For those of you not up to par on your Star Trek calendar, that’s actually January 12, 2010. The open beta will run through to January 26, giving players two weeks to play the game prior to the February launch. Open beta keys will be given out on a first come, first serve basis, with players urged to watch the game’s official website at http://www.startrekonline.com to keep abreast of the situation.

“We are excited to announce the dates for the open beta phase as this is one of the final steps in launching Star Trek Online to the public,” said Craig Zinkievich, Executive Producer on Star Trek Online. “We are looking forward to the launch of our first-of-a-kind MMORPG with anticipation and excitement and we expect Star Trek Online to explode onto the scene, giving fans and gamers a Star Trek experience like no other.”

Star Trek would be a much bigger hit with the fans if video game website writers didn’t have to covert dates to stardates of their own accord. Just sayin’.

Here’s what Tom Tippl told the gathering:

It’s definitely an aspiration that we see potential in, particularly as we look at different business models to monetize the online gameplay. There’s good knowledge exchange happening between the Blizzard folks and our online guys.

We have great experience also on Call of Duty with the success we had on Xbox Live and PlayStation Network. A lot of that knowledge is getting actually built into the Battle.Net platform and the design of that. I think it’s been mutually beneficial, and you should expect us to test and ultimately launch additional online monetization models of some of some of our biggest franchises like Call of Duty.

And now that you’re red-faced and rushing to the comments to say no way in hell would you ever pay for this, Tippl reminds:

Our gamers are telling us there’s lots of services and innovation they would like to see that they’re not getting yet. From what we see so far, additional content, as well as all the services Blizzard is offering, is that there is demand from the core gamers to pay up for that.

So, got that? He says practically demanding to pay up. So pay up!

Activision Hints at Call of Duty Online Plans IGN via VG247 and just about every one else.]

Mytheon is an online PC game that combines action RPG gameplay with an element of collectable strategy games. Players take on mythical gods using collectable Power Stones, which transform into creatures, buildings, and spells. Think of it as a collectable card strategy game with the cards replaced with stones, and you get the picture.

Browse the gallery below for background information on some of the game’s scenic locales.

The island features a diverse geography from craggy, impassable cliffs to rolling meadows and gardens. While Amphitrite resides in the peaceful Nereid’s Garden where the sparkling ponds and fountains reflect the tranquillity of the sea, Triton presides over his namesake cove amidst the foam and crashing surf. Within the Temple of Poseidon, the vengeful sea god prepares his minions for the coming battle with mankind.

The Dominion of Hades is the epicentre of Hades’ power in the Underworld. From this dark, luxurious palace, Hades and his queen, Persephone, rule the Underworld without mercy.

Remnants of a city lie just beyond the field’s borders, long abandoned by its inhabitants and now overrun with diabolical beasts. What was once a thriving marketplace, surrounded by the homes of the townspeople, now lies uninhabited.

Gloomy corridors and cavernous halls exude an eerie sense of foreboding to those who would risk entry within. Divided into three great regions — the Hall of the Dead, the Garden of the Furies and the Court of Hades — Stonecasters must embark deep into this fiery stronghold and face perilous legions of undead monsters in order to confront Hades himself, his power enhanced within his own domain.

The Shattered Isle is home to Poseidon, the supreme ruler of oceans and earthquakes. The isle is also home to Amphitrite, Poseidon’s beloved wife, and their son, Triton. Together, the family forms a triad symbolic of the ocean’s tranquillity, treachery and unrelenting dominion. These qualities are reflected in the domains over which they preside.

Since their victory over the dragon, the sacred grove has become infiltrated with fierce warriors of Ares, the god of war. The dusty furrows of the Fallow Field are dotted with the skeletal remains of dead trees; now home to carrion creatures that prey upon the unwary.

The Dominion of Hades is a monument to death and destruction. Home to the immortal god of earthly wealth — Hades, lord of the dead, rules his realm with an iron fist.

