A black & white horror adventure game for the Nintendo Revolution (it was still called that way back then) seemed like very promising idea in April 2006, when Polish studio Nibris announced they were working on Sadness. But sadly, we haven't heard much about this Wii project since then, and all the images revealed in the meantime were just a couple of artworks, and a handful of "atmospheric pictures" unrelated to the actual game. And sadly still, they continue to keep us in the dark, wondering how the game will look and play like...

On the other hand, we do have some news about their other projects this week, thanks to a story ran by Cubed³. According to their report, Nibris is currently working on 4 Wii games and 3 DS games - though only four titles in total are confirmed so far:

- Raid Over the River (DS)

- Raid Over the River (Wii)

- Sadness (Wii)

- Double Bloob (DS)

The DS version of Raid Over the River (due in Q2 2007) has been known about for quite a while, as being a top-down scrolling arcade flight-shooter of sorts. What Cubed³ is telling us is that a Wii version (or rather sequel) is also in the making, with a planned release timeframe set for Q3 2008.

As for Double Bloob, this looks like a purely arcade title, due out in Q2 2007 (the first look says 2006, but that can't possibly be right). You can read more about it on Cubed³, but I for one would rather put my interest in Nibris' other projects.

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With the approach of War Front's release this February, CDV is strengthening its efforts to shed as much public light as possible on Digital Reality's alternate-history WWII strategy game. And they do this now by releasing a new, single-player demo for War Front: Turning Point, packed to just over 800 MB. This follows the previously multiplayer-only demo they released in late November 2006, which was 300 MB lighter (but still offensively huge).

In this new War Front single-player demo, which is available for download locally, gamers will face powerful opposition in one campaign mission each from the German and Allied campaigns. A tutorial mission will help players jump right into the action, while advanced (Tech Level 2) weapons will allow them to deal heavy damage to the enemy (over 9000!?).

Here's more on the two missions featured in this demo:

"After a short introduction to play in the tutorial, the Single Player Demo offers two exciting missions from the German and Allied troop training campaigns:

- In the demo mission Roland Hellmann, the man the Germans call for risky assignments, stands at a turning point in history. His mission: secure the Eastern Front against Russian troops, extract Agent Elsa Adler from the danger zone and secure information important to the German resistance. At his command: a very high-tech weapons arsenal.

- Hellmanns mentor, the influential General Hardt, has been arrested by Nazi troops for supporting the resistance. In the demo’s allied mission, the cold-blooded American John Lynch and his troops are to free General Hardt’s and pave the way to a change in German politics."

War Front is currently planned to disembark on February 20.

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Hellgate: London - To Pay, Or Not To Pay For Online Multiplayer?

The answer is yes. As in, "yes" - you will be able to play Hellgate: London online for free (to a certain degree); and "yes" - there will apparently be some sort of paid service as well, for those who want more content, more modes, more features and stuff like that. The debate over paid- vs. free- online multiplayer in Hellgate: London was sparked by a Shacknews report earlier this week, which indicated that the game's (massively-)multiplayer component will be a subscription-based online service.

Since then, the website published a lengthy article about Hellgate: London, based on their CES 2007 interview with Flaghship Studios' CEO and former Blizzard executive Bill Roper, mostly detailing the game's online / MMO component. In addition to that, they also received an update from the game's co-publisher Electronic Arts, who claims that the companies involved have not reached any final decision regarding the game's online pricing scheme. So it could turn out either way.

Roper expects to have a detailed announcement on this topic in a month or two. But regardless of what they decide, he assured his fans that the game will certainly be playable online free of charge, to some extent:

"Hellgate: London is guaranteed to include some kind of free online mode that gamers will be able to access without any monetary commitment. This mode will likely not include the full MMO features of the game available to full-scale online users, though it is still unclear what kind of commitment will be needed for that level of access. "If you want lots of great continual content, and all of the services, we'll have to figure out how to do that," said Roper, pointing out that the company will need to derive revenue in some way to support a full team of content developers post-launch."

As we mentioned a few days ago, Hellgate: London should be released in Summer 2007, through a co-publishing agreement between Namco Bandai and Electronic Arts.

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When we learned that Vanguard was entering a new beta testing phase at the end of 2006, I never expected the final version to be ready to go live so soon, especially considering that there was supposedly going to be at least one additional beta phase before launch. Just how soon are we talking about? Well, shortly put, January 30. That, according to today's press-release issued by Sony Online Entertainment and Sigil Games.

But even though the official launch date for Vanguard: Saga of Heroes in North America and Europe is January 30, players will be able to access the live servers up to three days earlier, as long as they purchase the game earlier (sort of like Gears of War's "Emergence Day", which actually came a few days after its retail debut). By pre-ordering Vanguard - either online or at retail - players will obtain an invitation to enter the (final?) live beta, and they will also receive "an exclusive in-game scroll that will allow their character to sprint for longer periods of time due to an endurance buff (one per account)". Fascinating.

