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DICE '07 Underway in Las Vegas

Posted by Zonk on from the speeches-gladhanding-and-booze-oh-my dept.

The annual AIAS DICE summit is underway in Las Vegas, with games industry movers and shakers congregating to exchange ideas, network, and play a little golf. The event kicked off with a keynote from Sony executive Yair Landau, Doug Lowenstein's final address to the games industry, and a Q&A session with Sony's Phil Harrison. In and amongst the speeches there was a small droplet of news: Sony Online Entertainment's next MMOG will be a spy caper. Code named 'Vista' (because they pushed it back a year, har), the title will put players in 'tuxedos instead of tunics' fighting over secretive information in the modern era.

16 comments

  1. Hickory Dickory Dock by baldass_newbie · · Score: 1

    Oh!

    --
    The opposite of progress is congress
  2. How many super spies does a world need? by PingSpike · · Score: 1

    I guess its no more outrageous then a world that has a population of 90% demigod warriors...the other 10% being NPC shop keepers that exist to serve them.

    1. Re:How many super spies does a world need? by Nasarius · · Score: 1

      Feh. This is one of the reasons that Ultima Online was so cool; you could actually play a craftsman exclusively and have fun doing it. Good MMOGs should be closer to a world simulation than a game. I can't imagine how one focused narrowly on espionage could possibly work. As a component in a game like WWII Online, sure. But I'm drawing a blank on interesting possibilities for a game where everyone is a spy.

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      LOAD "SIG",8,1
    2. Re:How many super spies does a world need? by drinkypoo · · Score: 1

      But I'm drawing a blank on interesting possibilities for a game where everyone is a spy.

      What are you talking about? You would just need absolute hordes of NPCs. Then you could play spy and counterspy.

      I admit though that if EVERYONE is a spy that eliminates a lot of possibilities.

      --
      "You're right," Fisheye says. "I should have set it on 'whip' or 'chop.'"
    3. Re:How many super spies does a world need? by Nasarius · · Score: 1

      What are you talking about? You would just need absolute hordes of NPCs. Then you could play spy and counterspy.
      Well, I did say interesting possibilities. Relying on hordes of NPCs, it may as well be a single-player or traditionally multiplayer game. Where's the massive?
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      LOAD "SIG",8,1
    4. Re:How many super spies does a world need? by BarneyL · · Score: 1

      I wonder if it will have a crafting system. It might be fun to hang around the labs producing poison tipped umbrellas for other players. I'm guessing it will make heavy use of instanced missions and probably a fair ammount or PvP, it wouldn't suprise me if they aimed for a City of Heroes/Villans type model.

  3. AIAS DICE? by sanosuke001 · · Score: 1, Informative

    ok.... why does the /. crowd overuse acronyms? Why can't they just spell it out for people who aren't as "cool" as everyone else....

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    -SaNo
    1. Re:AIAS DICE? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      It is a way to apply metrics to your suck factor.

      "Reading about a 95% Captain!"

  4. pun intended by User+956 · · Score: 0

    DICE '07 Underway in Las Vegas

    Sounds like a pretty DICEy situation, if you ask me.

    --
    The theory of relativity doesn't work right in Arkansas.
    1. Re:pun intended by Lectrik · · Score: 1

      DICE '07 Underway in Las Vegas


      Sounds like a pretty DICEy situation, if you ask me.


      That pun was a bit CRAPpy. teehee
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      --- As to make my comment seem, by comparison, more intelegent... doodie doodie doodie poop poop poop!
  5. Dillons Integrated C Editor? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Am I the only one that thought that?

  6. a DICEy situation by User+956 · · Score: 1

    "Sounds like a pretty DICEy situation, if you ask me."

    That pun was a bit CRAPpy. teehee     Yeah, well, that's how I roll.

    --
    The theory of relativity doesn't work right in Arkansas.
  7. Am I in a minority by Colourspace · · Score: 1

    I'm possibly in a small group of /.'s (please tell me if I'm wrong) that fails to see the appeal of MMORPG's - not because of the multiplayer aspect but because (yes, I know I am generalising here) the majority of them seem to be either rooted in D+D lore or some off world space setting. Personally I don't get the whole orc thing at all.. But anyway, the news of a contemporary spy game massively (no pun intended) appeals to me. Maybe I'll finally get to find out what 'grinding' (buying Polonium on the black market) or 'levelling up' is all all about?

  8. You can skip grinding and leveling, IMO by fistfullast33l · · Score: 1

    I agree, fantasy MMO's bore me to death, and games like EVE really didn't appeal to me either (I want to fly the ship, not click it!). I got really hooked on Planetside though because the larger outfits really were tactically oriented and allowed you to play the game with strategy in mind and you didn't have to kill rats or snakes or anything to level up. You leveled by sticking with the outfit and capturing bases. It was the most fun I'd ever had in an MMO. I think I'll probably find most MMO's monotonous until they can incorporate more of the dirty work of leveling and grinding into the game in a better way. AO was really bad at this - you constantly fought in the same dungeon for the same reasons.

    1. Re:You can skip grinding and leveling, IMO by Colourspace · · Score: 1

      thanks for the info.