After one week at the top, D&D; Tactics has fallen to fourth place at GameFly, says Gamasutra:
Heeding a higher calling, Sony's Jeanne D'Arc moved up to become the top requested PSP title for the week. Last week's top title, Atari's Dungeons & Dragons Tactics, failed its saving throw as the game fell to the chart's fourth place position, just above the old school RPG Brave Story.
The reviews haven't started pouring in yet, but I've got the line from over at Pocket Gamer with their first Hands On experience with the game:
The latter may seem superfluous but it's there with good reason because the moment you embark on an adventure you'll note Tactics features a hugely atmospheric soundtrack, which combined with graphics only too happy to show the care that's gone into them, conveys the scene admirably.
The game alternates between turn-based exploration and combat phases, while adhering to the D&D; dynamics. From the time we had with the game, these appear to have transferred well to PSP, with our handful of missions requiring us to locate and kill monstrous fiends (and looting treasure chests on the way) being completed without nasty surprises. The combat menu interface is, as mentioned, a little fiddly but even a newcomer would soon be able to logically work out the basics.
A great forum thread over at Quarter2Three.com has the breakdowns and reactions from a number of early buyers of the game (including myself). You'll find some great first impressions, some positive and negative comments, and some answers to folks' frequently asked questions. Take a look at an example:
You get what seems a very generous number of action points to maneuver and attack, which I like. I've played some of these type things where you can't move more than 4-5 squares, or can't do multiple maneuvers on one turn and it can feel constricting. This seems more flexible than that, and it feels livelier than some TBS stuff I've tried because of that.
I haven't gotten that far yet (tutorials, and I chose to use the "pre-setup" party members Quick Start option).
All the info and stats can feel a bit intimidating, but the controls work well and I certainly can't complain about a lack of in-game help and info (it's just the sheer amount to wade through is a bit intimidating to me).
As I move through the missions in the game, follow the story line, and generally get a feel for the mechanics, I thought I’d share some of my hard-earned wisdom with you, so that maybe you don’t make the many, many, mistakes that I did.
Like any serious RPG, a game like D&D; Tactics will take time to fully review and conquer. However, I’ve gotten my hands on an early build, and I can give you the scoop on my first impressions of the game.
Check out my first impressions of the game after the break.
If you take a look at Atari's site (as well as EBGames, Gamefly, and other retailers), you'll now notice that the release date has been changed from July 31st to August 14th. Please don't spend the rest of the day like me: Staring off into space and periodically sighing heavily.
One of the fascinating new features of D&D; Tactics is the ability to play against other human beings. I'm personally pretty excited about it, as I'm excited over anything multi-player -- let alone a game you can play head to head through the air. How about you?
The forums will be offline most of the day on Monday for maintenance, starting at 8am EST. We hope to have the forums back online by 5pm EST. During this time, the forums will be inaccessible to players.Also, don't forget that in preparation for the server merge starting on Thursday, that the auctions on the following worlds will be temporarily disabled, starting on Sunday night:
Khyber
Aundair
Riedra
Xoriat
Thelanis
Therashk
After Sunday night at approximately 10pm EST on these servers, players will be unable to access the auctions. When the merge is complete auctions will be opened once again.
We apologize for the inconvenience this may cause and thank you for your patience.
Argonnessen and Mabar: Risia Needs YOU!
In preparation for the upcoming server merge, we invite you to join us on Risia starting Wednesday, July 25th, at 5pm EST!
Just for playing on Risia, you’ll enjoy +50% XP and +1 Loot!
We’ll be merging all characters from Mabar and Argonnessen onto Risia that were created before 12:01 am on Wednesday July 25th.
You can still play on Risia if you do not have characters from Mabar or Argonnessen, everyone is welcome! Argonauts and Mabarians can still play on their normal servers if desired. Your characters have just been copied to Risia as well.
Risia requires a special client. Be sure to download the latest version here if you don’t already have the Risia client installed. (Current Risia players only need to patch.) For more information, please see the Risia knowledge base article here. Loot and XP benefits will return to normal levels Monday morning at 9am.
In many of the official interviews, the developers have mentioned that D&D; Tactics will be more focused on the middle-aged gamer, as that appears to be the market for the console itself. How do you rate your experience with the game itself? Do you fit into this demographic?
The Vault Network is very excited to announce the launching of our latest site, Two Worlds Vault! Please take a moment and drop by to see what is going on with this highly anticipated game from TopWare Interactive. The game is set in an epic open-ended world for immersive gameplay that will appeal to a wide range of players. Two Worlds is also slated for both the PC & Xbox 360. Stop by and see what's going on...
Important Announcement Regarding Server Population
Jul 23, 2007 11:00 EST We have some very important news for our players regarding Dungeons and Dragons Online™: Stormreach™ (DDO).
Dungeons & Dragons® has always been about having a good time with a party of your friends. With DDO, we bring that experience to life online for the first time, and appreciate all the time you, the players, spend inside Stormreach fulfilling the promise of D&D;®.
Over the last few months we have seen an increase in the number of players asking us to make it easier to find groups. Since grouping is such a core part of the DDO experience we looked at a variety of ways to make the grouping process easier for players of all levels. Various options were considered, but the best way to make a change that improves the situation for everyone is to concentrate active players on a smaller number of servers.
To this end we have developed a plan to merge the game's servers which will greatly improve player experience across the board while also improving the performance of the game by upgrading to a stronger infrastructure on the back end.
We want to thank you for all of your patience as we implement these changes to the game. For more information, please click here.
Now, I've been pro-Turbine so many times in my past they should tattoo the name of the company to someplace painful and embarrassing on my body. But, I can't help but think that this was the very same thing that happened to Asheron's Call 2.
