So when a copy of the game was on sale at Dick Smith for $30, I thought I might give the game a second chance, especially since I could not play Star Wars: The Old Republic and STO was heading towards the Free to Play (F2P) model.

The game was released in February 2010, almost a year later there is a level of polish that was missing the game at release. Simple things like using LCARS graphics for loading screens and better flowing quests of different flavours (diplomatic, exploration and battle). Since the release, crafting has also added as well as a plethora of refinements and features. Wikipedia has a great article of the features here.

Like it’s sister game Champions Online, Cryptic Studios released the game with an inbuilt store and currency powered by real money. So the migration to the F2P will have a lower impact than other games. Using the 3 level that seems to becoming industry standard (Subscriber, User of the ingame store and pure F2P), game features will be available depending on your level. Full details can be found here and a FAQ here.

Space combat is a mixture of manoeuvre, power management and weapons, harking back to the old Star Fleet Battles boardgame from ADB, without the complexity. So far I have thought in nebulas, minefields and astroid belts, against klingons, Gorn and other races. Ground combat uses pets (computer controlled allies) to form the away team. If players form teams, team members can also join away teams as members.

The Pet system is quite developed, as they also have role in space combat. Depending on the career path of the bridge crew, you can get buffs to weapons, engines, shields or repairs. In the new release (seasons in STO, currently Season 5), bridge crew can actually be loaned or tasked to do other things when the player is logged off, for crew xp or accolades.

F2P may be the popular way to sell MMORPG and MMO games (like Team Fortress 2), and it does allow casual gamers to try a game without major outlay and find the game that suits them. I have really enjoyed STO, even more than I did during beta, as the gameflow is very much in the style of the TV Series with a mixture of space and ground play and a strong narrative. I am still in the early part of the game, but I bought with my free C-store credit a Constitution class cruiser (from the original series) and been having a blast with it.

F2P is now available for early access, with the game going fully F2P on the 17th.

I have been a long time member of Quickflix, however an infrequent user. So when I logged onto the website, I found it hard to update my account to allow streaming. I found this was due to Microsoft Silverlight. This meant I had to swap from my browser of choice (Google Chrome) and onto Firefox (Microsoft’s own IE is obviously also supported, and seems to have less issues with Quickflix as based on screen prompts).

Once using Firefox, changing my plan to streaming was simple, and the billing cycle remains unchanged. The cost is not too bad, and the option to have streaming-only is supported. If you are on an older plan, expect a slight price rise.  The full price schedule is below:

The range is not that great, with Warner TV (which is not TV shows, but movies optimised for streaming) apearing to be the only range available. However, when 2010 is offered (which is one of my favourite movies of all time), I knew my first choice was already made. I also looked at the second Harry Potter movie for comparison.

I found the video quality to be good, but not great. Things like jittering (like someone holding a camera by hand) and lag during panning shots. I noticed very little artifacts in the stream, and the buffering to be quite good.

The default aspect ratio is not 16:9, with Letter boxing on the sides, however the controls allow full screen, which does take up my full screen (which may vary depending on your own screen aspect).

The on screen controls are what you expect, and should work fine on a TV if set up with a media centre PC or Mac.

If Quickflix goes the way of Netflix, there should be an explosion of devices you can watch the content on. At the moment it is PC, Mac OS X, Sony Bravia TV and PS3 only. iOS and Android Devices may be supported in the future, but not currently.

This is early days for Quickflix, and the range of streaming titles should increase when the agreements are made with content providers. I do believe there is a basis for a great service, but for the time being only early adopters should use this service until the range and device support improves.

Clearly I did not read articles from places like Kotaku AU. The game has been delayed for Aussie and Kiwi players.

This has stunned me, as Aussies have a bad time of it with notorious response times (or pings) as most game servers are based overseas. Some companies will run servers based on Aussie time zones (AION was one game that did this), but still based their servers in South-East USA. Add to this the infamous price difference Aussie and Kiwi gamers often pay for the new release games, the news that the worldwide release does not include Oceania is in my opinion rather insulting.

The question I need to ask is why the delay?

Are there going to be Aussie-based (or at least Aussie Time Zone) servers?

Is the amount of potential users from Australia and New Zealand going to add that much load onto the servers (given our peak times is generally outside US peak times)?

Unlike other regions, there is no language barrier (after all, we are divided by a common language), so there should be no language issue between US and Aus/NZ.

