Filed under: All Points Bulletin

The Digital Continuum: The 'Next Big Thing' in MMOs

by Kyle Horner Feb 1st 2010 at 12:00PM

Filed under: MMO industry, New titles, Opinion, The Digital Continuum, All Points Bulletin, Crime

Is All Points Bulletin the "Next Big Thing" in MMOs? While I'm fully aware that Realtime Worlds doesn't specifically prefer to associate the game with this genre, it's very much a part of it -- but it also orbits the fringes of what we commonly refer to as a massively multiplayer online game.

Guild Wars, Guild Wars 2 and All Points Bulletin come from a different school of business models. These games hinge on the idea that most people dislike coughing up 15 bucks a month to keep playing their favorite title. Just look to the success of the original Guild Wars, having a year ago passed six million copies sold. That's a pretty great start for non-subscription MMOs, and because of that success we now have GW's sequel and APB on the way.

All Points Bulletin video podcast shows off the music editor

by James Egan Jan 28th 2010 at 7:00PM

Filed under: Podcasts, Video, New titles, All Points Bulletin, Crime

Fans of the upcoming urban crime game All Points Bulletin may have noticed there's been a bit of a hiatus with the video podcasts that Realtime Worlds has been releasing. (Although Massively did have a good interview with Chris Collins and EJ Moreland about APB this week.) The APB video podcasts are back for 2010 now, though, and Collins has announced that the next few will focus on the game's audio features. They're beginning the series by showing fans the game's music editor, demonstrated by Stuart Ross, All Points Bulletin's Senior Sound Designer.

These in-game audio tools in the Music Studio will allow players to create "death themes" -- very short sound clips that play when you take out another player -- or even create loops and tracks from scratch using software instruments. While the tools look fairly comprehensive, there are simple preset themes for those not familiar with audio tools. Even better, player-created themes and songs are fully tradeable. Players will be able to place their tracks on market for other Criminals or Enforcers to purchase. Stick with us after the jump for a video embed of the All Points Bulletin podcast episode 16: The Music Editor.

Massively interviews All Points Bulletin's Chris Collins and EJ Moreland

by Kyle Horner Jan 26th 2010 at 10:00AM

Filed under: New titles, All Points Bulletin, Crime, Massively Interviews

If you're anywhere as excited as us for All Points Bulletin you'll be happy to know we had the chance to ask Lead Designer EJ Moreland and Community Manager Chris Collins a bevy of questions, which they answered with supreme openness.

We've got the scoop on all sorts of topics, from Realtime Worlds' stance on community interaction, whether or not the game will have official forums, content updates post-launch and plenty more. We hope you enjoy reading the interview as much as we did conducting it!

All Points Bulletin video podcast answers questions from game's fans

by James Egan Dec 16th 2009 at 9:00AM

Filed under: Podcasts, Video, Game mechanics, New titles, All Points Bulletin, Crime

The latest All Points Bulletin video podcast is a Q&A where Realtime Worlds devs field questions from fans of the upcoming urban crime title. Lead Gameplay Designer Jesse Knapp and Lead Designer EJ Moreland discuss a wide range of topics this week. They go into the possibility of releasing browser versions of the editors and letting players experiment with APB's extensive customization system -- although this won't be something we'll see at release. The APB devs also explain the limitations of layers in customizing your character's look, the next wave of beta invites (January), and reaffirm they're still looking at a Spring 2010 launch.

The video Q&A is also sprinkled with bits of footage showing things such as the damage states of vehicles (no broken glass though) and how layers can be used to alter your character's appearance. Stick with us past the jump for embedded footage of All Points Bulletin's 15th video podcast.

New All Points Bulletin video profiles the vigilante Enforcers

by James Egan Dec 2nd 2009 at 7:00PM

Filed under: Podcasts, Video, Lore, New titles, All Points Bulletin, Crime

All Points Bulletin developer Realtime Worlds recently introduced fans of the urban crime game to some of the underworld organizations of San Paro. After focusing on the bad guys first, Realtime Worlds has released a follow-up video about the Enforcer vigilantes who hunt those criminals. Whether that makes Enforcers 'bad guys' too might depend on how morally flexible you are, but APB Lead Creative Designer Stephen Hewitt (aka 'Kitkat'), introduces viewers to the enemies of San Paro's criminals:

The Praetorians are something of a well-funded private corporate strike force, while the Prentiss Tigers are only jocks trying to keep their city safe. Hewitt also gives more info on the backstory of All Points Bulletin from the Enforcer perspective. Stick with us after the jump for a video embed of All Points Bulletin's The Organizations of San Paro part 2, a closer look at the game's NPC factions.

