Interplay's Fallout MMO Close to Being Autoaxed

Interplay's Fallout MMO Close to Being Autoaxed by Bethesda

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A giant world of post-apocalyptic intrigue – bombed and obliterated to perfection by Fallout lead designer Chris Taylor, no less – seems like an excellent setting for an MMO, no? So it's with a heavy heart that we bring you word of said MMO's potential cancellation, courtesy of the dream-destroyers over at Bethesda – who may or may not be within their rights to drop the axe.

See, back when Bethesda first nabbed the Fallout property from Interplay's hobbling, not-quite-dead-yet form, Interplay retained the right to develop a Fallout MMO – but only under the condition that it somehow amass $30 million and enter full scale development within two years. That agreement was made two years ago. Unfortunately, Bethesda's calendars seem to be in working order.

"Interplay recently received notice that Bethesda Softworks, LLC ('Bethesda') intends to terminate the trademark license agreement between Bethesda and Interplay which was entered into April 4, 2007 for the development of FALLOUT MMOG. Despite the fact that no formal action is currently pending, Bethesda claims that Interplay is in breach of the trademark license agreement for failure to commence full scale development of same by April 4, 2009 and to secure certain funding for the MMOG," reads an Interplay performance report.

"Interplay adamantly disputes these claims. Although the potential damages are currently unknown, if Bethesda ultimately prevails and cancels the trademark license agreement, Interplay would lose its license back of the 'Fallout' MMOG and any damages resulting therefrom are unknown at this time."

According to a recent SEC filing, Interplay entered 2009 with little more than tumbleweeds in its bank account, so things aren't exactly looking good. Then again, the potentially penniless publisher recently entered into a partnership with Masthead Studios, so at least something's brewing over there.

Here's hoping – and really, this is about the only time we'll ever come to our deity of choice with this particular wish – this terrifying vision of the nuclear apocalypse eventually sees the disheartening, gray light of day.

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Reposted from Maximum PC
South Korea Rules Virtual Currency is as Good as Cash by opulent_rigs The global market for virtual goods is already worth billions of dollars annually. In fact, several small countries around the world have smaller GDPs than the total worth of the virtual economy. But there are very few laws to regulate virtual commerce in its infancy. At this stage, it is only fair to expect the courts and lawmakers to only tackle issues related to virtual trade as and when they appear before them. Click here to read more

GDC Austin, Now Named Game Developers Conference Online

GDC Online to continue serving as premiere event for exploring the future of online, connected game development.

http://feeds.ign.com/click.phdo?i=afa95cbb8514463f1df89bfa80a47e98

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Dr. Phil Scolds Farmville Addict

[Reposted from Kotaku]

Confronting a Farmville-obsessed mom in danger of neglecting her kids, Dr. Phil said, "You have a ridiculous addiction to a ridiculous computer game."

The mom, named Teresa, evidently unplugged her home's wireless router to boot everyone from the family computer, then sneaked back online to tend her virtual crops. Bad mom! Bad mom! Dr. Phil held that factoid under her nose for a little bit, and Teresa tried to pin the extreme measures on her daughter's "attitude" when she's asked to get off the computer.

"No, it's not," Dr. Phil fired back. "You unplugged it because you have a ridiculous addiction to a ridiculous computer game that's interfering with your ability to be a mother. You needed a fix, and she wouldn't get off, so you had to create the opportunity."

Dr. Phil, who's taken on gaming addiction before, prescribed her a dose of "start a garden for real." Sounds like good medicine to me.

http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/kotaku/full/~3/NmCSWBfoQdk/dr-phil-scolds-farmville-addict

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Gamers-for-Haiti Efforts Gather Momentum

[reposted from Kotaku]

Today only, 100 percent of the proceeds from purchases in PopCap's store - they make Bejeweled and Peggle - will go toward Haiti quake relief. This post is our official open thread on ways to contribute to the recovery.

To recap:

• On Wednesday and Thursday, Bungie is encouraging Halo 3 and Halo 3: ODST players to don a Haitian-relief emblem in game, and will contribute up to $77,000 to the cause depending on the number who participate. A special T-shirt also is for sale in the Bungie store, the proceeds of which will go to recovery efforts through the American Red Cross. See this post for more details.

• Zynga, makers of games for Facebook and social media, has also opened a fund drive to help Haiti through the World Food Programme. It joins the company's pre-quake philanthropic efforts to help the impoverished nation. More details here.

• PopCap's sale will go until 11:59 pm. U.S. Pacific Time tonight, and will benefit Haiti through Partners in Health.

By no means are these the only ways gamers may contribute. The text-message fund raising campaign has generated more than $10 million in aid and contributions now may also be made through iTunes [link will open iTunes]. And certainly there are other worthy means of contributing.

http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/kotaku/full/~3/pt0wkTk8OJI/gamers+for+haiti-efforts-gather-momentum

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MMO Roundup: Massively's week in review

[reposted from Massively]

When it comes to MMO news and special features, Joystiq sister site Massively.com has you covered. Whether you're looking for info on the hottest new MMO, or you're just curious about an old favorite, you'll find it at Massively. Check out our biggest features of the week:

Star Trek Online lifetime subs now available
Cryptic has revealed the lifetime subscription offer for Star Trek Online, which comes with playable Borg (not as a faction, but as liberated Borg) and is only available to those who've pre-ordered the game. Oddly enough, the price of the LS is $40 higher than Champions Online's was when it was announced August of last year.

