Realtime Worlds teases Project MyWorld as a fusion of social media, social gaming and traditional gaming; due out in 2011.

Realtime Worlds' work on is most recent game, APB, is far from finished, but the developer has already started on a potentially larger and more ambitious follow-up.

"What would it look like if Nintendo built Google Earth?" is the question the developer posed on a recently launched Web site. That query is used to describe Realtime Worlds' next offering, which is currently labeled as a mix of social gaming, social networking, and traditional gaming now known as Project: MyWorld.

MyWorld is your world next year.

"Project: MyWorld turns the real world into a fun 3D social gaming experience. Project: MyWorld is a virtual recreation of the real world combined with 3D gaming and social media," reads the description.

Additionally, the game's screenshot gallery juxtaposes images of photographic imagery of famous worldwide locations next to their in-game renderings. The locations include London's Buckingham and Westminster palaces, Urquhart Castle in Loch Ness, England's famous Stonehenge formation, and Edinburgh Castle in Scotland.

Further, a YouTube trailer (embedded below) shows that the game will be for PC, and will have players erecting everything from small buildings to entire cities. Additionally, the teaser trailer shows air, land, and sea travel options, a player communication component, and an openness to incorporating all types of minigames.

A second trailer on the site went into greater detail, but has since been pulled. In it, a narrator confirmed that the technology behind MyWorld has been in development for "years" and it allows the game to act as a tool like Google Earth.

The developer says it is currently working with publishers and business partners, and is soliciting fan input on Facebook and Twitter. Realtime Worlds is also now accepting beta applications, and plans to let everyone explore its world sometime next year.

[ Watch Video ]

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Atari ushers in first free expansion to sci-fi MMORPG by raising level cap, lowering retail price point to $20.

The universe is constantly expanding, so it's only fitting that Atari's intergalactic massively multiplayer online role-playing game Star Trek Online is doing its part to keep pace. The publisher this week introduced the first free expansion to the game, Season Two: Ancient Enemies, and cut the suggested retail price for the core game to $20.

The original Star Trek lasted just three seasons before being cancelled.

Season Two adds a variety of new features and content to the game, including a raising of the level cap from 45 to 51, adding new ranks and rewards for advanced players. The expansion also features eight new Klingon episodes, further advancement of the Undine story, the introduction of the Federation Diplomatic Corps for those who prefer peaceful conflict resolution, and new minigames and customization options.

Developed by Cryptic Studios, Star Trek Online launched in February and has a storyline that is separate from the film or television series. Players assume the role of a starship captain operating under the banner of either the United Federation of Planets (better known simply as "the Federation") or the Klingons, who are locked in an intergalactic struggle.

For more on the game, check out GameSpot's review of Star Trek Online.

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Signal Hill's Greenwald calls 5-6M sales estimates conservative, while Lazard Capital's Sebastian predicts 6.5M sales for Blizzard's latest through 2010.

Blizzard Entertainment's Starcraft II still didn't have a release date in February, but that didn't stop a host of analysts from laying out their predictions for the sci-fi real-time strategy title. Pacific Crest Securities' Evan Wilson put the game's sales at 6 million, while Wedbush's Michael Pachter felt Starcraft II and World of Warcraft: Cataclysm could combine to sell 12 million through the end of 2010.

The stars seem to be aligning for blockbuster Starcraft II sales.

With Starcraft II out for just over 24 hours, Blizzard has yet to offer official sales figures for the title. However, that hasn't stopped a new batch of analysts from weighing in on the game's sales potential over the next several months. Signal Hill's Todd Greenwald believes Activision Blizzard's bottom line will be inflated by Starcraft II sales of upward of 5 million.

"We have picked up nothing but positive data points on the recent launch of Starcraft II--from South Korea to New York, the excitement over SCII is palpable," Greenwald wrote. "We think that rough estimates for Starcraft II to sell 5-6 million units this year are highly achievable and will prove to be conservative over the next five months."

