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With 2009 wrapping up today and 2010 lurking creepily around the corner, we’re eager to release our predictions on what the next year may bring to the MMO scene. Even though we try to keep our news relatively neutral, it’s the editorials and opinion pieces that garner the most reaction from the readers. Positive or negative, we appreciate that. So for this last day of 2009, we honor it by giving our own opinions (both positive and negative) about how 2010 looks to us.

Follow along after the jump for a few paragraphs from Kyle Horner, Eliot Lefebvre, Seraphina Brennan and me. In addition to our ramblings, we’d love to hear from you as well. So drop us a comment to let us know what you predict for 2010.

Continue reading Massively’s predictions for 2010

Filed under: Culture, Opinion, Massively meta

Massively’s predictions for 2010 originally appeared on Massively on Thu, 31 Dec 2009 18:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Posted on December 31st, 2009 at 6:00pm by Shawn Schuster
Filed Under: 2010, featured, massively-meta, predictions, staff

The Australian Classification Review Board has had a long running feud with the gaming industry as a whole.  There is a long running history of games being released abroad with the global equivalent of a “Mature” rating, while getting rejected down under.  Some of these banned titles include the likes of every installment in the Grand Theft Auto franchise, the original Manhunt (Rockstar never even bothered attempting to release Manhunt 2), Fallout 3, Blitz: The League, and most recently Left 4 Dead 2.  Many of these games were later censored by developers so that they could see release, much to the dismay of the Aussie gaming population.

For this reason, many were alarmed earlier this month, when the console release of Sega’s upcoming Alien vs. Predator game was dealt a similar fate. Refusing to approve the game for an 15+ rating, ultimately killed all chances of the game seeing the light of day, at least in its current state.

Things then went from bad to worse when Jason Kingsley, the CEO of Rebellion (AvP’s developer) went on the record saying the following about the banning:

“The content of AvP is based on some of the most innovative and iconic horror movies, and as such we wanted to create a title that was true to the source material. It is for adults, and it is bloody and frightening, that was our intent.

We will not be releasing a sanitised or cut down version for territories where adults are not considered by their governments to be able to make their own entertainment choices.” — Jason Kingsley via GamesIndustry.biz

So if the game is deemed inappropriate by a country’s government and the developer is refusing to budge on the removal or censoring of objectionable content, that would render hopes of Aliens vs. Predator ever seeing the release moot, right? Well lets just say that the fat lady hadn’t quite sung yet…

In what seemed like a futile attempt to maintain the integrity of the product, Sega filed an appeal with the Australian Classification Review Board, citing that the context of the violence in the game was not being considered.  Though this sounds like a flimsy argument at best, it is actually very similar to one used by Warner Bros. Interactive in defense of F.E.A.R 2: Project Origin, when it was banned back in November of 2008. To this date, F.E.A.R 2 was the only title to ever to have its banning overturned in Australia, without having to censor or remove content.

Well it looks as if Sega’s gamble may have payed off. Yesterday news was handed down that on appeal, they too have been granted the coveted 15+ rating, without the need to edit any material.  When excitedly addressing the Review Board’s sudden shift in stance, Darren Macbeth, Sega of Australia’s General Manager was quoted as saying:

“It is with great pleasure that we announce the success of our appeal. We are particularly proud that the game will be released in its original entirety, with no content altered or removed whatsoever. This is a big win for Australian gamers. We applaud the Classification Review Board on making a decision that clearly considers the context of the game, and is in line with the modern expectations of reasonable Australians”. — Darren Macbeth via Kotaku.com

To put things very bluntly, this is a dramatically unexpected result, especially given how poorly Left 4 Dead 2’s appeal went earlier this year.  Might we finally be seeing a shift in perspective from the previously stingy stances of the Australian Classification Review Board?  As a red-blooded American that is a strong support of our First Amendment Right to Free Speech, I hope that this is a sign of a things to come in regards to game ratings in Australia.  With two overturned bans in the last 12 months, this might very well be the case.

