dc-universe-online posts

Me am sad to see that Bizarro is going to be in DC Universe Online. Me thinks Bizarro is one of the smartest and least powerful of all of the DC universe's heroes. He am always tries to get rid of that evil Superman but he am never able to get best of him. Me am happy about Bizarro always losing to Superman. We hope that Bizarro is treated like the hero that he is in Sony Online's upcoming MMO.

Hey wait . . don't. Me am typing here..don't . . .

(Sorry, that was our own Bizarro version handling that news post. Won't happen again. We hope)

One of the most well known but somewhat goofy DC Comics characters gets the spotlight this week from Sony Online as they release new screenshots showing off how Green Arrow looks in their upcoming super hero MMO DC Universe Online. The character started out as a bit of a Batman clone in the 1940s. He was rich, had no super powers, had his "arrow" gadgets and even had a sidekick Speedy.

Things got more serious in the 1970s as writers changed Green Arrow into a crusading liberal who found out Speedy was addicted to heroin. The character has gone through several revivals over the last few decades and was even considered "dead" for a few years in the 1990s (with another person, Connor Hawke, replacing him) before being revived in 2000 in his current uniform.

Last week, the entertainment business world was shocked to hear that Disney was planning to purchase comic book company Marvel Entertainment for $3 billion. Marvel's main rival, DC Comics, is already owned by a big media company Time Warner. Now it looks like Time Warner is going to be taking its comic book division a little more seriously.

This week, Time Warner's Warner Bros. Entertainment announced that DC Comics is no more and in a Crisis on Infinite Earths revamp the division will be renamed to DC Entertainment. Warner Bros. Entertainment will now be in charge of " . . . strategically integrating the DC Comics business, brand and characters deeply into Warner Bros. Entertainment and all its content and distribution businesses." That, by the way, does include "interactive entertainment".

Along with this new revamp comes a new leader in Diane Nelson who takes over as president of DC Entertainment. She was previous in charge of Warner Bros. Harry Potter license (and will apparently continue in that role). Long time DC Comics President & Publisher Paul Levitz will leave that position but will become a writer for at least one DC Comic title, Adventure Comics.

This year's release of Batman: Arkham Asylum proved that a good game with a DC Comics character could be made. At the moment the only other announced DC Comics-based game that's in development is DC Universe Online, the MMO that's under development by Sony Online.

While the Hal Jordan version of Green Lantern has been pictured as taking part in DC Universe Online, Sony Online decided to sent over 10 new screenshots showing off the most famous Green Lantern to take on the role of protector of Space Sector 2814.

While there have been other human Green Lanterns including John Stewart, Kyle Rayner and our personal favorite Guy Gardner, Hal Jordan is pretty much considered the "classic" embodiment of the character. He's currently one of the central characters in DC Comics' current mega-crossover series Darkest Night and Ryan Reynolds is supposed to play the role in an upcoming Green Lantern feature film.

The poor economy may not be as bad as it was just a few months ago but layoffs are still continuing in the game industry. Our sister site Massively has just gotten word from Sony Online Entertainment that they are planning to lay off 41 of their team members, or about 5 percent of the company's total workforce.

Sony Online is not commenting on what specific positions are being affected. Sony has development studios in several locations including San Diego, Seattle, Denver and Austin. Earlier this year they announced that they were shutting down support for The Matrix Online after July 31. Sony Online recently launched the free-to-play MMO Free Realms and has two announced games in development, The Agency and DC Universe Online.

Yep, it's us. We are back again to give you a heads-up on the San Diego Comic-Con's panel schedule for Saturday which was just revealed on the event's web site. The highlights include a panel on DC Universe Online (with artist Jim Lee and writer Marv Wolf man in attendance) and a City of Heroes panel as well.

Other panels include looks at the upcoming WWII action game The Saboteur and the super hero action game Batman: Ark ham Asylum (with voice actors Mark Hamill and Kevin Conroy attending). Console gaming fans will have a lot to look forward to as well with panels on Gears of War, Marvel Ultimate Alliance 2, a planned announcement on a new Darkness game and more.

Sony Online will of course be showing off DC Universe Online at the San Diego Comic-Con later this month and among other things they will be giving out a poster to folks who show up at their booth. This week they posted up a sexy teaser for what will be on that poster on their MySpace page.

The teaser is described as "a tiny part of the final poster" and that folks who see the whole image at Comic-Con will be "clawing" to get their hands on it. That's a huge suggestion to us that the sexy lips belong to Selena Kyle (a.k.a, Catwoman) but we could be wrong.

[Via Massively]

DC Universe Online is an upcoming action MMO game in development by SOE under the direction of famous comic book artist, Jim Lee. In it, players will be able to create superpowered characters to fight alongside some of their favorite super heroes, including Superman, Wonder Woman and Batman. You'll even get chance to join the Justice League by building up a crime fighting reputation. Alternatively, players can choose to indulge their darker halves and become super villains looking for the big score that'll earn you a place in the Secret Society of Super Villains.

Download HD DC Universe Online E3 2009 Trailer (60 MB)
Check out all DC Universe Online downloads

Big Download is still counting down to the start of E3 2009 (less than a week to go now) with a series of features spotlighting the titles we want (or at least wish) we could see at the LA Convention Center. We have already given our wish lists for the FPS and action categories and today we look at the RPGs and MMO games that we would hope to catch a glimpse at during the show.

E3 2009 will not have appearances by NCsoft, Atari or Blizzard which means no demos of Aion , Guild Wars 2, Champions Online, Star Trek Online or (sniff) Diablo III. However we should have plenty in the RPG and MMO space to check out at the show. Come back later this week as we offer our final list of the rest of the game we want to see at the show.

Click on the image above to continue reading Countdown to E3 2009: The RPGs and MMO Games We Want To See

We would be very upset if The Flash wasn't a part of DC Universe Online. Thankfully we don't have to worry about that prospect as Sony Online has confirmed that the Scarlet Speedster will indeed be seen in their upcoming super hero themed MMO.

This version of the Flash is Wally West who is actually the third person to have that title. Jay Garrick had the Flash name for the Golden Age of comics and in a major revamp Barry Allen took over during the Silver Age. Wally started out as Kid Flash and then took on the main Flash mantle after Barry Allen's "death" in the classic DC comic maxi series Crisis on Infinite Earths. However Barry just recently returned to life in the Final Crisis mini-series. The Flash also has one of the best collections of villains, including Captain Cold, Heatwave, Mirror Master, The Trickster. the Weather Wizard and The Flash's opposite number Zoom. Hopefully we will get to see The Flash in action in a DC Universe Online demo at E3.