The Daily Grind: Your shooter of choice?

by Seraphina Brennan Nov 15th 2009 at 8:00AM

Filed under: PlanetSide, Culture, New titles, Opinion, The Daily Grind, All Points Bulletin, Global Agenda, MAG

Lots of shooter/action MMOs coming out in the future, and we here at Massively are eager to play them all. From the 256 player battlefields of MAG to the chaotic, persistent territory control of Global Agenda and even over to the streets of APB, more MMOs are taking the route of the action title and avoiding the point-and-click style of the MMORPG.

So, readers of Massively, what's your shooter of choice? Are you more of the first person, character development style of player that's embodied in MAG? Would you rather customize your character and your ride while shooting up the town in APB? Or are you up for some spy-fi jetpack action in Global Agenda? Or, do you want to take the none of the above option and lay down all of your chips on PlanetSide or PlanetSide 2? (Mmmmm... PlanetSide 2....)

Shoot your mouth off in the comment box below! See what we did there?

APB video podcast introduces the criminals of San Paro

by James Egan Nov 14th 2009 at 12:00PM

Filed under: Podcasts, Video, Lore, New titles, All Points Bulletin, Crime

All Points Bulletin is definitely on the radar for a number of fans of urban crime games seeking a deeper multiplayer environment. While many of us would enjoy a perpetual cascade of felonies (or arrests), Realtime Worlds wants players to have a sense of San Paro as a fleshed out urban setting where they can create their own stories. Realtime Worlds Lead Creative Designer Stephen Hewitt (aka 'KitKat') discusses the stories that will run throughout All Points Bulletin in the latest video podcast and introduces viewers to the criminal organizations players will tangle with at some point.

We get a look at the G-Kings gang, who are essentially punks clawing their way up the criminal hierarchy of San Paro. Hewitt also gives us a glimpse at the Blood Roses, an organization comprised of trust fund club kids dipping their toes into a life of crime just for the thrills. Stick with us after the jump for the latest All Points Bulletin video podcast, The Organizations of San Paro.

All Points Bulletin closed beta has begun

by James Egan Oct 19th 2009 at 11:30AM

Filed under: Betas, MMO industry, New titles, All Points Bulletin, Crime

Urban crime (game) enthusiasts, rejoice! The All Points Bulletin closed beta has begun, according to reports at both Eurogamer and Kotaku. It was rumored that the beta would begin this month and it seems there are presently three windows of gameplay a week in the All Points Bulletin CBT -- Tuesday, Thursday and Sunday evenings, says Eurogamer's Oli Welsh. Those interested in ripping up the streets as either a Criminal or an Enforcer can still apply to become an All Points Bulletin beta tester at the game's official site.

APB is in development at Realtime Worlds in Scotland, and aims to bring a new level of online interaction to multiplayer urban crime games. Check out Massively's coverage of All Points Bulletin for more on what Realtime Worlds is creating.

All Points Bulletin podcast #12 delivers community Q&A

by Kyle Horner Oct 16th 2009 at 1:00PM

Filed under: Video, New titles, News items, All Points Bulletin

All Points Bulletin's 12th video podcast sees the conclusion of the Mark Rein walkthrough and an informative Q&A with the game's design lead, EJ Moreland. Some of the questions are things we already knew but bore repeating, like that the game is going to be PC only for its first release.

There's new information in there, too. Like the fact that a car you design cannot be stolen from you while driving it, unlike a car you steal from a pedestrian. There's also talk about player and clan housing as future additions to the game.

We think the video podcasts are a great way to clear the air of any misconceptions while simultaneously giving the community a chance to meet the people designing the game they so very much want to play. So hopefully we'll be seeing more of these in the coming weeks leading up to wider beta and eventually, launch.

Check out the video after the break.

All Points Bulletin beta kicks off next week, new gameplay footage released

by James Egan Oct 1st 2009 at 7:00PM

Filed under: Betas, New titles, All Points Bulletin, Crime

All Points Bulletin from Realtime Worlds is eagerly anticipated by the GTA and Saints Row set, bringing much greater online interaction to the urban crime game genre. All Points Bulletin has been accepting beta applications and, according to Gamesindustry.biz, the beta will begin next week. They report that Realtime Worlds CEO Gary Dale mentioned the beta going live during Tech Media Invest 2009 in London. If all goes as planned, this is certainly good news for those of you who applied as beta testers.

