Tera: Rising Free-to-Play Launch On February 5

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En Masse has confirmed that Tera: Rising will launch as a free-to-play title on February 5.  With the relaunch of the game, there will be two PvP servers in Mount Tyrannas and Lake of Tears, two PvE servers in Tempest Reach and Ascension Valley along with a PvE roleplay server in Celestial Hills.

 

“Lake of Tears and Ascension Valley will be on their own matching system for dungeons and battlegrounds. Character transfers (free for a limited time) will be available among Mount Tyrannas, Tempest Reach, and Celestial Hills. Characters can transfer once every 30 days,” notes En Masse. “To handle the influx of new Tera gamers, we’re establishing some chat channel restrictions. Area chat is available for characters level 5 and up, trade and LFG chats are level 12 and up, and global chat is level 20 and up. We’re limiting chat rates as well to handle all the traffic.”“Finally, Tera’s community suggested that we give Tera’s founders—those who’ve already played the game—priority queueing if there’s a wait to get into the game. We agree! If you’re a founder, head toward the front of the line (just step over the velvet rope!),” the company added.

Source: Tera.EnMasse.com {link no longer active; redirects}

GTA V Falls Back From Spring To Autumn

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Rockstar has pushed back the release date of Grand Theft Auto V to September 17, 2013. The game had previously been announced for a late Spring release in October 2012.

“Grand Theft Auto V continues to push the series forward in new ways; Rockstar North are creating our deepest, most beautiful and most immersive world yet,” said Rockstar founder Sam Houser. “We are very excited for people to learn more about the game in the coming months.”

Temple Run 2 Sees 50 Million Downloads In 13 Days

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Imangi Studios announced that Temple Run 2 has been downloaded 50 million times its first two weeks, a record for a mobile game. Angry Birds Space previously held the record by reaching 50 million downloads in 35 days, but it took Temple Run 2 only 13 days.

“Temple Run has evolved into something so much bigger than us,” said Imangi co-founder Keith Shepherd. “The game has performed beyond our wildest dreams, and we are thrilled that gamers and fans have embraced Temple Run 2 in such a short period of time.”

Microsoft Updates Office With Touch Screen, Cloud Options

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Microsoft announced that it is selling its Office software to consumers as an online subscription service for the first time. The company is hoping that by doing so, it will be able to expand the key franchise outside of laptop and desktop PCs.

“This is a fundamental shift in our business that began several years ago,” Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer wrote.

The revamped Office incorporates touch controls, just like Windows 8. Office 2013 also stores files automatically in Microsoft’s data centers, allowing for access to the same material on multiple devices.

Despite the push towards offering Office on smartphones and tablets, Office 2013 doesn’t include an option that works on Apple’s iOS or Google Android. Subscriptions for the new Office called 365 Home Premium will cost $100 per year, which includes online access on up to five Windows devices or Apple’s Mac computers.

Office will still be sold under a one-time licensing fee that allows the software to be installed on a single machine which will start at $140 and range up to $400. Individual Office programs such as Word, Excel and Outlook will be available for $109 apiece.

365 Home Premium subscribers receive 20 additional gigabytes of storage on Microsoft’s SkyDrive to supplement the 7 gigabytes that the company gives away to account holders for free. Subscribers also will get 60 minutes of free international calls on Microsoft’s Skype service for internet phone calls and video chats.

“Over time, the majority of the billion plus people using Office will be using the Office 365 service,” predicts Ballmer.

While Microsoft’s decision to reshape Office into an online service makes sense, Edward Jones analyst Josh Olson thinks customers may take a while to embrace the concept, particularly major companies that rely on Office the most. “This is a good innovation, but the uptake may be slow to begin because it is so different,” Olson said.

Source: TheAustralian.com

PlayStation Teaser For February 20, 2013

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Sony is teasing something big that many feel will be the fourth PlayStation home console. The official PlayStation Twitter handle tweeted: “See the future: http://us.playstation.com/meeting2013  #playstation2013” {hashtag no longer active}

The website in question includes a very simple teaser, confirming that something will happen February 20, 2013. Along with an email signup, there’s also a teaser video.

Sony Computer Entertainment America’s Destination PlayStation media event will take place on February 25-28 in Scottsdale, Arizona, only a few days after this scheduled announcement.

 

Star Citizen Creator Skeptical About Next-Gen Consoles

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Chris Roberts has triumphantly entered the gaming sphere with Star Citizen, something of a spiritual successor to the classic Wing Commander. The Kickstarted game was part of a new generation of PC titles that got most of their money from crowdfunding and Roberts doesn’t think that new consoles are going to detract from this new market.

“I think consoles will be there and they’ll do decent business but I don’t think that the next generation of consoles will be as big as the last generation. Essentially, I can build a high-end PC now that’s much more powerful than the new consoles that will be announced this year,” said Roberts. “But obviously, they’re selling the consoles for $400 and what you’re going to see of the console is it become much more of a media hub in the living room. It won’t just be playing games, it will be playing your movies, streaming your movies and they’re essentially turning them into set-top boxes combined with gaming and media players and I think we’ll definitely see a lot of people who have that there.”

“There will also be a lot of people, because the tech’s kind of similar, on the PC side that will stream into the living room and the price-points of those are coming down, too,” he continued. “I don’t think the console manufacturers are going to have the same advantage, before they were willing to lose millions of dollars on the hardware and making it up on the backend and Sony can’t afford to do that and I don’t think Microsoft is going to support it that much either. So they’re going to be on an even footing with everyone else, whether it’s Steam Box or whatever, and then what’s the best platform? Is it a closed platform, which is controlled and curated like Microsoft, Apple and Sony, or is it an open platform that isn’t controlled? There are good and bad things about both sides but that’s basically the PC platform.”

Source: NowGamer.com