Hi-Rez Studios and Iceberg Interactive have just announced that Global Agenda will be reaching European shores on September 10th, 2010.  The game will be available for box copy purchase throughout a variety of video game retailers in England and Ireland.  The game will also be made available for digital download on the following sites; Play.com, Zavvi, TheHut.com, Shopto.net, and Amazon.co.uk.  For those of you that don’t speak the English language; not to worry.  The German version of Global Agenda will be made available on October 29, 2010, just in time for a possible Halloween event!

Hi-Rez Studios has stated that they are well aware of the game’s fan base across the sea, and has already guaranteed that each and every European player will also receive the free sandstorm update on the games launch day.  Now everybody can experience the awesome combat jet packs, new weapons, modifications, PvP maps and PvE missions, as well as the brand new Sonoran Desert Zone.

Todd Harris; the Executive Producer behind Global Agenda states that,

“We have a very passionate Global Agenda community in Europe, and with the Sandstorm expansion, the upcoming UK retail release, and European servers we’re excited to grow that community further”.

Fortunately the European release isn’t long off,  so grab your ballista and power up those sentries, because it’s time for some more Global Agenda goodness.

Oh, what I would have given to be shipped over to Cologne, Germany to take part in the hack-n-slash mayhem that was the Guild Wars 2 demo. Since the very first day, fans were “literally running to the demo stations in the mornings when they opened the doors!” At Gamescom, Guild Wars 2 won the prestigious “Best Online Game” award, and in doing so, cemented it’s place as a frontrunner in the upcoming slew of next-gen MMOs (like we didn’t know that already).

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Rappelz, a free-to-play title from gPotato, continues to grow with it’s seventh installment. With Epic 7: Awakening, gPotato developers and Rappelz push the pet-mechanics envelope just a little bit further. While the game provides a strong combat experience, player-owned dungeons, and exciting PvP, Rappelz’s strong suit is it’s pet-support system. Able to fill a number of roles (tank, healer, debuffer, DPS, etc.), pets can make or break your success as you progress through the game.

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On August 20th, KingsIsle’s Fred Howard (VP of Marketing) and Ben Conrad (Public Relations) sat down with me and answered all of my fan-boyish questions regarding the Wizard101 MMO.  This family-oriented game is currently coming up to its second year anniversary and a massive expansion release as well.

I was able to badger the both of them into giving up lots of information about the upcoming content as well as what could be expected of the game in the future.  The news of the up and coming content was exciting and very informative.  Browse at your leisure.

Everyone playing Wizard101 was thrilled about the revelation about the existence of Celestia.  Is there any word on the final release date of the expansion?

Fred Howard:  Well, we’ve not released the final word but late summer / early fall is when it’s going to come out, so not too far away.

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Today, Atari Europe and Cryptic Studios have announced their release date of a new online roleplaying game, based on Wizards of the Coast’s Dungeons and Dragons franchise and the fictional city of Neverwinter.

Neverwinter Online is being published alongside a book trilogy by R.A. Salvatore and a tabletop game published by Wizards of the Coast.  These are to be used to lay down the core story and lore before the “Online RPGs” debut at the end of next year.

The first novel is called Gauntlgrym and is set to release by October 5th of this year.  The trilogy of novels are said to be going to offer the reader glimpses into the characters, locations and monsters from the PC game, as well as details leading up to the game’s release.

From the press report, this game is nothing to write home about so far.  The lack of any mention of solo content does not look promising and the press release states that they are only releasing five classes out of the 25 or more that have become canon from Dungeons and Dragons.

Its like they just hit 1-2-3-4-5 on the ol’ RPG machine and called it a day.   You have your standard Fighter, Wizard/Sorcerer, Cleric, Rogue and Ranger.

It seems that someone in Cryptic is longing for the days of Diablo 2 again.

Cryptic Studios, known for the mediocrity that is City of Heroes/Villains and Champions Online as well as the lack of success of Star Trek Online is now applying their touch to a revered and ancient (in game terms, that is) franchise such as DnD. The thought makes my inner nerd shudder.

Also, surprise surprise, player generated content tools! One might say this reflects the success of the dungeon set tools from Neverwinter Nights 1 and 2 in yet another Neverwinter game, but judging from the blatant cut and paste from City of Heroes to the slip-shod graphics and gameplay of Star Trek Online, it sounds more like a rehashing of the less-than-impressive facilities offered by City of Heroes.

The game is scheduled for release by the fourth quarter of 2011. This seems like an awfully long time for something that smells rather pungently of templated work and recycled ideas from more successful games.

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On August 18th, Sony Online Entertainment and EverQuest released information on the “buffed-up” editions of popular dungeons becoming available in game.

From August 18th to September 6th, Cazic and Blackburrow are accepting groups and from September 1 through September 13, Lower Guk and Unrest will be open as well.

SOE has said that the new difficulty of the dungeons are being released as content because the previous releases of Hardcore versions of dungeons were so popular with the player base.

If you play and follow MMOs regularly, you’re quite familiar with the behemoth that Blizzard built, World of Warcraft. Each time an expansion has been released for this game, records have been broken – both in game sales and hours without sleep. I know firsthand; given my love for the Diablo, Starcraft, and Warcraft series, I decided to delve into the exciting world of WoW. Though I stopped after the first expansion, Cataclysm seduces me with promises of more streamlined quest progression, two unique new races,  more epic lore, and the chance to observe the devastation that has be wrought upon the lands of Azeroth myself.

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The upcoming Lego Universe MMO has been stirring some pots as of late. While the game is geared more towards children and young teens, I have a feeling adults will be elbows-deep in their own Lego fantasies as well. Centering around a core of creativity, Lego Universe seeks to provide an accessible, streamlined approach to building. What to build? Just about anything, says Scott Brown, President of NetDevil. The Lego Universe “Building and Behaviors” video shows that, with three modes of production (ranging from automated to brick-by-brick), the player can really bring his/her imagination to life with pieces and skills that may not be available in the real world.

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The newest MMO from Playdom is going into its second beta phase on Wednesday of next week, or August 25th.

Kogamu is being announced as the first true Facebook-based MMO currently online and therefore offers more story depth and game features than traditional social games.

For hardcore gamers, Playdom says that Kogamu is just like their favorite MMORPG except it’s portable and no download is required to play.

Alright, so now here is the really interesting part: MMOcrunch, thanks to Playdom, has come into possession of -two thousand- second phase beta keys for Kogamu.  Application links are located on
the game page, hurry before we run out!

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On August 19th, Sony Online Entertainment released Everquest 2 Extended.  This version of the popular Everquest 2 game allows players to have access to five years worth of content, previously only considered pay-to-play, for free.

Everquest 2 Extended has been set into motion in parallel with the original game’s paid subscriptions model, and is a first in the MMO industry to do so.  The game will have a four-tier membership plan offered to players and users can choose just how deeply they want to experience all that Everquest 2 has to offer.

Currently, only Bronze, Silver and Gold membership plans are purchasable, with Platinum becoming available on August 31st of this year.

This release comes at a time when older games like Everquest 2 are starting to have their membership bases fall to newer, more impressive-looking games, in terms of graphics and gameplay.  This gambit for a player population revival is an interesting move for SOE and we’ll see how it works out for them in the long run.