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First gameplay video of Alientrap's Apotheon is gorgeous, coming in 2013


Alientrap, developers of PC and XBLA game Capsized, recently unveiled a gameplay trailer for its next game, Apotheon. The side-scrolling action RPG game draws from Greek mythology in both its appearance and story, as players control a hero on a quest to stop the now-evil Greek goddess Hera after she de-thrones Zeus.

The description for Apotheon from Alientrap's official site notes "a large single player campaign in a massive open world Mount Olympus," as well as "online multiplayer with deathmatch and team based gamemodes." The game is in development for PC, and will launch on Steam sometime in 2013.

MMO Week in Review: SOE Live 2012

MMO Week in Review - SOE Live 2012
At the end of every week, we round up the best and most popular news stories, exclusive features, and insightful columns published on Massively and then present them all in one convenient place. If you missed a big MMO or WoW Insider story last week, you've come to the right post.

Massively's Karen Bryan and MJ Guthrie braved Vegas this weekend to witness the insanity of the newly reborn SOE Live. As if making up for last year's Fan Faire, which was a bit of a downer in the wake of Star Wars Galaxies' cancellation, SOE pulled out all the stops, especially for sandbox fans.

After multiple keynotes (why have one keynote when you can have three at thrice the price?) hitting the highlights, we investigated EverQuest Next, which John Smedley claims will be the largest sandbox MMO ever made; DC Universe Online, which is adding an impressive housing system in its next DLC; and EverQuest II's Chains of Eternity expansion, which puts crafters in the limelight. We also chatted with Smedley about SOE's philosophical shift and ProSieben.Sat.1 and checked out the SOE/Runewaker collaboration known as Dragon's Prophet. We even braved hardcore permadeath in Wizardry Online.

Oh yeah, and there's that little thing called PlanetSide 2 launching on November 20th.

The rest of our top MMO stories are just beyond the cut!

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Battlefield Heroes gets new map, weapons with special Halloween content

EA's free-to-play Battlefield Heroes shooter is going trick-or-treating with a new set of Halloween content, as seen in the trailer above and the gallery below. The holiday update will bring a brand new map called the Perilous Port, as well as new Machete weapons, and a few different spooky items and outfits to wear.

There are also some new rewards to earn: Winning 10 games on the new map on ranked servers will earn you a faction-specific Halloween t-shirt, and there are also Trick or Treat-themed supply drops, with random chances to win other great stuff. Additionally, all of the other Halloween content from the game's previous years is back online as well, so jump on in and have yourself a frighteningly fun time.

Jason Rohrer's massively multiplayer game, The Castle Doctrine

Jason Rohrer's latest game is an MMO called 'The Castle Doctrine'
Jason Rohrer, the developer behind such unconventional cult hits as Diamond Trust of London, Sleep is Death and Inside a Star-Filled Sky, has a new game in the works titled The Castle Doctrine. It's "a massively multiplayer game of burglary and home defense" and will come soon to PC, Mac and Linux, according to its official site (which is pretty barebones at the moment).

The website does reveal a few images, two of which are side-by-side above, showing what we can assume is The Castle Doctrine, unless Rohrer is trying to really confuse everyone. It looks to be a top-down, 2.5D pixel-fest with puzzles and some things covered in blood. How fun.

GameStop giving out BioShock Infinite: Industrial Revolution puzzle game with pre-order

BioShock Infinite puzzle game comes with preorder
A pre-order from GameStop for the upcoming BioShock Infinite will net you not one but two games, apparently. Not only will you of course get a copy of the BioShock followup itself, but you'll also pick up a completely separate puzzle game called BioShock Infinite: Industrial Revolution, a Flash-based puzzle game that appears to have been created just for this promotion. Industrial Revolution places you in the shoes of a factory worker in BioShock Infinite's world, completing puzzles to support either one of the game's two factions.

Industrial Revolution will have over 50 levels to play through, and will be available to pre-order sometime before BioShock Infinite releases on February 26 of next year. The original version of BioShock had its own Hacking minigame included, but this one seems completely separate, just a fully promotional tie-in title rather than an integral part of the finished release.

The Walking Dead Collector's Edition retail bundle is GameStop exclusive

The Walking Dead Collector's Edition retail bundle looks bloody good
Telltale's The Walking Dead will be available in two forms at retail on December 4: One a decomposed, $30 version that includes just the game for PS3 or Xbox 360, and a bloated, GameStop-exclusive, $70 Collector's Edition. The Collector's Edition includes the complete game, the first 48 issues of the comic in The Walking Dead Compendium One with exclusive cover art by Charlie Adlard, and a special box also slathered in Adlard art.

The Collector's Edition will be "extremely limited" and is available for pre-order only, and the compendium won't be sold anywhere but inside this juicy set, Telltale tells IGN.

Episode Five: No Time Left is set to hit in November.