So it will be interesting what the local result will be. My guess? Amazon and US servers are going to become more popular for local players. That is what I am going to be doing.

Microsoft Surface on display

On show was a Sesame Street game (due for release next year) which is designed to be a full 45 minute episode with full two way interaction.

Designed to work work with the new Kinect voice add on (due December), this is one attempt to break out of the hard core gaming into other markets. Greg Morrison, Microsoft Partner Business Manager, also stated that they see Kinect expanding into Business and Education markets.

Microsoft must have been watching the hacker community with interest, as they have embraced the Kinnect and have managed to mod the device for a wide viarity of use. It wil even fund startups who are working with the device (as per Slashdot).

There is also a SDK for Windows Kinect. While the gesture interface is not for everyone, the use for medicine, education, engineering and even corporate use is almost unlimited.

Also sighted was the Microsoft Surface. This revolutionary device may have been pushed to the background due to the tablet explosion, it is still a great experimental device, bring touch to a larger screen. On display was a travel guide software, and the use of 256bit tags (under plastic figurines) being used to influence the on screen data.

Samsung is releasing a Surface unit (no pricing details), however do not expect Surface to replace your iPad or Windows Laptop just yet.

The Big Picture in Sydney has a lot of “environments” or use cases for its products. Much of the content is in the server and corporate environment, with some focus on Xbox, more in media delivery and with the Konnect, and a surprisingly lack of games. Given that Xbox is the best youth focus brand it has, I would expect more, however, there are a few Windows 7 Phone displays here, indicating they may want to expand the Xbox loyalty to phone and PC.

Sony's forthcoming PlayStation Vita (Credit: Sony)

Sony will ship the 3G-capable PlayStation Vita with a Vodafone SIM card that will encourage customers to use Vodafone’s network as a preferred partner. Vodafone’s 3G data deals for the Vita will be forthcoming closer to the device’s launch date Sony says.

The deal will see Vodafone become the preferred provider of data services for the Vita not only in Australia, but also the Vodafone subsidiaries in the UK, Ireland, Italy, Germany, Spain, Portugal, New Zealand and The Netherlands.

Sony’s Vita device – the next-gen handheld gaming device that has a whole host of new features including an OLED touch display, motion sensors and dual cameras, will launch in Australia on the February 23 next year with a price tag of $449.95 for the 3G and Wi-Fi model (the Wi-Fi only model will cost $349.95).

To encourage users to utilise the Vodafone network rather than look elsewhere, Sony will provide a voucher for WipEout 2048 once the Vita starts using the service.

However the company has confirmed that users won’t be locked to Vodafone, and will in fact be able to use any carrier (the Vita isn’t SIM-locked). But, Sony says, it won’t be able to provide the same “quality assurance” with other untested carriers with customers also to miss out on the WipEout 2048 voucher.

“It is possible to use another provider as PS Vita isn’t SIM locked,” a Sony spokesperson confirmed. “As we have partnered with Vodafone, we have fully tested PS Vita’s features on their service and therefore can assure a great 3G service right from the off. We haven’t tested with other providers’ services and therefore can’t give the same quality assurances.”

Vodafone says it is “delighted” by the announcement, and is pleased to be able to expand its range to include the forthcoming handheld gaming device.

“We want our customers to have the best choice of devices and PlayStation Vita is a great addition to our range,” Patrick Chomet, Vodafone’s Group Terminals Director said in a statement today.

“We know from our application downloads that games are hugely popular with our customers, so we’re delighted to be SCEE’s preferred connectivity partner for 3G Vita devices sold across Europe and other selected regional markets.”

However the move will likely be met with some trepidation in Australia, where Vodafone came under fire at the end of last year and the first few months of this year for continuing network woes and outages. The company has since embarked on a $1 billion dollar network revamp (adding ready-to-go-live support for 4G services as well) which it says is now well underway.

“We are bringing customers a network that delivers better indoor coverage, faster downloads and a stronger signal than before from Vodafone,” Vodafone Hutchison Australia CEO Nigel Dews said in a statement just last week. “The benefits of our accelerated investment are starting to show.”

According to the company, more than 60 sites per night are now being simultaneously upgraded to support its new 850MHz network.

