KH2 New Trailer

Rumour : BigWorld games licensing in China - The 9 & Netease

from the Busy day in the East dept.

In what appears to be some significant licensing to-ing and fro-ing, we may be able to shortly confirm the following :

1) Netease (NTES) is publishing the BigWorld-powered 'Tianxia 2' in Taiwan through BigWorld licensee, Userjoy.
2) Userjoy themselves are publishing BigWorld-powered Kingdom Heroes II in mainland China through The9.

All of this is assumption and inference at the moment - stay tuned for confirmations.

Jobs : Position openings at BW licensee - 38 Studios

from the Work in the USA dept.

38 Studios

• Project Art Director. Timonium, MD. (USA)
• Senior PS3 Programmer. Timonium, MD. (USA)
• Graphics Engineer. Timonium, MD. (USA)

Opinion : Seeking Alpha - NetEase: Reasons Behind TX2's Success

from the We've only just begun dept.

Seeking Alpha offers up some initial observations surrounding the strong debut of Netease's BigWorld powered title, Tian Xia 2:

TX2 reached 245K PCU during first week of open beta. NetEase's 3D game Tian Xia II (TX2) reached 245000 Peak Concurrent Users (PCU) on September 26, according to my tracking in the chart below. This represents a 32% increase from 185000 on September 19, the day before TX2's open beta. During this 7-day period, TX2's server capacity expanded 36% to 53 server groups. These two data points (32% and 36%) show that TX2's usage level has increased at a similar pace to server additions, and indicate the game's strong ability to attract new users.

Sydney turns red

from the A little off topic but worth a look dept.

BigWorld principal R&D is based in normally sunny Sydney, though we also have offices in the US, Japan, China and Europe. If Sydney-siders at the office are a bit weirded out today, it may be because a massive roiling cloud of red dust has spread across the NSW capital -

38 Studios remarks on Storytelling at AGDC

from the Skip to the End dept

Gamasutra has some AGDC coverage of Steve Danuser from 38 Studios, one of the writers for Curt Schilling's upcoming BigWorld powered title, talks about some of the difficulties in writing for online :

"No one wants to read in MMOs. As much as writers want to think their quest prose is for the ages, reading is not a popular activity in online gaming. The genre is a bad fit for classic storytelling. The strength of the MMO genre is that it is a social medium, a communal experience with a shared narrative.

Giving players the tools to create their own story experiences within that narrative is what keeps them coming back to a game. Both directors firmly believe that MMO writers should be leveraging the strengths of both the medium and the playerbase far more than they do right now." - Gamasutra

More over at the article

Twinity blogged : Sun Festival

from the Others like to play also dept.

From the Twinity Monitor, a Twinity focused virtual world blog site, comes news of a recent mini-festival in the Singapore segment of the Twinity universe. Check out the other articles over at the blog.

Review : Tianxia II by Netease

from the Better reviewed than Dead dept.

After posting some very solid numbers for Tianxia 2 over the weekend, let's head over to MMO Culture to check out Cinderboy's review of this Netease's title :

TianXia 2 is one of the typical oriental fantasy MMORPG churned out from China, but its the really refined graphics, questing and simplicity which really captivated me. The game was actually in Beta a few years back, but I suppose the company, Netease, had to do some financial shifting to acquire the rights for WoW China, hence the long delay for this game. In case you are wondering, WoW China's chaos is soon to end in the coming weeks. Here's my short journey so far as one of the 8 clans available, the pure magic damage clan.

For more on the game, fantastic screenshots and detailed opinion, head over to MMO Culture.

Netease - TX2 strong results for open beta

from the Gather Stats dept

Tian Xia II (TX2) had a strong open beta debut. NetEase (NTES) launched the open beta testing of its 3D game TX2 on Sunday, September 20. According to my tracking in the chart below, TX2 reached 227500 Peak Concurrent Users (PCU) on Sunday, surging 24% from 185000 in Saturday. During the peak time of Sunday, TX2's overall server utilization rate was about 90%, indicating that average popularity per server remained high despite the aggressive expansion of total capacity from 35 to 51 servers (up 46%) since last Friday.

With thanks to Seeking Alpha.

INTC,IBM,NTES,NTES NetEase.com Buys Blade Servers for Tianxia II

INTC,IBM,NTES,NTES NetEase.com Buys Blade Servers for Tianxia II

NetEase.com Inc. (Nasdaq: NTES) lately purchased BladeCenter HS22 blade servers from IBM for the operation of its heavyweight 3D online game Tianxia II.

