Did you love the action packed space western from Joss Whedon called Firefly? Did you moan when it ended but became elated again at the arrival of Serenity on the big screen?  Well, if you bellowed a resounding YES to those questions, you could soon become elated again. Are you an MMO gamer who loves role playing? Multiverse, a game development company involved in producing MMO games and 3D virtual worlds are in development on a MMO game based on the popular Firefly series.

Launch dates on the game are unclear though Multiverse and 20^th Century Fox have been in communication over the project. The plans began in 2006 and progress has suffered delays since then. Though, the deal still stands and you can monitor the progress at Firefly MMO.

Fans of the series have been commenting in blogs on the creative requirements of the game. A high point is whether or not an episodic approach will set the pace for the storyline. Though, it is likely that more of a free role playing environment will be created to follow the style of current MMOs. The current space MMO games allow players to go it alone or join fleets. It may be important to retain this style as it is the accepted norm within the space MMO paradigm.

Multiverse co-founder Corey Bridges commented back in 2006 at the inception of the project stating:  “It’s our hope that Firefly’s passionate and dedicated community of fans will enjoy the chance to become part of the story as they develop and explore the worlds of Firefly.”
Multiverse Press Release, 8^th Dec 2006

Multiverse will be responsible for the graphics and the programming tasks - client and server code.  There will be collaboration occurring between the developers and the Firefly content developers to ensure that the game engine fits the Firefly profile capturing all the excitement of the ‘western in space’.  There may be opportunities for freelance developers to play a part; it could still be a dream job for the Firefly fan with top notch game development skills.

It became apparent to the company that jumping quickly on the 3D band wagon was the innovative direction.  They developed an enterprising platform for hosting 3D worlds that can be downloaded at http://www.multiverse.net. Games and business services, much like Second Life’s business model, have emerged from the platform.  The client is free to download and this allows you to play all of the MMO games on offer.

It is true to say that since Serenity, nothing has been seen of the gallant space crew. So Firefly fans will be thrilled to see this game rise from the ashes of what seems to be a dead franchise.  Fox are very aware of the huge fan base and what the devoted fans need – to see Firefly in action.

Let’s hope that the space cowboys of the intrepid Firefly crew will be returning. Fans can hope for the return in digital format within an MMO game or a refreshed franchise TV series.  Where the MMO is concerned, role playing in this story should be a fanatic space adventure for the craving fans offering thrills in an immersive world just like the current MMOs hosted today.

Watch this space cowboy!

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Trip Hawkins, the founder of Electronic Arts, is no newcomer to the world of gaming. Yet he does admit that his company, Digital Chocolate, was late to the iPhone game. He recently sat down with Venture Beat’s Dean Takahashi, and announced that Nintendo and Sony should be “freaking out” about the iPhone.

Digital Chocolate is no stranger to mobile gaming, with releases for many other cell phones. But it wasn’t until last December that the company began releasing games for iPhone. It’s caught up, though — of the five games released since then, already four have hit number one on the top downloads list.

Hawkins credits Apple with selling more that 30 million units so far and gaining ground in a market — gaming — in which the company has not traditionally fared well. He cites the “genius” of the iPhone in the multi-touch display, which lets players directly manipulate action on the screen. “No one has duplicated it yet.”

Hawkins also notes that the iPhone’s centralized store makes viral, word-of-mouth marketing even more valuable. “You’re not going to tell your friends about a game unless it’s original and high quality.” This is certainly a problem many iPhone app developers have dealt with — with all games displayed in such close proximity to one another, its difficult to differentiate on anything except price.

(Via Kotaku.)

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The PC Gaming Alliance must have been relieved to read the result of their recent study into which was the world’s leading single platform for gaming.

The personal computer celebrated its 30th birthday last year and it’s estimated that over 1 billion are in use worldwide. The PC Gaming Alliance’s research into the gaming industry during 2008 shows that a quarter of those PCs are being used for gaming, making it the single largest platform.

According to the report, PC gaming generates annual worldwide revenues of about $11 billion, more than any of the consoles or portable systems from the likes of Nintendo, Microsoft or Sony.

Titled “The PC Gaming Alliance Presents the PC Gaming Industry in 2008” the report is packed with industry findings, of which the three most interesting are the impact of digital distribution (Valve’s Steam), the growth of free gaming based on micro-transactions and the proliferation in game card availability.

“The biggest story in PC games is the expansion beyond retail,” said Randy Stude, president of the PC Gaming Alliance. “PC games have successfully pioneered online subscription and distribution models that have resulted in a global boom that shows no signs of slowing. Despite the advances of the likes of Xbox Live and the PlayStation Network, the online platform that remains the most accessible and robust worldwide is the PC.”

Written by DFC Intelligence, the report also draws attention to the major role that MMOs play in generating revenue, a genre that is played mostly on PCs. The ability of successful MMOs to sell a game at full retail price and then command a monthly charge to play has made them among the most profitable entertainment products ever.

Despite the recession, or perhaps because of it, the gaming industry continues to perform well, including the PC’s console and hand held cousins. Videogame software sales rose 9% in February to just over $733 million and hardware sales rose 11% to $533 million, reported The NPD Group last week.

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As our economic problems continue, we should continue to look around and discover ways to improve our situation. If I had political power, my first order of business would be to stop frivolous lawsuits. It seems like you can log onto a news site, or flip open a newspaper without seeing someone being sued over patent infringement, or a copyright issue.

It seems like the encompassing effect of patents is growing, and any general outline is enough to sue someone over. Of course, protecting your IP is important, but just where is that line between justified and frivolous?

The latest lawsuit comes by way of Worlds.com. They are suing the MMO game publisher NCSoft for their use of 3D virtual worlds. Worlds.com claims that they are in possession of a patent, dating back to the 90’s that, “enables thousands of simultaneous users in a 3D virtual space”. Doesn’t get more general than that does it?

As of now Worlds.com is only going after NCSoft. According to this article, this could just be the beginning. Be weary all you virtual world travelers out there.

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