Halloween is probably second only to Christmas in terms of holiday popularity. Ask just about anybody what their favorite holiday is, and they’ll probably list one of those two (if it fits the culture). Naturally, as MMO players, we have fun celebrating it in our virtual worlds just like we do in the real world. And boy, this year, do we ever celebrate. Just about every active MMO out there had (or has) something going on. The 2009 lineup included:

• Final Fantasy XI – Harvest Festival
• City of Heroes – The Deadly Apocalypse
• EverQuest II – Nights of the Dead
• Fallen Earth – Days of the Dead
• Warhammer Online – Daemon Moon Rising
• Aion – Harvest Revel
• Guild Wars – The Mad King’s Revelry
• Runes of Magic – Pumpkin Festival
• Lineage – Cavern of Chaos
• Lineage II – Spooks and Scarecrows
• Age of Conan – Nights of Lost Souls
• EverQuest – The Haunting of Norrath
• Legends of Norrath – Brraaaaaainss!
• Star Wars Galaxies – Galactic Moon Festival
• Exteel – Hey, sweet! Paint!
• Free Realms – Super Spooktacular
• Champions Online – Blood Moon

Most of these events last a few days into November, so if there’s any one in particular you’re dying to experience, you might still have a chance if you have a subscription laying around. If you’re not able to visit any of these in person, we have screenshots from many of these events in the gallery below. Enjoy!

Filed under: Age of Conan, Aion, City of Heroes, EverQuest, EverQuest II, Fallen Earth, Final Fantasy XI, Guild Wars, Lineage, Lineage 2, Warhammer Online, Star Wars Galaxies, Exteel, Free Realms, Champions Online, Runes of Magic, Legends of Norrath

Massively wishes you a happy Halloween originally appeared on Massively on Sat, 31 Oct 2009 12:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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While not everyone in the world celebrates it, today is Halloween for many of us! Time for tricks and treats, spooks and silliness. It’s also a fantastic time to catch up on the holiday events in our favorite games. From going after the Sinister Squashling in World of Warcraft (again) to smacking down hordes of the Infected in Fallen Earth, there’s tons and tons of content to be had for the holiday.

This morning, we thought we’d ask you what Halloween event you liked the most – and which have you come to hate? Personally, I loved Trick-or-Treating in City of Heroes, racing up and down the street triggering doors, pounding bad guys with friends, and trying to land all the temporary costumes. The one that drove me nuts was trying to get the aforementioned Squashling in World of Warcraft, as the drop never seemed to happen when I was around. (I did dig the broom mount, though.) Let’s hear from you on which you thought were best and worst! Drop your tricks and treats in MMO merriment into our commenty space below!

Filed under: Opinion, The Daily Grind

The Daily Grind: Happy Halloween! originally appeared on Massively on Sat, 31 Oct 2009 08:10:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Are you looking for something scary to watch on Halloween? You all know that I don’t do scary very well which is why I watched enough of this to post. I really will give it a try tomorrow but it’s midnight and I don’t need nightmares thank you. But for those of you that aren’t as big of a wuss as me check out Hell-y-wood.

Hell-y-wood is created by our friend Traycee King. Traycee written, directed and acted in Hell-y-wood: The Legend of Little Red.

The viral video includes many people that you may know from various websites and online communities. Actors include, Andy Briggs (Pwned.com), Jessica Villareal (GameGirl), Beau Ryan (RadNerd), Damon Scott (NfamousGamers.com), FLitz aka Amra Ricketts (NerdiestKids.com), Candace Miller (GhoulGIrls.com), Chastity Irizarry (NfamousGamers.com), Ted Bracewell (GameTopious.com), Alexandra Pusateri (411mania.com) and of course Traycee King (NfamousGamers.com).

Congrats to Traycee and her team for creating something frighteningly awesome for Halloween. I’m asking you readers to let me know if you think that Hell-y-wood is too scary for me!

If you’re not planning to go to the London Dungeon, you can still enjoy some spooky Scribblenauts goodies in the form of this wallpaper (1024×768, 1280×1024, or 1600×1200). It’s full of creatures that we haven’t seen before, including the Candy Corn Man and whatever that adorable giant eyepatch-wearing cat is. If you know the word that summons the Candy Corn Man, please, please let us know.

