cartoon-network posts

It's one of the most mainstream MMO titles made for a Western audience and today Cartoon Network's FusionFall title officially came out of beta. While you can download and play the game now publisher Majesco has also shipped the game as a retail product with four months of free online play and some exclusive in-game items.

Developed by Korean based Grigon Entertainment, FusionFall puts a number of the cable TV network's characters into one virtual universe which the player can explore. Big Download has covered FusionFall's development including a preview and some hands-on beta impressions. Our sister site Massively has posted up some new impressions today.

Take note, adults. Kids have more to do than mourn the loss of free time due to homework and watch cartoons for hours every day. Sometimes their cartoon worlds become threatened by evil invaders, and the heroes on those shows aren't always capable of getting themselves out of jams. Nope, your kids have to do that. It's their job, and in FusionFall, the youth-centric MMO filled with Cartoon Network's most popular characters, work is quite fun indeed.

Known and adored for its vault of classic cartoons, Cartoon Network's unique properties such as Dexter's Laboratory, The Powerpuff Girls, Courage the Cowardly Dog and more have helped establish the network as more than just a portal to animation's past. Characters such as Samurai Jack and Dee Dee have become as recognizable to little tykes as Bugs Bunny, so creating an expansive video game based on Cartoon Network's universe would seem a logical step.

But to whom would such a product world be catered? As mentioned and readily acknowledged by Cartoon Network, the cartoon juggernaut's toons are technically aimed at a very young demographic, one commonly believed too young to partake in such a large world. The solution to this and other problems was recently explained by Chris Waldron, executive producer of the Grigon Entertainment Company-developed FusionFall, who also provided a brief tour of the forthcoming persistent world's more notable features.

A recently-launched feature on Cartoon Network's website called Game Creator lets fans of the new show Ben 10: Alien Force build their own platformer levels and present them to the world. It's been an immediate success, garnering 380,000 unique maps and over 20 million game plays in one week.

Leveraging the power of the audience as content creators is a brilliant way to build up a brand, and ensures a steady stream of visitors to the site. There is no greater advertisement than word-of-mouth, and getting to offer something to the community makes visitors feel valued. We'd love to see other sites offer creator tools like this.

[Thanks, Jessica!]