BladeCenter HS22 adopts Xeon 5500 processors made by Intel Corporation (Nasdaq: INTC; SEHK: 4335). It is redesigned on the basis of former BladeCenter servers, adding many new functions. Analysts believe that BladeCenter HS22 has been the most advanced and strongest game server by far.

NetEase.com spent tens of millions of Chinese yuan for the purchase, showing its great confidence in Tianxia II, which is going to start an open beta test on September 20, 2009.

NetEase.com is a leading online game developer and operator as well as Internet portal. It is currently operating online games such as Fantasy Westward Journey, Westward Journey Online II, Heroes of Tang Dynasty, and Westward Journey 3.

In the second quarter of 2009, the company got gross profits of CNY 692 million or USD 101 million. Its revenues from online game services hit CNY 872 million or USD 128 million. By June 30, its total assets reached CNY 7.4 billion or USD 1.1 billion.

Austin Game Developers Conference on next week

from the Stop by and see us dept.

Twinity launches music event ahead of real world album

from the You just missed it dept

Twinity - Berlin and now Singapore friendly Virtual World this week previewed Indie powerhouse duo Kilowatt and Vanek's upcoming (September 11 release) album.

Indie Tuesday: KiloWatts & Vanek Exclusive Sneak Preview of the New Album

Indie Tuesday special! The new album “Focus and Flow” by KiloWatts & Vanek will be presented in Twinity two days before the official release! Bring your best dancing moves as Peter Vanek will be live on site with his avatar and won’t only answer your questions, but also wants to trip the light fantastic!

Listen today to new songs by KiloWatts & Vanek – exclusively in Twinity! The American-Belgian duo melds James Watt’s electronic visions with Peter Vanek’s talent as a songwriter. The result is a bunch of surprisingly complex and enchanting songs which are good for dancing or dreaming – or best both at the same time! The new album will officially be released on Friday, 11 September through motor.digital and Dependent.

With thanks and props to the Twinity Blog.

Netease - Genesis: Journey to the West gameplay trailer

from the Not that Genesis, the Other One dept

Grandia Online commercial service start!

冒険活劇オンラインRPG『グランディア オンライン』が2009年8月26日より正式サービスを開始した。

　『グランディア オンライン』は、家庭用ゲームシリーズ累計販売本数200万本を超える『グランディア』シリーズの最新作。基本プレイ無料(アイテム課金方式)のオンラインゲームで、強力な連携・コンボ攻撃ができる「アルティメット アクション バトル システム」、精霊石を装着して装備品を自分好みにカスタマイズできる「精霊石システム」、50種類以上存在する称号をプレイヤーキャラクターにつけて個性を持たせることが可能な「称号システム」などが特徴となっている。正式サービス開始に伴い、ゲーム内ショップ「GRANDIA MALL」で購入できる課金アイテム「プレミアムアイテム」や、ランダムでゲーム内アイテムが当たる抽選くじ「グラオンくじ」も利用できるようになる。

　そして正式サービス開始を記念して、キャンペーンがスタート！　キャンペーン期間中、『グランディア オンライン』のゲームアカウントを登録するだけで、プレミアムアイテムを購入できるShop Poinが1,000ポイント分プレゼントされる“1,000Shop Point プレゼント！ おトクに始めちゃおうキャンペーン!!”など4つのキャンペーンが8月26日よりスタートする。イベントの詳細は、『グランディア オンライン』公式サイトの更新をチェックしよう。

Grandia Onlne official site:
http://www.grandiaonline.jp/

A preview of extended web and social network capability inside BigWorld 2.0

Austin Game Developers Conference is on in two weeks

from the Come see us at the show dept.

BigWorld will be previewing Bigworld Technology 2.0 at AGDC in Austin in mid-September, showcasing a slew of new features and capabilities.

38 Studios' Curt Schilling interviewed by Boston Globe

from the Older post but interesting dept.



38 Studios' famous founder and recently departed CEO Brett Close talk to the Boston Globe about the labor and challenges involved in raising capital for a massive online IP and gaming studio.

"Creating a massively multiplayer game can take several years and is akin to designing an alternate universe. It involves lots of artwork, animation, and software programming. While a feature film might have two or three hours of music written for it, for instance, a team of composers at 38 Studios is writing 80 hours of music to accompany every possible game scenario. Additionally, the environments and characters are sketched first, then built in the computer as 3-D digital objects. Then, there must be testing. WoW was in development for five years."