The skeletal remains of past invaders lie half-buried in the sands surrounding crumbling columns and scarred boulders. Waterfalls cascade down stone ledges, casting a fine spray that coats the rocky surfaces and foliage.

Players will travel to the distant land of Colchis, once home to the famed Golden Fleece, now protecting Argos. Two distinct regions form the land of Colchis — the cast Fallow Field and the Grove of Ares. Jason and his Argonauts braved many dangers there to claim their prize, including an epic battle against the Colchian Dragon who guarded the fleece.

Why “pre-season” you ask? The competitive online strategy game uses a seasons model in order to keep gameplay fresh for everyone involved. October 27th sees the start of its pre-season, a period in which players can form teams, learn the game, and formulate strategies in advance of season one, which kicks off in early 2010. The model also allows Riot to cycle content, meaning the set of Champions you have at your disposal and the maps you play on can change with each season, keeping the game fresh and the competition on their toes.

Riot has just opened up the beta for the game, allowing anyone interested to sign up and participate for free, holding on to their accounts once the game launches. The closed beta has been running for awhile, so you’re late to the game, but every extra day helps. You’ve got five. Go play.

Global Agenda is an online shooter that, on the surface, plays a great deal like many other online shooters. You gain experience, level up, gain new equipment, and fight side-by-side with your teammates through a variety of maps and game types. It’s also a massively-multiplayer persistent world game, in which rival agencies and alliances fight for territory, establish bases, craft, socialize, and participate in raids. It has the potential to appeal to two completely different audiences, so Hi-Rez has decided to cater to both.

When Global Agenda launches, a onetime purchase via retail or downloadable distribution will net you the full online multiplayer shooter, with no subscription fees ever required to play the core game. You still get to create and level a character, participate in co-operative missions against enemies and bosses, level your character, and join alliances. It functions much like a Call of Duty or Team Fortress does, only with inventory and enhanced social features.

Players craving something a bit more deeper, however, can opt to pay $US12.99 a month ($11.99 for 3 months, $US9.99 for 6) for the Global Agenda: Conquest subscription. Players who opt for Conquest again access to the more persistent part of the persistent-world game, Alliance versus Alliance World Domination gameplay. It’s a massive-scale war for territory, with rival agencies capturing land, forming alliances with other agencies, gathering resources, and basically maintaining a constant vigil on their things, lest a rival group take them away.

Subscribing also allows players to form their own Alliances and Agencies, send mail, use the auction house, and participate in some of the higher-end raid content. Subscribing customers will also enjoy frequent updates to the ongoing content, which those playing the core game won’t have access to.

We spoke with the game’s Executive Producer Todd Harris, who explained the core difference between the two ways to pay and play. “The main difference is for folks that want to play the game as a multiplayer online game with a little bit of persistence, that’s what the main package brings you. We looked at the feature set of other online games and made sure we had all of that and more. We’re putting all of that into a box an letting people get it for a one-time price.”

According to Todd, throughout the development of Global Agenda, testers were commenting on how enjoyable the combat system in the game is, saying they would gladly pay for it without any of the MMO features. Now they’ll have their chance.

While there are many differences between the two different payment types, Todd assured me that the portions of the game that overlap – the match made PVP battles – will never be unbalanced between those subscribed to the game and those that choose not to. Any items introduced to subscribers that can be used in regular PVP combat will be available to non-subscribers as well. There will be unique items for those who opt to pay a monthly fee, but those will only be useable in subscriber-only gameplay.

As an added bonus, everyone who purchases the full version of the game gets a free 30-day subscription, so if you aren’t sure what you want, it won’t cost anything to see how the other half lives.

It certainly sounds like Hi-Rez has all of its bases covered on this one. The shooter gameplay in Global Agenda is extremely solid, more than enough to carry off a standalone title. We’ll see how things work out for the game when it is released sometime in Q1 of 2010.