"Currently in beta, Vanguard: Saga of Heroes features vibrant environments reminiscent of oil paintings, a robust character customization tool and three distinct spheres of advancement in a seamless world without zoning or instancing. The immersive fantasy world is comprised of three massive, uniquely-themed continents for players to discover new creatures, new items and unlimited adventure. Players have complete freedom to roam the world whether flying dragons to islands in the sky or riding swift steeds to exotic lands."

So there you are... two weeks after The Burning Crusade, Sigil and SOE will boldly release their MMORPG, for a suggested retail price of $49.99. A limited edition is also available, for a suggested retail price of $89.99.

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I know we're pushing it here, what with two consecutive stories on Blizzard's MMORPG and everything. But then again, they more than deserve it - now that World of Warcraft's population has passed the 8 million subscribers mark! They hit the previous milestone (7.5 million) a couple of months ago, but after the Dark Portal opens up in a couple of days, I wouldn't be surprised if the subscribers count would register a sudden boom of one or even two million new players. But let's not get ahead of ourselves, and see what Blizzard has to say about this accomplishment:

"We're ecstatic that the World of Warcraft community has continued to grow steadily since we launched the game," said Mike Morhaime, president and cofounder of Blizzard Entertainment. "This milestone wouldn't have been possible for us to achieve without the incredible support of our players. With the release of our expansion pack, World of Warcraft: The Burning Crusade, coming next week, we're looking forward to welcoming more players to Azeroth and offering even more quality content for our community to enjoy."

Aside from surpassing 8 million accounts (and arguably players) worldwide, World of Warcraft has also achieved new regional subscriber milestones - with more than 2 million players in North America, more than 1.5 million players in Europe, and more than 3.5 million players in China. Plus another million or so spread throughout the other territories, including Australia.

Some brief details about the contents of The Burning Crusade expansion pack are included in today's announcement, if you somehow didn't know them by now, but what I'm most curious about is the new game servers that will - hopefully - go online on January 16. Get ready for some serious queues and innevitable lag... but if you at least manage to register a few favorite character names before everyone else, it should be worth the wait.

P.S. The WoW Model Viewer was recently updated and is now able to read content from the game's 2.0 version, so it should work with The Burning Crusade as well.

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World of Warcraft Patch v2.0.3, Final Burning Crusade Notes

With just a few days left until the release of The Burning Crusade, Blizzard sends out another patch for World of Warcraft, advancing it to version 2.0.3 and bringing plenty of changes once again, in preparation for the expansion ahead. "A stirring of events has begun throughout Azeroth and rumor points to the Dark Portal as its source", say the latest patch notes. Once the Burning Crusade begins, you will have to be at least level 58 in order to pass through the Dark Portal (from the Blasted Lands to the Outlands) and, of course, the add-on also needs to be installed.

By the looks of it, Druids are currently going through some serious changes, though pretty much all clases are being re-balanced in this edition. You can check the link above for the full list of changes. The WoW patch v2.0.3 is available for download locally, both for the US version, and for the EU version of the game. Once you get it, you might want to hold on to the patch for a little longer than usual. As Crezax from Blizzard warns us - via WoW Vault - you will need to re-update the game with this 2.0.3 patch, after you install The Burning Crusade:

"As the Burning Crusade expansion was finished prior to the most current patch versions it will be necessary to re-patch to 2.0.3 once the expansion is installed. As some players remove their patches after they have been applied we would like to provide a helpful warning not to delete the “2.0.0-to-2.0.3” patch file as it will be required after the Burning Crusade is installed."

At midnight on January 16, Blizzard will be holding launch events throughout the USA, Europe and Australia. Those of you interested in attending can find details on the official WoW website for the US, and in this press-release for a few European countries.

Oh, and since we missed the news at the time (though I'm sure it's obvious by now), The Burning Crusade went gold just as 2006 came to an end. Are you prepared?

I know I am, 'just confirmed my pre-order a few hours ago... *sigh*

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Warlords DS, Yet Another Portable From Strategy First

Strategy First previously announced they are planning to release two strategy titles for the Nintendo DS - namely Disciples II DS and Jagged Alliance 2 DS. And with today's announcement, they now have three titles lined-up for Nintendo's handheld platform. Through Gamespot, we learn that the classic Warlords series is also headed for the DS, in a turn-based game developed by Glyphic Entertainment.

According to Gamespot's report, "the current features list suggests the studio will retain some of the series' most familiar components. Warlords DS will support turn-based hotseat or Wi-Fi play for up to eight players, with 20 premade scenarios to play through and randomized maps to keep things fresh."

Eight players in multiplayer doesn't sound bad at all, but I imagine they would have to increase the pace of the game quite a lot, otherwise players might find it a bit tedious to settle the score on a map - if my memories of past iterations on the PC are anything to go by. Gamespot also has more details on the DS Warlords, as follows:

"Gamers will be able to produce 28 different types of armies, as well as access statistics for each battle that show the balance of power and military strength as it tips with each passing turn. And while there are economic and diplomatic aspects of the gameplay, the game's main focus is on combat. Strategy First is also promising artificial intelligence that will be able to challenge veteran gaming generals, as well as a tutorial system with a military advisor that can ease newer strategy fans into the action."

