24/7 Player

Some may think it hard to figure out what to get that MMO fan in their life. Would they want cases of energy drinks? Maybe a grill so they can cook while raiding like Vork from The Guild? Well never fear as I’ve compiled a list of gifts that you can get for that MMO fan, and I’m not just talking about World of Warcraft! In this MMORPG Holiday Guide we also have ideas for gamers playing Aion, Lord of the Rings Online, Guildwars, Warhammer Online and Age of Conan. I’ll also go into some peripherals that any MMO gamer would love to have. To start off, I’ll focus on some of the other popular MMOs and gifts that you can snag for your friends or family.

An easy start is to get them something new to play! Aion ($46.99) is the newest MMO to be released and has been getting some rave reviews. Released by NCSoft in September 2009, there has been a steady buzz around the game, and I’ve known several people who have given up other MMOs to play this one. From all I’ve seen and read it’s a pretty solid game, and will appeal to most fans of the genre. And if they’re already playing Aion, why not snag them one of the cool shirts that Jinx just released?

If your friends or family are already playing another game, you can always buy them game time via cards or offer to pay for in game items to help them boost their characters or explore new regions. Blizzard sells pre-paid cards for game time in World of Warcraft ($29.99) and so does Warhammer Online($29.99), Age of Conan ($25.99), and Lord of the Rings Online ($29.99). These will give them 60 days of free time to play in their game of choice!

Tactx keyboard from Alienware

For the World of Warcraft fan, I found many things that one could buy, but I’ve narrowed it down to just a few products. First off, from the official store I have to recommend either Murky or Lurky ($15 each) plush dolls for either kids or for adults (My Murky sits on the top of my computer). Also along the kids line, if you have a guildmate or friend who just had a new baby or is expecting, I highly recommend the “My Other Stroller is [Epic]“ onesie from Jinx. For the more grown up WoW fan, you can also get a Horde or Alliance appropriate beanie so that they can show their pride throughout the winter! In general the majority of the WoW collection at Jinx is pretty awesome, and it’s all reasonably priced. There are also the new in game pets you can buy from the pet store: the Pandaren Monk and Lil’ KT who is the most adorable lich!

Now if you want to get your friends some new gaming peripherals, I recommend checking out the latest Alienware line which I have previously covered. The TactX mouse and keyboard are a little more pricey, but they’d be a great gift idea, especially if they’re in need of an upgrade. Also in November, Creative will be releasing special WoW themed headsets that look great and will help show your Horde or Alliance Pride! Another great item that you could get is the Xeno by Bigfoot networks. Cherithe recommended this in our gadget gift guide, and it’s definitely worth repeating! The Xeno is a great plug-and-play card that will prioritize gamng by bypassing your OS which enables smoother playing and voice chatting.

Now the other gift idea that you can do is for those fellow players who want to get something nice for an in-game friend or guildmate. You can save up to get them a vanity pet,  money for a new mount, or some new armor. It’s thoughtful, and something that will surprise them to see in their mailbox or a trade window! There are also the new in game pets that Blizzard released which you can buy from the online pet store: the Pandaren Monk who does some impressive kung fu and Lil’ KT who is the most adorable little lich!

I hope that this guide can help you out with some ideas for that MMO fan in your life. Have a great holiday and spread some /cheer!

Posted on November 21st, 2009 at 1:27am by stealthyslyth
Filed Under: Alienware, Angel Life, Games, Jinx, Massively multiplayer online game, Video Games, Warhammer Online: Age of Reckoning, Xeno, age-of-conan-hyborian-adventures, aion, blizzard, warhammer-online, world-of-warcraft

Maxis has announced a new way to get your Spore fun on. Spore Islands has just launched on Facebook and is an original game that allows friends to compete for the survival of the fittest.

“In Spore Islands, players get to invite friends in their social web to play on their island, so creating this game exclusively for Facebook was a natural choice for us since they are the largest and most popular social platform for games,” stated Caryl Shaw, Senior Producer, Spore Islands. “What sets Spore Islands apart from other social games is that it offers a different kind of social interactivity where a player’s gameplay experience is directly affected by the choices and decisions their friends make. It’s an ongoing game, so player’s creatures and islands will be active at all times, whether the player is logged into Facebook or not.”

Spore Islands was developed and published by Electronic Arts Inc. Users get to choose their own island to live on, create creatures and evolve them and invite friends to live on their island. There are also various leaderboards to compare your stats on.

Play Spore Islands here.

Posted on November 5th, 2009 at 4:53pm by GamingAngel
Filed Under: Interactivity, Social web, Spore Islands, Video Games, Web Trends, facebook, maxis, spore

November 4th is a very important day for Wallace and Gromit fans, and Telltale Games is celebrating their 20th anniversary in style.