I’ve spent a few hours over the past two days playing matches online to see how things are working now that the game is out in the wild. Here’s what I found.

Finding Games: Finding a good match on the Playstation 3 was easy. Over the course of the past two days, the auto matchmaker found ranked games for me usually in about a minute.

Matchmaking: With the exception of one completely off-kilter match up that pitted a group that included two level 34 characters against a bunch of level 5 characters, I’ve noticed no issues with how the game finds playmates for you.

Reaction Time: I haven’t run into any noticeable lag yet, despite occasionally having what the game identified as a weak connection.

General Consensus: There are complaints in the official thread for the game on Playstation.com with a handful of people complaining about waits of five minutes or longer to find a match.

People are also complaining that the online stats for the game are tracking cooperative mode kills and deaths.

Overall Personal Experience: The inclusion of jumping, climbing and stealth kills makes Uncharted 2: Among Thieves’ a breezy bit of online fun for competitive play.

I’m a little put off by the unlockable perks that can make matches a bit harder for those new to the game, but with a bit of time spent playing you can quickly unlock your own set and the whole thing evens out.

Read our complete review here.

Nexon America’s revenue for August was up 32% over the previous year, and if the company’s celebratory press release is any indication, Combat Arms had a lot to do with its “explosive growth”. Since Combat Arms launched in July 2008, Nexon has updated the title on a regular basis, adding in new game modes like Quarantine and Fireteam, aping modes in popular retail releases to tremendous effect.

“We have worked extremely hard to make sure that our players get new, fun and interesting content delivered as frequently as possible,” said Min Kim, Nexon America’s vice president of marketing. “The progress we have made with Combat Arms is significant, substantial and added a great deal to the outstanding summer success for Nexon America.”

Nexon continues to grow Combat Arms, recently adding new zombie maps to the Quarantine mode and a new mercenary character modeled after a movie action hero, and I can’t see them stopping anytime soon. You can almost rest assured that if a new FPS game type becomes popular, Combat Arms will get a free version of it eventually. It’s a business model that work—just ask those three million users. Visit the Combat Arms website if you’re interested in becoming one of them.

Reality Gap, whose free-play offerings include the MMO Monato Esprit (pictured), also faces competition in ports coming over from the more developed Asian free-play market. Korea’s, especially, is “super-saturated. He seems to decry the “schlock” that arises when rampant me-tooism meets an already crowded space. But he adds they’re also competing with some Asian market winners that turn into duds in the US.

“It’s not just schlock. There are some good games that have come over here, but they weren’t good necessarily for the US market. A lot of things we’ve found, [like games based around] vanity items and things that are very, very popular in Asia … aren’t necessarily as popular here. Things that are more important here are actually how the game plays, getting yourself more advancement and skill. So, it is really different.”

IGN AU caught up with Pardo over at Blizzcon and pressed him on the topic of local servers for Australian StarCraft II players.

“We are looking into it. There’s been lots of discussion going on, nothing to announce right now, but I know that – especially with the Australian audience growing the way it is – that it’s something we’re seriously going to consider.”

The previously announced lack of LAN play with StarCraft II means that all online games need a direct connection to Battle.net, a situation that could potentially result in unpalatable lag unless local servers are in place.

Check out the IGN article for more thoughts on the issue, both from Pardo and the Aussie gamers attending Blizzcon.

Servers Please! [IGN AU]

Bruce Everiss, who works in video game marketing, has written up an excellent piece on the shady side of the “game”, pointing out the fact it’s owned by a guy who has been sued by Microsoft for click fraud and who also runs a gold farming company, that it steals assets from Age of Empires and that the game is spamming people’s blogs and forums with unsolicited Evony ads.

And what did Bruce get for his troubles? Well, of course, he’s been threatened with a lawsuit by Evony’s owner, Eric Lam.

More About Evony [Bruceongames, via Valleywag]