PlayStation All-Stars: Battle Royale brings the party to iam8bit this week

iam8bit's PlayStation AllStars event in LA
Los Angeles' trendy video game art house iam8bit is hosting a one-night event for PlayStation All-Stars: Battle Royale, with the final release code playable for the first time in public. The event is dubbed the LA Beatdown, and it takes place on Wednesday, October 24 from 7 p.m. - 11 p.m. at this location.

LA Beatdown is completely free to enter and includes the following goodies: the game playable on a 25-foot widescreen; exclusive, one-time-print t-shirts and posters with art by Boneface for the first 500 attendees (check out the design above); a museum-style exhibit featuring characteristic items from each Battle Royale character; a photo stage with props from the game; and complimentary alcoholic beverages for those 21 and older. Vizzi food truck will be parked outside as well.

Entrance is first-come, first-serve, so if you're in the LA area start planning for a thumpin' hump day now.

BioShock Infinite gameplay trailer is its own beast


This BioShock Infinite "Beast of America" trailer shows off the streets of Columbia and demonstrates Elizabeth's helpful ways in combat.

As the first trailer for the game seen in months, this video was the result of a community vote on the game's official Facebook page. BioShock Infinite is slated to launch on February 26, 2013 for Xbox 360, PS3 and PC.

Here's some pretty Dragon Age 3 concept art

Here's some pretty Dragon Age 3 concept art
When BioWare revealed a few details about Dragon Age 3: Inquisition at the Edmonton Expo yesterday, it also showed off concept art to the panel attendees.

The artwork has since been posted to the Bioware blog without all those pesky heads in front of it (though we're sure they can be edited back in upon request). Dragon Age 3 is planned to launch in late 2013.

Weekly Webcomic Wrapup is rebellious

Rules were meant to be broken. At least, that's what many games over the years would have you think. I couldn't tell you the number of times I've heard people say they play video games because they're allowed to do things they "can't do in real life," including breaking all the rules.

The Grand Theft Auto series comes to mind as a clear example where gameplay revolves around breaking laws (the series is named after a criminal act, after all). Not killing people and petty theft are both pretty big rules in life, which are broken by thousands of video games. It actually becomes markedly difficult to pinpoint a handful of games that never have players sticking to any rules or laws presented to them in an obvious way. Sure, more obscure games that don't mimic everyday life have players bound to the rules of the game. Players are incredibly confined in how they stack shapes in Tetris.

Those sorts of games aside, it's worth wondering if some video games stick to the "rule-breaker" mentality a little too much. Although, games that don't offer an opportunity to be a rebel in one way or another might suffer from being too boring to be noteworthy. Either way, we encourage you to stick to one rule: Read last week's webcomics and then vote for your favorite after the break. Fall in line!

It happens (Omo-Cat)
Costume Quest (Magical Game Time)
Boo Who (Legacy Control)
Dishonored: Too Many Herrings (Dorkly)
Pain in the ass (Nerf Now!!)
Granularity (Penny Arcade)

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Miniature Portal gun replica now available at Think Geek


Think Geek now sells a somewhat downsized version of the Aperture Science Handheld Portal Device, which is good news for people that work in super cramped cubicles, as well as tiny baby children looking to perfectly accessorize a Halloween costume that was obviously their parents' idea.

At $60, the bite-sized gun features accurately colored lighting effects, portal-specific sounds and articulating zero-point energy manipulator claws, just like the bigger, sold-out versions. It also includes a display stand, which will be helpful if you're the first type of person we mentioned above. At just 12-inches, however, its cosplay potential is limited to children, as a standard ASHPD measures 30-inches long.

But hey, you know what they say: "It ain't the length of you Aperture Science Handheld Portal Device, it's the momentum cancelling abilities of your Advanced Knee Replacements." Or something.

Report: 70 million Xbox 360s sold to date

Report 70 million Xboxes sold to date
Since its launch way back in 2005, the Xbox 360 has been purchased a grand total of 70 million times, according to IGN. This figure is up by nearly three million units since last April, when the global total rung up at 67.2 million.

Conceptualizing that many Xboxes is kind of hard to do, so let's put that figure into a ridiculous, arbitrary context. An olympic-sized swimming pool, for instance, holds about 424,935 Xboxes, assuming a pool volume of 88,528 cubic feet and Non-S model 360s. In order to hold all the Xboxes sold in the world so far, it would require 165 olympic-sized swimming pools, with that 165th pool having a tiny little bit of space left over for some controllers and a copy of Condemned: Criminal Origins.

To put it another way, if every Xbox sold in the world were put on one side of a giant scale, 2,156 blue whales would need to be placed on the other side for it to balance properly, assuming a median weight of 250,000 pounds per whale. That's kind of a lot of Xboxes, you guys.

More Dragon Age 3 details surface

A few small details and concept art for Dragon Age 3: Inquisition were revealed during a BioWare panel at the Edmonton Comic and Entertainment Expo today thanks to the live-tweeting work of Cameron Lee, a producer on the game.