Greenwald called out a variety of reasons for making his multimillion-unit sales prediction for Starcraft II. Namely, he said the original Starcraft, released in 1998, has sold 10 million units worldwide, 5 to 6 million of which were sold in Korea. He also noted that there are currently 11 million users still actively playing the original Starcraft and Diablo II through Blizzard's online platform, Battle.net.

More than just selling a Zerg rush's worth of units, Greenwald believes Starcraft II will bring hefty operating margins for Activision Blizzard.

"Despite being in development for four to five years…the vast majority of SCII's development costs have already been expensed, which makes the margin impact of SCII even more positive," he wrote. "It already stands to be one of Activision's most profitable titles, given that it is on the PC (no $8-9 hardware royalty), it is retailing for $60, not $50, and it should sell a large portion digitally through Battle.net, foregoing the 20 percent royalty paid to retailers. We believe SCII can approach 50 percent operating margins and contribute at least $0.07 of earnings to Q3 results."

Though he did so in a less verbose fashion, Lazard Capital Markets' Colin Sebastian also expects Starcraft II to sell gangbusters before the end of the year. According to the analyst, Blizzard's latest should sell some 4.5 million units through September, a number that could swell to 6.5 million units through the remainder of 2010.

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Publisher of Infernal: Hell's Vengeance and Fairytale Fights has applied for Dutch equivalent of Chapter 11 for its two subsidiaries.

Dutch publisher and developer Playlogic has voluntarily requested "surseance van betaling" for its two operating companies. The move, revealed in a brief SEC filing, follows rumours of financial woes at the firm that lost $20 million last year and a further $2.2 million in the first quarter of this fiscal year.

Fairytale Fights' bloodthirsty action was not well received by critics.

The state of "surseance van betaling" is roughly equivalent to Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection under the US Bankruptcy Code. It allows the company to delay payments but maintain control of its own affairs as it attempts to come to a deal with its creditors. If Playlogic cannot come to an agreement to the satisfaction of those creditors, both Playlogic International N.V and its subsidiary, Playlogic Game Factory B.V, will be declared insolvent and cease trading.

Playlogic first announced profits in 2008 when it reported a net profit of $700,000 on revenues of $10.1 million for 2007. At the time, the firm's CEO said these results heralded "a turning point" for the company. Last year, however, the company reported a net loss of $9.5 million on revenues of $9 million after delaying various titles from the fourth quarter of 2008 to 2009 and a "onetime additional impairment on capitalized software" of $4.5 million.

The firm's recent big-name titles have also suffered critically, with the releases of both Infernal: Hells Vengeance and Fairytale Fights being met with generally poor reviews.

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Relic Entertainment's third-person action RPG coming to PC in addition to Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3.

THQ is bringing Darksiders to the PC in September, eight months after its console debut. PC gamers won't need to wait that long for THQ's next PC port, as the publisher today announced that Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine will extend beyond consoles and suit up on the PC next year.

Space Marines bleed onto the PC next year.

Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine is currently pegged to be released alongside its Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 cousins in "early" 2011. While the PC and console versions all have the same release window, THQ did not specify a simultaneous release.

The Vancouver-based Relic Entertainment development is creating Space Marine, and the PC endeavor comes as no surprise. The studio is famous for creating PC real-time-strategy series, including Homeworld Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War and Company of Heroes.

For more on Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine, check out GameSpot's preview and E3 2010 developer interview (embedded below).

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Ratings software board listings point to the arcade basketball title releasing on high-def consoles as well as Wii.

An ESPN report in early January gave gamers the first wind of a new NBA Jam title. The article said the title would be a Wii exclusive --something publisher Electronic Arts later confirmed--but now the Entertainment Software Ratings Board is speaking otherwise, asserting the title will also arrive on the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3.

Boom-shaka-laka might also apply to the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3.

The ESRB, which organizes and classifies software in the United States and Canada, today listed NBA Jam for the above mentioned high-def consoles. The listing has since been yanked, but Joystiq managed to screen capture the description.

Additionally, the ESRB isn't the only ratings board to speak of the game leaping outside the Wii lines and heading to the Xbox 360 and PS3. In early July, the Unterhaltungssoftware Selbstkontrolle (USK), a self-regulating body that monitors the software industry in Germany, also pinned NBA Jam for the Xbox 360 and PS3.

