General Gaming News

Soft-World International might be a name that is unfamiliar to most of us (I’m not in the know as well), but it is actually the largest developer/operator of online games in Taiwan. Introductions aside, a January 30 press conference saw Soft-World International roll out its new game known as Xenjo Journey Online. Xenjo Journey Online holds the distinction of being the first PC/Xbox 360 online game that is based on a Chinese-language interface - making this the firstfruits of its co-operation with Microsoft when it comes to developing similar cross-platform games. Porting it over to the Xbox 360 shouldn’t be too hard considering it has basically a similar hardware architecture to that of a PC.

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Funcom and Eidos has announced at CES 2008 that a spanking new website for Age of Conan has been launched. Fans and interested folks can check it out here, and the site is information rich with content concerning the Age of Conan universe. You get entertaining stuff such as new videos, a selection of some of the best screenshots from the game (well notice the marketing speak here - the best shots from the game, so don’t set your expectations up too high as the rest of the game might actually look rather mediocre on the whole), and popular links among others.

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Looks like online gamers are set to benefit with Internap Network Services Corporation rolling out its intelligent routing and IP technology that will be used by GameRail to provide gamers with a superior online experience. It is said that Internap helps aggregate local broadband traffic and activity on to GameRail’s nationwide private network, which in turn connects users directly to game sites. For those who are not in the know, GameRail operates a nationwide private broadband network which was specifically designed for multiplayer gaming online, in which gamers experience superior performance options.

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Ho! Ho! Ho! I know that Christmas has just passed but perhaps Santa might visit a little early for owners of the Xbox 360? Word on the street has it that Metal Gear Solid 4, the triple A title that Sony fanboys claim will see sales of their beloved console finally taking off, will make an appearance on the Xbox 360 within 12 to 14 months after the PS3 version is released this spring. According to XboxFamily, this information (rumor more like it) was blurted from a Konami representative during an undisclosed distribution meeting.

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CES, as always, promises to be interesting with tons of news as well as new releases. Word on the street has it that Sony will be gaining more brownie points with gamers this CES thanks to a brand new feature for their handheld that allows users to “call friends, talk trash to fellow gamers or catch up with acquaintances via Skype for PSP system.” What do you think about this new development? Will it make you drop your DS Lite like a hot potato and rush out to get a PSP, if you haven’t yet picked one up already? Or do you, being a hardcore Nintendo fan, just grind your teeth in seething anger and hope somebody comes up with an equivalent on the DS Lite? Anyways, just look out for more news and developments from CES 2008.

Source: Joystiq

You won’t see Bill Gates taking it easy despite being one of the richest men in the world for many years running already. This time, Mr. Gates himself will be making some announcements at CES this weekend, and some folks think that Bill will thrill the masses with an announcement that Microsoft will be working to prepare the 360 platform to selected consumer electronic companies.

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Despite folks from both the PS3 and Xbox 360 camps (more of the former than the latter, as they play the role of sour grapes) claiming that the Wii is just a fad late last year when the next-gen console war kicked off in full gear, the Nintendo Wii actually managed to hold its ground throughout the entire year of 2007 despite suffering from hardware shortages (imagine 1.8 million manufactured consoles per month flying off the shelves completely) as well as a dearth of games compared to the Xbox 360. It is still as hard to find this holiday season as it was during last Christmas, so you can expect that 2008 will be the same while Sony fanboys continue to ask everyone to wait until they see the next triple A title come along (how many of these false messiahs have we heard about that will turn around the PS3’s fortunes and failed miserably?)

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Looks like those who are anxiously waiting for Nokia’s N-Gage gaming service will just have to wait even longer, as the Finnish cellphone manufacturing company has pushed back the N-Gage launch no thanks to delays in software testing. While that might be agonizing to folks who already own N-Gage ready handsets from Nokia, it is always better to release a polished product than one that is full of bugs when in use. Hopefully the delay in the N-Gage’s release won’t interfere with the music shop and mapping services that are Nokia’s main weapons when it comes to making a name for itself in the mobile Internet service arena.

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Electronic Arts has recently announced that Warhammer Online: Age of Reckoning (WAR in short) has just crossed the magical 500,000 mark. This highly anticipated massively-multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG) from EA Mythic has beta registrants from North America and Europe so far. Beta testing will resume next week with a special sneak peek at the new Dark Elf lands and careers. Courtesy to the amount of response from fans throughout the world, the development team are blessed with a really strong pool of gamers to engage in WAR’s final tuning stages before it is unleashed upon the masses.

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Most people take their World of Warcraft seriously, and as well all know, RPGs do require a healthy amount of imagination in order for it to work. Lately, computer-based RPGs have taken out a whole lot of that work from the players themselves since the machines are powerful enough to convey the message that the game developers wanted to - but that doesn’t detract from the fact that many people do sometimes wish that the characters the play in the virtual world could be fleshed out for real, in say, the form of an action figure. Ed Fries, former vice president of Microsoft Game Studios, has partnered with gaming giant Blizzard Entertainment to come up with FigurePrints - a premium service that allows World of Warcraft players to create 3D statues of the individual characters they play in the game.

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