Target, Best Buy and Rite Aid to sell cards for popular NCsoft online games

NCsoft, the world’s leading developer and publisher of online computer games, is teaming up with InComm, a technology firm that develops markets and distributes stored-value gift and prepaid products, to bring many of NCsoft’s popular games to consumers on prepaid Game Cards.

Some of the top retailers in North America are participating in the new retail initiative that will include City of Heroes, Richard Garriott’s Tabula Rasa and Exteel. Target, Best Buy and Rite Aid will be the first stores to offer the NCsoft Game Cards.

 “This is a great opportunity for NCsoft to grow its expanding portfolio of triple-A massively multiplayer games beyond traditional retail channels,” said Lisa Bell-Cabrera, vice president of sales for NCsoft’s North American business. “Of course, we think this is a huge value to our customers. The InComm cards provide an incredibly convenient way for our customers to access our games and by using the cards, they’ll be getting some bonus items that will enhance their game play experience.”
The City of Heroes cards will provide purchasers with an exclusive in-game jet pack in addition to a convenient way to download and play the comic-book inspired online computer game without requiring a credit card. The City of Heroes Game Cards will retail for US$20 and come with 30 days of game play.

Tabula Rasa Game Cards will retail for US$14.95 and will be available exclusively at Best Buy stores. Those who purchase the Tabula Rasa Game Card will get an exclusive in-game rocket. Like the City of Heroes card, the Tabula Rasa card provides a handy method for downloading the client and includes 30 days of game play.

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Here are the details the story behind NCsoft’s free-to-download, free-to-play mech fighting game, Exteel along with some screens. Enjoy =)

Divided We Stand

Once we were united against a common foe. Now we are bathed in the blood of our own families.

Less than thirty years ago we were comrades in arms. We fought to shrug off the yoke of the Galactic Federation and failed. We were forced to settle on the planet Natha, shaping the wild Taryn continent to make a new life for ourselves.

We struggled but persevered and bent the planet to our will. We formed nations and governments as varied as the planets we arrived from. Colonists from Mars, Jupiter, and Saturn planted flags and created borders.

Inevitably those ideals and borders created conflict. One attack on a Marston outpost, one spark of violence lit a powder keg and war exploded on Natha.

Like our fathers before us we are engaged in battle but this war is being waged by mercenaries wrapped in powerful Mechanaughts. We were not allowed armies when we came here and so now we use hired soldiers to fight for power and survival.

Four houses so alike yet so very different. Four houses at war. These are the colonies of Natha.

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The Bling Gnome has been let loose on the caves of the irreverent massively multiplayer online PC game Dungeon Runners where it will follow players around, eating item drops and converting them instantly into gold which it excretes from its enchanted bottom.

The Bling Gnome, found exclusively in the new Dungeon Runners retail pack, is a bejeweled gangster helper that will save players the tedious chore of picking up loot and taking it to a game merchant for storage or sale. Instead, the Bling Gnome has the ability to pick up most items and convert them into gold instantly in a gassy display from its rear end, no matter what game map the player is occupying.

Additionally, during a particularly flashy “swords-into-goldshares” conversion process, the Bling Gnome will produce magical droppings where players can find powerful items, along with gold. The more items a player picks up at one time, the better chance that the Bling Gnomes’ miraculous buttocks will produce an uber-item.

“Having the Bling Gnome around can be highly lucrative and useful, providing players with lots of ‘back-end’ profits,” said Stephen Nichols NCsoft’s producer and lead programmer for Dungeon Runners. “Actually, this is a pretty innovative tool for MMOGs, and we are excited about the response our players are having towards this feature. The Bling Gnome is exclusive to the new retail pack, but those who purchase that box will get a great value with 6 months membership level for the cost of four, as well as the Bling Gnome which should help any player’s ‘bottom’ dollar.”

The Dungeon Runners retail pack will be available at most North American retailers by June 26 for $19.99, and includes six months of premium membership level play. Currently, premium membership costs $4.99 per month and includes higher levels of experience, greater rewards, advertisement-free play, an exclusive server, extensive potion stacking, larger bank storage and access to the most powerful items, weapons and armor.

Additionally, the retail pack includes a client for NCsoft’s free-to-play mech PvP shooter, Exteel.

For more information about the new Dungeon Runners retail game pack, go to www.dungeonrunners.com/retail/ .

NCsoft has released a new set of screenshots and developer paper for the free-to-play and download giant robot fighting game, Exteel. The Exteel dev paper provides strategy tips for the Trooper Mechanaught, a variety of weapons and the “Last Stand” battle mode in addition to a large set of supporting screenshots. Check them out below.

Download the Developer Paper Here

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NCsoft has released a new Exteel developer diary that provides strategy tips for the Rushnik Mechanaught as well as a set of weapons and battle maps. There is also a large set of screenshots to help describe the subject of the diary which includes tips on using the weapons the Hellrazor, the Zeus Persuader, the Polymer Array and the Colony Burster, as well as conducting battles in the Dreadnaught Battle Map.

enjoy =)

You can download the developer diary Here

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NCsoft has an updated CG promotional video for Exteel. Part of this video has previously been released, but new content has been added. This promotional video depicts, what can best be described as a dramatic territory control battle.

NCsoft has released a new developer’s diary and screen shots for Exteel, the company’s newest free to play and download game where players pilot giant robots in PVP battles.

The developer diary features the “Frontliner Mechanaught” and includes tips on using a variety of weapons and how to best navigate the Practice Mode, Deathmatch and Team Deathmatch play modes.

you can download the Developer Diary Here:

Exteel Developer Diary

Here is a large batch of new screens to help explain what is going on with the dev diary.