Electronic Arts hasn't officially mentioned the title's existence for the Xbox 360 or PS3, and as of press time, EA has not responded to GameSpot's request for comment on the matter.

That said, the arrival of NBA Jam for the 360 and PS3 wouldn't be all too surprising. In February, an EA Canada software engineer listed "NBA Jam for Wii, Xbox 360, PS3" on her LinkedIn account account. She then speedily removed the mention of Xbox 360 and PS3 from the list.

NBA Jam is currently in development at EA Canada and is slated for an October 5 release for the Wii. For more on the game, check out GameSpot's E3 2010 floor check-in with EA Sports (embedded below) and a hands-on preview.

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Daily Star admits it "made no attempt to check the accuracy" of story claiming development of GTA Rothbury, apologises unreservedly.

The Daily Star has issued a lengthy and unreserved apology to Rockstar Games after claiming last week the Scottish developer was working on a Grand Theft Auto game inspired by the crimes and subsequent manhunt of Raoul Moat. The British tabloid, owned by Richard Desmond's Northern and Shell Media, admitted it had made no attempt to check the veracity of the story before publication and had not attempted to contact Rockstar. It has also agreed to pay "a substantial amount in damages," which the developer has said it is to donate to charity. Moat had shot dead the partner of an ex-girlfriend, injured several others, and eventually shot himself during a police standoff after a lengthy manhunt.

The offending and entirely made-up article as it first appeared online.

The Star had claimed that GTA Rothbury was in development on the basis of a mocked-up cover showing scenes from the police manhunt for Moat. It did not attempt to contact Rockstar to verify that the cover was genuine or that any such plans existed, admitting it "made no attempt to check the accuracy of the story before publication." It also expressed outrage that such a game was in development, running quotes from the grandmother of one of Moat's victims suggesting the games was "blood money,… and …beyond belief.…

The story, which first appeared last Wednesday, has now been removed from the Daily Star's Web site, and the paper has undertaken not to repeat the claims again. The URL of the story now instead points to the paper's standard 404 page, which invites readers to "check out the babes section" via a banner tactfully placed across a topless model's chest. In an apology published on Saturday, the paper said, "It is now accepted that there were never any plans by Rockstar Games to publish such a game and that the story was false. We apologise for publishing the story using a mock-up of the game cover, our own comments on the matter and soliciting critical comments from a grieving family member."

The Star has made a number of corrections and public apologies for misleading or fictitious stories this year. One of the more notable was to its readers for the headline "Terror as Plane hits Ash Cloud" using a mocked-up photo the day airspace reopened after the Eyjafjallajokull eruption earlier this year. It has also issued apologies to celebrities, including Peaches Geldof--for giving the false impression that she was a prostitute--and to other public figures such as Matt Lucas and Heather Mills for publishing false or misleading stories about them. The Daily Star's owner, Richard Desmond, agreed last week to acquire the UK's smallest terrestrial network, Channel 5, from its German owners RTL.

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Comic-Con 2010: Publisher and TV network talk broadcast and game plans for sci-fi third-person shooter, drop hints about game elements.

Who was there: Danny Bilson and Lenny Brown from THQ; leading transmedia producer Jeff Gomez, Alan Seiffert, and Erika Kennair from SyFy; and the writer of SyFy's upcoming Red Faction movie, Andrew Kreisberg.

Red Faction: Armageddon is just one component of THQ's transmedia strategy.

What they talked about: A lot of time was dedicated to defining the word "transmedia" and discussing the implications it has for telling stories and delivering content from a single creative universe across multiple forms of media. Jeff Gomez identified the old model as a company releasing a movie, following it with the novelization of the movie, and then releasing a game adaptation.

In this case, though the game franchise technically came first, the movie is the source of the material from which all the content stems. The transmedia model generates movies, games, comics, and so on concurrently, drawing from an established hub of information and fitting the elements together as complementary pieces of content that enrich the universe.

The key, Gomez explained, is to distill the essence of what makes a story resonate within a given universe. For Red Faction, the stories all resonate strongly with the assertion of free will. If this essence is missing from any product, the result feels like a cheap knock-off.

