Tabula Rasa Code Request

After Andy posted that Tabula Rasa was free for everyone, I decided I would check the game out. I've never played a MMO game and figured this looked like a cool game to cut my teeth on. Well setting up accounts and downloading the game were the easy part. Getting the code for the game is a different story.

For several days I did as the instructions asked me to. Start an account on PlayNC: checked, download the game: checked, acquire code from support: where do I do that at.

Each time I clicked the link on their instructions page I was taken to the PlayNC sites sign in page. I would then sign in and a new page would say something about the information requested has been removed. So I did some searching around their site and couldn't find a way to acquire the code needed to actually play the game. So yesterday I decided to email their support staff and this is what they replied back:

Thank you for your interest in Tabula Rasa.

I am escalating this request to the appropriate team for further assistance. They will reply to you again as soon as possible. Because of the high volume of Tabula Rasa code requests we are receiving at this time, please be aware that it may take up to 7 business days for your request to be proceeded.

Thank you for your continued patience as we work to resolve this issue for you.

Well that stinks. I guess there are a bunch of cheap bastards out there, like me, who wanted to play this game after it was free and that tied up their system. Hopefully the game will be really good and generate a lot of buzz and cause the game to stay available. We shall see.

APB Full Public Beta Coming Soon

Kotaku has an article about Real Time Worlds moving into the Alpha stage of APB - the online MMO sandbox game. Mario Rizzo, Business Development Manager, also added that there will be a "full public beta of APB." Their beta release of Crackdown proved to be a smart move as it showed doubtful gamers that it was an awesome game. Hopefully the beta test will be conducted on all platforms, Xbox 360, PS3, and PC.

XYBA Podcast Ep 19

Andy, Charlie, Jeff, and Josh bring the gaming pain with another XYBA video game podcast. Again please feel free to leave us a review on iTunes.

00:00 - Andy, Charlie, Jeff, and Josh
00:30 - Games We're Playing :|: Bionical Heroes, Glory Days 2, Culdcept Saga, Pocker Smash, and Charlies just playing whatever he can steal. M3 chip is sucking up our DS juice.
07:54 - Gaming News :|: MMO Marvel Universal Online Cancelled, DJ Hero trademarked, Leisure Suit Larry game cumming soon, 360 failure rate, PS3 sales, and more
30:04 - Roundtable :|: The XYBA crew discuss the lates Devil May Cry 4 required assets download for PS3 and if this is the future of games on consoles.
50:40 - Games We're Looking Forward To :|: GTA IV, Star Wars: Force unleashed, Dark Sector, and mo
54:27 - Shoutouts :|: Check out our sister sites ThunderPudd.com, Game on Cafe, and Jigsaw HC's Rants

Download XYBA Podcast Ep 19

Marvel Universe Online Officially Dead

Microsoft's Shane Kim has confirmed the rumors from months ago: the MMO slated for Xbox 360 is no more. Marvel Universe Online was going to be a massively multiplayer online game set in the universe of Marvel superheroes like Spiderman, the X-Men and the Fantastic Four.

If you want to relive old possibilities, you can check out the previously released trailer here.

NASA MMO on the way?

NASA is looking at throwing their hat into the massively multiplayer online gaming arena. The government space agency has put out business opportunity for someone to develop an MMO for them. Apparently, they are inspired by the Army's success with America's Army.

The posting calls for "a game engine that includes powerful physics capabilities could support accurate in-game experimentation and research. It should simulate real NASA engineering and science missions in a medium that is comfortable and familiar to the majority of students in the United States today."

Seems interesting and like it could be educational, but I doubt it will be a huge success. Educational doesn't sell games. And realistic simulations of space manuevers aren't that great either. America's Army sold because people like shooting other people.

(Although I wasn't a big fan because it was too realistic. I couldn't tell who the enemies were and I would always die.)

Play LOTR MMO now

The Lord of the Rings Online: Shadows of Angmar will be released April 24th. However, the beta is now open to everyone.

Simply go here and click on "Join the World Tour!" It is almost a 4 GB download, not to mention the time to install and then update it after installing it so it will take you a little bit to get, but I downloaded it today and it's pretty fun.

I'm playing a Dwarf Champion, almost level 5 now. The open beta is mostly a server stress test since all major bugs have mostly been worked out. Also, it's a bit of marketing because if you like the game and pre-order it before it is released, you can keep your beta character in the official game.