Posted on December 18th, 2009 at 5:07pm by [email protected] (The Games Are Evil Family)
Filed Under: Alien vs. Predator, News, PC Gaming, Playstation 3, Xbox 360, australia, avp, featured, opinion, rebellion, sega

This past weekend Hot Blooded Gaming held it’s second annual, “A Very Hot Blooded Holiday Marathon.”  Like all the marathons we do, going into it we were read, very excited and ready to do good things.   This time around, to fit the upcoming holidays, we raised money for Toys for Tots.  The marathon started a bit late on Friday night because of some technical difficulties, but it didn’t stop us from having the most epic HBG marathon ever.

At the 36 hour mark, originally when I decided I would end, I felt a second wind so I went into marathon overtime.  With the marathon still going, I don’t think anyone expected what happened next.  At the 36 hour mark we had reached $7,200 which was fantastic, but when it was all said and done with, the marathon ended with $10,100 raised for Toys for Tots and went for 42 hours.

The weekend was a great success because of everyone who did what they could to help.  We would like to thank everyone for the Diggs, the Re-Tweets, Facebook posts, every other way you helped to spread the word, and above all else, thank you for being there!

We would also like to take this time to give a special thanks to ALL of those who donated, no matter what amount they could give.  Thank you to

Adam Levinson
Adrian Mata
Alan Hoskins
Alex Hung
Alex Marriott
Alexander De Filippis
Alexander Lucking
Allan Cheng
Allen Norfleet
Andrew Armstrong
Andrew Mears
Andrew Weinmeyer
Anthony Hall
Anthony Reyes
Anthony Saville
Ashkon Honardoost
Bernadette Norman
Blake Hart
Bobby G
Bradley Schneider
Brandon Apple
Brett Augustine
Cameron Ensz
Carol Arganda
Casey Sears
Chimela Brooks
Chris Dittrich
Chris Espinosa
Chris Stewart
Christian Racho
Christopher Christensen
Christopher Coletti
Christopher Nyland
Christopher Wade
Christopher Zojac
Cooper Kauffman
Dan Behar
David Bowlin
David Kresheck
David Stump
David Taft-Farren
Daymen Warnock
Ali Akbar
Dennis Schneidermann
Denver Gough
Diane Modena
Dustin Cochran
Dustin Cochran
Edwin Alvarez
Eli Leo
Ethan Embry
Florence Goldwater
Florent Barreau
Frederic Descamps
Fredric Henderson
Gabriele Timoneri
Gail Damaschke
Gary Jenkins
Gilbert Valdez
Hardep Sandhu
Harley Benoit
Heng Li
Holly Gelser
Insp1re TV
Jacob Bak Christensen
Jake Ford
James Gray
Jason Bowen
Jason Lowe
Jason Mongold
Jens Klavsen
Jeremy Kaefring
Jeremy Payne
Jerome Kantor
Jessica Riddick
John Corti
John Gunn
John Patrick Montemayor
Jonathan Fielder
Jonathan Gonzalez
Jonathan Oh
Jonathan Ord
Jonathan Tessier
Joseph Alminawi
Joshua Erckenbrack
Joshua Long
Juan Dominguez
Justin Opsahl
Kevin Larney
Khoa Van
Kreyg De Zago
Kristof Cuypers
Lari Howard
Larry Green
Lucas Matherly
Luis Romero
Mark Asato
Mary Colas
Marye Lynch
Maskedgameguru Comer
Matthew Glover
Matthew Mancini
Matthew Nielson
Matthew Niemiro
Miami sweetie
Michael Campbel
Michael Cox
Michael DeLozier
Michael Hileman
Michael Notley
Michael Sigler
Michael Widmer
Michael Williams
Michael Zahrebelny
Mikael Jonsson
Mikael P. Lint
Morgan Robbins
Nikkolaus McAndrews
Norman Maclellan
Olivier Fortin
Osvaldo Martins
Patrick Fletcher
Patrick Holdren
Peter Ubriaco
Philip Elder
Qew Watts
Rachelle Perez
Ray Gates
Raymond Connolly
Ricardo Thousand
Richard Gonzalez
Rocky Jasmin
Ronny Deußer
Rusty Thedford
Ryan Sisson
Ryan W
Samuel Snyder
Scott Farr
Sean Lynch
Shabee Naqvi
Shane Davis
Stacey Renaud
Steve Emann
Steve Perry
Taylor j
taylor wolfe
Tim Lumb
Tim Van Manen
Tony Robinson
Trev Haas
Victor Drobot
Walter Pierce
Wayne Owen
William Hall
William McGraw

Thank you all once again for helping helping this marathon reach $10,100.  The marathon can be described in 1 word. Epic.

