Archive for November, 2008
Friday, November 14th, 2008
Dice, the developers of the highly anticipated free-to-play title under the EA banner, Battlefield Heroes has recently announced that they’re putting the breaks on the official release date until 2009.
Dice Senior Producer James Salt posted to the games site (see below), citing backend issues as causing the snag. The quick and dirty looks like this: While the frontend, the interface and gameplay that users experience is running quite well, beta tester feedback has been heard and applied, it’s all the backend features (up to 90% of the actual ‘game’) that aren’t quite up to par. Rather than rush what could and should be a flagship model of the free-to-play industry to market, Dice/EA are making a wise decision by closing the doors and retooling the system. The closed beta servers will have the plug pulled at 6pm CET, and will remain closed until further notice.
James Salts’ post:
Hello Heroes,
Been a looooong time since our last update. I want to apologise to you all for that.
So what have we been up to?
Well, the obvious answer is that we’ve been hard at work on the beta. To give you more detail, part of what makes Battlefield: Heroes unique is that it is equal parts game and website. On the game side, we’ve been listening to feedback from the lucky beta people, who have been a tremendous help to us in balancing the gameplay, squashing bugs and improving the overall quality of the game.
On to the other half of the Battlefield Heroes experience: the website.
We have also been working hard on the parts of the beta that aren’t the game. Sound weird? Let me try and explain: You know the old saying about icebergs being 10% above water, and 90% below? Heroes is a little like that. There’s the 10% game part you can see, and the hiding 90% is what we call the ‘backend’. The backend does a lot of things. From running the website’s features and looking after the items you have, to collecting the results from each Heroes game and matchmaking players into games.
We have received lots of great feedback from our beta testers. So much so that we are now ready to enter our next phase. On Friday evening (6pm CET) we will be closing down the current Closed Beta and moving our focus to polishing the backend. So for a while there will be no closed beta available to play. We expect to re-open the beta early next year.
A special thanks to all of our beta testers for your feedback on balance, polish and bug reports over the last few months. Your help has been invaluable to us.
The post has garnered over 800+ comments at the time of my writing this, with a majority of the feedback running towards the ‘Awww man…what’s up? The game is great!” variety. Naturally, there’s a smartass comment here and there, but meh…such is life.
This announcement is a bit of a double-edged sword for me personally. Battlefield Heroes was the only title that I returned to play again on the second day at the Leipzig Games Convention, and I truly do enjoy the gameplay. Tossing in the ‘it’s free’ factor only ups the ante. On one hand I was planning on wasting a LOT of time over the upcoming holiday season with BH, but on the other…I’m a patient guy, I’d rather see DICE/EA close the doors, if only temporarily, to deliver something that’s truly going to blow the doors off the nay Sayers.
Here’s to you folks at Dice and EA. A bold move that’s certainly not going to please all, but kudos to you for having the guts to hold fire until the product is just right.
Related articles
Tags: battlefield, Battlefield Heroes, DICE, EA, feedback, Flagship, heroes, interface, James Salt
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Thursday, November 13th, 2008
Free-to-play giant Nexon and fructose corn syrup magnet 7-Eleven have been working together for almost a year now via selling Nexon pre-paid cards at a number of the highly popular convenience stores. Things just got a bit more interesting this past Monday, when Nexon and 7-Eleven unveiled an in-game Slurpee/game code cross promotion.
Titled “Where U Play For Free!”, the cross promotion features Slurpee cups that feature graphics from Nexon’s popular titles; MapleStory, Mabinogi, Combat Arms, and the upcoming Sugar Rush. Partakers of über sugared icy goodness will receive a Nexon game DVD when ordering up a 22-oz. or larger Slurpee, including all 4 games featured on the specially branded cups.