Link to The Boston Globe

Netease to Open Beta TX2 today, China - stats/analysis

from the Over in the East dept

On August 26, NetEase (NTES) will release the open beta version of Tian Xia II (TX2), one of its in-house developed 3D games. The open beta will be officially launched on September 20, accompanied by a large-scale advertising campaign. This article discusses TX2's 4Q09 outlook and potential risks, and shows the game's recent trends of Peak and Average Concurrent Users (PCU and ACU).

TX2's PCU will be substantially boosted by aggressive advertising. TX2 is the focus of NetEase's advertising campaign in the second half of 2009, and more than RMB 100 million ($14.6 million) will be allocated to TX2's promotion, according to reports by Sina and Nanfang Daily. My tracking shows TX2 has already reached 160K PCU without much advertising (see chart below). I estimate the heavy advertising surrounding the open beta will propel TX2's PCU to at least 250K in 4Q09.

TX2 players' spending and stickiness will increase significantly. The huge size of TX2's open beta patch (1G - larger than many single games) indicates rich new contents will be added. Currently, TX2's revenues rely heavily on four systems/features: Treasure Box, Soul Pearl (Yuan Hun Zhu), Dresses, and Riding Animals. I believe the open beta version's abundant new contents will diversify TX2's revenue sources, and boost players' spending to a higher level in 4Q09. In addition, the large amount of new contents will increase players' stickiness in 4Q09 because they are likely to spend much time on exploring new maps, tasks, instances (Fu Ben), etc.

TX2 still faces potential risks. Although TX2's game design significantly imitates World of Warcraft (WoW), its skill system, task system, and profession balance still have a long way to go compared with WoW. I believe the open beta version will only partially solve this problem, and a lot of additional R&D efforts are required to improve TX2 after it enters open beta. Although aggressive advertising will boost TX2's PCU in the near term, such PCU levels will not be sustainable if NetEase's R&D efforts on TX2 fail to keep up with the growth in concurrent users.

Thanks to Seeking Alpha.

Germany's Gamigo signs Interzone Futebol for Europe - also Gamescon trailer

from the Kick Stuff dept

Interzone's 11-a-side MMO footy game signed by gamigo

gamigo AG and Interzone Entertainment have announced that Futebol will be released in German and English by the end of this year, with French, Spanish, Turkish and Polish language versions following in 2010. Futebol is an online game which features team-based multiplayer matches, with every character on the pitch (playing field) controlled by a different player, including goalkeepers who, until now, have always been AI-controlled. During the match, players will improve their skills and unlock new skills and moves. Players will also improve their personal rankings and their team's rankings, earn money through salary or sponsorship, and customize their character at creation, during game play, and by buying virtual items from Interzone's online store. A trailer is now locally mirrored.

BigWorld @ GDC/GamesCom Cologne 2009 next week

from the Will you be There? dept.

Contact details here.

Navy Legend : in-game screens

from the Blow them out of the water dept.

Navy Legend CG trailer for BigWorld powered MMO

from the Awesome vids dept.

BigWorld features seven games at China Joy 09

from the Far East dept.

This July's 'China Joy' - Shanghai's equivalent to E3 showcased a number of MMO titles either released or close to release from some of BigWorld's Chinese licensees.

1. 天下贰 Tian xia II http://tx2.163.com/
2. 创世西游 Chuang shi xi you http://csxy.163.com/
3. 创世Online Chuang shi Online http://cs.gyyx.cn/
4. 侠客列传 Xia ke lie zhuan http://www.t2xk.com/
5. 三国群英传OL2 San guo qun ying zhuan OL2 http://sg2.uj.com.tw/
6. 海陆传奇 Hai lu chuan qi http://www.dahaizhan.com/
7. 鬼吹灯OL Gui chui deng OL http://gui.uqugame.com/

Metaversum launches Twinity Singapore - Straits Times

from the Germans in the Far East dept.

THIS National Day, Orchard Road may be a hive of activity - both in the real and virtual worlds.

Twinity's maker, a virtual world developer, is launching an online realisation of Singapore's iconic shopping strip on Aug 9, where users can make virtual friends, visit online galleries, go shopping and even set up online businesses.

As part of the launch, and in conjunction with the Republic's 44th National Day, the virtual area will host several events. These include:

A live video stream of the parade from the Marina Bay floating platform.

A virtual performance by home-grown band Electrico of this year's theme song, which it will perform at the parade too.

The Pledge Moment, where users can congregate to take the national pledge together at precisely 8.22pm, alongside people in the physical world.

Twinity's maker, German company Metaversum, has already put out a virtual replica of Berlin. Virtual Singapore is the second location to be launched, while London is on the cards.

