The Cut Scene - Video Game Blog by Variety

Mabinogi: the hardcore kiddie MMO

Korean videogame giant Nexon has brought its latest free-to-play MMO to the U.S., "Mabinogi." Variety's Tom Chick isn't too impressed. In his review we just posted, he writes:

The latest arrival in the Korean invasion is "Mabinogi," a massively multiplayer online game (MMO) from Nexon, the folks behind "Maple Story" and "Kartrider." These games are built around cute graphics, challenging gameplay and a presumably "free to play" business model. Although they've been wildly successful in Asia, they're struggling to find an audience in North America. With its unforgiving difficulty, unfriendly interface and annoying incentives to make players pay, "Mabinogi" is a perfect example why.

What's particularly interesting is that while the game is full of anime-style children, "after several hours, the average player will hit a brick wall." But Tom also notes that "a player who wants a better magic skill has to cast a certain number of spells, whereas a player who wants a better fishing skill has to catch a certain number of fish. The refreshingly simple DIY system is essentially 'Do what you want to do and you'll eventually do it better.'"

You can read the whole thing right here.

Bioshock MMO, mobile, or movie; Civilization MMO; everything online... Take-Two muses

As part of its presentation to analysts today, Take-Two Interactive presented a few "potential untapped opprtunities" in markets it hasn't yet entered, including MMO's and mobile, as well as licensing to "traditional" media or, I assume, producing itself.

On a slide that was part of its presentation, which I copied above, it even named some potential names, noting that "Bioshock" and "Civilization" could both make great MMOs and that "Bioshock" and "Carnival Games" could work as mobile games.

These are only possiblities, of course, and not reason for fanboys to start clearing space on their hard drives or buying a powerful new phone. Given the way analyst presentations work, I take it as more Take-Two demonstrating to those in attendance that it can move into these markets if/when it is ready, because it has properties that would translate well. It's not a hint that the "Bioshock" MMO is actually in development.

As for the "Bioshock" movie, that should be a big "duh" to Cut Scene readers. As I wrote last month, "Take-Two has been bombarded with  requests from producers and studios interested in obtaining the rights, agents interested in representing them, etc." The only question is which big name is going to get the rights. And whether Take-Two will try to get commercially/creatively involved itself, possibly investing its own money.

Also of note: Executive Chairman Strauss Zelnick said that online play is becoming increasingly important. "Not all of our games have been multi-player," he noted. "Going forward, the bulk of them will be."

My immediate thought? I can't wait to play "Bioshock 2" online multi-player next year. I want to be the Big Daddy.

Star Trek Online continues to live long, but will it prosper?

It was over four years ago, when I was a young reporter just starting at Variety, that I broke one of my first big videogame stories: Perpetual Entertainment had secured a license from Viacom to create a "Star Trek"-based MMO. I confidently asserted -- based on what Perpetual told me, of course -- that the game would be coming in "early 2007."

Not so much, as we now know. Not only did 2007 come and go, but Perpetual appears to have gone out of business following rumors that it would be acquired by a media company.

It wasn't clear what would happen to "Star Trek Online" -- whether so much work had been done on the game that somebody would inevitably buy it and make it happen, or whether the main reason Perpetual went under is that the project was going tragically wrong and was better left to die.

Now, via Wired's Game/Life, it appears that "Star Trek Online" ain't going away. The game's homepage has a new graphic: a simple federation logo with the words "coming soon" underneath. Game/Life speculated that "City of Heroes" maker Cryptic may have taken on "STO," which would be a very good sign for the project's future. But right now, we don't know.

On the one hand, it might be good timing to make "Star Trek Online" happen. At the time I wrote my story, the folks at Perpetual had to argue that the game would be relevant even with the franchise running out of steam. But in May of '09, Paramount will be trying to revive it with the new movie directed by JJ Abrams. That would obviously be a great time to launch "Star Trek Online."

On the other hand, as "World of Warcraft" continues to kick ass and take names, it's a very tough time to launch a new MMO. Especially a licensed one. Just as Warner Bros. about "The Matrix Online" or Microsoft about "Marvel Universe Online."

(PS Sorry for the awful headline, but I'm a major "Star Trek" nerd. I can't help myself. And as a major "Star Trek" nerd, I have to say that if this game ever sees the light of day, it will probably be the first MMO I ever play.)