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MapleStory's Singapore distributor looks to cut down on a rash of home-run pirate servers, as a plucky teen takes the world of big-headed platform battles into his own bedroom.
Welcome to the pirate party, MapleStory? Where you been? We already ate all the finger food and drank all the rum, but you're welcome to the super-powered martial arts moves we set aside for the ninja, as none of them showed up. At least we assume they didn't. Nexon America has just added a new character class to their adorable free-to-play platformer MMO, and while they're called pirates and look like pirates, the fact that they can transform into not one but two glowing super forms with magical powers makes me think that someone's concept of nautical raiders could use a little work.
A few months ago, Chris Plante had a thought provoking suggestion for the gaming industry: what we need is more global games. I thought it was an interesting position, and one that I more or less agree with -- but the problem isn't simply lack of 'global' games. On the whole, mainstream gaming press is seriously cut off from anything outside the typical mainstream purview. It would probably do all of us some good if we started looking seriously at game development and industry news coming from elsewhere.
And you thought MapleStory was all fun and games. A Japanese woman has found herself in jail, potentially facing charges of illegally accessing a computer and manipulating data, after deleting the character of her in-game 'husband' who divorced her rather suddenly. "I was suddenly divorced, without a word of warning. That made me so angry!" she is quoted as saying:
A 43-year-old Japanese piano teacher found herself in jail after viciously murdering her ex-husband...in MapleStory. According to reports, the woman's virtual, big-headed anime husband suddenly divorced her in mid-May, which lead to her logging on with the 33-year-old man's username and password and deleting his character. When the man discovered the death of his character, he called the police. The alleged virtual murderer has now been jailed for suspicion of illegally accessing a computer and manipulating electronic data, which could carry a five-year prison sentence or a fine of up to $US5,000.
"I was suddenly divorced, without a word of warning. That made me so angry," the official quoted her as telling investigators and admitting the allegations.
Nexon America has unveiled a massive expansion to the world of MapleStory in the Crimsonwood Keep expansion, which allows players to venture through the newly expanded Phantom Forest on the continent of Masteria, into the new areas found around the Crimsonwood Mountain. The update adds 31 new maps, 11 new enemies, and 12 new story-focused quests, while also adding a new skill for pets and improving the language filters so younger players can keep their exposure to dirty words contained to TV, movies, and what they overhear their parents saying.
MapleStory will be updated with the new content tonight at 9PM Pacific, with the whole process taking about 9 hours, which means getting the kids to bed tonight will be that much easier. The adult players will just have to suffer. Hit the jump for more info!
Min Kim, Nexon America's director of game operations, sat down with Gamasutra to talk about the free to play model, Nexon's expansion to the 360 and the DS. On the issue of people dismissing the business model:
I don't want to discount people, but I don't think they're doing all the right research, because I see all the misconceptions that people have about what our business is. If they're going to ask the right questions, we could probably tell them.Or if they would just go in and experience our games. A lot of people talk about it like, "Hey, this can't work," or "It doesn't have the right balance," and then when I ask them questions like, "Have you played it or seen it?" they're like, "No, but it's like this!" and I'm like... (laughs)
Any slight itching I may have had to try out Nexon's MapleStory just went completely down the toilet. Today the company announces that prepaid Nexon cards will be available for purchase at 7-Eleven stores around the country, offering teens and 'tweens' a more convenient way to spend all of their parent's money on virtual frippery in any of Nexon's online games. Pretty nifty, until I read this:
An animated version of a 7-Eleven store and an employee will appear in the popular MapleStory MMOG. This type of integration is cutting-edge, according to Nexon. It brings relevant content to consumers and provides 7-Eleven with a new way to use virtual worlds to expand its marketing.First off, calling a 7-Eleven employee 'animated' is being far too generous with the definition of the word. Secondly, this is not cutting-edge. This is cutting-stupid. It's one thing to run a 7-Eleven ad on the splash page. It is something completely different to create a virtual 7-Eleven store in a fantasy-themed MMO. Gah.
My article about the MapleStory iTCG yesterday missed some salient points, so Wizards of the Coast shot me the official launch press release to fill me in on the details. Aside from featuring the most adorable anime art on every card, the card game of Nexon's side-scrolling MMO also includes codes that unlock special rewards in the game, much like Upper Deck's World of Warcraft MMO, except that every booster is guaranteed to contain one. Rewards include coveted artifacts, news quests, and rare virtual pets, including the card-exclusive black bunny, which is driving players a little nuts. It is teh call of teh bunneh. I'm actually planning on getting my YuGiOh playing nephew to try the game out with me on Thanksgiving, so I'll be sure to let you know how that goes.
Oh, and before you correct me, bunneh is the bunny way of saying bunny. It's pronounced "boon-eh". Trust me on this. I know my bunnehs.
So I am at Target last night, buying one of about fifty copies of Assassin's Creed they had there after a GameStop employee with a shit-eating grin told me I should have preordered, when I spot an odd little mushroom creature smiling at me from the trading card game aisle. Apparently, while I wasn't paying attention, Wizards of the Coast got together with the MapleStory folks and released a trading card game. They had apparently just arrived, judging by the lack of price tags (and the fact that I had been there in the morning looking for AC), so I bought a starter deck for $US9.99, took it home, and stared at it for awhile. Why did I buy this? Sure, it comes with a booster pack, starter deck, and a game CD, but I know no one who will play this with me and have no intention of playing MapleStory. Then it hit me. You, okay? I bought them for watching by you!