Ok, so far so good…7-Eleven is promoting Nexon via a free-to-play game giveaway, but what’s in it for 7-Eleven? Ah ha! Glad you asked. Here’s where things get really interesting. Each Nexon branded Slurpee cup has an exclusive game code that may be entered in any one of Nexon’s titles to redeem custom 7-Eleven branded in-game gear. Mabinogi features 20 in-game Slurpees that recover 100 HP each. The MapleStory code will provide double XP for 90 Minutes, and the Combat Arms code will provide players with a 7-Eleven Cap and Supply Case that contains a free weapon. If this isn’t brilliant enough, the game code ALSO provides 7-Eleven customers the opportunity to participate in the closed beat of Sugar Rush. That’s a heckuva cool way to get in on a beta that’s scheduled for an early ’09 release.
“We’ve seen great success with the Nexon pre-paid cash cards and this partnership further solidifies 7-Eleven as a premier gaming destination,” said Brad Haga, 7-Eleven’s senior product director of services. “Free-to-play games are more popular than ever in North America, and with Nexon, we can deliver a dynamic experience for our customers looking for great entertainment.”
Now let’s take a step back to have a better look at what’s going on here. Nexon has been leading the free-to-play charge in North America for quite a while now, and has obviously made great headway. A strategic partnership with a non-game related brick and mortar store has been a brilliant move. At a shop where you might stop to pick up some milk on the way home, grab a quick bite on the go, or quench your thirst (I might even have a reason to buy a Slurpee now), why not pick up a pre-paid game card to fuel your free-to-play compulsion? Great move in itself.
Now add the branded cups, in-game virtual item redemption codes, including access to a closed beta, and in-game branded merchandise? Someone slap me and wake me up, as this has got to be one of the best moves of the year. If this campaign is even remotely successful, I could imagine retailers lining up around the block to get their message branded in in-game virtual items. Racing game? Great. How about redeeming an Exxon cap after purchasing $20 of gas or more? Exxon could then sell pre-paid gaming cards right next to those pre-paid phone cards.
The Nexon/7-Eleven cross promotion is a stellar example of how virtual worlds, and their associated real world marketing and advertising opportunities are becoming more and more visible and valuable to the entire business. Do I want to see every mom and pop joint with a redeemable in-game code? No. Do I want to see great forays into realizing and recognizing the real-world financial possibilities for the sale, trade, and consumption of virtual world items and services? Absolutely!
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Tags: Brad Haga, cash cards, Combat, combat arms, convenience stores, cross promotion, free to play, Mabinogi, maplestory, Nexon, partnership, pre paid cards, slurpees, sugar rush
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Wednesday, November 12th, 2008
Virtual Reality Social Games Worlds Networks can at times be busier than Grand Central at 5:09 on the Wednesday before Thanksgiving. There are lots of players, each with their own unique take and slice on their specific niche. And while playfish has certainly made a lot of noise over the past few weeks, it’s often the guys in the back of the room that you’ve got to look out for. RockYou, please step forward.
RockYou is a self described, “innovator, creator, and distributor of widgets and applications on the social web.” Try saying that one 5 times fast. In other words, RockYou creates a lot of those cool widgets and apps that are served up daily every time you log in to your facebook account. RockYou is the creator of popular apps including SuperWall, SuperPets, Likeness, and HugMe while their widget stable includes Slideshows and Corkboard. Sound familiar, chances are you’ve used one or RockYou’s apps recently? They also made waves back in July with the purchase of popular apps Speed Racing and Pieces of Flair. According to insidefacebook.com, at the time of acquisition #11 app Pieces of Flair was clocking 475,000 daily users, and # 27 Speed Racing weighing in with 200,000 users per day.
Insidesocialgames.com’s Top MySpace games for September 24, 2008 places 2 of the top 12 belonging to RockYou, and they consistently rank high on the Facebook Most Active Users directory (Superwall, Hugme, Pieces of Flare, Likeness, and Birthday Cards all ranking in the top 28).