Namely, Cinematic Designer John Perry said that "he's had a longer pre-production on Dragon Age 3 than any other BioWare project he's worked on," and that "one level in Dragon Age 3 is as big as all of Dragon Age 2's levels." Creative Director Mike Laidlaw noted that players will be human in the game, and that "customization is going to be bigger than Dragon Age: Origins."

BioWare GM Aaryn Flynn posted a picture to Twitter of the backs of event attendees' heads, which happened to include concept art for the game in the background. As nice as those heads are, we will update when the actual art is available. Dragon Age 3: Inquisition is in development and slated for a late 2013 release.

SOE Live 2012: John Smedley on EQ Next and SOE's future

SOE President John Smedley on EQ Next and SOE's future
There's been a never-ending news stream this weekend at SOE Live, and underlying all the announcements has been a single theme: a fundamental shift towards emergent gameplay. We had the chance to talk to SOE President John Smedley about that philosophical change and how it fits in to current and upcoming titles. He spoke about the growing popularity of MMOs as viewing entertainment and how it's caught on in PlanetSide 2. And while he wouldn't go into details about EQ Next, he did give some exciting hints about what players will get to experience with this third EverQuest title. Read on for a look at the future of SOE!

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EA's Riccitiello on social games: 'Consumers won't pay for crap'

The decline of social games has been "overhyped," Electronic Arts CEO John Riccitiello said at Friday's App Conference in San Jose, California, AllThingsD reported. "Companies that are now suffering will have another day," Riccitiello said.

The CEO noted that viral marketing-style messages in social games that spam friends lists with requests don't make for "great gaming," and that "consumers won't pay for crap." Riccitiello had similar comments in May, when he said that "consumers want to be entertained, they don't want to be data managed."

Medal of Honor: Warfighter trailer tours Zero Dark Thirty maps


Zero Dark Thirty is a movie based on the mission to capture or kill Osama Bin Laden – a perfect tie-in to a game about hunting down terrorists such as Medal of Honor: Warfighter. EA will deploy a $9.99 multiplayer map pack in honor of the film, part of the proceeds of which will go to charity through EA's Project Honor program – all pre-orders will get the additional maps free of charge.

The program was initiated with the goal of "raising awareness and generating charitable contributions for fallen warriors from the Special Operations Community." The Zero Dark Thirty map pack includes two multiplayer locales based on real locations where Osama Bin Laden was suspected of hiding in Pakistan: the Darra Gun Market and Chitral Compound. Feel free to gather intel on each in the video above.

Rice University offers course on Old Norse mythology, Skyrim

Look, you don't need an expensive piece of paper from some institution to know that you're the Dohvakiin. You know it, we know it, the guy you yelled at until he died knows it -- that's all that really matters in the long run. But, if for some reason you did want to expand your knowledge of the ancient legends behind your ancient legend, Rice University has you covered.

"Scandinavian Fantasy Worlds: Old Norse Sagas and Skyrim" is a new course at Rice University in Houston, TX, which "introduces students to fantasy as both psychological concept and driving force in gamer culture" by having students "read selections from Old Norse and Old Icelandic sagas (in translation) as they play different quests within Skyrim."

As you can imagine, enrollment availability is limited to actual, bona fide students at Rice University. Additionally, the class is only available this semester, which is sad considering that beating Skyrim will most likely take longer than passing the course.

Mew-Genics is the next Team Meat game

MewGenics is the next Team Meat game
Team Meat's next game is called Mew-Genics. The game is described as "randomly generated" and will involve cats in some way, purr per Team Meat's announcement blog.

Super Meat Boy creator Edmund McMillen said the project is the strangest he's ever worked on, and that platform announcements, gameplay details and screens for Mew-Genics will be revealed soon.

Assassin's Creed 3 TV commercial wants liberation

Image This cinematic TV commercial for Assassin's Creed 3 teases the game's story and GameStop pre-order bonuses, which includes the lost Mayan ruins single player mission and a sawtooth sword. Assassin's Creed 3 is due out October 30 for PC, Xbox 360 and PS3, and will launch on Wii U November 18. ... Continue Reading

Zombies!!! board game adaptation still in development, coming soon

Zombies!!! still under development, coming soon
It turns out a full console version of Zombies!!! is still shambling around, according to a new trailer and dev diary released this week. Developer Barbaroga has been working on a bigger and better video game version of the Twilight Creations board game for over two years now, though the project's been dark since late 2010.

A version did get released on Windows Phone last year, but it's finally arriving soon, according to these videos, on Xbox Live, Windows, iOS and Android.

The graphics have been updated, the gameplay and controls have been tweaked, and Babaroga has added asynchronous multiplayer features, so players will be able to trade turns back and forth. Babaroga says the full console version of Zombies!!! should be out as soon as "winter" this year.

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— Bohemia CEO Marek Spanel on two Arma 3 developers arrested in Greece on suspicion of espionage

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