The difference between Twinity and other virtual worlds, such as Second Life, is that it represents real places. For instance, virtual Orchard Road, which has been in development for over a year, features the Marriott Hotel with its green pagoda roof and even the Electronic Road Pricing gantry in front of it.

Its creation was supported by a grant from the multi-agency Interactive Digital Media Research and Development Programme Office (IDMPO), hosted by the Media Development Authority of Singapore.

IDMPO's programme director Dennis Sng said: 'Singaporeans will have a whole new experience of National Day celebrations this year. Singaporeans living overseas can also participate in the celebrations through the virtual world.' While still in its beta testing phase, Twinity has 130,000 users and Singaporean membership has recently doubled, a spokesman for the company said.

More over at the Straits Times.

Trailer for a BigWorld powered game from http://gui.uqugame.com/ 《鬼吹灯》online高清视频 -

from the Finally, tentacles! dept.

Gamearts : Grandia Online character creation and posturing overview!

from the Make the Eyes a bit bigger dept.

Wargaming - tantalizing glimpse of World of Tanks

from the Too much reflection dept.

Beijing-based 9Com select Bigworld Engine for multiple games

from the Quick Links dept.

"9Com (Beijing) Technology Co., Ltd. was formally created in 2007, is engaged in the Internet and mobile communications network of interactive entertainment products (online games, mobile games, etc.)-based operations, sales, R & D and investment in high-tech service enterprises. The company is headquartered in Beijing, with branches in Shanghai, Guangzhou and Chengdu"

Link from 17173.com here.

Userjoy - second BigWorld title on its way - Heroes : 'Scions of Phoenix'

from the Hot off the Press dept.

Userjoy - Taiwan MMOG powerhouse, is working on the final touches of its second BigWorld-powered title, Heroes - Scions of Phoenix, a Windows-based, fantasy MMO currently slated for a late 2009 release.



Previewed at E3 2009, the latest fantasy outing from Userjoy focuses a mix of martial arts, history and magic for gamers to immerse themselves in. Head over to MMOSite for an early review and more images.

BigWorld features in Develop Top 10 2009

from the It's just nice to be included dept.

"Version 2.0 offers performance increases due to improved multi-threading support on the client side, various special and post-effects that enable a wide range of real-time filters to be applied to the graphics engine, including sophisticated motion blur, depth of field and colour correction and distortions. On the server side, the architecture has been rolled over onto 64-bit, enabling much greater memory addressability – and therefore larger, more complex worlds – and further revisions to server scalability, reliability and general performance."

More at the link.

Grandia CBT next week

from the Step on up dept.

According to www.Steparu.com, there is a short closed beta test this week of Grandia Online, for a lucky few at least. More information at this link.

Grandia Online coming Summer 2009!

from the It's all over the web - even in Japan dept.

Japan is getting its second BigWorld-powered title launching in as many years, with Tokyo-based Gamearts studio publishing the online fest with Gungho.

"Yoshitada Iwata, Producer at GungHo Online Entertainment, commented that “The BigWorld Technology provides a robust, cost effective way for us to bring GameArts’ online visions to life. Both the technology and the support we receive from the BigWorld team are second to none, and I cannot recommend the BigWorld platform more highly to teams considering creating any kind of massively multiplayer online game.”

More on the full release of this game, currently slated for Summer 2009 available here and here.

E3 - Userjoy's Kingdom Heroes 2 Trailer

from the You were there and you saw it dept.

And now, for something completely different

from the Anti-Orcs dept.

More madness from Minsk, with the tongue in cheek debut trailer for Wargaming's upcoming, BigWorld-powered title, World of Tanks.

Tanks FTW!

from the anti-Orcs dept.

.


Wargaming.net recently announced their top-secret BigWorld-powered title - "World of Tanks". Their early prototype, which was seen by a select few at Moscow's recent Russian Game Developer's Conference (KRI), featured heavy PvP arena-style action between Soviet and German forces along the Eastern Front in WWII.

The title is currently expected to go into beta in Russia and former Soviet countries later this year. We'll keep you informed of their progress, but until then, you can find additional information at their (Russian) site, World of Tanks, and as always you can check out their main site Wargaming.net

Some still images from 'Kingdom of Heroes 2 Online'

www.userjoy.com.tw

Fantastic looking: beautiful scene in Genesis Journey / 美夺天工，《创世西游》带你游遍如诗江南

From http://games.enet.com.cn/article/A1120090428150.html/
Quick Comment: Genesis Journey, as the second title developed by Netease based on BigWorld technology, provides with players so beautiful in-game-scenes.