In addition, RockYou also specializes in creating customized branding and marketing solutions that reach consumers in a medium that the feel comfortable with and used to via applications. They’ve developed applications for any social network including Hi5, MySpace, Bebo, Facebook, Bebo, and Friendster. Reaching the masses via advertisement through entertainment is nothing new, but few companies are able to do it as well as RockYou.
There has been a bit of confusion regarding just what slice of the social networking pie RockYou is after, as CEO Lance Tokuda was quoted as saying “ We want to be like the Electronic Arts of social networks, and build games for social networks,” at the Startonomics conference in San Francisco in the beginning of October. While at the same time Brett Errill reported over at his blog that RockYou is still focusing its efforts on their ad network.
Whether Tokuda’s statement was taken out of context or not, I say: Does it matter? With monetization models popping up all over the place, along with Google’s own entry into the game monetization via advertising, the way I see it, RockYou is already leaps and bounds ahead of their competitors. With highly popular widgets and applications perfectly positioned in front of users of some of the world’s highest trafficked websites, along with the already existing ad network specialty, RockYou is well on track to becoming a mighty force to be reckoned with.
Find out more about RockYou by visiting them at www.RockYou.com.
Tags: bebo, birthday cards, CEO Lance Tokuda, Corkboard, Facebook, friendster, insidefacebook, Insidesocialgames, likeness, marketing solutions, monetization, myspace, pieces of flair, rockyou, Slideshows, social games, social web, speed racing, SuperWall, virtual reality, widget, widgets
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Tuesday, November 11th, 2008
In another show of support, community, and monetization of virtual worlds, paidConent.org reports that Lifetime Networks has just purchased South Korean fashion virtual world Roiworld for an undisclosed amount and will be expanding its casual gaming studio.
Lifetime Networks is a 50-50 joint venture of Hearst Media and The Walt Disney Company. They plan to launch a US version of Roiworld in early 2009. The site itself will mix elements from casual virtual worlds, user generated content, and social networking – all centered around fashion. Think of it is a virtual ‘Sex and the City’ where users can act out their very own Manolo Blahnik shopping spree. Lifetime cites that the Korean version of the site clocked in a whopping 2.8 million unique visitors racking up 117 million page views in the month of September alone, with an average stay of 50 minutes per month.
Kiseo Kim, the Roiworld founder will stay on and head up the new studio as CEO. The plan is to extend Roiworld (read: Big ol’ budget to play with) and develop new games (read: Cash in on the microtransactions). The current head of Lifetime Games, Kris Sourmas has already called for integrated ad packages and a ramping up of the existing micro-transaction technology, along with more social networking.
“With this acquisition, we see the potential to pioneer a new frontier in women’s digital entertainment,” said Andrea Wong, President and CEO of Lifetime Networks. “Our audience looks to Lifetime to provide an escape — in the digital space and on all platforms. With Roiworld.com, we’re creating another way to provide more women with more great entertainment.”
While we can only speculate on the purchase price, these are not uncharted waters for Lifetime, as the reportedly dropped $10M on the purchase of ParentsClick back in August. Gaming already plays a significant role in the Lifetime Networks portfolio, as Lifetime Games is the leading content section for myLifetime.com. This can be a bit deceptive, however, as Lifetime is a partner of RealNetworks and supplies a wide variety of games via Real Arcade. The two cross promote and have worked out a revenue sharing agreement. Lifetime does produce its own games with partners, and it’s a fair bet to say that the recent Roiworld acquisition is a further step in the right direction to provide further games and virtual worlds that its dedicated fan base will enjoy. Lifetime’s downloadable game sales were up 100 percent in 2007 over 2006 yoy, and sales in 2008 are still going strong.
“There’s no doubt that Korea produces some of the most vibrant and exciting games today, especially in the growing fashion and style category of the game industry,” said Dan Suratt, Executive Vice President, Digital Media and Business Development. “Lifetime is excited to push the limits of where these games can go, especially with a team as talented as the one from Roiworld.”
