According to data from the Xfire community and data application for the month of September, average hours spent by users who play World of Warcraft daily have dropped 18 % since August. These findings correlate to the overall drop in MMO gameplay with other top ten titles.

Guild Wars, the second most popular MMO, showed a 13% drop and third-placed Silkroad Online fell by 27%. Some of the drop in online play is being attributed to the summer holidays being over for the under-18 crowd and college students.

Other favorite MMO titles remained steady in the number of hours contribited, with MapleStory, Flyff and Eve Online taking fourth, fifth and sixth places respectively. Lord of the Rings Online remains in eighth place.

The top ten FPS have also taken a dip in online activity, although no change was seen in the top five most played titles. Call of Duty 2 Multiplayer and Counter-Strike Source took the top two spots, even with taking a 12% and 18% drop respectively. Battlefield 2, Wolfenstein: Enemy Territory and Counter-Strike 1.6 rounded off the top five.

Xfire is an application which tracks gameplay statistics for its user base of over 8 million, based mostly in Europe and North America.

I seriously doubt anyone is too worried about these new statistics considering that Christmas break is coming soon. What better way to avoid your family and your drunk Uncle Curtis than by logging on to an MMO where you can take your dysfunctional aggressions out on complete strangers.

Via: GamesIndustry.biz

The new action RPG from Meridian4 and Rebelmind, The Chosen: Well of Souls, is now in stores and available for the PC. In this dungeon crawler, you choose your hero and journey forth in a quest that pits you against an army of demons and devils hellbent and determined to take over the world.

“The Chosen: Well of Souls is a value-packed game that should appeal to action-RPG fans everywhere,” said Steve Milburn, Director at Meridian4. “Rebelmind has delivered an addictive experience that will have you using swords, axes, pistols and even machine guns to take out the onrushing hordes of werewolves, vampires and demons well into the night.”

Game Features:

• 3 original playable characters, each with their own distinct skills and abilities
• Over 200 different types of armour, weapons and magic items
• Over 12 blood-curdling quests with hordes of werewolves, zombies, vampires and demons
• Modify skills and allocate experience to develop your hero
• Seizing demons during battle allows you to use them to fight for you
• Improve weapons strength and effectiveness through ancient magic
• Call upon mystical creatures to help battle the forces of evil

Originally titled Frater, after one of the main characters in the game, The Chosen: Well of Souls has three different heroes to choose from, and each have their over special moves, abilities, and stats. We have posted the history, and special character techniques for Elena, Frater, and Khan after the break along with some new screenshots.

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Andrew Valentino as Master Chief

Sometimes, dreams do come true in the world, and this particular incident just goes to show you how tight the gaming community as a whole really is. With all of the negative stereotypes and controversy surrounding the industry as of late, stories such as these kind of choke you up.

Reading, Pennsylvania – Game Crazy store #138492: A 17-year old High School student named Andrew Valentino – showed up in a homemade Master Chief costume, which took him two weeks to make and finished it about seven hours before before the launch of Halo 3. Andrew admits that he does not even own an Xbox 360 to be able to play Halo 3.

Well, apparently this did not matter to a competing Game Crazy store in Kenhorst, PA who offered the young Valentino $60 if he would go to their store instead for some fun and pictures. This in itself could be considered pretty cool from a 17-year old’s standpoint – but wait, it gets better.

A complete stranger in the store upon overhearing that Andrew, who went through the trouble of making his Master Chief costume and stood waiting in line for game that he did not even own a 360 to play on, actually bought the Andrew a 360 system. Refusing to divulge his name to media sources or even Andrew himself, this man’s random act of kindness sent waves of goodwill running through everyone who witnessed the event.

When Andrew was asked how he felt about such an unexpected gift, he stated: “Halo Nation is the best fan-based community I’ve ever seen. It’s amazing to see all of these people that I don’t know treat me like a celebrity. It’s almost as if they think I’m really Master Chief.”

