jack-emmert posts

Jack Emmert, perhaps the most well known of the faces behind Cryptic Studios, is now the game developer's new CEO. It's parent company Atari announced today that Emmert would take over the position of CEO following the departure of John Needham who is leaving "to pursue other opportunities within the games industry." Emmert was previously Cryptic's Chief Operating Officer

Emmert co-founded Cryptic and helped to design its first game, the MMO City of Heroes which was later purchased by its publisher NCsoft. Atari purchased Cryptic in 2008 and launched two more MMOs for the publisher; Champions Online in 2009 and Star Trek Online in 2010. Cryptic is currently working on the non-MMO fantasy RPG Neverwinter as well as at least one unannounced game for Atari.

[Via email press release]

An Associated Press Entertainment writer has published an interview with Cryptic Studios creative director Jack Emmert concerning the recently announced Star Trek Online MMO.

Always a fun part of MMOs, Star Trek Online's character creation will allow players to pick and choose various aspects of their make-up from a number of Star Trek species. Post-character creation, players will find themselves captaining either a small Starfleet or Klingon Empire vessel. Progression will beget new ranks for the player, as well as more ships in their fleet.

In terms of size, Emmert promises that players will explore entire galaxies and make startling discoveries. "You'll venture through space exploring new civilizations and life-forms," said Emmert. "You'll also beam down to planets and have adventures inside your ship."

For more details, including how Cryptic acquired the rights to develop and publish Star Trek Online, as well as if players can expect sightings of notable ships such as the Enterprise, you can read the entire interview at Yahoo.com.

As cool as it would be to see Batman swinging across rooftops or Spider-Man slinging web, you couldn't pay me to live in a superhero's city. Sure, they do their best to protect civilians, but one could argue that Gotham, Metropolis, New York City and others were somewhat better off before friendly neighborhood heroes moved into town. When villains are on the loose, chaos never ends: buildings explode; cop cruisers and lavishly decorated villain and hero mobiles speed through residential areas and across highways; your stock as a hostage is raised considerably if you're female; and if you're an average Joe, women will forever compare you to the local sexy stud wearing colored tights.

The heroes of the Champions Online universe have recognized the vulnerability of their mortal charges and have done their best to assemble many of the world's most dangerous beasts in one exotic location: Monster Island. At a recent Cryptic Studios press event, Chief Creative Officer Jack Emmert gave attending journalists a tour of the isle's dangerous flora and fauna.

Big Download's sister site Massively.com has all the news you'll need about MMOs. Here's the best, brightest, and most interesting stuff from the last week, all in one convenient place for your MMO minute.

	Mark Jacobs announces major features cut from Warhammer Online In the latest of an ongoing series of interviews with MMORPG.com, Mythic Entertainment VP and General Manager Mark Jacobs has dropped big news on the Warhammer Online fanbase: major features are being culled from the game in order to make their Fall launch deadline. In short, the capital cities for the Dark Elf, High Elf, Orc, and Dwarf factions will not be in the game at launch.
	The Digital Continuum: Diet WAR Diet Warhammer Online: same great taste, less content. Is it bad that the recently re-branded Mythic Entertainment just cut out a large portion of our Warhammer Online pie and put it in the deep freeze? Well it's certainly not good when a developer cuts content they've been talking about publicly for so long, especially when launch is only three or four months away.
	Massively visits Stargate Worlds: The interview This exclusive, in-depth, and conversational interview is overflowing with information about everything in the game, including TV series tie-ins and cameos, episodic content, combat, graphics, mini-games, and much, much more.
	Massively's E3 Week Prediction Bingo Every year it's customary to roll out predictions on what will and won't show up at the current year's E3 event. With Massively heading in the direction of the LA Convention Center already, we thought it might be fun to offer up some likely (and highly unlikely) predictions of what might get talked about next week.
	Jack Emmert discusses the Champions IP in fresh new video During a recent media event at Cryptic Studios, Jack Emmert gave a presentation on what the Champions IP was all about, including the history of the Champions universe and its super-powered beings. He also took some time to answer a few questions, and delineated how the Champions Online MMO will distinguish itself from City of Heroes.