The new Lifetime Branded Roiworld is up and running at new.roiworld.com. Let’s keep an eye on this one, as the ‘Dress Up’ virtual world trend seems to be booming: what can Lifetime Networks make out of it?
Tags: Andrea Wong, Dan Suratt, hearst media, lifetime games, manolo blahnik, monetization, roiworld, sex and the city, social networking, transaction technology, virtual worlds, walt disney company
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Monday, November 10th, 2008
If just writing zOMG! wasn’t fun enough, this new free-to-play offering from Gaia Online will certainly bring a smile to your face. Unleashed upon the public last Thursday, this is Gaia’s first casual MMO game. Having completed a successful closed beta test, the open beta zOMG! is an adventure game that pits players against monsters in 16 different zones with a wide variety of battle rings and recipes to choose from. Gaia Online seeks to successfully meld the attractiveness of the online social community experience with a fun and enjoyable MMO gameplay experience.
“Our top priority is providing a high-quality MMO gaming experience that’s fun and challenging, and also user-friendly for all levels of players,” said David Georgeson, Senior Producer of zOMG! at Gaia Online. “We received a lot of great feedback from gamers during our Closed Beta, so we’re throwing open the doors as we update the game with new features and additional content.”
Listening to the community, and it’s needs and wants, has never been something that Gaia has shied away from, and by opening the beta doors, they’re expecting an even larger pool of feedback and suggestions to learn from. Gaia is actively soliciting feedback from players via the site’s message boards and forums.
Lucy Newman over at gamertell.com reports on Kate Pietrelli’s announcement surrounding zOMG!
“In development since 2006, zOMG! is a fun and engaging casual game that blends social online community experiences with accessible MMO gameplay. Gaia community members currently hang out in the virtual world with their friends, watch movies online together in the theater, share artwork in the online art gallery, and chat through the Gaia Instant Messaging (GIM) system. The community asked for new ways in which they could interact and play with their friends in Gaia, and so the MMO game was designed to be an extension of the Gaia virtual world with all the fun social elements of chatting and hanging out with friends, in addition to playing a challenging multiplayer game with quests, monsters, battles and more. Gaia Online will monetize the game through the sale of virtual goods (battle armor, rings, etc.), which tie into their current microtransactions based business model.”
While I’ve yet to personally give the game a look-over, I have visited and spent some time with Gaia, and I can’t imagine they’d deliver anything less than outstanding. Grinding rep this weekend was about as thrilling as watching the grass grow, so perhaps a break from the uphill battle is just what the doctor ordered….and with a name like zOMG! you just KNOW there’s got to be some fun somewhere therein.
Tags: adventure game, beta test, casual game, community experience, community experiences, David Georgeson, feedback, feedback and suggestions, Gaia, Gaia Online, GIM, Kate Pietrelli, Lucy Newman, microtransaction, open beta, social elements, virtual world, zomg
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Sunday, November 9th, 2008
MySpace COO Amit Kapur revealed at last week’s Web 2.0 Summit that MySpace is indeed working on it’s own microtransaction monetization platform. Given the current state of advertising rates and associated revenue generation, both developers and social networking platforms are looking for a new way to monetize. A casual glance at the gaming industry makes this a no brainer for Kapur and Zuckerberg.
While Facebook has it’s own virtual gifts system in place, they’ve yet to open it to developers (although 3rd party developers currently power a massive slice of facebook’s virtual gift economy).
We’ve already seen proof that the second a social network begins charging for an application or virtual gift, usage drops. However, the overall value of the app is in direct correlation to the number of people using it (and their friends, and their friends of friends using the app). Obviously, a high profile, well-developed application or virtual gift with a large number of users, will fair well in a microtransaction economy, and hopefully lead to elevating the entire industry.
Whether Facebook and/or MySpace users are already used to, or have already used some form of microtransaction is up for debate, but given the overall general demographics of both platforms, I’d be willing to make the bet that 75-80 percent of these users have made an iTunes song or iPhone application purchase within the last 12 months.