美夺天工，《创世西游》带你游遍如诗江南

　　传统的中国人理解的天堂不在彼岸，不在来世。中国人的天堂，一直存在于中国的历史、传统所创造的生活世界中。这才有了“上有天堂，下有苏杭”这句话。而《创世西游》里的淮南道正是中国古代唐朝的江南。整个淮南道地处于大唐东南临海，是仙家、佛、武、文的新手出身地。那在游戏里，到底怎么样的一个场景可以担当得起江南的绮丽，到底什么样的一个建筑可以让江南的气息扑面而来？《创世西游》里的淮南道，从设计这个场景的一开始就给了美术人员一个大难题，因为江南，本身就是一个高度，这曾被诗歌熏陶的地方，是中国人魂牵梦萦的天堂！

　　创世淮南道之“山水”

　　“山色如娥，花光如颊，温网如酒，小编如绫……”，江南的山和水似乎永不可分，就连白居易在写下“日出江花红胜火，春来江水绿如蓝”之后，都不忘补上一记“山寺月中寻桂子，郡亭枕上看潮头。”一篇篇脍炙人口的诗词，引发了美术工作人员的灵感，成就了《创世西游》如画一般的江南山水。荷花湖畔，远山含黛，杨柳依依；尘星亭上，翠谷流云，青松飞瀑……草长莺飞，有声有色，如果还能嗅到莲蓬清香的话，这个江南山水也就完美了。

　　创世淮南道之“城镇”

　　苏杭自古商贾云集，数不尽的繁华，挥不完的闲情，自然少不了迷离的小渔村。扬州城不在长江以南，却属江南之地，在美术人员的精雕细琢下，粉墙黛瓦、烟柳画桥、处处透着风雅古韵；通商口岸本该巨帆如云，可兵灾人祸之下只能看到空船破网，要拯救这个荒凉的小渔村吗，看风景之余，也手刃几个强贼劫匪吧。

　　创世江南之“人情”

　　游《创世西游》美景，更是可以读历史，习人情。白墙绿瓦的书斋中曲径通幽，高墙内传出稚童的琅琅书声。江南最多的就是婉约派词人，琴棋书画样样精通的他们中又有多少是从这样的书斋里走出来的？看看大街边上的垂髫小儿、躬腰老人、红衫少女、豆腐西施，他们说不定就是深藏不露的世外高人，而在这里，他们只是普通的小市民，用身形言语点缀着美丽的江南。

　　在游览淮南道的同时，我看到了《创世西游》她所演释的独特视角里的江南，这里的江南清新淡雅，她运用的元素细致，一草一木之间搭配考究。《创世西游》里的淮南道，不仅是美丽富庶的江南，也赋予了淮南道繁华而不张扬内在气质，是和我们普遍认识的小桥流水式的江南景象完全不同的。看着美景的同时，相信你也感受到了开发组美术人员对这个虚拟世界里的用心，她当之无愧是传统中国历史中的——天堂！

　　《创世西游》是网易西游三部曲中的一部，使用3D先进引擎Bigworld开发的她，继承了梦幻和大话的诸多优秀玩法，更在画面细节的雕琢和人文景观的加入上下足了功夫。大唐盛世，不光有雄伟的长安、如画的江南和悲凉的西域，也有精彩动人的西游故事。现在加入技术封测，找BUG提建议，在游戏里留下你的烙印，把《创世西游》如此美景及感人的背景故事带到更多玩家面前吧。

Userjoy's "Kingdom of Heroes 2 Online" goes into closed beta

from the Battle Hardened Brigade dept.

'Relique Game' will start beta in June / 'Relique Game' 将于6月份对外进行封闭性测试

From http://www.uqugame.com/
Quick comment:'Relique Game',a MMORPG developed by Shanghai UQUgame will start its beta in this June and will be commercial launched in Sep.

Relique Game是上海游趣公司开发的融合中国古代地宫探险与现代社会社交混合的一款超大型网络游戏，玩家将身处古代中国地宫探险、寻宝、解秘，在这个充满机关、怪兽与混战的世界之中，体验穿越时代的快感、认识历史的感知，玩家将完全不同感受的大型多人在线游戏。Relique Games 预计在今年6月份进行第一次公开性测试，力争在9月份完成商业化运营。

'Zhengrong Tianxia' will start 2rd Beta in June / '峥嵘天下'将在六月份启动第二次测试

From http://zr.5hma.com/html/news/20090306/0/shtm/1030550860.aspx
Quick Comment: ' Zhengrong Tianxia' will start its second beta in June. More lucky players have chances to get test accounts than the first beta. More gameplays and game content will be tested in this beta.

