Closure of the longest running super-hero MMO rouses anger and resentment from fan

Heroes and former villains gathered in the game's Atlas Park to mourn the game's passing.

 Do you remember a game called "City of Heroes?" 8 years ago, the world's only super-hero MMO graced the PC gaming world and surprised everyone. It survived a transition from its original publishing company to NC Soft, it survived the pretender "Champions Online," and it even survived "DC Universe Online" for a time.

Recently, at the end of November, the world within "CoH" was closed down forever by NC Soft. Rumors circulated that it was because the team from Paragon Studios was being moved to work on "Guild Wars 2." Others believed that the game wasn't closing, merely being taken from NC Soft by another company. Whatever the reason, the August announcement shook fans and players to their very core.

Not only were they saddened, but many of them were outraged at the fact that the game was closing. Still bringing in a quarterly profit of $2.76 million, according to market analysts in Korea where NC Soft's main offices are, many were confused by this move.

An article written for koreatimes.co has the headline "'Unethical' game closure.'" Why? Partly because everyone else in the world can't seem to understand the business move. While analysts agree the game doesn't make a huge amount of money for the company, especially after going free-to-play recently, it still makes money.

Players have begun to start rousing other NC Soft fans to boycott the company in anger, while even media outlets are covering the player-community disgust. Each day after the closure was announced, players began in-game protests. They would gather en masse at certain locations in game just to spawn multiple instance monsters and bosses so that the game would lag atrociously and cause issues. Others took a more political approach, creating petitions and awareness campaigns online to try and show the company the large amount of fans that were against the action.

It may not have been as pretty as other games, but it had a style all its own.

This kind of community love is rarely seen in an MMO, especially an NC Soft one. However, "City of Heroes" eight year run was one for the history books. The game had time travel, a morality system, almost unfathomable amounts of customization that put other super-power MMOs to shame, player-run radio stations, arena battling, an alternate dimension and a mission creation system that allowed the player to make custom enemies with custom powersets and write their own storylines for others to play.

Paragon Studios and those who worked on the game did something right. They created a game that had a community so invested in the franchise that it is making a media stink so large it can be seen hovering over the NC Soft corporate offices in Korea.

Why shut it down? Only NC Soft knows. One thing is for certain, the players will never forget that it happened, and NC Soft's image in the west has been severely damaged because of this decision.

Wii U sales after the first month

Seems a little cumbersome, right?

As of last month, around four hundred and fifty thousand Wii U consoles were purchased in the United States, with forty thousand units sold in the United Kingdom during the opening weekend alone. In just one month, and not even a whole month mind you, the newest console by Nintendo has sold almost a quarter of what the PS Vita's cumulative sales were in October. Just two months ago.

Not only that, but the website MCVUK.com has stated that the software attach rate for the Wii U is 2:1, giving it a higher rate than the PS Vita in another area. The GfK Chart-Track, which monitors the sales of video, music, and software through retailers, states that 60% of sales in the UK are the 32GB console, 30% are the "ZombiU" bundle console, and 10% are the 8GB console. With that being said, one need only look at the reviews of the system from globally recognized sites like Kotaku, IGN and even G4 to see that reviewers and industry buffs are impressed with the system.

While it may still lack certain features that many gamers have come to expect, the hardware itself may take some getting used to and the update download times are almost mind-bogglingly slow, consumers are warming up to the new console.

The tablet-style controller, of course, is the most unique feature and one that most people are curious about working out well enough for them actually play games with. Opinions here vary from "works well," "takes a while to figure out" and "gosh, I hate this thing." Thankfully, the system allows for Wii-mote and classic controller peripherals which can be used to adapt to the style of play for the owner. Choosing to use controllers other than the Gamepad means that some of the features in games requiring a touch pad are inaccessible.

One gimmick that has many people singing the Wii U's praises has been the ability to play full console games on the tablet while another person uses the television. Stories abound on Twitter illustrating ways in which gaming couples are able to share the same space finally and game at the same time in the same room. Kids are able to play while their parents watch TV and families are no longer divided to gaming rooms and living rooms.

If the Wii U did one thing right, it was this feature. Changing the entire atmosphere of the gaming room not only changes the way gaming is viewed, but it changes gaming to a more social enterprise without having to include many other people in the experience. In the past, a social experience was a party game or multiplayer. Now a gamer can lounge on the couch with their significant other as they watch their favorite show or play their own system, Wii U still plugging away.

Now, mobile and handheld gaming systems have been able to provide this experience for years. However, the quality of game has often not been on par with console gaming experiences, contrary to the PS Vita's tagline and sales. Gamers don't want to play "on-the-go" games at home unless, it seems, it's "Pokemon" or "Final Fantasy." Other than that, if they are at home, they'd rather play a title like "Mass Effect" or "Call of Duty."

You can't go wrong with basic black, it seems.

What does this mean for Nintendo? Well, they have continued their trend of creating a system or technology that raises the bar for their competition. I expect we'll see more streamlined, complex and sophisticated versions of the Wii U gaming pad in the future. But by that time I expect Nintendo will have announced another new technology like they always do when their competition catches up to their latest innovation.