If either MySpace or Facebook manage to get their microtransaction payment systems houses in order, they could be set to revolutionize not only the social networking platform, but also the microtransaction industry as a whole. This development has a number of positives for the free-to-play; microtransaction based gaming economy as well, thereby predisposing a much larger audience to the concept. Exposure leads to understanding. Understanding leads to acceptance. Acceptance leads to interest. Interest ultimately leads to development and creation of better and better products.
Oh and MySpace and/or Facebook…if you’re listening…fatfoogoo has already been down this road, and we’re here to help. Zuckerberg and Kapur…call me.
Tags: advertising rates, Amit Kapur, COO, Facebook, gaming industry, gift economy, interest interest, iphone, microtransaction, monetization, myspace, networking platforms, party developers, revenue generation, social networking, virtual gift, virtual gifts, Zuckerberg
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Saturday, November 8th, 2008
The great promise of free-to-plays making their way to a console near you is about to be delivered. The long awaited project signals a new branch for Sony. While not quite as high profile as The Agency, this AAA title is aimed at teen fantasy MMO players, while incorporating the whole free-to-play, microtransaction based economy.
The Free Realms website received a huge update a few days ago, and new includes videos screenshots and write-ups about what to expect, and what developers hopes for the game are. Beta keys are being given away to hopeful participants at the site directly. SOE is predicting an extended beta period (with my guess being a public release on or before the first of the 2009 year), culminating in a ‘service-style’ launch, one you’d see more in a traditional ‘boxed-game’ environment, rather than a digitally delivered free-to-play title. A wise move on SOE’s part, as even the release must be a psychological factor in gamers overall opinion of the title (think WoW’s midnight store opening release parties scheduled around the world).
While Free Realms is technically an MMORPG, SOE hopes to attract users and differentiate itself by adding more social and casual gaming elements to the title. Again, another wise move here, as introducing a ‘traditional’ RPG in a free-to-play format on a console might be a bit of a hard sell. Conversely, those that are already familiar with casual games (think facebook) are already predisposed to the concept, and can now extend that form of play to their console experience. Toss in a buck here and there via microtransactions, and it looks like Free Realms could just be the surprise hit of the year. Ok, that might be a bit of a stretch, but they’ve certainly done their research, and are targeting a market segment that is already familiar with the concept.
Regarding content and gameplay, directly from Chief John Smedley via the stationblog:
You can pick from a lot of different kinds of activities to engage in… including combat, raising pets, playing all kinds of mini-games such as racing, Destruction Derby, soccer, and many more. It’s pretty cool to be able to put your racecar driver outfit on and take your car for a spin on the track, or walk up to a soccer field and just start playing with your friends.
We’ve really built a game that is aimed at bringing in an entirely new audience into MMO’s… and best of all you can play for free if you want to. We have put significant effort into making a lot of the content in the game completely free.
Free Realms is ground breaking for a number of reasons, least of which is traditional gaming firm Sony Online Entertainment branching out into what is rapidly becoming a very valid business model even for the big boys now.
For screenshots, videos, more information and beta registration, visit Free Realms as: www.freerealms.com.
Tags: AAA, Agency, Beta, casual games, Chief John Smedley, Facebook, free realms, game environment, gaming elements, high profile, john smedley, market segment, microtransaction, MMO, MMORPG, RPG, soe, teen fantasy, traditional rpg, WoW
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Friday, November 7th, 2008
It’s been a rather good month for London based, social games (quickly becoming) giant Playfish. From late last month’s delivery of an extra $17M in the bank, to winning a 7th place slot in the Library House’s MediaTech 100, to CEO Kristian Segerstrale’s excellent reasoning as to why microtransactions are (relatively) recession proof at late last month’s Casual Games Forum.