There was much to-do about the exciting prospect of the Red Faction transmedia venture from all parties. To clarify, SyFy is making a two-hour special that will air in the fall and tell the story of Jake and Myra, the descendants of Alec Mason, the protagonist of Red Faction: Guerrilla.

Then, early next year, THQ will release Red Faction: Armageddon, a game that will star Darius, the son of Jake and Myra. The television special will introduce a new enemy called the White Faction. This faction will be playable in a downloadable game that is also in the works.

Further story details were scant, though two tidbits did come through amid the panel's discussion. One came from Kreisberg, who said that the "three factions" in the game all feel they have claim to all of Mars.

The two known factions are the aliens and the humans who live underground, and it's unclear whether the third faction is the enemy that bombed the surface extensively (seen in Armageddon's trailer), or some other group entirely. Bilson, responding to a question about the possibility of open-world online multiplayer, said that a new kind of multiplayer is in store for the series, and it's all about destruction.

Quotes: "The secret to quality transmedia is partnership, not licensing."--Danny Bilson, distilling the philosophy behind the transmedia approach.

The takeaway: The transmedia approach is going to be a big trend in the coming years as game companies, television studios, book publishers, and more strive to maximize consumer engagement in their products.

Random fact/who knew?: The Producers Guild of America recently ratified its first new recognized position in decades: transmedia producer.

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Comic-Con 2010: ArenaNet design director James Phinney joined by lore master Jeff Grubb, others to discuss opportunities in upcoming online role-playing game.

Who was there: NCsoft-owned ArenaNet trotted out a large contingent of developers for its "Guild Wars 2: A New Type of Fantasy MMO" presentation, which occurred during the waning hours of Saturday's Comic-Con 2010 schedule. Among those in attendance were game designer and lore master Jeff Grubb, design director James Phinney, character artist Kristen Perry, concept art lead Kekai Kotaki, and cinematics lead Rich Anderson.

Guild Wars 2 will apparently feature bodegas.

What they talked about: The Guild Wars 2 panel offered little in the way of new information for those who have been closely following the game. Instead, the team on hand focused on illuminating what ArenaNet has been trying to accomplish with the first full sequel to the not-quite-massively multiplayer online role-playing game, which saw first release in 2005.

Delving into a bit of the backstory, Grubb said that Guild Wars 2 is set 250 years after the events of the original game, with the most dramatic event being that dragons have returned to the land of Tyria. To meet the threat, the once-fractured races have united to stave off the elemental forces of destruction unleashed by the dragons.

Against this backdrop, Grubb emphasized the personal story that Guild Wars 2 hopes to tell, one that is dominated by player interaction and social dynamics within the game. He emphasized that player choice will play a more pronounced role in Guild Wars 2, where decisions will impact players' characters and the options that are open to them throughout the game.

Phinney then took over the conversation, describing some of the goals that the team had for crafting Guild Wars 2. He noted that many key aspects of the original game will remain, including the rich lore, the heavy emphasis on customization, and, of course, the lack of a monthly fee.

However, the team also had a number of areas in which it wanted to improve over the original, which is the reason that it began development on Guild Wars 2. He noted that the social experience in the first game was lacking. Also, as in other MMORPGs, the actual gameplay didn't live up to that of other, more traditional role-playing games. One other point Phinney made was that it was important to make a more living, breathing world, one that responds to players in a dynamic fashion.

Phinney then turned the panel over to Perry, who talked a bit about character customization. The big new change with Guild Wars 2, she said, was that players can now wear nearly all of the clothing that non-player characters can wear (she gave the example of a merchant's garb or a blacksmith's apron). Also, armor and clothing dying will be greatly expanded, with players able to alter the hue for up to three parts of each piece.

Quote: "When is Guild Wars 2 coming out?"--A very enthusiastic, and very young, child.

Takeaway: ArenaNet seems to be taking a page out of BioWare's book, emphasizing player choice and the consequences thereof for its latest online RPG. For the sequel, the team hopes to deliver a far more dynamic, immersive world that better engages and involves the player community.