From Nov 4 to the 8th you can download for FREE the PC version of the duo’s latest adventure, Muzzled! Help Wallace and Gromit stop con-man Monty Muzzle from making off with investment dollars meant for the dog shelter by signing up on the Wallace & Gromit site.

From today on, all four Wallace & Gromit’s Grand Adventure games are on Xbox Live. Each game costs 800 Microsoft points. There are also themes and gamerpics for you to check out.

You may also start ordering the Collector’s Edition DVD for PC as of today. The collector’s disc contains all four Grand Adventures episodes, behind the scenes video, game trailers and making of featurettes, and more from Aardman.

Most importantly, Telltale Games has joined forces with Child’s Play, and will be making donations to the charity based on every full PC copy of Wallace & Gromit’s Grand Adventures purchased between Nov 4th to the 8th. They will also be donating full copies of the games directly to the hospitals partnered with Child’s Play.

Posted on November 4th, 2009 at 11:55am by Yukino
Filed Under: Grand Adventure, News, Personal computer, Video Games, telltale-games, wallace-and-gromit, xbox

It’s a great time for innovation and creativity! The Organizers for the 12th Annual Independent Games Festival announced that they have received a record number of entries for the 2010 contest.

So far there are 306 titles slated for the main competition, with 150 judges that have to play each one. The finalists will be announced in January and the winner will be announced at GDC in March.

The eight major awards to be won are:
Seumas McNally Grand Prize ($20,000)
Excellence In Visual Art ($2,500)
Excellence In Audio ($2,500)
Excellence in Design ($2,500)
Nuovo Award ($2,500)
Technical Excellence ($2,500)
Audience Award ($2,500)
Direct2Drive Award (TBA)

See information on all the entries here. The submission date did pass, so it looks like 306 will be the final tally. Good luck to all those involved!

Posted on November 3rd, 2009 at 6:30pm by GamingAngel
Filed Under: Competition, Independent Games Festival, News, Video Games

Nexon America has released a massive content update, named Version Up, that has added in a bunch of new features to MapleStory. A new boss, mini-dungeons, and changes to the Cygnus Knights are among the few of the new changes. Check out the full list below or on the MapleStory site here

Cygnus Knight
The Cygnus Knight can now be created from a clean slate, which means that players will no longer need to 20+ level character.

Find Party Member Updated
To accommodate the new availability of the Cygnus Knight, the Find Party Member window has been enlarged to allow players to add the Knight into their parties.

New Tutorial
A new tutorial has been added for the Noblesses which is CK-specific

New boss added with many new quests
A new Balrog boss has been added along with 11 new quests. With this also come new maps and item drops. You can also choose to fight the Balrog on two difficulties: Easy and Normal.
Easy Channel 5, 10 / Level limit 50-70 / Max Party:6 / Time: 20mins
Normal Channel 15 / Level limit 50-120 / Max Party: 18 / Time: 30mins

Talking bosses
Bosses can now talk in the game like other NPCs.

More titles to give players benefits
Many new titles have been added to give players more perks for accomplishing different tasks. The new list is below:
Outstanding Citizen: Being active in Wedding, Guild, Family
Lovely Pet Owner: Having Pet Closeness higher than 1400
Monster Expert: Having more than 30 Monster Cards
Persevering Challenger: Completing 3 quests in Sleepywood for catching 999 mobs
Beginner Adventurer: Achieving 1st job advancement
Junior Adventurer: Achieving 2nd job advancement
Veteran Adventurer: Achieving 3rd job advancement
Master Adventurer: Achieving 4th job advancement
The One Who’s Touched the Sky: Having reached the highest points of selected maps
Maple Explorer
And 9 different medals for exploring each of the 9 regions.

There is now also a Medal interface so that you can keep track of what medals you’ve earned and which ones you can still earn!

New mini dungeons
Two new mini dungeons have been added to the map, one in Drake’s Blew Cave in Sleepywood, and the other in Red nose Pirates’ hideout in Herb Town.

The Gold Richie events
Gold Richie will be sending players through a few new events which will give them some valuable items to use at their disposal. The first event has players looking for parts to help Richie complete his Golden Compass. Once that is complete, players will then be able to go to his treasure island where they will have to collect golden eggs. Doing this will grant the players the chance to obtain many scrolls, belts, equipment, and the like. But if players find a certain type of golden egg, then they’ll be able to trade Richie the egg for EXP instead.

The second event is one where on certain days, Richie will give out the chance to trade him for odd items. If players are lucky, he might even give out two valuable chairs: the Star Chair, and the Red Chair.

Witch’s Tower event
The Witch’s Tower event will give players the chance to win two new items: the Pink Bean Hat, and the Pink Bean Suit. The tower has two difficulty settings: Normal and Hard, but either way, players will get the hat and/or suit by completing it.

Posted on October 27th, 2009 at 12:28pm by stealthyslyth
Filed Under: Cygnus Knight, Games, News, Roleplaying, Video Games, maplestory