In case you missed it, here’s our coverage of Playfish’s recent influx of $17M in VC via Accel Ventures and Index Ventures. In a quick summary, Playfish has rapidly become the one stop shop for top casual games on the well-known facebook social networking platform. 4 out of 5 of Playfish’s offerings are consistently ranked in the top 10 facebook games. Combine this with Playfish’s interest and inclusion as first testers of the upcoming Google AdSense for games, and it looks like Playfish is truly one to watch.
Fast forward only a few days, and we’ve got Playfish CEO Kristian Segerstrale speaking at the Casual Games Forum to the topic of microtransactions and how and why they’re (relatively) recession proof:
“One of the nice things about the microtransaction model is that you don’t have a big charge up front, you only buy the things you want – which will appeal to those tightening their belts.”
“It will be harder to be a startup for sure, and it will probably be harder to secure advertising dollars. But is it really going to be tough times for the market as a whole? I find that difficult to believe, but I don’t think it’s time to get into the bomb shelter yet.”
Really nothing to add to this. Segerstrale hits the nail on the head by describing what everyone with a wallet wants to hear: I’ve got to rethink how and what I want to spend my money on, but I still don’t want to give up things that I enjoy, i.e. casual gaming. Solution? Microtransactions. Well said sir, well said.
If that wasn’t enough, happy Friday to you Mr. Segerstrale, as Playfish just landed 7th place, out of a possible 100 companies reviewed, surveyed and awarded a spot on Library House’s Mediatech 100. The Mediatech 100 supported by Kemp Little and NMA represents the hottest 100 private mediatech companies in Europe. The winners are selected via a stringent review using Library House data filters, and a cross section of expert panelists. This panel of experts includes top mediatech investors from Europe, Microsoft UK, Amadeus Capital, Kodak External Alliances and Advent Venture Partners. Using growth and market impact potential, Library House selects the top 100 movers and shakers in the MediaTech industry.
All in all, I’d say it was one heckuva past 30 days (or less even) for Playfish. Clearly setting a strong example of what free-to-play, microtransaction based social gaming can and should be, Playfish is truly on the right track, and a hot ticket to watch. From all of us here at fatfoogoo: Outstanding work Playfish! Keep on keepin’ on.
Tags: adsense, casual games, CEO Kristian Segerstrale, Facebook, games forum, gaming solution, google adsense, London, MediaTech, microtransaction, Mr. Segerstrale, PlayFish, social networking, startup
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Thursday, November 6th, 2008
Hailing from the hot bed (literally) of gaming development, Austin, Texas based Tandem Games has recently launched a new browser based free-to-play MMO titles Domain of Heroes. Latching on to the growing trend of ‘play it anywhere’ browser based games, Domain of Heroes is designed to be played at work (think alt/tab and/or minimize), school, or home.
Self described as a simple enough to play while working, yet deep and story-driven enough to captivate the most hardcore RPG fans, Domain of Heroes is aimed at appealing to a wide range of gaming fans. The title is a text based game, therefore making it more like a choose your own adventure, ever evolving book, rather than a video game. What? No rich, stunning 3d graphics you say? While it’s true, you’re not going to get any 3D blood flying by at a high frame rate, I personally think that’s what makes it a great game to play in the background while at work, or even while playing other games.
What’s quite interesting to note about Domain of Heroes is the community interaction. Tandem Games has taken a massive step forward in listening to their customers by quickly integrating features and game play as suggested by the community.
“We have a program called Community Heroes where the community proposes ideas on the forums and those get filtered by other players and then added to the game quickly,” said Aaron Murray, Technical Director and co-founder of Tandem Games. “Over half of the game has come directly from ideas from the Beta players, and the next big updates are ideas from the community as well.”
A simple 2 minute signup process is all that’s needed to enter the world of Dohria and being playing Domain of Heroes. Players have the choice of creating a character from 30 different races and 27 classes. There are 150 skills to master as players explore the massive world of Dohria. While solo play was quite enjoyable, pvp battles in a text based MMO while riding the subway home from work was really quite fun. Since it’s playable in Internet Explorer, Firefox, Safari, and Opera browsers, I was able to accesses the game via my iPhone and experienced equally fun gameplay on both laptop and iPhone. This free-to-play MMO features guild creating features along with aforementioned pvp battles.
