The world of Zork will be the setting for a new browser-based MMO, announced Jolt Online Gaming who will partner with Activision as the publishers.
A press release from Jolt says Legends of Zork will be a “persistent online adventure” in which players take the role of a traveling salesman who’s lost his job and sets off to explore the world.
UPDATE: Jolt will be developing the game in-house and it will be released in spring 2009. A Jolt representative told Snackbar the game will include both text and graphics and play like an RPG.
“Like a lot of browser games, you’ll be able to play the game quickly but it’ll take you a long time to reach the higher echelons,” said Jolt’s Paul Abbott. “It has a good mix of text and graphics. Anyone who’s played an adventure game will enjoy it.”
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MTV Game and Harmonix announced today the addition of Lenny Kravitz and two Harmonix bands to the Rock Band Music Store. Three Kravitz tracks come from his 1989 album, Let Love Rule, including “Let Love Rule,” “Freedom Train,” and “Mr. Cab Driver.” “Are You Gonna Go My Way” will also be available from his 1993 album. All four tracks are available together in the Lenny Kravitz Pack 01.
In addition to Mr. Kravtiz, two Harmonix bands, Megasus and Honest Bob and the Factory-to-Dealer Incentives, will make their way into the Rock Band Music Store next week. Magasus’ “Entangled” and Honest Bob and the Factory-to-Dealer Incentives’ “I Get By” will be the tracks available from those bands. READ MORE
Sony announced EA as a partner in its Home virtual space at the Consumer Electronics Show yesterday. Now, EA has revealed how that partnership will begin.
The EA Sports Complex will be devoted to EA Sports titles and let Home users play exclusive multiplayer games like poker, remote control car racing and a driving range. Visitors will be able to see trailers and other videos from EA Sports games. EA also plans to make the complex compatible with its Sports World social networking website so that Home users can show off saved gameplay videos in the virtual space. Currently in development, the complex is scheduled for launch in spring.
A short teaser trailer is available on the official PlayStation blog.
PlayStation Home is still in beta testing. At the Sony CES presentation, Sony Computer Entertainment CEO Kaz Hirai said Home has been downloaded 3.4 million times and $1 million in virtual goods have been sold through it.
I’m sure you’ve all already heard that the vast majority of the fine folks at 1up are no longer employed. All of us at Snackbar wish them well, and another podcast that I listen to, 360 Arcadians Live, recorded their latest show while the 1up news was breaking. It’s an interesting listen and a little bittersweet to think about because at least two of the ‘casters there (Marcus Corrin and Karl Fite) got into podcasting because of the 1up crew.
A quick word of warning – 360AL is associated with a video game forum, not a dedicated news site. As such, the podcasts are a little less appropriate for work speakers than some others might be. With that out of the way, say goodbye to 1up with 360AL.
An acrobat, a cell, some self-replicating machines, a ball and a hat-wearing man with a beak will be the stars of the eleventh annual Independent Games Festival, as their games are now the official finalists for the $20,000 Seumas McNally Grand Prize.
The IGF announced CarneyVale Showtime, Osmos, Dyson, Night Game and Blueberry Garden as the finalists for its biggest prize yesterday along with finalists for its other categories.
Well-known PlayStation 3 game PixelJunk Eden is a finalist in the “Technical Excellence,” “Excellence in Visual Art” and “Excellence in Audio” categories.
The complete list of finalists is after the break. The IGF website contains links to each game’s individual site where free demos or full games are usually available to download.
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