Celebrate Halloween with Scribblenauts originally appeared on Joystiq Nintendo on Fri, 30 Oct 2009 17:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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As if it weren’t hard enough, Demon’s Souls is getting harder this weekend. The game’s World Tendency, a system of making the gameplay harder or less brutal depending on your actions and the phase of the moon, will be fully black this All Hallow’s Eve. Yeah, you heard that right. We’ll be looking for your bloodstain come Saturday afternoon.

In our hurry to tell you about yesterday’s two-hour-long Team Fortress 2 fire sale, we didn’t really give you all the in-depth info about the accompanying Pumpkin Patch update which you so richly deserve. We’ll rectify that now, but not before saying that a few short hours after the announcement was posted yesterday afternoon, the update went live! You can play it right now — on PC, of course. Oh, you thought it might come to the 360? That’s adorable.

The update will temporarily introduce a King of the Hill map called “Harvest” into the mix, complete with Halloween-themed elements like collectible candy, exploding pumpkins, and the ghost of Zepheniah Mann, who temporarily freezes passersby in a gripping, powerful spell of fear. Five Achivements are available during the festivities, as well as a number of “Mildly Disturbing Halloween Hats,” or paper bags with scary faces painted on them. If you’re lucky, you might just get the one emblazoned with Joan Rivers’ visage. Aaaaah!

Team Fortress 2 Pumpkin Patch update now live originally appeared on Joystiq on Fri, 30 Oct 2009 15:20:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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A very Happy Halloween to all GamingAngels readers! Hopefully you’ll get more treats than tricks! 2K Games sent us the awesome Halloween card above that contained the following warning:

“Dear Sir/Madame,

In honor of Hallowe’en, I set forth to bake a most wonderous Chronoberry Pie. To my dismay, the delectable pie has disappeared. If you see this fabulous tart, please be DO NOT EAT IT, as even the smallest bite could cause untold chaos. Above all else, the dastardly pie thief, Mr. P.B. Winterbotom, must not get his fingers on this monstrous treat as the combination could rip the fabric of time itself.

- The Pie Baker of Bakersburg”

So watch out for certain types of pies…in the meantime we’ll be watching out for more information about The Misadventures of P.B. Winterbottom.

Rachel’s video game costume recommendations

• Alyx Vance (Half-Life) – Alyx was developed as a very identifiable character, and that comes across on the ease of her outfit. Grab some jeans and boots, which everyone should have. For her top, a simple grey sweatshirt with a black design on it works. Her jacket is a bit harder to find, but all you’d need is a dark brown heavy duty work jacket, accessorized with ductape on the right shoulder. Wear your hair back with a headband, throw on a necklace, and you’re ready to kill some headcrabs.
• Heather (Silent Hill) – Realistically, this outfit is practical and cute in the real world, not just Halloween night. Start with some tall rain boots. For the skirt, all you need is a plain green one, above the knee. Next, layer a white sleeveless vest over a sleeveless orange shirt. Add a flashlight and blonde hair dye and you’re good to go. Don’t forget the flashlight though… It’s one of the only weapons you get in Silent Hill…
• Nurses (Silent Hill) – Who doesn’t love using paper mache on their Halloween costumes? For this beauty you’re going to need to make yourself a practical yet gruesome mask that makes you look faceless. Add to that a skimpy nurse uniform and hat, and grab the closest blunt object. You’re also going to need to practice your jerky walk and develop an inability to hit anything any farther away than 1 foot from you.
• Jill Valentine (Resident Evil) – This is one of the harder costumes to make because it involves a lot of weapon holders that they just don’t offer at your local Target. Fortunately, Jill has more than one look, and you can instead opt for the boots, skirt, tube-top combo. If you have a spare rocket launcher laying around, even better.
• Zoey (Left 4 Dead) – Saved the best for last! Anyone can be Zoey; she’s even more “every-girl” than Alyx Vance, plus she has an identifiable and simple outfit. Jeans, pink sweatshirt/jacket, hair in a pony tail. You could trick out your jeans by making them cuffed, but it doesn’t really matter. The coolest part about Zoey is that she also gets to wear sneakers. Easy stuff!
• Sheva (Resident Evil 5) – Sheva is pretty kick-ass, but she is also the master of wearing the least amount possible to get the job done. Tight pants and a purple tank top (also tight), accessorized with a bunch of brown leather that makes you look cool. You could also go for her “Tribal” look, which consists of body paint and not a lot else. Not recommended for Trick Or Treating.