Congratulations Andrew! That is indeed a wonderful thing to have happened – now, if only I can find a nice, giving soul to anonymously purchase me a PS3…..

Thanks: Albotas

Violence in gaming has become a really hot topic of debate over the last 5 years or so. The irony is that violence has been in games all the way back to the days of Doom and Wolfenstein 3D – perhaps even earlier (depending on your point of view). So why all the big hooplah these days concerning violence in video games? I’d like to think it’s because of the severe left turn games have taken, essentially hopping on to that freeway known as mainstream culture. Video games are no longer a niche genre delegated to the cartel of geeks and/or teenage boys. Games are now a social venue for all demographics, and as we have seen lately, an even more viable one at that.

Running With Scissors are certainly no stranger to irony. Since the release of Postal in 1997, RwS have been the whipping boy of the general gaming media, perhaps much undeservedly. In 2003, RwS released the sequel to Postal, Postal 2, which seem to best its predecessor more in controversy than the expected gameplay. Largely panned by the critics as being too violent and indulgent, RwS ended up on the defensive of its misunderstood title. It was no secret (to those who actually played it) that Postal 2’s gameplay allowed the player to choose a path of non-violence, one that ultimately allowed the player to finish the game in such manner. Choices be damned, this fact did not stop the “bull-ys“ from seeing red, so to speak. The temptation to focus on the “controversial issues” surrounding Postal 2 proved too much for most critics. It would seem Postal 2 that of victim of circumstance.

Since then, things seemed to have calmed down for the Arizona based company. RwS have been quietly developing a sequel to Postal 2 for some time now. Teaming up with the Russian publisher/developer Akella, Postal III is slated for a 2008 release on PC, Mac, and Xbox 360. Using the currently popular Valve Source engine, Postal III intends to bring the same sandbox gameplay found in Postal 2, with little to no compromise. And from little we’ve seen of the game so far, it looks like RwS are not holding back on any of its well established Postal themes.

Gaming Today found opportunity to submit a handful of questions to Running With Scissors’ CEO, Vince Desi. The questions cover topics such as the Postal movie, Uwe Boll, Postal III’s gameplay, the beaten to death topics of controversy, and of course our beloved Jack Thompson himself. So without further ado:

**WARNING**
The interview that follows contains some adult content.

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Lair isn’t great. Not by any means. But it does look great, and technical accomplishments are something Factor 5 is no stranger to. Julian Eggebrecht explored his recently aired disappointment with Wii games’ graphical quality in an interview during the Leizpeg Games Convention.

“I think people took my comments as that I don’t like the look for example for Wii Sports. I think what Nintendo is doing in the Wii Sports is perfectly fine because they’re utilising the hardware for that style exactly as much as they need to utilise it. My complaints were actually about the games which try to go the traditional, more photorealistic route, because there you really have to push it, and they’re really not pushing it. Why not? Hmmm I don’t know, the hardware is very, very easy to understand. Now the problem might be -and it just might be- is that some studios -or some publishers specially- are discarding the graphical capabilities automatically simply because it is a Wii title and they’re basically telling the developers ‘look, we won’t pay for any advanced graphics’. Because the Wii, I mean not that you would meet a 20 million dollar budget like on the PS3, but if you want to get really, really advanced graphics out of the Wii, then you have to spend probably more money than basically going for the cheap solution, so that might be an inherit problem, so it might actually not be the laziness of certain developers, but it might be the… inability or the non existent willingness of the publishers to actually give them in a budget to do better graphics.”

Eggebrecht also suggested the Wii’s hardware was perfectly capable of doing more than developers are already, although the concept of photo-realistic graphics on Wii is something that won’t happen.