Domain of Heroes is free-to-play, and Tandem Games is seeking to monetize the title via microtransactions. Currently, the game supports player character customization via an in-game currency called “Wishes”. Each player starts off with 2 complimentary “Wishes”, usually spending the first on a mule (the ability to carry more loot), and the second to create a custom name for your character (the default name enters you as Newbxxxx). Additional wishes are available for purchase at $0.99 each, or a bundled option is available pricing some wishes as low as $0.49/wish.
Domain of Heroes is currently open to the public, and as mentioned works in almost every popular browser client (IE, FF, Safari, and Opera). Sign up and give it a whirl at www.domainofheroes.com.
Tags: Aaron Murray, austin texas, browser based game, Domain of Heroes, free to play, gaming fans, iphone, microtransactions, MMO, text based game, Video game
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Wednesday, November 5th, 2008
Another free-to-play MMO alert. Woot! In a market that is increasingly flooded with free-to-play after free-to-play sometimes it’s difficult to separate the wheat from the chaff. And while normally, I’d hold off to write about YAMMO (yet another MMO), if you know anything about Shin Megami Tensei: Imagine Online, it might be very hard for Aeria to botch this one. In fact, I’m truly amazed that no one has developed this concept before. Correction: I’m amazed no one outside of the Japanese market thought to deliver said MMO to the North American and European markets. Aeria announced the development and possible release to NAE markets almost too months ago, I just didn’t notice. D’oh!
Shin Megami Tensei: Imagine Online is a console RPG that was released by Atlus some 12 years ago. If you had a Nintendo back in ’92, there’s a pretty strong chance that you (or a friend, or a friend of a friend) had this game. The story is set in 199 something and pits Demons from Makai vs. the player. The interesting twist lies in you the player having to make a choice: good or bad. I know, not so much to get excited about today, but back in the day, this was one of my personal favorites. Shin Megami Tensei also spawned a number of offshoots including Persona, and Digital Devil saga. So when I read the rather scant press release coming out of Aeria the other day, my pulse skipped a beat in anticipation. Oh, and did I mention the price? Zippo, nadda, zilch. Aeria is a premier destination for free-to-play, microtransaction based games.
Aeria games recently opened the signup list for a closed beta testing platform for North American and European players. They’re naturally encouraging interested players to register and get a sneak peak at the game before it goes public. The closed beta application phase is slated to run until December 1st, at which point selected players will be allowed in to the closed beta test.
Based on the overwhelming success of the Shin Megami Tensei franchise back in the day, if Aeria Games can truly deliver on a state of the art, free-to-play MMO with all the associated microtransaction, with both primary and secondary markets, this could easily be an outstanding example of the kind of free-to-play we’d all like to see.
Interested parties can apply for the beta program at http://megaten.aeriagames.com/signup. If you’re feeling particularly generous, feel free to register me a few more times. 
Tags: aeria games, application phase, beta application, beta test, beta testing, digital devil saga, european markets, free to play, japanese market, makai, microtransaction, Persona, Shin Megami, shin megami tensei
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Dice Senior Producer James Salt posted to the games site (see below), citing backend issues as causing the snag. The quick and dirty looks like this: While the frontend, the interface and gameplay that users experience is running quite well, beta tester feedback has been heard and applied, it’s all the backend features (up to 90% of the actual ‘game’) that aren’t quite up to par. Rather than rush what could and should be a flagship model of the free-to-play industry to market, Dice/EA are making a wise decision by closing the doors and retooling the system. The closed beta servers will have the plug pulled at 6pm CET, and will remain closed until further notice.![Reblog this post [with Zemanta]](http://img.zemanta.com/reblog_e.png?x-id=503b5e8b-47b7-478e-8358-6e7aac1cdb06)
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