Steph’s pop culture costume recommendations

• Judy Jetson (The Jetsons) – Judy’s outfit is a bit difficult as her’s is a bit more out there. If you have a friend who is handy with a sewing machine though, it should be an easy outfit to construct! Pink tights and shoes should be easy to come by from a store in the area, which would just leave finding a wig. I would recommend getting a medium length wig and styling it in an updo like Judy’s with a good amount of gel and hairspray. Top off the wig with a black bow and you’re set! There are some costume shops as well who do sell this as a packaged costume, though you will probably have to buy the wig, shoes and tights separately.
• Velma (Scooby Doo) – This could be a fairly easy to put together costume, and a fun one! You can check out thrift stores for an orange sweater and red skirt. For the shoes, I recommend Payless. I’ve always had great luck finding costume shoes there! The socks can probably be found at a store, or if you’re in NYC, I recommend checking out Sock Man on St. Marks! The glasses can be easily found at a costume shop or a pharmacy, and a short brown wig should be easy to come by. But if you’re in a rush, costume stores tend to have this costume in stock as well, though you will still need to buy the wig and shoes separately
• Morticia Addams (Addams Family) – For a quick, yet fun and classic costume, Morticia Adams is a great idea. You can easily find the plain black dress in any costume shop, and if you don’t have long black hair, you can always find a wig for a decent price! Also fun is if you have a guy friend, see if he’ll dress up as Gomez!
• Betty Rubble (The Flintstones) – This is another costume where if you have a friend who’s handy with a sewing machine they should be able to whip up this simple blue dress in no time! The wig would be simple to find, and you can complete the look with a nice pair of flip flops (even find a pair with clear straps to give more of a barefoot look).
• Beth (Dog the Bounty Hunter) – I threw this idea in if you want to go for some humor this halloween. You can make a simple version of Beth’s attire by wearing a men’s black tank top and some tight black pants with boots and throw in a fake badge and handcuffs. Or many costume shops do sell a more elaborate costume kit. You will also need a massive blond curly wig and some sunglasses! I would go for making this costume as over the top as you can to get some laughs. Draft a guy friend into being Dog for extra bonus points!

As for me? I’ve been planning out this year’s costume since last Halloween and will be going as Mrs. Lovett while my boyfriend shall be Sweeney Todd. As I’m going to a party, if I can bake some last minute pot pies to complete the look.

Whatever you choose to be this year I hope that you all a fun and spooky Halloween!

Okay, so our initial observation that Uncharted 2 would soon receive skeletal Helghast was a bit far from the truth. Naughty Dog’s Arne Meyer recently announced on Playstation.Blog that the half-tucked title would receive an update which addresses a number of multiplayer issues today. On top of that, anyone who plays the game online during this Halloween weekend will receive a treat infinitely more sweet than a fistful of Necco Wafers: Loads and loads of (in-game) cash money.

Yes, the next few days will be a “Double Cash Weekend” for Uncharted 2 multiplayer matches. As you can probably suss out from the title, you’ll earn double the rank-progressing moolah you would normally gain for playing the various online playlists. In addition, a bunch of Naughty Dog staffers will be playing this weekend — presumably appearing as the crimson-eyed, skinless abominations seen above. We appreciate the work these folks have done, but following our strict undead infestation protocols, they must be purged.

Uncharted 2 getting title update, Halloween festivities originally appeared on Joystiq on Fri, 30 Oct 2009 14:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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We know you guys have the memory of a … well, whatever the polar opposite of an elephant is in regards to memory. (A fruit fly?) So, we thought we’d remind you that Cryptic’s made its superheroic MMO Champions Online free to play this Halloween weekend in an attempt to promote the game’s spooky pseudo-expansion, Blood Moon.

You can download it for free at 1PM EST today, then play it to your heart’s content — or November 2. You know, whichever comes first.

[Via Big Download]

Reminder: Champions Online is free to play this weekend originally appeared on Joystiq on Fri, 30 Oct 2009 14:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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