Daily Archives: October 24, 2011

The New Games From SOE

I think we are seeing the continued evolution of Sony Online Entertainment as its PlayStation masters at Sony Computer Entertainment continue to mold SOE in their own image.

SOE has two new titles out this month that did not make the MMO news… because they are not MMOs… or even Facebook games.

We have Payday: The Heist.

Payday: The Heist

And Rochard.

Rochard - The Bad Pun

The links for each are to the reviews at Ars Technica because… that seemed to be the best source of information.

I am actually a bit surprised that Payday: The Heist is on the PC as well as the PlayStation 3.

But clearly SOE has commitments to meet for their console gaming masters.  Not that SOE hasn’t done non-MMO games before, but they have been pretty rare.  So to get two new ones in a single month seems like a clear change in focus somewhere.

Do you think this means PlayStation ports for PlanetSide 2 and EverQuest Next?  Does SOE’s new Forge Light engine, which will power these two titles, have cross platform capabilities?

Items from the Mail Bag – Whole Lotta Press Releases Edition

Once again we look into what has show up at the blog email address that didn’t warrant a post of its own, wasn’t a 419 Scam, or wasn’t an entry in the Azeroth Travel Poster contest.

  • Anthony from Gamingo sent me a note asking if it was alright to put me on his press release distribution list.  Being surprised that somebody actually asked in advance, I said yes just to encourage such behavior.  Unfortunately, a lot of his press releases have a short shelf life, while I only do this once a month, so a number of items I received won’t get any mention.
  • Vizo over at Mediocre Gamer dropped me and a few other bloggers a line to tell me that he and some other people have started up a new blog called Mediocre gamer.  So there.  Probably more mention than he got out of anybody else on the list.
  • WXP Games sent me an offer to get a review copy of Xotic for myself and my editorial staff (i.e. myself).  I declined via an apathetic non-response.  I was a bit surprised (and annoyed) that they did not include any links with this email aside from the one to their Facebook page.  What if Facebook had finally gotten around to banning me?
  • Gamingo sent me a press release to tell me that their game Cultures, which sounds like a build, explore, conquer sort of browser game is popular in both Europe and Chine.  Not so much in North America I would guess then.
  • Beau sent out a message to the MMO Voices mailing list that he is facing the decision to either shut it down or transfer the ownership to another individual.
  • Serendipitously, Zynga sent me a message the same day asking me to come back and play CityVille.  If I read the message right, it suggests that if I build an arena, Enrique Iglesias might show up.  Euphoria?
  • Riot games wanted to inform me that my League of Legends account has been inactive for a long stretch.  If I do not log in before October 30th, they will free up my display name for use by other players.  So if you were aching to be known as Wilhelm IV, you chance approaches.
  • Club Penguin wants me to know that their Halloween related events are starting.  However, Club Penguin is still a bad word for somebody in our household who still harbors shame and resentment at the whole past affair with them.  There must be a gene for passing on grudge holding abilities.
  • And, as with last month, the final mail bag update is from Jason Scott, who sent out an email about how he is now within striking distance of his Kickstarter goal to fund his planned documentary three pack, with less than $5,000 of the $100K target left to raise.  That means I am going to have to play up soon, but that is okay. (Between the time when I wrote this and the time I posted it, Jason Scott passed the $100K mark.  So his three new documentaries should be under way… in fact, he was already doing interviews for one based on how well things were going.)