New Firefall Trailer Shows the Future of Free-to-Play

A new trailer was released earlier today for the upcoming free-to-play game Firefall, which was first revealed during PAX 2010 back in September. Developed by Red 5 Studios (awesome name for a development house), the game is a combination MMO persistence with FPS features. Red 5 Studios was founded by Mark Kern, former World of Warcraft team lead back in 2005. While not much is known about gameplay, Red 5 has said that the game will feature, “large, open-world cooperative campaign that can be shared with hundreds of other players as well as a competitive multiplayer component that incorporates things like ladders, tournaments, clans and leagues.” The art style is similar to that of the hit game Borderlands, using a mixture of cell-shading and stylized art to create a feeling one might find in comic books. While the free-to-play in past has been overrun with second-rate games, the trend has shown that AAA titles can use the same business model, and Firefall is just another example of this.Firefall will be available for PC sometime during the fourth quarter of 2011.

BlizzCon 2010: Recap and Impressions

After my week from hell, I was so happy to get away for a weekend and head down to Anaheim for this year’s Blizzcon. In case you live with earmuffs and blinders on, Blizzcon is an annual convention held by Blizzard Entertainment to celebrate their games and fans. Some of the biggest names in gaming are created by Blizzard, specifically their main three franchises, Warcraft, Starcraft, and Diablo.

The Thing About Release Dates

The thing about release dates is that they can always change. Companies announce games way ahead of time to build not only hype, but community around that game. Community drives word of mouth, which builds onto the hype already created by the game and its company, without any external work. As release dates get closer and closer, hype about a game escalates. Sometimes this can work in the game’s favor, as with the evidence of the hype machine I Love Bees, the alternate reality game that helped market Halo 2. Other times hype can be so overwhelming that it is beyond capable, and the the audience is disappointed. I could name numerous MMO games where this scenario occurred. Through my own experience and being observant of those around me, I’ve learned not to get carried away regarding hype and release dates. For example, Bioshock Infinite was announced earlier this year, but isn’t slated for release until at least 2012. I am looking forward to seeing what Irrational Games' final produce will be, but my anticipating will certainly be quelled by the string of great games coming 2011.