Foxtel on Xbox now unmetered for Telstra customers (Credit: Foxtel)

If we take piracy out of the equation, just who is providing online video to Australians. Since we do not get Hulu, Netflix and Amazon Prime (or any of the major video streaming/retail operation except Apple iTunes), who is providing legal video for download or streaming (or even physical disk renting)?

1. FetchTV. When I reviewed FetchTV, I found that the video rental side of the device to be quite strong for movies, and pretty weak for TV shows on demand and somewhat stronger for IPTV (Internet Protocol TV) channels .The fact that it is also a great PVR and it is combined into a single box can make FetchTV a strong player once its secures more content.
2. BigPond Movies. Telstra’s clone of Neflix recently sold its DVD rental assets to Quickflix, and is concentrating on online movies. Only available to Windows users, and some smartphones have a subset service. While bundled into its Bigpond ISP banner, the service is open to all for internet users in Australia.
3. Bigpond TV. Sister service to Bigpond Movies, it offers limited channels for its propriety T-Box as well as some LG and Samsung devices. Channels include sport channels TVN, NRL and AFL , and Bigpond branded News and Sports News.
4. Foxtel. With its Download service  Foxtel has for its subscribers and non subscribers content to watch on computers. Service is only for Windows users and some Telstra smartphones have some content available.
5. Quickflix is currently providing DVD rentals via mail. It is currently seeking distribution deals (recently gaining access to IPTV enabled Sony TV). News of the streaming service should be coming by the end of 2011.
6. Free to Air. Each of the established television broadcasters has an online catchup service, from iView (ABC) Fixplay (Nine) Catchup TV (TEN), Yahoo7 Plus7 (Seven) and SBS Online (SBS).
7. Xbox360/PS3. Microsoft has teamed with Foxtel to allow Foxtel content on the Xbox 360. Plus7 from Seven Network is also available on the PS3, as well as ABC iView  and Sony’s own Movie store
8. iTunes. The only US based company that has extensive video content available for Australia. Video can be rented or bought The bought prices are exorbitant, mirroring physical media prices without the flexability of device choice (computers that support iTunes or iOS devices like iPod, iPad and AppleTV).
9. Youtube. You should never underestimate the power of Google’s video service, as it had allowed Australian creators like Natalie Tran to have quite a nice lifestyle. For many, cat videos and people getting punched in the goolies is a popular pastime and represnts proberbly the most video streaming service in Australia (although I do not have stats at the moment).
10. Vuze. While one of the most used bit torrent clients used for piracy, Vuze does have a commercial front end, but mainly caters for independent content.
11. ISP’s. Some ISP like iiNet and TPG have a range of video content. Some of it mirrors the Fetch TV IPTV content, most is local and independent content.
12. Newspapers. Both Fairfax and News Ltd offer video content via its website, both embedded in web stories and with dedicated TV Channels.
13. Others. Smaller organisations like the WA Government  and  Australian Christian Channel  offer IPTV services.

So what initial observations can we make? Well, in ease of use and flexibility, piracy is hard to beat. The use of Windows or Apple DRM prevent many users accessing the services and what devices they can watch it on. Also users will come across quota caps with many of these services, however some ISP’s will have made deals with content providers to allow to allow the content to be unmetered. In reality, Australia is far behind the US, and will continue for a while due to content deals, distribution deals, device lock in deal.

It really depends on what kind of content you are after and who is your ISP. You also have to determine if the device you want to use can access the content. There is no site that does the lot. So, maybe Sacha is onto something with the DVD vending machines killing Video Ezy?

BF3

In what can only be seen as good news for Australian Battlefield 3 fans, iiNet confirmed today that 3FL will play host to servers for both the forthcoming Battlefield 3 beta and the final release, hinting that it may even give away keys for the beta before September 29.

“3FL will be hosting Battlefield 3 servers during both the upcoming beta and the retail launch of BF3 for all your low latency and unmetered quota adventures,” the company wrote in a post today.

“There’s even whisperings of a competition to give away keys for early access to the beta, so stay tuned to 3FL for more info.”

This news will come as a relief to many, with 3FL having already provided many reliable servers for Australian gamers in the past with game servers such as Battlefield: Bad Company 2 as well as a lot of Steam content being hosted locally by them.

As an added bonus for iiNet customers, all Battlefield 3 play will also be unmetered, with gameplay on 3FL’s servers not counting towards customer quotas.