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Comic-Con 2010: Maxis crew spills the details on key game aspects of its sci-fi action-RPG follow-up to Spore.

Who was there: Maxis lead producer Thomas Vu, along with Michael Arsers, Paul Sottosanti, Lauren McHugh, Luke Harrington, and Casey Weaver.

What they talked about: The trio of lead developers was on hand to properly unveil Darkspore. EA had debuted the action-role-playing game at its studio showcase earlier this week, but the hour-long Comic-Con panel was the publisher's first chance to show its latest effort to the gaming public and go into the project in depth.

A plasma sentinel is pretty intimidating, even in its base form.

Vu began the presentation by explaining where the idea for the game came from. "Ultimately what we wanted to do was make cool characters with the Spore creator and beat each other in the face," Vu said.

The basic gameplay is a sci-fi action role-playing game, but players will have to focus on acquiring a stable of new creatures and then implementing squad-based tactics in the way they use them. As in other action RPGs, boss battles, loot collection, and co-op play will also play a role.

Carrington, whose previous experience at Wizards of the Coast had him designing Magic: The Gathering features, explained how he looked to the collectible card game's color system as a way to balance creature types in Darkspore. He accomplished that by implementing five different genesis types of monsters: bio, necro, plasma, cyber, and quantum. Each type has its own color and visual effects so players can tell at a glance what type an enemy creature is.

He also went into some of the abilities of each monster type. Bio specializes in healing, poisoning, and growing stronger. Plasma uses energy and lightning attacks, while necro deals in the supernatural and undeath, with an emphasis on attacks that damage over time. Cyber monsters have homing attacks and area-of-effect attacks, as well as the ability to lay traps. Quantum monsters are teleporting specialists with the ability to "blink" around the battlefield quickly.

There are also three hero classes: ravager, sentinel, and tempest. They likewise have their own specialties, with sentinels acting like "tank" characters in other games and tempests akin to mages who specialize in projectile attacks. Each hero class also has its own abilities; for instance, the plasma sentinel bears both lightning and plasma attacks that do burning and shocking damage to enemies. In some recorded demo footage, the devs showed that the plasma sentinel also has extra powers, such as a meteor strike that calls in a hailstorm of rocks at the player's command and a plasma shield that burns any foes within a certain range.

Players will also be able to switch on the fly to other members of their squad. The video showed the player switching to a quantum ravager and then to a bio tempest. Even if a member of the squad isn't actively being played, one of its abilities can still be used by the active creature, allowing players to mix and match teams to find the best combination of powers.

As for enemies, the developers have created a handful of tiers for foes. Minions have a single special ability and typically seek to overwhelm with numbers, while lieutenants are a bit beefier, have multiple abilities, and can often buff minions or otherwise make them more effective. The remaining types are agents and bosses, with the latter often summoning the lesser enemies for assistance in combat.

The game will play by a set of rules to determine which enemies to throw at the player and when--an AI director of sorts. The developers showed off a few different approaches to the same sequence, where a player's subsequent trips to the same areas result in harder enemies. The goal is so that players never play the same section the same way twice.

That same variety is a point of emphasis for the worlds of Darkspore. The team showed off concept art and in-game screens of a few different areas. Two specific areas shown off in detail were a planet of eternal darkness, Nocturna, and Zelem's Nexus, a drifting collection of space hulks, asteroids, and other debris. Each planet will have a story behind it, and the environmental objects will be unique to that area.

The loot system was given special attention in the panel. Sottosanti showed off a plasma sentinel at three different stages of play with three different sets of stats to demonstrate how distinct characters could be made. The final iteration of the plasma sentinel was nearly unrecognizable as the same character.

All of the standard loot will work with a "suffix" system that actually is indicated by a prefix. Each basic item will boost a stat, while "rarified" and "purified" versions will not only increase that boost, but will also add a second stat boost at random. In addition, there will be unique weapons that the developers specifically tune with a certain combination of stat effects.

