You better watch outYou better not cryBetter not poutI’m telling you why (more…)

There is a way, you know. It means signing up on our forums and getting involved in one of the many groups and games that get organised over there. The forum in question is this one, where a number of your fellow RPS readers gather to play the games that require more than one person to play. For instance there’s a large Blood Bowl community, for the sporting deaths of ogres and dark elves alike. Then there’s a meticulously organised unofficial Minecraft server, which is well worth a visit. There’s even a gang playing Arma 2, and some folks getting RPS’d in D&D Online. You might not find quite what you are looking for in the RPS gaming communities, but I am betting you can come close…

In the latest of our series of interviews with MMO creators, big and little, we go back to last year’s best MMO, Rift. We saw it as a mechanically-experimental game that had stuck to a safe fantasy MMO formula. Our three interviewees are Chief Creative Officer Scott Hartsman, design Producer Hal Hanlin and Producer Adam Gershowitz. Let’s see how they see themselves now… > (more…)

Hidden Path, the Defense Grid devs who are now so closely associated with Valve that they are working on CS:GO, have announced that Defense Grid will receive a Portal-themed called “You Monster.” The expansion, which will arrive on the 7th of December, guest-stars GLaDOS as a second narrator, and sees players take on Portal-themed levels. You Monster will apparently add eight new maps for the “all new” story and thirty five challenge missions, making about fifteen hours more defending of grids. No word on how much it’s going to cost, however. $5 apparently.

Trailer below! (more…)

The Experimental Gameplay Project is breaking away from its familiar remit of quirky digital protoypes to empty a swimming pool and have five people jumping up and down at the bottom of it, connected to events on a large, projected screen. Or something like that. What?> They explain: “We play most games within the confines of a teeny, tiny screen in a quiet, private setting. Not next year though. Next year we’ll ALL be playing games on the floor of an 19th century swimming pool with tons of people watching.” Huh, wuh? There’s more: “Unlike previous competitions… there is a bit of a twist: games will run on 02L > Outside Standing Level’s Unita Zero platform, an audio/visual playground made up of 5 pressure pads hooked up to a projector and audio system.” (Pictured, I guess.) There are cash prizes and chance to be displayed in a gallery in Berlin, too. More details here.

Ambitious and beautiful robot MMO Perpetuum is one year old this week, and to celebrate it has received its biggest expansion so far, Intrusion 2.0, which adds a graphical overhaul, new robots, animation fixes and an improved support system. Most interesting to me, however, are the improvements to the PvP game: “Our latest expansion allows corporations to start building their empire by letting them to fight for and secure outposts on the unprotected Beta islands of Nia. Unlike the mostly random previous system, Intrusion 2.0 permits corporations to gradually increase their influence on an outpost by introducing the concept of stability. Stability governs which outpost services can be privatized, and also decreases the cost of those services for the conqueror.” This brings it a lot closer to another ambitious sci-fi MMO in terms of its scope for players carving out their own little empires, which interests me enormously…

Microsoft Flight Simulator was dead for a while, but it’s due to return with one less word next year. Microsoft Flight is the name for the rebooted grandaddy of stately, faithfully-recreated aeorplanes, presumably because someone in marketing decided ‘Simulator’ didn’t sound suitably lifestyle. Microsoft Game Studios have been quietly documenting MSF’s progress over on their website for a while now, but they’ve just announced plans to open the bomb bay doors to interested beta testers next month. That all happens here. (more…)

(And I just realised after writing this that someone called Kieron already posted about this last year. Raaaargh. Oh well, you should still play it now if you didn’t then. Old doesn’t mean dead. Plus it means I don’t have to take a new screenshot!)

Ooh, this is excellently devious. A Flash platform game from the developer of Snapshot that is… selective about the truth. I don’t want to spoil too much, but its cleverness lies in two key fields: 1) needing to figure out the controls and mechanics for yourself 2) a narrator who demands your attention and trust but doesn’t do much to earn it. And, despite his/her/its mendacity, it’s hard not to like them. (more…)

What are you intending to play this weekend, eh? That copy of Terraria you just bought in the sale? Skyrim again, more, faster, again? Perhaps something else stacked up from a sale? I’m going to be mysteriously messing with some unreleased puzzle game with punctuations of Serious Sam 3, Alec’s adrift on that Terraria/Skyrim angle, and Mr Smith? Well, he’s all over both Sam AND Skyrim. The tart. John, I believe, has invented his own game based on a 2000-year old rulebook he found in an old building in the middle of town. I dunno what it’s all about, but it seems popular!

Anyway. Speak your games!>

How do you take a break from a project that seems like it will never be finished? It’s a tough question that we newshounds ask ourselves every day and it appears Notch has been having similar thoughts. Now that Minecraft has been officially released, its creator is taking a step back, leaving co-developer Jens Bergensten to take the reins. As for Notch, he’ll be resting, helping out with Minecraft and starting work on a new project. Released or not, Minecraft isn’t finished, so read on for a quick look at the current state of play and then read further to find out about the loveliest Minecraft story I’ve seen all year.

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