The company also revealed a new-look website, freshly revamped ahead of the forthcoming release of numerous popular games including EA’s Battlefield 3 which, as reported yesterday, will enter beta on the 29th September ahead of a wider, full release on October 27 in Australia.

“Along with cosmetic changes, users will find a slick new layout that makes navigation easier and more user friendly,” iiNet’s Matthew Beresford-Long wrote of the new site.

“3FL is entirely based in iiNet’s Freezone so all 3FL game servers, files from the download vault and content from our local Steam mirrors are unmetered quota for iiNet, Westnet and Netspace customers.”

Battlefield 3 (Credit: EA Games)

In a statement overnight EA announced that the beta for Battlefield 3 will be available to Australian gamers on the 29th of September ahead of the games local full release on 27th of October, with the beta finishing on October 10th. This will give players the opportunity to experience the multiplayer aspect of the game that has already won awards such as ‘Best Online Multiplayer Game’ and ‘Best Action Game’ at E3 2011.

The beta will be available on Sony’s PlayStation 3, Microsoft Xbox 360 and PC platforms, however will be restricted to the Operation Metro map set in the scenic Paris, France with the only game type on offer being rush. For those of you not familiar with the game type from other Battlefield games, rush involves one team taking the offensive by attacking M-COM stations(A,B,C type objectives) while the opposing squad defends and protects them.

Gamers in the beta will also be able to log on to Battlelog, the game’s free social media network that allows gamers to communicate and compete with friends, track their stats and share their progress. Battlelog extends the in-game experience to be accessible anywhere, whether on a PC, console or handheld device.

For those that have already pre-ordered the PC digital download version of Battlefield 3 through Origin or pre-ordered a Limited Edition of Medal of Honor™ will also receive early access to the beta starting on September 27, 2011.

For more information on all things Battlefield 3 Beta related head over to their official site.

Team Bondi (Credit: Team Bondi)

This sad revelation comes about after the studio suffered turmoil following the release of critically and commercially successful L.A. Noire.

Supposedly Rockstar was displeased with the games development, and was not keen on the publishing rights for the next title from the Aussie studio. As well as this there have reportedly been several complaints from former employees who had not been correctly named during L.A. Noire’s credit sequence.

This comes on top of current staff voicing out about the company’s supposed lack of organisation and coordination led to the now sad ‘administration’.

According to SmartCompany – the first to spot the news – some interesting documents have been filed with the Australian Securities and Investments Commission, indicating that Team Bondi has gone into an external administration as of August 30.

This bad news for the company comes after the selling of all non-L.A. Noire assets from Team Bondi to the filmaker George Miller’s studio KMM.

A source close to the company told IGN that the company has now had its next game fall into develepment limbo. After this, they said that the team has now been absorbed into KMM and Dr D Studio divisions and that they are helping with the forthcoming title Happy Feet Two.

Wildstar announced at Gamescom Germany (Credit: NCSoft)

NCSoft, publisher of City of Heroes and the upcoming Guild Wars 2, announced at Gamescom a new MMO from their Carbine design studio, called Wildstar.

If the trailer is indication, it will be an exploration Scifi game, with a healthy dose of humour (after all, a purple hair anime style girl with rabbit ears does not scream serious, does it?).

News is scarce at the moment, however the main site has a beta sign up and a trailer to get the hype rolling. And looking at the trailer, it appears users may get the following:

• Vehicles
• Melee and ranged combat
• A magic system (possibly psionics, with attack spells and teleportation)
• variety of races and character classess.

The game may be close to beta, as a number of attendees at Gamescon in Germany had the chance to go hands-on with it.

NC Soft has tried scifi games in the past, the military MMO Tabula Rasa, mecha inspired Exteel and the Mad Max inspired Auto Assault all failed to gain a market and subsequently closed. Wildstar appears to be radically different to previous games, but with many new games like Knights of the Old Republic and Star Trek Online, it will be interesting to see if Wildstar can get traction in western markets.

Sites like G4TV and Massively have initial reviews of the game based on what they saw in Gamescon. We’ve already put a request in to join the beta program, so hopefully we will get more gameplay info and details (barring NDA clauses).

Personally I like NCSoft, however they do seem to retire their games young  (Tabula Rasa, Auto Assault and Exteel). However with City of Heroes transitioning into Free to Play and Guild Wars 2 on the horrison, the South Korean publisher may finally be able to explode onto the Wester Market.