ultima posts

Back in the 1990s, the fantasy RPG Ultima 4 from developer Origin Systems was released for free from a few selected and official sources. A lot of folks believed this made the game freeware. However in fact it doesn't as the game's current owner Electronic Arts still owns the rights to the entire Ultima game franchise.

Now word comes from the fan site Ultima Aiera that EA has been sending cease and desist letters to web sites hosting the Ultima 4 download along with other sites that have hosted Flash-based remakes. Why has EA, after all this time, decided to move on these sites? Ultma Aiera speculates that it may have something to do with a secret project at EA's Mythic Entertainment developer. It bases that speculation on Twitter messages from Mythic's creative director Paul Barnett that hint that it may be Ultima related.

[Via Blue's News]

Famed game designer Richard Garriott is about to bring back his "Lord British" gaming alter-ego in an upcoming social networking game from his new company Portalarium. Gamasutra is reporting that the game has the working title Lord British's New Britannia. Garriott's nickname turned into a game character when he appeared as "Lord British" inside Ultima Online, the MMO he created in 1997 for Origins Systems. He retained the trademark rights to the name even after he left Origin.

There isn't a release date yet nor much in terms of details about what Lord British's New Britannia will be like. Garriott and Portalarium are currently seeking about $3.8 million in funding at the SXSW Accelerator event in Austin, Texas. Portalarium is also working on another game, Ultimate Collector, which Gamasutra says will tie into a TV series that will be hosted by Garriott. It will be released sometime in the second quarter of 2011.

A few months ago Electronic Arts, without any prior promotion, launched a browser-based MMO called Lord of Ultima. The game from developer EA Phenomic seems to be EA's attempt to get into the free-to-play browser MMO market that's currently dominated by Runescape. It's also the first new game to use the "Ultima" name in over 10 years.

Today the game went into open beta which means anyone can go in and start playing. One of the new additions is the in-game Shop where players can purchase "Diamonds" which then can be used to purchase other in-game items. The game has also added quests and quite a number of other features.

Long time PC gaming fans know the Ultima franchise as a RPG game series, either in its classic single player form or in the long running MMO Ultima Online, both created by Richard "Lord British" Garriott. Two attempts at a sequel to the latter MMO game have been canceled. However today publisher Electronic Arts has finally released the first new official Ultima game since 1999's Ultima IX: Ascension.

However instead of a complex RPG game, the newly launched Lords of Ultima title is a browser-based free-to-play strategy game. Developed by EA Phenomic (the folks behind another free-to-play game Battleforge) this new game lets folks build a city in the Ultima universe and interact with other players online. The game is already available as an open beta and is apparently very popular in its first day; we tried to sign in and were unable to get into a game because the servers were too busy. There's no word yet on when the game will officially launch nor how it will generate revenues.

On Wednesday we began our series of the most influential PC games of all time by going through our choices for the 20-11 spots. Today the gloves come off as we reveal our picks for the top 10 PC games that have been the biggest influences on the industry as a whole.

Our list of games in the top 10 includes three first person shooters, an RTS game, a turn-based strategy game, a action-RPG, a RPG-MMO combo franchise and a game that has become the best selling PC title of all time. We know all of you reading this most likely have your own ideas about what games should be on the list and in what position and we want to hear what you think. So, make sure you put in your two cents in the comments.

Click on the image above to continue reading the top 10 most influential PC games

Richard "Lord British" Garriott has kept to himself about the shut down of the MMO he worked on for six years, Tabula Rasa, but today our sister site GameDaily has posted up a brief chat with the legendary game designer where he opens up for the first time about NCsoft's decision to close down the game's servers at the end of February (announced just a few days after Garriott left the company).

Garriott states that in his opinion Tabula Rasa "...should have continued -- in the sense of, it was a game that was hitting its stride enough where it could keep what I'll call a critical fan base, and had the opportunity to continue to be grown." He added, "But I'm also not what I'll call terribly surprised, either, that the company would choose this path. I think NCsoft looks at it as an opportunity cost issue -- where they put those resources and people on that, or something new. They chose something new."

Garriott also talked about the strong likelyhood of returing to the game industry and when ask if he would be interested in working with Electronic Arts on a revival of his Ultima series he states, "Conceptually? Sure. The property Ultima is still very near and dear to my heart. I think that if, by hook or by crook, I had access to that property, either in solo-player or multiplayer, I would absolutely love to continue to play in the Ultima universe."

On Tuesday we posted up a feature naming 10 classic PC games that we think would be perfect for a revival. The response to the article was extremely positive, so much so that we have decided to quickly post up another installment featuring 10 more PC game titles that are ripe for a comeback.

Among our choices this time are a mob-themed first person shooter, a fantasy RTS, a movie-based space sim and and tactical cyberpunk strategy-action game. Can you guess which games we are talking about before you check out our choices (there's a rather large hint in the image above)?

Click on the image above to read more on 10 more PC games that need a comeback

With his long planned trip to outer space now completed, game design pioneer Richard "Lord British" Garriott is apparently moving onto new things. Today the official web site for his last title, the 2007 released MMO Tabula Rasa, had an announcement by Garriott announcing he was leaving the employment of the game's publisher NCsoft.

In his farewell message, Garriott stated that his recent trip to the International Space Station, "...has sparked some new interests that I would like to devote my time and resources to." He gave no indication on what these new interests might be. Before joining NCsoft in 2001 to develop Tabula Rasa, Garriott was one of the first major PC game developers, creating the Ultima series of RPG titles for his company Origin (later bought by Electronic Arts) which culminated in the first successful PC MMO title Ultima Online.

[Via Massively]

He's doing what few men and women have done; the creator of the Ultima game series is now in orbit around the Earth. Richard "Lord British" Garriott was in a Soyuz rocket that launched from the Baikonur space center in Russia early this morning to be come the latest "space tourist". Garriott paid $30 million to the Space Adventures group for the journey.

Garriott's father, Owen Garriott, was a former NASA astronaut and he saw his son lift off into space today. It's the first time in history that a son has followed his father into space. Garriott is now headed for the International Space Station and will dock with the station on Tuesday where he will perfore several experiments. He will also leave behind a hard drive with lots of digital DNA patterns from people as part of Operation Immortality, which has been promoted by his current employer NCsoft. He is scheduled to spend a total of 10 days in orbit.

Very soon, famed game designer Richard Garriott will be launched into space -- yes in sanctioned rocket ship. Famously known for creating the Ultima series, Garriott's fascination with space came at a young age and on October 12 he will partake in an ... interesting mission beyond our planet to fulfill his dreams. Operation Immortality is bringing data from Earth's greatest achievements into space so our legacy may live on forever. Among the important data? The genetic codes of such world renowned people as news host Stephen Colbert and 2008 Playboy Cyber Girl of the Year, Jo Garcia.

Wait. What? Really? Anyway ... since space travel is considered pretty dangerous -- what with the whole rocket thing -- Razer has created a site where anyone from around the internet can send a message of well wished to Garriott before his shuttle leaves on October 12. For every message sent from October 1 until October 12, Razer will donate one-quarter (of a dollar) to the Challenger Learning Center, which seeks to enhance space education for children.

Those who participate also have a chance to win Razer branded gear. Three lucky winners will walk away with a Razer Lachesis mouse and a Razer Destructor mouse pad each, personally autographed by Richard. Twenty winners will also each receive a Razer Moray, Razer's newly launched in-ear noise canceling gaming earphone.

Send in those messages and lets get some money in a great program for kids.