Some might criticize him for being critical of his fellow developers, but I think he’s right – take a look at Rogue Squadron 2 on GameCube. A launch title that looked absolutely phenomenal. But as much as I agree, I’d like to see Factor 5 put their money where their mouth is and do a Wii game that blows us away.

revogamers.net via Kotaku

Today NCSoft bestowed upon us some new screens and a description of Foreas, a planet in Tabula Rasa. Foreas is described as a lush planet filled with tress, wetlands, and plenty of water. This paradisiacal planet is the home of a race of beings bent on the destruction of the evil Bane, and while the AFS has outposts on the planet, the Bane does as well – and there are areas of this lovely planet that players must tread lightly upon or else they will meet their doom.

The descriptions of the planet and its inhabitants read like something from a novel, and it very engrossing. You can find out more about it after the break. More artwork and screens depicting Foreas can be viewed here.

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Here’s the launch trailer for the new PSP title, Dead Head Fred. The game follows a private investigator who sets out to solve his own brutal murder following a bizarre experiment that leaves him literally without a good head on his shoulders. The gameplay will have players battling Aztec warriors and possessed scarecrows, while solving puzzles and using alternate heads with special powers. You may recognize the voice-over for the video as none other than Scrubs’ Dr. Cox himself, John C. McGinley, who lent his voice to the title character. This is certainly looking to be one of the stranger — but possibly a lot of fun — title for the PSP.

Avast, me hearties! Blackbeard’s Revenge is a new arcade action game for the PC from Tri Synergy and Fireglow Games. Set on the high seas, this real-time action game rewards successful pirates with money and resources that are looted from defeated enemies’ sunken ships. At your island base, you can use these resources and treasure to build better ships, weapons and cannon balls to turn the tides in your favor for future battles. If you’re lucky enough to obtain an enemy ships’ design plans you can build faster ships with better armor and equip them with more powerful cannons. Then, you’ll be capable of shooting further, faster, and inflicting more damage. Blast your way to victory and riches or ye be takin’ a deep sea nap! Yar!

Blackbeard’s Revenge will hit stores in September. Until then, stay tuned for more information and check out these other screens.

Features:

• 35 Single player missions.
• Fierce naval battles.
• 4 Buildable ships.
• Night, day, and weather effects.
• Multiplayer LAN & internet play.
• Weapons and ships upgrades.

via: Press Release

FULL PRESS RELEASE AFTER THE BREAK

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The Adventure Company is quickly becoming one of my favorite publishers of PC games; they seem to specialize in investigative games with a hint of mystery to them. This is why Agatha Christie: And Then There Were None encapsulates their gaming mantra so well, and is sure to deliver plenty of enjoyment for fans of the genre on the Wii.

The storyline revolves around ten people, all strangers to each other, who are invited to a lavish estate on an isolated island. Through a recording, their mysterious host accuses each of his ‘guests’ of murder and proceeds to exact justice by becoming judge, jury and executioner. The tension mounts and dark secrets are revealed as one-by-one the number of guests systematically dwindles according to the ingenious plan of the unseen killer. Mwah ha ha ha! The player is the thrown into intrigue as the new 11th character, Patrick Narracott – the boatman who takes the guests to the island and ends up trapped there himself. Solve the mystery and find the killer before you become the next victim.

Look for Agatha Christie: And Then There Were None to hit retail shelves in November for the PC and the Wii. Until then, FileFront has the PC demo hosted here, and plenty of screens here!

via: Media Release from The Adventure Company

Celebrities, particularly young, hot female actresses, are often surrounded by rumors about how they manage to keep their figures, and Jessica Alba is no stranger to this. After a number of stories detailing what sort of diet she follows, the latest rumor suggests that she recently began using the Wii to work out, instead of specialized diets and personal trainers.

Okay, so this is probably one of the most unlikely rumors I’ve heard in awhile. Someone with that much money can certainly find more effective ways to stay in shape. Games for the Wii may be more physical than most video games, but the console isn’t going to start replacing all the equipment in the gym anytime soon. But, either way, I’ll take any excuse to post a picture of Miss Alba. Now I’m just keeping my fingers crossed for similar rumors involving Natalie Portman and Elisha Cuthbert.

Via The Skinny Website