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K2 Networks getting into the giving spirit

Posted by: Dan at 12/20/2007 12:17 PM - Comments (0)
More On: K2 Networks
K2 Networks announced today that several of their games will feature events, free items and prizes. Keep a lookout if you play War Rock, Knight Online, Global MU, Sword of the New World: Granado Espada or Red Stone. Check out the release after the jump for details on all the promotion tied to each game:


Celebrate the coming holidays with your favorite K2 Network game!

IRVINE, Calif. – (December 20, 2007) – K2 Network, Inc. (www.GamersFirst.net), an online game publisher is celebrating the festive season with a myriad of events, free items, valuable prizes and more!

There’s something for everyone, from War Rock’s “Winter Gun Giveaway” and Knight Online’s “Holiday Free Item Festival” to Global MU’s “The Loki Who Stole Christmas”, Sword of the New World: Granado Espada’s “New World Holiday Event” and Red Stone’s “Evil Spirit of Christmas”.

All of K2 Network’s games can be found at www.GamersFirst.net.

Global MU
Happy Holidays, MUtizens! This year, we’re celebrating with The Loki Who Stole Christmas! Dec. 21st and 22nd. Join the fight against the EVIL [MM]Loki! Cintrklaus has come to town and he has made a list of those who have behaved badly!. This year [MM]Loki has made it to the top of the list again, and he will return to the continent of Legend for the first time since the loss to Odin in the war of the Aesir. Loki will be enlisting MUtizens to join in on his devious scheme. Which side will you choose? While Cintrklaus prepares for his trip to bring happiness and joy to all the good little MUtizens, [MM]Loki plots his chance at the loot Cintrklaus will be bringing.

Red Stone
Throughout the holiday period the Evil Spirit of Christmas will be appearing randomly throughout the continent of Prandel. Despite his name, he’s not entirely evil and will reward his followers with gifts and powerful enhancing spells randomly from the 17th to the 31st of December. Keep your eyes peeled - you could get lucky and find some of these presents during your search for the Red Stone! In addition, the Red Stone team also invites players to gather around the Christmas Tree! On the 25th of December, the fountain at the center of High Brunenstig will be replaced with a festive Christmas Tree celebrating this annual event. Players may be lucky enough to catch a glimpse of Skeleton Santa as he visits the continent of Prandel that day! Other exciting events include a Gem Event and the Attitude of a Perfect Student event. Visit www.playredstone.com for more details!


Sword of the New World: Granado Espada
The holidays are coming to the New World! Bask in the warmth of the season with a newly released holiday song from S.F.A.: Rudolf the Red Nosed Reindeer! In addition, check out the new holiday quests and events. Every night, search the New World for lost Christmas trees and find as many as you can within the time period to win prizes!

But that’s not all; enjoy new buffs and items including Holiday Costumes, hats, armor and a huge Cash Shop sale with discounts of up to 50%. And ring in the New Year with a 20% XP event through the Holidays (12/20/07 – 1/08/08)! With the 2.4 expansion just around the corner, now is the perfect time to come explore Sword of the New World!


Knight Online
Greetings, Knights! The Knight Online Holiday Free Item Festival has begun! As a special holiday gift to you, any purchase of Knight Cash or Premium service from the Power Up Store comes with an added bonus. An additional mystery item will be injected into your in-game mailbox absolutely FREE! There are over 100 items in the mystery bag that include bonus experience, in-game coin, armor, weapons, and even Trina's Pieces (a $10 value)! Hurry and take advantage of this limited time offer before it ends on January 10th, 2008.

War Rock
Celebrate the holiday with the War Rock Winter Gun Giveaway! With every purchase made through the web store, players will receive a free promo code that can be applied to their account for a random, unreleased weapon. These weapons can only be obtained via this promotion, and include the Barrett sniper rifle, L85 scoped assault rifle, and the TMP machine pistol. As an added surprise, the exclusive MK1S Grenade Launcher has just been added to the list! But there’s more – every purchase also counts as a free entry into a drawing for cool Alienware prizes. For official rules and details, please visit www.warrock.net.


About K2 Network
K2 Network publishes and services highly engaging online games and cultivates dynamic player environments. The company puts GamersFirst™ by giving them free access to compelling titles, supporting their amazing communities, offering creative pricing models and updating games based on player feedback. K2 Network currently has over
16 million registered users and offers War Rock, Knight Online, Global MU Online, Red Stone and Sword of the New World: Granado Espada. K2 Network has an operational presence in the United States, Korea, and India. Read more about the company at www.K2Network.Net and find all of their games at GamersFirst.Net.