由杭州五花马网络科技公司历经两年，完全自主研发的MMORPG经典之作《峥嵘天下》一经推出，立刻受到广大玩家的热情支持，自08年末首测以来，以其人性化的游戏操作、精美的游戏画面获得一致好评，其浓厚的民族文化气息不断给玩家们带来美的享受！

在首次技术测试后，五花马研发团队根据首测时收集到的众多玩家宝贵经验，正紧锣密鼓地对游戏进行从画面到玩法的最终优化和改进，相信不用多久，二次技术测试即将与广大殷切期盼的玩家门见面。据内部透露，二次测试版本在内容和画面上都进行了优化升级，首测时曾流连忘返的桃源更加如梦如幻了，就让我们先来了解一下玩家踏入峥嵘的第一个区域——桃花源吧！

仙魔大战中从魔界涌入的妖魔和邪魔妖气破坏了人间界原本十分充盈的灵气，很多地方不仅已经没有了足够的灵气从而不再适于修炼，而且有些地方甚至被妖气侵袭出现了妖物。在这场波及人间的大战中，一位无名仙人施展法力，用崆峒印保护了一方山水不受到邪魔妖气的侵袭，并在此地种下了一粒不老泉所浸泡的种子，这粒种子生长成为一棵充满灵气的巨大桃树，可以供幸存的人修真修炼，这就是桃源的传说。

由于修真之人在修炼之初最容易受到邪魔歪道的侵扰，甚至可以导致修入魔道，因此后来经过挑选的资质上乘的初学者就会被送往灵气充足的桃源进行修炼的筑基。在渡过了修炼的筑基阶段之后，修真者就可以前往其它地方继续修炼之路。这些被挑选修炼的人也称之为“天选之人”。玩家们就是以“天选之人”的身份被送到桃源，在这里开始希望的征程和危机的挑战！

是不是很神秘？在游戏开测前，我们先去偷窥一下桃源的奇景吧！

玩家进入游戏后，以修真者的身份去拜访“天书使者”——这位美女就是《峥嵘天下》的新手指导员了，她会告诉大家一些基本技能的使用方法，玩家们可以在这里学习游戏基本操作。学会了基本技能的修真者就可以去找村长“宁长老”开始自己的修行之路。你可以一边修炼一边帮助村中的人做一些力所能及的事情，从他们口中，你能慢慢了解到桃源的美丽传说。

在桃源，有很多奇怪的事情等着你去发现并进行深入调查。其中，你会遇到一些会行走的桃树以及会说话的桃树，等你到了一定的级别，这些桃树也便会给你一些特别的任务，并让你察看桃源之外的情况。在接下来的调查过程中，修真者们会慢慢了解到桃源结界已经开始出现裂痕！而灵修一派的清虚子也正在全力调查桃源奇异现象的根源！你只要找到清虚子，就能找到一些答案，并能助清虚子一臂之力，消除桃源瘴气！

究竟是什么答案呢？怎样才能帮到清虚子拯救桃源？到底还有什么可怕的事情等着修真者们？更惊人更精彩的还在后面！只等你来揭露，层层谜团！

《峥嵘天下》二测在即，更多游戏详情，敬请关注游戏官网！

《峥嵘天下》官方网站：zr.5hma.com

Twinity gets Herringed

from the Looks best in Red dept,

BigWorld powered Virtual World 'Twinity' from Metaversum, has picked up a Red Herring Top 100 award in Europe, recognising leading private technology ventures in the EMEA region. Thanks to Virtual Worlds News.

G4 @ GDC interview with 38 Studios : Curt Schilling

Genesis Journey to the West goes into closed beta on 3rd.Apr / 《创世西游》于2009年4月3日第一次技术封闭测试

From http://game.people.com.cn/GB/48644/48661/9039203.html
Quick Comment: Genesis Journey to the West, a massive 3D MMOPRG developped by Netease, will go into the first Closed beta on 3rd.Apr.2009

人民网3月27日电　网易旗下“创世工作室”历时四年倾力打造的国产3D东方神幻大作《创世西游》，将于2009年4月3日正式开放第一次技术封闭测试。

网易分别在2002年和2004年推出了《西游三部曲》的前两部——《大话西游》和《梦幻西游》，并以其超凡的游戏品质、丰富多样的玩法和良好的网络社区环境，赢得了无数玩家的喜爱。