Exclusive Allods Online dev tour: Astral Ships and the end game explained
Earlier this week, the team at Allods Online were kind enough to sit down and walk me through some of the highest-level areas in the game. Knowing that I'm already an avid fan of the game, it was exciting for us both to "talk shop" for a bit. It was especially exciting to see some features of the end game that not too many North American players have seen up to this point. Of course, I'm talking about Astral Ships and the end game.

Bioware confirms 2011 SWTOR release
Yesterday we talked about a rumor that had been floating around thanks to Electronic Arts CEO John Riccitiello, who had mentioned the spring 2011 launch of an unnamed MMO on a recent conference call. Of course, the Star Wars: The Old Republic rumor mill sprang into action, with good cause as it turns out.

Funcom threatening to delete noob Age of Conan characters
When it comes to character deletions, just about every MMO out there has a clause in their Terms of Service that indicates they have the right to delete your characters at any time and for no reason whatsoever. With that said, there are very few companies that choose to exercise that right.

MMO Roundup: Massively's week in review originally appeared on Joystiq on Sat, 16 Jan 2010 03:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

http://www.joystiq.com/2010/01/16/mmo-roundup-massivelys-week-in-review/

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Free! Star Trek Online beta keys

1500 keys, right here, right now!.
Star Trek Online, the new space-borne MMO from Cryptic Studios, has finally entered its open beta phase and we've teamed up with publishers Namco Bandai to offer you one of 1500 beta keys, so you can explore the very outer limits of the Star Trek universe.

Click here to read the full article

http://www.computerandvideogames.com/article.php?id=231716?cid=OTC-RSS&attr=CVG-General-RSS

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iPhone apps lose $450 million to piracy

Three pirated downloads reportedly occur for every paid download from the App Store.
Apple has made an absolute fortune from its iPhone range and downloads from the App Store, but it's also lost a small fortune to piracy.

Click here to read the full article

http://www.computerandvideogames.com/article.php?id=231694?cid=OTC-RSS&attr=CVG-General-RSS

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MMO Roundup: Massively's week in review

When it comes to MMO news and special features, Joystiq's sister site, Massively.com, has you covered. Whether you're looking for info on the hottest new MMO, or you're just curious about an old favorite, you'll find it at Massively. Check out their biggest features of the week:

Massively interview with Aion's new community manager
Aion is easily one of the biggest MMOs of the year, so when a new North American community manager took over recently we decided it was the perfect time for an interview with the new team member, Andrew Beegle -- known as Tamat to community members.

Massively's complete coverage from GameX
GameX 2009 was insane this weekend and we were all over the place, but one of the first groups that we set a chunk of time aside for was Jeff Lewis (Vork), Sandeep Parikh (Zaboo), and Robin Thorsen (Clara) from The Guild. We weren't missing out on catching up with those three.

Checking up on Fallen Earth: One month later
It's been a little over a month since Fallen Earth launched, and we think it's safe to say that quite a bit has changed since then -- but what, exactly? For those who may have found themselves unhappy with the game's state at launch, this article is for you. For those of you who may have tried the game during a beta stage or stress test event, and come across some technical issues that made the game completely unplayable, this article is for you, too.

LotRO: Siege of Mirkwood developer tour
If you've been faithfully following along with the Lord of the Rings Online: Siege of Mirkwood beta, you may be excited by what you've heard -- or even seen yourself -- so far. The new expansion, which is set to launch on December 1st of this year (December 3rd for EU), centers around the forest of Mirkwood, just to the east of Lothlorien. It introduces us to a large new map of Mirkwood, the skirmish system, five new instances and much more.

Continue reading MMO Roundup: Massively's week in review

MMO Roundup: Massively's week in review originally appeared on Joystiq on Fri, 30 Oct 2009 03:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Scotland fighting to keep Realtime Worlds, other native game developers

[reposted from Joystiq]

It seems Scottish government officials aren't going to let the nation's game developers get stolen away without a fight. Last week, we reported on Ireland's attempts to court Scotland's biggest game developers, starting with APB creators Realtime Worlds. Scottish Secretary of State Jim Murphy recently met with Realtime Worlds owner Dave Jones to talk about how Scotland can convince the company to stick around -- specifically discussing the option of tax breaks and other modes of government support.

If you found that last paragraph boring, here are the CliffsNotes: Ireland and Scotland are fighting over Scotland's game developers. As their incentives continue to escalate, we completely expect to see a "free ponies" offer on the table within the next few weeks.

Scotland fighting to keep Realtime Worlds, other native game developers originally appeared on Joystiq on Fri, 09 Oct 2009 15:10:00 EST. Please see their terms for use of feeds.

http://www.joystiq.com/2009/10/09/scotland-fighting-to-keep-realtime-worlds-other-native-game-dev/

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