EverQuest II: The Shadow Odyssey Brings Classic Dungeons Back

by: Eva - posted: 11/20/2008 10:17 AM - Comments (0)
Everquest II: The Shadow Odyssey is live and Sony Online Entertainment has released a launch trailer to go with it. Some of the big changes in the fifth expansion are 20 new zones which include the overland zone of Innothule Swamp. TSO also brings back dungeons from the good old days of EverQuest such as the Ruins of Guk. Catch a full list of changes after the break.

[READ MORE]

LOTRO: Mines of Moria Travel Guide

by: Eva - posted: 11/20/2008 9:50 AM - Comments (0)
With Lord of the Rings Online: Mines of Moria officially live, Turbine has revealed a rich lode of video and screenshots for the game. Screens of Lothlórien display the wonders of the Golden Wood, home of Lord Celeborn and Lady Galadriel. She may be Arwen's Grandmother but her beauty is ageless.

Several of the new areas in the Moria expansion are showcased in videos. Delve into the depths of Moria with fly throughs of the Redhorn Lodes, Great Delving and Zelem-melek. Then fly through Lothlórien beyond the gates of Khazad-dûm. All these travelogues are included after the break. And now the Mines of Moria Launch Trailer:

[READ MORE]

Nyko lets you charge up four Wii controllers at once

by: John - posted: 11/20/2008 8:56 AM - Comments (0)
For those that have the full compliment of WiiMotes for their Wii, Nyko's finally producing a charger that charges them all at once. The Charge Station Quad for the Nintendo Wii comes with four covers, four batteries, and a charger that holds them all. The new covers have a rubber grip so you can have an easier hold on the controller. I use the first charger from Nyko with great results and really like the rubber grips on the back. The only thing I'd like to see this have is USB charging but then again I don't know if the USB port can output enough juice to charge four controllers at once.
[READ MORE]

Poor G4saurus

by: John - posted: 11/20/2008 8:13 AM - Comments (0)
I used to love, love NVIDIA cards. Lately, AMD is kicking all kinds of major ass with their Radeon HD 4800 series of cards. Here's a nice little video to explain the current situation for everyone. Some of the terms and jokes might go over non-techy heads but it's still cute.

 

 



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Not surprisingly, there are some issues with the NXE update

by: John - posted: 11/20/2008 7:49 AM - Comments (0)
Have you updated your Xbox 360 to the NXE? A few of us have experienced problems with the update and you know I expected this since it's a pretty major rollout for them. The one problem I am seeing is being unable to access certain parts of the Marketplace. Major Nelson has info on the ongoing saga and has provided a small update on the situation. The team is looking into it right now so let's hope they clear things up. I was surprised it didn't take that long for the update to get to me though so that's good. How's everyone digging the new interface and avatar system?

Street Fighter gets its own little place on NXE

by: Dan - posted: 11/20/2008 5:28 AM - Comments (0)
Super Street Fighter II Turbo HD Remix has its own little world on the Xbox 360 NXE. You can visit the destination experience and learn anything you want about the game including trailers, themes picture packs and DLC.
[READ MORE]

PSU Expansion gets a lower price

by: Dan - posted: 11/20/2008 5:16 AM - Comments (0)
The Phantasy Star Universe: Ambition of the Illuminus, expansion for PSU, has gotten a new price. It is now available for download from Xbox Live for 800 points, which is a 50% discount. The expansion contains a new single online mission where your character is now the main focus of the storyline. In addition, the online multiplayer also was beefed up with 25 new missions, 5 new bosses and 100 added weapons and items. As always, the original PSU disk and an active Guardians license are required to run the expansion. [READ MORE]

'Tis the Season for Street Fighter

by: Dan - posted: 11/20/2008 5:14 AM - Comments (1)
Capcom opened the "Season of Street Fighter" last week with the availability of the Street Fighter Pinball FX DLC to celebrate the approaching release of Super Street Fighter II Turbo HD Remix. The remainder of the season will feature assorted Street Fighter-esque downloadable content packs on Both Xbox Live and Playstation Network. Some of the upcoming downloads will include a Street Fighter UNO deck, direct-to-download music from the series and a little surprise coming to PSN this Holiday Season. Check out the video in the interim:

[READ MORE]

First Impressions -- The Legend of Spryo: Dawn of the Dragon

by: Randy - posted: 11/20/2008 1:25 AM - Comments (0)
Hearing Elijah Wood's boyish intonation come out of the wide-eyed Spyro's mouth requires no stretch of the imagination.  What does, however, require a re-meshing of mind over matter is The Legend of Spryo: Dawn of the Dragon's deceptive control schemes. 