Just got this puppy in the mail. Check it out, as it means good news for those of us hoping for continuing content and sequels once D&D; Tactics hits the street:
Infogrames Entertainment: New Strategic Agreement with Hasbro Concerning the Dungeons & Dragons Franchise
Digital Gaming Rights to Be Sold Back to Hasbro for 19.5 Million US Dollars
LYON, France--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Regulatory News: As part of the relaunch strategy announced by the Group on June 21 and the Group’s plan to focus its investment on major franchises with significant potential, Infogrames Entertainment SA (Paris:IFG) (NASDAQ:ATAR) today announced the signing of a new agreement with Hasbro concerning the extension until 2017 of the exploitation of the intellectual property rights to the Dungeons & Dragons universe, under an exclusive license covering all interactive formats, including online and wireless.
The agreement covers all current and future products that are part of this universe, including NeverWinter Nights, Baldur’s Gate, etc.
Two new games have already been announced for fiscal 2007-2008: NeverWinter Nights 2 Expansion Pack for PC and Dungeons & Dragons Tactics for PSP.
the purchase by Hasbro of digital gaming rights (online and wireless) to nine franchises (Monopoly, Scrabble, Risk, Game of Life, Clue, Yahtzee, Battleship, Boggle and Simon), for 19.5 million dollars (*). This sale will have no significant impact on revenue for the current fiscal year.
“This agreement represents a reaffirmation of our partnership with Hasbro. It is an important step in our business strategy that will allow us to keep and strengthen a franchise with significant potential, while giving the Group additional resources to invest in the relaunch of its publishing business. Dungeons & Dragons is one of the Group’s historic intellectual properties on which we plan to expand our business, relying on one of the largest and most active gamer communities in the world of video games,” commented Patrick Leleu, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer.
(*) of which, 4 million dollars shall be paid to Atari Inc
About Infogrames Entertainment and Atari
Infogrames Entertainment (IESA), the parent company of the Atari Group, is listed on the Paris Euronext stock exchange (ISIN code: FR-0000052573) and has two main subsidiaries: Atari Europe, a privately-held company, and Atari, Inc., a United States corporation listed on NASDAQ (ATAR).
The Atari Group is a producer, publisher and distributor of interactive entertainment software for all market segments and in all existing game formats (Microsoft, Nintendo and Sony) and on CD-ROM for PC. Its games are sold in more than 60 countries.
The Atari Group’s extensive catalogue of popular games is based on original franchises (Alone in the Dark, V-Rally, Test Drive, etc.) and international licenses (Dragon Ball Z, Dungeons & Dragons, etc.).
Hey folks, I thought I'd show off our Wallpaper of the week. Our artists have been busy whipping this sucker up, and it's available in two resolutions (a higher one for those of you folks that have updated to the latest BIOS):
Sony announced the new model of the PSP at E3 this year. It's slimmer, has more memory, can be charged off the USB port, and will replace the regular PSP in production lines. Otherwise, it's not too much different than the model you hold in your hands right now. There's quite a controversy brewing in the fan communities over the usefulness of such an upgrade, when Sony could have held off and added a metric buttload of features in 2008, or something. So, where do you stand?
Engadget just posted a bunch of pics from the Sony presentation at E3, as well as a rundown of the new features of the PSP 2:
It's not quite the PSP 2 some might've hoped for, but Sony is giving its handheld console a serious refresh in the form of a slimmer, lighter and faster "updated" PSP. The new unit still includes the 4.3-inch LCD and UMD, but is 33 percent lighter, 19 percent slimmer, has sped up game load times and improved battery life. The only real "new" features is a video output capability to allow you to play your PSP games on a big screen TV. You can score one in September in the original Piano Black, a new Ice Silver color, and a Star Wars Battlefront special edition. The latter two PSPs come in $199 bundles with related games and a 1GB Memory Stick in the case of Ice Silver. More pics after the break.
As Kuju has mentioned in many an interview, D&D; Tactics is targeted toward the old Tabletop gamer in many of us, which is why they're putting it on the PSP, as those of us old enough to know what a regular prostate exam means have apparently purchased PSPs as our portable platform of choice. To those of you in this boat I greet you as a brother.
Like the surge in interest in "classic" rock, people in their 30s and 40s tend to look back a few decades and reminisce. There's no harm in that -- except for boring the hell out of our younger siblings, our children, and anyone that doesn't recall that 80s as anything more than "that decade where I was born" (*shudder*). For many of us, it was our first gaming convention, our first Ren Faire, or even just our first time in the basement, slamming back the soda and the chips and pushing miniatures around on a big flat surface with our friends.
I hope D&D; Tactics can capture some of that. From the interviews, previews, and screens I've seen on the game so far, it looks to make a serious stab at it. Until the time when we can all see the game for ourselves, I give you this: A rundown of some of the memories that you and I share:
The GeekDad blog over at Wired has a great little D&D; Nostalgia post, complete with pics of dice and geeks!
CNN Money has a new PR up on a new PSP docking station with surround sound and an IR remote system
Tired of not having an iPhone of your own? Skin your PSP like an iPhone.
A classic tactics title is coming to the PSP with a new version and all updated graphics: Worthplaying has a bunch of new screens from Final Fantasy Tactics: The War of the Lions, coming out this October.
Feeling like that Lit class is a little slow today? Perhaps you just need to add another accessory to your smoking jacket, pipe, and reading glasses while grinding your way through a few goblins to make the next level.
Well, Sony Italia has the answer for you. Not only is this copy of the Divine Comedy totally lacking in any comedy, let alone comedy of a nature that might be considered "divine", but it's got a pair of hands printed on the edges and some flaps inside to hold your PSP.
In preparation for the upcoming server merge, we invite you to join us on Risia starting Wednesday, July 25th, at 5pm EST!
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