This weekend was the most successful game marathon HBG has ever had.  They say, “the ones who win the wars write history.”  While this wasn’t a war, we get to write a new page in HBG history.  One that shows what a great community of people HBG has been blessed with and how willing people are to come together for a great cause.  Don’t ever forget what we all did here this past weekend, and tell your friends you were there to help make it happen.

Hot Blooded Gaming thanks you ALL for the amazing marathon and your amazing amounts of support, you all deserve a round of applause.

We encourage you to leave a memory from the marathon and share some moments that you thought were the best.

Posted on December 15th, 2009 at 5:47am by Kreyg
Filed Under: 000, 10, 10k, Game Marathon, Thank You, donations, featured

Oddly enough some franchises which have sold well in the past are being under-used or simply ignored  by the game makers. In these series of articles I will talk about games that are guaranteed to sell if someone could, for the love of God and the sake of all humanity, release a sequel, a side story, or simply remake the original.

Perfect Dark

It is astounding that Microsoft paid hundreds of millions for Rare yet they fail to realize that the Perfect Dark franchise could match Halo’s success. Zero was a disgrace but fortunately the original game was so great that the the franchise has not been tarnished. This game needs a proper sequel but wait, Microsoft needs to hand the development of the new title to people experienced in making shooters. If nobody in Microsoft game studio is available, then have a deal with a third party company

Parasite Eve

Hello! Is anyone at Square Enix not making a Final fantasy title? Sadly, the answer seems to be a brutal no. Otherwise, they would have remembered a franchise which succeeded as both a role playing game and a survival horror. It isn’t like millions of fans aren’t begging for it so please square, release FF 13 and get to work.

Panzer Dragoon Saga

Okay! This title did not sell trillions of copies but that is only because sega pulled the plug on the Saturn. This game needs to be re-released on the Xbox live Arcade and the Playstation store. Would it sell? Ha! Ask that question to the people mourning it’s rarity on several forums and the ones that are paying $20o or more for it on Ebay. Certainly a proper remake would have made the fans scream like school girls but that is way too much to hope for. It’s Sega after all.

That is all for now. As you can see, this post is a rant but the reason for it is noble. So let’s rant harmoniously.

Posted on November 27th, 2009 at 6:02pm by Thierry
Filed Under: Main, Retro, featured

In the first part of this guide I covered the basics of trading in EVE Online and some of the jobs best suited to newer players. There’s a lot more to trading than buying low and selling high and in this week’s installment, I’ll cover some of the more advanced trading and marketeering tactics that have proven themselves effective in EVE. From margin trading on the market to making a living off the contracts page, anyone with enough dedication can learn to rake in hundreds of millions of ISK per day without even leaving the station. For the gamblers and risk-takers among you, market speculation and price manipulation can produce incredible short-term profit but with significant risks attached.

In this second part of my concise guide on trading, I look at margin trading on the market, playing the contract pages, market speculation around patches and the dirty art of market manipulation.

Continue reading EVE Evolved: Trading: Advanced trading

Filed under: Sci-fi, EVE Online, Culture, Economy, Forums, Game mechanics, Guides, Professions, PvP, Making money, Tips and tricks, PvE, Hands-on, Academic, Education, EVE Evolved

EVE Evolved: Trading: Advanced trading originally appeared on Massively on Sun, 22 Nov 2009 18:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Posted on November 22nd, 2009 at 6:00pm by Brendan Drain
Filed Under: Buying, Selling, ccp, ccp-games, contracts, dominion, eve, eve-evolved, eve-online, expansion, featured, guide, hauling, isk, manipulation, margin, market, professions, profit, pve, pvp, speculation, tips, tips-and-tricks, trading