Sharper minds than my own have argued the necessities of direct, immediately-understandable controls in a platformer.  Mario and Luigi, Jak and Daxter, Ratchet and Clank ... these are now-iconic duos that will attest to that need.  But Spyro and the newly-redeemed Cynder both subscribe to floaty, imprecise movements that are at once an aforementioned necessity (they are both dragons) as well as an unmentionably temple-throbbing headache.  Single-jumps are decidedly unnecessary.  Double-jumps are mushy.  Flying is inexplicably tethered by gravity when you need height, and unfailingly floaty when you need to land.

Moving about lava-carved caverns is a great start to any abrupt and unexplained intro:  Both Spryo and Cynder are encased in an enormous amber jewel, communicating telepathically, and then able to shatter their way out moments later.  This is likely a continuation from the previous entry in the Legend of Spryo series, but I'm coming at this with fresh eyes and no context for current events.  Without a detailed history of Spyro's past, I'll see if Dawn of the Dragon will sink or swim on its own merits.  And so far?  It doesn't look like dragons can swim.

The decidedly Balrog-looking thingy that attacks Spyro and Cynder -- surrounded by a cheering arena of goblin-thingy onlookers -- is a momentous beginning.  There's barely time to learn that you can grab enemies and spin them around before the Balrog-thingy decides it's seen enough.  Too bad its white-hot anger and molten-hot skin comes up with nothing more creative than to swat haphazardly at the two hapless dragons.  And to retaliate, Spyro (or Cynder -- you can interchange rolls or play co-op at will) attack the Balrog-thingy's hand.  It's po' widdle hand.

It's some constantly-interrupting Tony the Tiger of a hooded ranger than keeps tossing in all the cutscenes and making the cool bow shots like putting an arrow into the Balrog-thingy's eye socket.  Plus, as Tony the Tiger (not his real name) makes beautiful bounds from ledge to ledge, I'm in a constant battle with a camera that sometimes swings in an almost-360-degrees (though it's rare) to a camera that's more often riveted to some less-than-convenient angle against a wall.  The camera invents new inconvenient angles as I pop into a new room, and every fifth or sixth jump seems to have yet another cutscene intervene before I fully pull off my landing.

French developer Estranges Libellule (also responsible for the Asterix & Obelix games) has made it very clear that you, the player, are not allowed to have control of Spyro for any reasonable length of time.  Estranges Libellule has also made the mistake of positing a camera that wants to play the game for you.  I'm sincerely hoping that this is an indoor environment issue only, and that exterior environments will lend more of the freedoms that seem inherent to flying a dragon around.  As far as the introductory chapter goes, Dawn of the Dragon's lack of trust in the player makes it very difficult to navigate the too-tightly leashed environs.  Though, for unintentional laughs, it is always great to see your AI-controlled partner (be it Spyro or Cynder) constantly missing jumps and plummeting inches away from the targeted ledge.  Pretty much couldn't land a single jump.  It's as hilarious as it is incompetent.

Yet the heartwarming artwork gives me a flicker of hope, despite everything.  It's what made me accept the review assignment from Chuck in the first place.  And even though Spyro has shown me that he can't be controlled yet, perhaps he'll also show me some marvelous locales.  I haven't lost all hope that this dragon, after all, might be sleeping on a mound of treasure.

Lara Croft faces standard adventure game peril in new trailer

by: Chuck - posted: 11/20/2008 1:08 AM - Comments (0)
There's no doubt that Tomb Raider:Underworld looks bad ass in this trailer, I just wish the puzzles they were showing off in the game were a little more interesting.  It's almost like every ancient civilization in the world hid their secret palaces with various large swinging objects and stone creatures.  Hopefully there's some other cool stuff in the game.

Capcom releases web based demo of Neopets Puzzle Adventure

by: Chuck - posted: 11/20/2008 1:06 AM - Comments (0)
If you want to try Neopets Puzzle Adventure before purchasing the game you might want to check out this cool flash game that gives you a quick taste of the game.

Update (Chuck) - Click on the title to play the demo as it starts in noisy mode for some reason. [READ MORE]

PhysX effects show off in new Mirrors Edge trailer

by: Chuck - posted: 11/20/2008 1:00 AM - Comments (1)
It broke my heart to ship Mirrors Edge to Cyril last week as the game was one that I really wanted to play (of course Cyril loved it in his review).  I was going to pick of the PS3 version once the game storm quieted down but after seeing this trailer for the PC version I might just pick that version up instead.  The trailer shows off some of the new physics effects that Nvidia owners will be able to get.  These include some new fabric, water, and gas effects that I don't remember from my brief run through the 360 version of the game. 

