The Daily Zerg - 11/12/08 - The world is not enough for Richard Garriott

The World is Not Enough For Richard Garriott

Lost In Space
Richard Garriott, the self proclaimed Lord, has returned from outer space with a revelation. While looking down on earth from the International Space Station, it all became clear to Garriott. It was a message from above with a greater calling. Richard Garriott has decided to abandon the sinking ship which is NCSoft after a 50% dowturn in revenue over the past year, a lack luster release of the self touted Tabula Rasa and a year filled with layoffs. While this may seem like more bad news for NCSoft, when you peel away all of the self indulgence of Richard Garriott, all you are left with is a game he produced 10 years ago and not much else since.

World of Warhammer
While touted by some as Failhammer, usually those who play World Warcraft, Warhammer Online faces a crucial moment tonight as World of Warcraft's expansion, Wrath of the Lich King is set to release. At release, Warhammer was hailed by the misinformed gaming media as a competitor to World of Warcraft, while it is actually an alternative to World of Warcraft. In Warcraft, you dredge through a seemingly endless layer of dungeons and dragons with the end game goal being to amass a wealth of virtual gear while teaming with friends to destroy Non Player Characters, which makes it essentially a Cooperative gear based Player vs. Environment experience.

Warhammer is a Player vs. Player centric game in which the ultimate end game goal is to defeat the opposite side by taking their capital city. There are very few similarities between the two games, but their audience does overlap and the WotLK expansion will prove to be a critical turning point in the overall success of Warhammer.

I Want to Eat Your Brain
The zombie hunting action thriller, Left 4 Dead demo is now available to everyone. Until today, the demo was available only to preorder customers. The game is set to ship on November 18th. Left 4 Dead is a cooperative zombie killing online adventure for up to 4 players.

Back to the Future
After the blockbuster success of Call of Duty 4, EA decided to go retro and return to World War II for Call of Duty: World at War. The game has received high praise from the major media outlets, but are gamers ready to go back in time or have they experience enough of World War II as we progressed from Castle Wolfenstein to Medal of Honor to the early Call of Duty releases?

Limitless Possibilities with Limited Possibilities
After inciting the Muslim world earlier this fall, Media Molecule is now inciting its customers with what users are claiming is blatant disregard for community and the hours of work they put in to create levels for the recently released Little Big Planet. The main contention from the player base is the lack of clear and defined rules for level creation. As the product description for the game states: "Imagine a world that's yours to shape, build and explore. LittleBigPlanet puts the power of absolute creation into your own hands. If you can see it, you can enhance it. If you can't see it, you can invent it." as long as we agree with you. In their defense, Media Molecule has pledged to take a look at the moderation process.