APB video podcast 10 is also out, and shows us a continuation of the GamesCom 2009 footage from last month. In fact, this video quite literally picks up where the previous footage left off, showing off a bit of the Last.fm integration into All Points Bulletin, and how the unobtrusive heads-up display guides you to mission locations. We've got an HD embed of the video for you, so stick with us past the jump for a closer look at APB's gameplay.

UK game tax policies has Realtime Worlds considering move to Ireland

by James Egan Sep 28th 2009 at 6:00PM

Filed under: Economy, MMO industry, News items, All Points Bulletin

Realtime Worlds is becoming synonymous with Scotland's game development with their upcoming title All Points Bulletin, but there are reports the company may consider relocating to Ireland. As one of Scotland's most prominent development studios, Realtime Worlds is keenly aware that as the computer games industry grows the UK lags behind other countries in terms of tax incentives. (Edge Online has an excellent overview of the situation which details how UK firms pay tax on R&D while countries like Canada and France provide rebates for game developers.) The situation as it affects Realtime Worlds and other Dundee-based companies is that if corporate tax breaks aren't possible in Scotland, they may need to head to greener pastures. Even moreso if such pastures include a 5-year tax holiday, which was mentioned at last weekend's Global Irish Economic Forum in Dublin.

Herald Scotland quotes Colin Macdonald, Realtime Worlds Studio Manager, as saying,"If the package on offer in Ireland was attractive we'd have to give it serious consideration. [...] Dundee is a great place to be based, one of the main hubs for computer games in Britain, but at the end of the day we've got to look after our bottom line."

Latest APB trailer shoots, drives, pops and locks onto your screen

by Kyle Horner Sep 18th 2009 at 5:00PM

Filed under: Video, New titles, News items, All Points Bulletin

Before you wonder, we'll answer: The third All Points Bulletin official trailer is pretty much all gameplay footage. We say pretty much, because there is a little dancing in it and, well, you'll just have to see for yourselves.

What the trailer does with profound effectiveness is make you want to play the game much sooner than Spring 2010. We're not sure if it's the infectious song and its singer requesting that you give him both daft and punk, or if it's because there's a point in the video where three cars leap from stacked freight containers, onto a building and over into a street. Actually, it's probably the delicious combination of those two things.

Check out the video after the break.

All Points Bulletin video podcast a first look at gameplay

by James Egan Sep 14th 2009 at 4:00PM

Filed under: Podcasts, Video, New titles, All Points Bulletin, Crime

It's no secret that some of us at Massively are looking forward to playing All Points Bulletin, an urban crime title on the way from Realtime Worlds. We learned a bit more about the game at PAX 2009 but we're always hoping to find out more. Fortunately, the company released a new video podcast today filmed at GamesCom 2009 in Cologne that many of our readers have been waiting for -- one with actual gameplay.

The series of videos released prior to this focused on the extensive customization options All Points Bulletin will offer. Although we see quite a bit of gameface from the audience in this latest video podcast, we also see a bit more of that attention to detail emphasized in the previous video footage playing out in the mean streets of the waterfront district. Among other things, the footage shows some very detailed gun animations w. shell ejects and, unsurprisingly, a lot of polish on the look of the vehicles. The user interface is also rather unobtrusive, particularly with the clear compass to guide players.

Interested in checking it out? We've got an HD video embed of APB Video Podcast 9: Viva Cologne for you after the jump.

PAX 2009: Massively's first look at gameplay in All Points Bulletin

by Kyle Horner Sep 7th 2009 at 4:00PM

Filed under: New titles, News items, All Points Bulletin, Massively Event Coverage

All Points Bulletin was representing at PAX and while the game wasn't playable I did manage to see a very cool PAX-only gameplay video presentation. Epic Games' Mark Rein and Realtime Worlds' community officer Chris Collins – you know, that dashing gentlemen in all those cool video podcasts – played a bunch of the game and edited it into a nicely narrated sample of what playing the game is like.

What I ended up seeing was a game that by all accounts looks very ready for launch, so I wasn't surprised to be told beta was "a few weeks" away and not months. And while that date is still a little ways off, most other attendees who saw the video seemed to agree that launch day couldn't come soon enough.