News Roundup: Quantum Duty Call of the Lich King

by: Randy - posted: 11/19/2008 11:22 PM - Comments (0)
  • Defunct Games implores, "Don't F***ing Buy That Game!"  A non-gamers guide to getting the wrong gift.
  • The steps to take in order to get my hands on WAR's Knights of the Blazing Sun weren't so apparent, at first.
  • Massive Gamer launches into the EVE Online: Quantum Rise expansion.
  • Every MMO has its good and bad launches -- even if it's from Blizzard.  Even if it's WoW: Wrath of the Lich King.
  • For a CPU cooler that performs as good as it looks, Legit Reviews presents the 180W-capable Cooler Master V8 CPU Cooler.
  • Treyarch may have recovered their sullied name with Call of Duty: World at War.
  • All in all, the Termaltake BlacX External Hard Drive Docking Station is a "fine piece of hardware."
Thanks to Defunct Games, Massive Gamer, AtomicGamer, Legit Reviews, and Tweaknews for today's news roundup.

Guitar Hero World Tour Live Weekend starting this Thursday

by: Randy - posted: 11/19/2008 11:05 PM - Comments (0)
Starting this Thursday, November 27th, Guitar Hero World Tour is kicking off a Live Weekend on Xbox LIVE Marketplace.  Online activities include:
  • Xbox All Nighter -- Thursday, 11/27, from dusk until dawn
  • Play & Win Sweepstakes -- Friday, 11/28, through Saturday, 11/30
  • Game with Developers -- Saturday, 11/30 from 2:00 - 5:00pm PST [see the list of devs after the jump]
Throughout the weekend, guitarists, drummers, and vocalists who register and play the Guitar Hero World Tour multiplayer (co-op) session can also win some sweet prizes.  Stuff like a Samsung television home theater package, collector's edition World Tour drum sticks, 1GB memory sticks, and Guitar Hero portable USB/battery powered speakers. [READ MORE]

Sins of a Solar Empire version 1.1 available now; pre-order "Entrenchment" and get in the beta

by: Randy - posted: 11/19/2008 10:46 PM - Comments (0)
Stardock is still making good on their promise to release meaningful content for their games, post-release.  Now available is a major free update to Sins of a Solar Empire, upgrading its sins to version 1.1.  Highlights to the 1.1 change log include:
  • Alloy Networking Technology -- allows for seamless multiplayer without needing to deal with port forwarding or other router settings
  • Major upgrade to the graphics engine for better performance on all systems
  • Updated/improved graphics (textures, new models, explosions, and more)
  • Mini-Underground Window -- allows you to buy/sell resources and make pirate bids on the main gameplay screen [Hallelujah! - Ed.]
  • Improved game balance
  • Improved AI
  • Bug fixes and much more
Plus!  If you pre-order the Sins of a Solar Empire expansion, "Entrenchment," that guarantees you some early-access beta time.

Cities XL "Point, Shoot -- Win 2!" contest launched

by: Randy - posted: 11/19/2008 10:34 PM - Comments (0)
It's likely that your city hall doesn't garner much of your time and attention throughout the day -- unless you're like one of my coworkers who, when Congress was sketching out the banking bailout plan, thought it was Take Your Daughter To A Protest Day and ended up standing alone in the rain with cardboard signs outside of our city hall.  Oh, and her kid got a cold that day.  What's the lesson here?  It's that Cities XL has started up their "Point, Shoot -- Win 2!" contest, and this time their accepting photos of your favorite city hall.

From November 17 - 30, members of the Cities XL community are able to post images of their city hall in the hopes that it'll be voted as the winner.  Developer Monte Cristo then goes to work, taking the winning entry and giving it to their artists to put into the final game. [READ MORE]

Cooking Mama: "I would never put rat in my Ratatouille."

by: Randy - posted: 11/19/2008 10:17 PM - Comments (0)
Looks like PETA made enough of an impression with the Cooking Mama: Mama Kills Animals flash game that Majesco responded, but responded politely and in character.  Just as Cooking Mama World Kitchen was hitting store shelves this week, Mama Kills Animals ripped through the gaming community in an attempt to slander Mama and her purportedly meat-heavy menu.  Mama said, "Like any accomplished cook, I create my recipes to appeal to a broad range of tastes and preferences.  My only goas is to ensure you leave the table well fed."  Cooking Mama World Kitchen includes more than 25 vegetarian-friendly recipies spread across breakfast, dinner, dessert, and snack options.  Mama won't cop to being a vegetarian, but she fully supports the humane treatment of animals -- especially now with her canine companion, Max, who makes his debut in World Kitchen.