《梦幻西游》更以232万同时在线的数据，创造了中国网络游戏的神话。

为了向玩家呈现一副完整的西游画卷，网易于2005年开始正式启动了三部曲的第三部——《创世西游》的开发。经过四年的辛苦耕耘，现在终于可以展现在玩家面前。

作为三部曲中的压轴大作，《创世西游》建立在一个宏大而完整的世界体系之上，在这个世界中，演绎了六道的生成和轮回，五行的起始和寂灭。世界之中的各种生灵，他们的使命与追求，征战与纠葛，生存与死亡，便注定了世界的创始与终结。而西游，便是绽开在这片广袤土地上一朵绚烂的奇葩：唐僧师徒原本是谁？他们为何踏上取经之路？取经的终极意义究竟为何？……这一切，都只是一个开始，一个世界的开始！《创世西游》由此得名。

为了展现一个全新的、更加奇幻瑰丽的中国神话世界，《创世西游》的美术风格既有别于《大话西游》的唯美写实，也不同于《梦幻西游》的Q版可爱，而是采用了一种接近传统中国美术片的风格，场景色彩更加饱满圆润，人物更加活灵活现。神幻瑰丽，丰富辽阔，融合了国风韵味与想象夸张于一身，充满了东方古典之美。
　
游戏采用与《天下贰》相同的BigWorld引擎，支持无缝超大场景和各种华丽的3D效果，单组服务器可支持万人同时在线，是目前世界上最先进的3D多人在线游戏引擎。

Website: http://csxy.163.com/

Announcing BigWorld Technology Suite 2.0 – A major upgrade delivering hundreds of new features and performance improvements

25 March 2009

For Immediate Release

In Game Web Functionality, Full 64 Bit Server Support, Ground Breaking Multi-Threaded Client Capability among enhancements to industry leading MMO middleware.

[San Francisco, CA, 25th March 2009] BigWorld Pty Ltd. today announced the release of BigWorld Technology Suite 2.0, reinforcing its position as the leader in development technology for massively multiplayer online games and virtual worlds. A proven technology, with dozens of licenses worldwide, and an ever-increasing number of game titles in full commercial operation, the BigWorld Technology Suite has been offering developers the ideal balance between quality and scalability since 1999.

Now with the release of BigWorld Technology Suite 2.0, including a multitude of new features and improvements such as native 64 bit server support, a new fully featured multi-threaded client with exciting post effects, and extensive social networking and Web 2.0-style functionality, the company continues to reinforce its position as the industry leader in truly massively multiplayer environment development technology. BigWorld CTO, Simon Hayes, commented that ‘BigWorld has always been at the forefront of massively multiplayer development technology. It was important for us to implement native full 64 bit support to ensure the greatest possible server scalability and continue to reduce deployment costs for our customers’.

Commenting on the new version, Gavin Longhurst, VP of Business Development, said “BigWorld 2.0 consolidates hundreds of optimizations and features since our customers started releasing games over the last few years. More complex and sophisticated visuals with tools like the integrated weather-editor are great improvements to workflow, but online games are not just about eye candy. Social connectivity through appropriate use of interfaces like Twitter, and web-content injection into games and virtual worlds can make for an increasingly compelling, ‘sticky’ and creative environment. These are part of the tools and interfaces for the massive communities of now and tomorrow’.

BigWorld Technology Suite 2.0 also sees the addition of a post-processing visual effects editor, enabling effects such as cartoon rendering, film granularity, and posterization to be applied to the virtual environment. This is all part of the new multi-threaded client application.

BigWorld will be demonstrating BigWorld Technology Suite 2.0 on North Hall Booth #6233 at GDC 2009, taking place at the Moscone Convention Center, San Francisco, between 25th and 27th March 2009.

About the BigWorld Technology Suite

Comprised of the BigWorld Server Software, Content Creation Pipeline, 3D Client Engine Package, Live Management Tools & Instrumentation, BigWorld Technology Suite is the premier complete and proven massively multiplayer game development solution, providing all of the complex systems required to produce engaging, highly scalable next-generation MMOGs and Virtual Worlds.

About BigWorld Pty Ltd

BigWorld Pty Ltd was formed in 2002 to commercialize years of intense R&D, which started in 1999 and continues to this day. With a direct local presence in the USA, China, Japan and Europe, BigWorld licenses its middleware platform to game studios and publishers around the world to build successful next generation MMOGs and Virtual Worlds. For more information and links to currently released or in production titles, visit www.bigworldtech.com.

BigWorld News Blog
blog.bigworldtech.com

Media Contact: Casey Gregory

Email: caseyg@bigworldtech.com

Phone: +61 2 6162 5120

Astrum Online developing new client-based title on BigWorld

from the online games play you dept.