There's no planned release date specified in the report, but that's to be expected, since Strategy First's other two DS titles (Disciples II and Jagged Alliance 2) are currently in the same situation.

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MMO Round-up: Tabula Rasa Beta, Dark and Light Free

Aside from today's announcement that the Dark Age of Camelot: Labyrinth of the Minotaur expansion pack would be released in Europe on February 14, 2007 - marking the fifth anniversary of (EA) Mythic's MMORPG - there have also been another couple of MMO related stories over the past few days, which are worthy of mention. As the title implies, they refer to Richard Garriott's long overdue sci-fi project Tabula Rasa, and the fantasy MMORPG Dark and Light.

While we were still recovering from the new year's dizziness last week, developer Destination Games and publisher NCsoft saw fit to open the early beta sign-ups for Tabula Rasa. Here's what the announcement reads, minus the system requirements that you can study by following the previous link:

"Destination Games and NCsoft are looking for a few good testers – and now is the time to enlist for the early rounds of Tabula Rasa beta testing. We will be selecting testers based on system specifications, game experience, location, and date submitted. Please note that processing your beta application will take some time and we have a limited number of beta slots available. Closed beta slots are limited to players over the age of 18 and require acceptance of a Non-Disclosure legal agreement."

Regarding Dark and Light, since the game has already been live for several months, Farlan Entertainment finally decided to offer everyone a chance to play it free of charge, at least up to level 10. The program is called "Discovery Mode", and as they say, "It's all very simple: All you need is an active Dark and Light forum account".

"This access is valid for the whole lifetime of Dark and Light. Invite your friends to join you now in the hostile lands of Ganareth!

The goal is to give all players the chance to start an unlimited adventure in the world of Ganareth.

From the 10th level, the gamer continues the adventure with no limit but he cannot collect more XP points (Fighting, Social, and Craft).

If he decides to keep progressing though Ganareth, he will have to buy a Dark and Light activation key and will have to choose to be either a Freedom or a Master player."

That's all, folks, but stay tuned for more MMO - *cough* WoW *cough* - news shortly.

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Sony Claims Emmy Award For SIXAXIS, 'Emmy' Says NOWAI

The world was seemingly coming to an end on Monday, when Sony issued a perplexing press release claiming to have won a Technology and Engineering Emmy Award for their PlayStation 3 SIXAXIS controller, despite Nintendo's "Wiimote" being a lot better suited choice for such a distinction, obviously enough. In their announcement, Sony proclaimed that the National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences would honor them with the award at the International Consumer Electronics Show (CES) 2007 in Las Vegas, on Monday evening.

Fortunately, the world didn't come to an end that night, because common sense prevailed (for once), and Sony turned out to be full of *it. So no, there wasn't any Emmy award given for the PS3 SIXAXIS controller, albeit Sony did receive one... but for the PS2 Dual Shock controller (and another one for the PS3's Xross Media Bar interface, according to the official list of award winners). This was cleared up on Hydrapinion yesterday, where Christine Chin from NATAS responded with the following statement to their inquiry:

"I understand you had contacted Cheryl Daly, Director of Communications at NATAS to confirm if Sony won for their PS3 controller. This is incorrect, Sony won for their dual shock analog controller. The award is from the Video Game Technology Group. It was nominated by our internal group and considered along with the Nintendo D-Pad both of which were considered Emmy worthy for the development of the generation of controllers that followed the classic joysticks.

I would like to confirm that Sony did not win for their PS3 controller, they won for their Dual Shock Analog controller."

  Wait a minute. Aren't the Dual Shock and D-Pad controllers kind of... you know... old? Somebody needs to tell these NATAS folks that the "next generation" of consoles is already here. Well, maybe next year they'll take the new technology into consideration. Until then, shame on Sony!

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If you don't know what MapleStory is, you've been missing on one of the funniest, free MMO games ever to come out of Asia, and Korea in particular. First released in 2003 by Korean online giant Nexon, MapleStory could easily be described as a casual 2D side-scrolling MMO Action-RPG, with cute-as-hell chibi-styled anime-like characters. Since then, the game has enjoyed more success than many subscription-based online games, which is why its makers are now planning to bring it to the Nintendo DS handheld platform.

Nexon has been talking about developing games for the DS since last year's G-Star event, but barely yesterday did they reveal that the first such title will be a new version of MapleStory. Just how "massively-multiplayer" will it be, it remains to be seen. A true MMO on the DS would certainly be something to look forward to.

For the time being, they only announced a Korean release date, set for September 2007, although the new DS MapleStory should also make its way to the rest of the world at some point in the future.

A few screenshots, allegedly from the DS version, are now available in our local MapleStory gallery, and there's also a silly trailer to be watched online, though without actually revealing anything of interest about the game - just a bunch of over-hyped Korean school girls playing with their DS Chibi DS Lite. No complains here.

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