I'd like to congratulate PETA for blanketing a decent amount of buzz on a Wii title that would've otherwise fallen completely by the wayside this week. [READ MORE]

Evasive Space Screens Unveiled

by: Dan - posted: 11/19/2008 4:49 PM - Comments (0)

YUKE’S Company released the first look at their upcoming Space Action title for WiiWare called Evasive Space. The game will be a top-down scroller that uses the Wii remote to control your ship through 20 missions over five environments. The game will also feature four-person local multiplayer and online leaderboards. The new screens show off Acts I and II. A specific release date hasn’t been announced (Q1 2009), but when it hits WiiWare it will cost 1,000 Wii Points.

[READ MORE]

Latest Hearts of Iron 3 Dev Diary

by: Dan - posted: 11/19/2008 4:25 PM - Comments (0)
Johan Andersson, lead developer of Hearts of Iron 3, has his latest developer diary up over at GiantRealm.com. This installment in the series (no. 6) focuses on intelligence, diplomacy and convoys as well as the politics in the game. Checkout these recent screens while we wait for the game to hit the PC in late 2009.
[READ MORE]

GameTruck Coming to C-Bus

by: Dan - posted: 11/19/2008 4:22 PM - Comments (0)
GameTruck announced today that they are bringing their mobile gaming service to the Columbus, OH market, which is also the HQ of GamingNexus. Effective December 1st, central Ohio gamers can order the rolling platform for party’s or corporate events. The trucks feature four 50”Plasma TVs, surround sound and capabilities for 16 players at any given time. Columbus is the fourth franchise awarded, joining Orange County, CA, Phoenix, AZ and San Diego, CA. Check them out at GameTruckParty.com.
[READ MORE]

Hired Guns: The Jagged Edge screenies surprsingly lacking in guns or jagged edges

by: Nathan - posted: 11/19/2008 2:40 PM - Comments (0)
Trisynergy, makers of such well named titles as Limbo of the Lost and UFO:Extraterrestials, bring us screen shots from another excellently named title Hired Guns: The Jagged Edge. This is a turn based war game focusing on the action at squad level. Basically it would be Rainbow Six or Brothers in Arms Hell's Highway mixed with Civilization Revolution or Fire Emblem. This is very much a PC title as indicated by the screenies. I would wait for a demo to see if this game was worth playing but those of you who like experimenting with Strategy games may want to check it out.
[READ MORE]

Wheelman driving into stores on February 16,2009

by: Chuck - posted: 11/19/2008 12:02 PM - Comments (0)
Midway announced today that Wheelman will be hitting stores on February 16, 2009.  The game features the likeness of "action-film megastar" (their words) Vin Diesel and has players playing a professional driver for hire.  So basically it's a game based on the Transporter series but with Vin Diesel instead of Jason Statham.  [READ MORE]

Gaming Gibs for 11/19/2008

by: Chuck - posted: 11/19/2008 11:57 AM - Comments (0)
Here are a few things I missed while being passed over again for sexiest man of the year:

News Roundup: Pacific Rift Shadow Odyssey

by: Randy - posted: 11/18/2008 10:48 PM - Comments (0)
Thanks to Defunct Games, TheTechLounge, Massive Gamer, Legit Reviews, Digit-Life, Techgage, and I4U News for today's news roundup.

Ultimate Band releases full track list, forgets artists

by: Randy - posted: 11/18/2008 10:25 PM - Comments (0)
The official release date for the Wii's Ultimate Band is etched in stone for November 25th.  And while developer Disney Interactive Studios put out a full song list, they neglected to mention the artists.  One of the track titles is "Song 2."  Do they mean "Song 2" from Blur?  DJ Krush?  Miles Davis?  Vyacheslav Guyvoronsky?  "Whip It" is on there too.  My first guess (and probably yours) would be Devo, but it could be Inner Circle, Lil' Cyco, or the US Air Force Band of the Rockies '80s Medley version -- who knows?

Ah well.  It's not my job to teach Disney how to put together a press release.  And kidding aside, there are some pretty slick tracks on Ultimate Band:  The Killers' "Jenny Was A Friend Of Mine" from Hot Fuss; The Raconteurs' "Steady As She Goes" from Broken Boy Soldiers; and The Who's "My Generation."  But if it turns out it's Limp Bizkit's "My Generation," I'm gonna be pissed.

Full song list for the Wii and DS versions after the jump. [READ MORE]