While the creature editor is based off of that introduced in Spore, it has of course been altered for use in a sci-fi action RPG. Instead of starting from scratch, players will work from a hero's "base shape." Creatures will have a handful of slots into which players can equip their stat-altering items, and there are also another six "flare" slots that are there simply to let players customize the look of their creatures. Once they get that equipment, players will be able to rotate, scale, and otherwise adjust the accoutrements to their liking before sticking them on the character.

The panel didn't go into the cooperative modes in depth, but it did drop a tidbit of info on the single-player mode. The game's campaign will incorporate a risk-versus-reward mechanic, where players who beat the level are given the choice to "cash out" and take a reward or continue on and face a harder challenge for more and better loot. Of course, if they don't complete that challenge, the original reward loot is lost.

Quote/takeaway: "This is not a sequel to Spore. It's not an expansion pack. It's a brand-new game."--Thomas Vu

[Editor's Note: GameSpot had previously stated that BioWare was providing writing assistance for the game; however, the team has actually brought on writer Malcom Azania, who previously worked on Mass Effect 2, to be part of the Maxis team full-time. GameSpot regrets the error.]

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Comic-Con 2010: Members from Harmonix key into Tears for Fears' "Everybody Wants to Rule the World," announce new songs for upcoming rhythm games.

Who Was There: John Drake, the manager of communications for Harmonix, was leading the panel and was joined by Rock Band 3 senior designer Sylvain Dubrofsky and Dance Central's lead designer Dean Tate.

"Rock Lobster" is coming to Rock Band 3!

What They Talked About: Before the panel started, six members from Harmonix played Rock Band 3 using the new peripherals created specifically for the game. Rock Band 3 now includes a Pro mode where players jam on plastic instruments that go beyond colored buttons. For more information on the game, please read GameSpot's preview of Rock Band 3 from the 2010 Electronic Entertainment Expo.

Drake showed off the Mad Catz wireless Mustang pro-guitar controller that had six nylon strings and more than 100 buttons so that you can play every note that's on a real guitar. A keyboard and a bass guitar are also part of the new peripherals that encourage players to learn actual notes.

Dubrofsky talked about wanting Rock Band 3 to appeal to a wider audience and add even more of a challenge to existing players. Tutorials have been included to guide newcomers along, and he talked about focus-group testing where Harmonix was able to get an idea of how each type of player approaches the game.

He mentioned that Rock Band 3 was, "trying to get non-musicians more attached to music and come out of this with some talent."

Both Dubrofsky and Drake wanted to highlight that players would be learning real-world skills through gameplay.

Before going into the Dance Central portion of the panel, Drake announced the following songs for Rock Band 3: "Everybody Wants to Rule the World" by Tears for Fears, "Rock Lobster" by the B-52s, and "Foolin" by Def Leppard.

Dance Central uses Microsoft's Kinect and lets players perform 600 unique moves through choreographed songs. Songs that have already been announced include "Funkytown" by Lipps, "Hella Good" by No Doubt, "Poison" by Bell Biv DeVoe, "Poker Face" by Lady Gaga, and "Body Movin" by the Beastie Boys.

Before talking more about the game, a producer from Harmonix performed "Bust a Move" by Young MC, another song that will be in the game. After the performance, Tate went over how the game worked. Players mimic the avatar onscreen, and there are flash cards on the side for reference. Dance Central tracks how accurate the performance is, and there are three levels of difficulty to tackle.

For those learning how to dance, there is a Break It Down mode where the game will walk dancers through each step, making it easier to learn some of the trickier steps.

At the end of the panel, Drake announced three more songs for Rock Band 3, which include Marilyn Manson's "Beautiful People," Filter's "Hey Man Nice Shot," and Foreigner's "Cold as Ice."

For Dance Central, two other tracks that have been confirmed include Snoop Dogg's "Drop It Like It's Hot" and Salt 'n Pepper's "Push It."

Tate did confirm that there is a multiplayer mode that hasn't been shown yet, but it involves dancers alternating and competing against one another.

The Takeaway: Harmonix has taken it a step further and moved the music genre into a realm where it's not exactly considered edutainment, but gamers from all backgrounds can learn what it is like to play a real musical instrument.

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