Today we have important news to share with the community. EA is restructuring its RPG and MMO games development into a new group that includes both Mythic and BioWare. This newly formed team will be led by Ray Muzyka, co-founder and General Manager of BioWare. With this change, Ray becomes Group General Manager of the new RPG/MMO studio group. BioWare’s other co-founder, Greg Zeschuk will become Group Creative Officer for the new RPG/MMO studio group. Rob Denton will step up as General Manager of Mythic and report to Ray. BioWare’s studios remain unchanged and continue to report to Ray.
Mark Jacobs, current General Manager of Mythic will leave EA on June 23, 2009. We thank Mark for his contributions at Mythic and wish him the very best going forward. Mark played a major part in the success of Mythic with his contribution as General Manager and Lead Designer of WAR.
Mythic retains a strong team led by Rob who co-founded Mythic in 1995. Rob played a critical role in the development of Dark Age of Camelot. In his previous role as COO, he was responsible for all day-to-day management of the studio including all development, operations and support.
Please join us in celebrating the union of these two award-winning studios.
(As posted in the Warhammer Herald)
Passing Through: Most Hated of All Adversaries I
Every gamer has an enemy within… Join JBG as we look at the most annoying, memorable, and downright evil videogame enemies to date.
Deep in the heart of the Kehjistan Jungle a most sinister enemy awaited players of Diablo II, the Fetish Shaman. Capable of resurrecting little fetishes (demonic, cannibal-like children) the shaman proved a worthy adversary to adventurers passing through. Nearly seven years after battling my way through the jungles around Kurast, I still vividly remember this Diablo II enemy…and my extreme dislike for the shaman with power over virtual life and death.
Final Fantasy XIV Online Announced
Due to the high amount of traffic JBG experiences in regards to Final Fantasy XI Online, we thought that this news piece was appropriate although somewhat dated. Enjoy!
LOS ANGELES (June 2, 2009) — Square Enix Co., Ltd. (Square Enix), announced that FINAL FANTASY XIV, an all new massively-multiplayer role-playing game (MMORPG), is planned for simultaneous global release with language support in Japanese, English, French and German.
Adventure begins anew in the vast realm of Eorzea!
More information on FINAL FANTASY XIV can be found at http://www.finalfantasyxiv.com/.
About FINAL FANTASY XIV
- Platforms:
- PLAYSTATION®3 & Windows®
- *Details on required PC specifications to be announced at a later date
- Languages:
- Japanese, English, German, French (simultaneous release)
- Genre:
- MMORPG
- Release:
- 2010
- MSRP:
- TBD
- ESRB:
- RP (Rating Pending)
- Copyright:
- © SQUARE ENIX CO., LTD. All Rights Reserved.
Avatar: The Last Airbender teaser trailer
While not necessarily videogame news, Nickelodeon’s Avatar: The Last Airbender is being turned into a live action movie by director M. Night Shyamalan. Check out the teaser trailer!
Order
Note: I wrote this back in 2009. Ever since my summer of being anchored to the kitchen table playing World of Warcraft, the fine line between hobby and addiction has been on my mind. Enjoy! – Bryan
“Hobby: an activity or interest pursued for pleasure or relaxation and not as a main occupation.”
What happens when a hobby starts to consume ones waking thoughts?
In my pursuit of finding the balance between my electronic hobby and life, I have found myself walking a fine line between hobby and addiction.
Video games are not a casual hobby but a culture. At one time the video game culture was regulated to ones living room but this is no longer true. The Internet now serves to connect a gamers living room to the rest of the world. News, reviews, and varying editorial run rampant and at different levels of professionalism.
“Culture: the behaviors and beliefs characteristic of a particular social, ethnic, or age group.”
No longer are we, as a society, unplugged. The Internet is present in our cellphones, handheld game systems, and even local coffee shops. Not being able to unplug allows one to have constant access to the vast reaches of cyberspace. For me, this means that I have unlimited access to the gaming culture. Throughout the day I find myself reading various videogame related sites. On the outside, there is nothing wrong with this, but I have found myself treading the fine line between hobby and addiction.
As a Christian, I find that my love for videogames and video game culture are often in conflict with my spiritual life. There are times when I should be praying when instead I am thinking about the latest MMO; times when I should be reading my Bible and instead I am reading the latest video game magazine.
To fight against the tide of addiction, I have found that it is best to take a step back and remove whatever it is that is dragging me down. Balance between my hobby and life is not what I seek, but order in the my life’s priorities.
Find yourself overwhelmed by a hobby? I encourage you to take a step back and find order.
JohnnyBGamer 