendrils of a new kind of gaming plague that's arrived with MMOs, games that can be rendered useless due to mismanagement, poor sales or just bad luck," Matson writes.

Continue reading Are all MMOs just extended vaporware?

Are all MMOs just extended vaporware? originally appeared on Massively on Sun, 02 Nov 2008 13:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Hellgate London status: Purgatory

James Egan — Thu, 30 Oct 2008 20:00:00 EST

Filed under: Horror, Sci-fi, Business models, MMO industry, Hellgate: London, Rumors

There have been so many twists and turns with the future of Hellgate: London (and Mythos) that it's hard to know what will happen next. We've heard on a few occasions that Hellgate: London was about to face its demise, only to be saved. Adding to the confusion was the dispute over who even owned Hellgate: London, Flagship Studios or HanbitSoft. After Flagship folded, HanbitSoft's claims seemed to be genuine, and the IP was left in the hands of T3 Entertainment. Subscriptions, however, were then suspended. Shortly afterwards Namco-Bandai swept in, prominently featured HG: L on its site... and subsequently removed it. Despite this, the game has been kept running ever since, although Namco-Bandai's stated that the servers will shut down at the end of January, 2009.

Gaming site HellForge has picked up on what we're not ready to call anything more than 'rumor' at this point, but something that perhaps bodes well for the future of the game. Another company name has been thrown into the mix: Redbana (based in Taiwan, connected with the aforementioned T3 Entertainment). HellForge writes: "Further research leads to findings of a new San Francisco office for the company, which is where Hellgate offices were located previously." This seems to be in line with what we reported about the future of both titles in August. While we hope this information could be a positive sign for Hellgate: London and perhaps Mythos as well, at this point it's still largely conjecture.

[Via Blue's News]

Hellgate London status: Purgatory originally appeared on Massively on Thu, 30 Oct 2008 20:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Mythos lives!

James Egan — Sun, 03 Aug 2008 12:30:00 EST

Filed under: Fantasy, Horror, MMO industry, News items, Mythos, Rumors

These have been some turbulent times for both Mythos and Hellgate: London. Following the closing of Flagship Studios, recent news revealed Namco-Bandai Games as Hellgate: London's saviors, while the fate of Mythos remained uncertain, but grim. However just over a week later, the Hellgate: London page at Namco-Bandai has already disappeared.

In another turn of events, Gamasutra reports that Korea's T3 Entertainment, perhaps best-known for their online music game Audition, is seeking programmers for its new development studio in San Francisco: "T3 Entertainment is searching for creative minds to passionately continue development of Hellgate: London and Mythos, along with other new games, which are being published by HanbitSoft Inc." This may put to rest the dispute over IP which HanbitSoft was engaged in with Flagship Studios, as T3 Entertainment is HanbitSoft's largest stockholder. With any luck, the opening of a North American studio signifies a healthier future for both Mythos and Hellgate: London. We'll keep you posted, once more details become available.

Mythos lives! originally appeared on Massively on Sun, 03 Aug 2008 12:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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