Astrum Online Entertainment is developing a new online game based on BigWorld Technology

Moscow, Russia, March 25, 2008

Astrum Online Entertainment and BigWorld Pty Ltd. announced today the signing of a license agreement for the use of BigWorld’s technology software suite for developing a new online game.

This new project has already been in development for several months by a team of professionals with over ten years of experience in the Russian gaming industry. The team has earlier produced well- known games such as Silent Storm and Robocalypse. The official announcement of the game is scheduled for the second half of 2009.

“Our team has many years of experience in the gaming industry and I’m proud that we’ve got a chance to focus directly on this challenging gaming process in our first online project. It’s been in development for several months already; so it’s safe to say now that BigWorld’s technology successfully tackles all the objectives and allows cutting production cycles”, said Dmitry Zakharov, Head of ACTA Games, the developer of the game.

Mike Allenson, Business Development Manager Europe/Russia for BigWorld Technology stated, “We’re extremely pleased to be working with the largest online company in Eastern Europe. We’re certain that the combination of our world-leading MMO technology suite and Astrum’s highly professional and experienced development team will produce results that help solidify both of our positions locally as well as internationally.”

Vladimir Nikolsky, the CEO of Astrum Online Entertainment believes in the strategic advantage of partnering with BigWorld Pty Ltd. “Using BigWorld’s technology in game development opens new strategic horizons for Astrum Online in the development of the European online gaming market. Only the best quality and the most creative gaming projects can win against tough competition. We have both of these advantages and we are ready to start astonishing Europe and Russia this year already”.

Expanding into international markets with high quality Russian products is a seamless part of Astrum Online’s development strategy. The first steps have already been implemented and include the localization of Astrum’s games into Great Britain, Germany, Turkey and China. The experts of Astrum Online believe this will allow the Russian gaming industry to secure its position in foreign markets and create a strong foundation for the Russian business thus getting ready for the next turn in the global entertainment industry’s evolution which will begin in 5-7 years.

Occupying over 60% of the local Russian market and having extensive experience in the development, publishing and managing of online games, Astrum Online Entertainment operates in new geographical markets according to time-proven strategy of focusing on MMO games and a free-to-play business model.

About Astrum Online Entertainment

Astrum Online Entertainment is the largest player in the Russian market of interactive online entertainment. The Corporation is formed by five companies: Nival Online, Nikita.Online, IT Territory, Time Zero and DJ Games. These companies have successfully launched more than thirty MMO games, including hits like Lord of the Rings: Shadows of Angmar, Legend: Legacy of the Dragons, Territory, Time Zero, Sphere, Piratia, Perfect World and many others.

By the beginning of 2009 a total audience of Astrum’s projects made up over 15 million players.

Astrum Online Entertainment prepares to release ten of its own gaming projects as well as six localized online games by its foreign partners during 2009. For more information please visit Astrum Online.

About BigWorld Pty Ltd

BigWorld Pty Ltd was formed in 2002 to commercialize years of intense R&D, which started in 1999 and continues to this day. With a direct local presence in the USA, China, Japan and Europe, BigWorld licenses its middleware platform to game studios and publishers around the world to build successful next generation MMOGs and Virtual Worlds. For more information and links to currently released or in production titles, visit www.bigworldtech.com.


Roman Chernigovtsev
Astrum Online Entertainment
Phone: +7 (495) 952-4482
E-mail: press@astrumonline.ru

Casey Gregory
BigWorld PTY Ltd.
Phone: +61 2 6162 5120
Email: caseyg@bigworldtech.com

GungHo's Hokuto no Ken Online (Fist of the North Star Online) Gets Major Revamp

Hokuto No Ken is now Hokuto No Ken Online Heroes

At a recent press conference (March 14th 2009) in Tokyo's Akihabara district, BigWorld customer GungHo Entertainment revealed details of a major overhaul of the popular online game title 'Hokuto No Ken Online' [Fist of the North Star Online].

The update is scheduled to be available for download from the middle of April '09.




Four new major gameplay systems were unveiled:


・Hero System
Once per day, a player character selected at random will have the chance to become a Hokuto No Ken Hero - with extra abilities and powers to go with it!








・Crime System
Players can now enjoy various criminally inclined activities around the world of Hokuto No Ken. Steal a motorbike, and rampage through the city.








・Buddy System
Characters from the original "Hokuto No Ken" manga work together to achieve their aims.









・一撃必殺！ 「一指奥義（ひとさしおうぎ）」
Hmmm - your translator has no clue what this means! Looks fun though - will get back to you shortly :-)


Anyway folks, will keep you updated on all things BigWorld in Japan and Korea.