AION goes free to play (for the US as well!)

VIA The MMO Gamer by Troy Blackburn

After seeing success with the free-to-play conversion of Lineage II, NCSoft has announced that later this spring they will be taking Aion free-to-play with patch 3.0, Ascension.  A new f2p site announces that Aion: Ascension will be utilizing the “revolutionary Truly Free model” from Lineage II and improving upon it.  Have a look at the trailer:

 

NCSoft is promising that all lvl 1-60 content currently available plus the newest content in patch 3.0 will be available and fully accessible to players for no cost.

We understand that an active player population contributes to the fun factor for the entire player population, so we want everyone to experience the game as it was intended.  If you like the game, we’d appreciate a purchase from our store (game developers need to eat too!). If you don’t like the game, can’t pay, or don’t want to pay—no worries, it’s on us!”

Here are some of the key features of Aion Truly Free:

• No subscription fee. Play for free!
• No account restrictions. Visit any zone, chat in any channel, sell any amount of stuff on the trade broker—nothing is off limits!
• Robust countermeasures to combat game abuse. We’re dedicating a ton of resources to preventing account theft, botting, and real money trading.
• No hassles. Create your account, download the game, and play!
• No harassment. Don’t worry, we won’t hound you with constant offers or promotions.
• A lot of great stuff we’ll reveal more about leading up to launch!

 

Along with going “Truly Free”, patch 3.0 will bring other significant changes to Aion including new Zones and Instances, a raised level cap (lvl 60), a mount system, and player housing.

For players wanting a head start, NCsoft is hosting a “Rallying the Troops” event which will give new players an extended no time limit trial, whilst returning veterans will have their accounts reactivated free for 14 days. In addition, everyone will enjoy permanent increased XP as well as other boosts to help level and gear up to experience the new content faster.

You can visit Truly-Free.AionOnline.com for more information and to sign up for the free trial.

 

8 Serious Sam games for under $30.

Rich Knuckles is back to celebrate the launch of the Serious Sam Complete Pack on Steam. Let him take you through the Serious Sam series and then run over to Steam and grab all Serious Sam games while they are 66% off! 

PURCHASE THIS SO HARD: http://store.steampowered.com/sub/13606/

Can’t beat that price if you like old school First Person shooters.

Sony Network getting a name change?

Yep, looks like the rumors are true.  According to many sources around the Internet Sony will be changing the name of the PSN (PlayStation Network) to SEN, the Sony Entertainment network Wednesday (02/8/12) 

According to one Sony rep: "The goal is for there to be one networked log-in for all Sony services, changing the name ‘PlayStation Network account’ to ‘Sony Entertainment Network account’ helps clarify the unity between PSN and other Sony Entertainment Network services." However, the change does not apply to the PSP.

This tells me a few things:  1) The PSP is being phased out.  2) the PS4 might be shifting more to the whole entertainment package the PS3 was boasted to have be.  and 3) So now when Anonymous hacks Sony again, now they can get ALL the peoples information and not just a piece of it.