And if not: have you been living under a rock, and/or what colour is the sky on your planet, and also…welcome to Earth.
Okay, somewhat more seriously, Portalarium is “an online ecosystem of shared relationships, connecting endless gaming experiences, via seamless portals,” a social-networking gaming platform and development company co-founded by several people whose names should be familiar to Ultima fans, including none other than Richard Garriott.
You can read their founding press release…here.
There’s really not a lot more that can be said about this initiative for the moment, apart from the fact that it certainly represents a very new gaming frontier for Garriott. Social networking games — think FarmVille — are inherently browser-based games, dependent as they are on social networking frameworks like Facebook or Twitter.
At the same time, there’s a fair bit of potential for some truly interesting games to emerge from this. One notes that the company’s first title is using a web-based version of the Torque 2D engine; their information page about the “Portalarium Player” also mentions Unity 3D and a couple of other frameworks. Those are pretty powerful development toolsets; one could craft a web-playable RPG of Garriott’s caliber using Unity, for example.
Is that the direction that the company is going to go? Who knows at this early stage. With that many former Origin guys at the helm, though, there might just be a glimmer of hope.
(hat tip)
Tags: Facebook, FarmVille, Portalarium, Portalarium Player, Richard Garriott, RPG, social networking, Torque 2D, Twitter, Ultima, Unity 3D
Apparently, if the burst of related Tweets is anything to go by, Lord British is the subject of a new documentary called “Man On a Mission.”
It’s not available to the public yet, according to Garriott himself, but that will hopefully change soon. From what I can gather, “Man On a Mission” focuses on Garriott’s recent trip to space, his preparation therefore, and his ongoing advocacy for space exploration.
From WCNews, via a reader email: the creators of, respectively, Ultima and Wing Commander, Richard Garriott and Chris Roberts, are now on Twitter!
Roberts hasn’t posted much, but Garriott is getting into the swing of things with his articles regarding space advocacy.
So if you happen to be a Tweep, good reader, do give these fellows a follow, eh?
(A frothy mug of ale goes out to reader Mark Mitchell for bring this to our attention!)
Tags: Chris Roberts, Richard Garriott, space, Twitter, Ultima, Wing Commander
GameDaily has an exclusive interview with Richard Garriott — the creator of the Ultima series — in which he laments the end of Tabula Rasa (the MMORPG he helped create) and hints at a return to the gaming business in the wake of his departure from NCSoft.
Apparently, some of the “new interests” that he suggested that he wanted “to devote [his] time and resources to,” following “the unforgettable experience” of space travel, includes the possibility of a return to gaming.
And just to sweeten the pot:
BIZ: If you did return to games, would it definitely be an online game?
Garriott: I wouldn’t use the word definitely. I think that if it were today, it’s most probable. That’s just what I find the most interesting, still. That being said, I am still a huge fan of solo-player games as both a player, and as a storyteller. I just think there’s an intimacy in solo-player games that is much easier to do in a solo-player environment than it is to shoehorn it into a multiplayer environment. One of the things we were trying with Tabula Rasa was to offer more storytelling in an MMO setting. And we made some strides in that direction. But I still don’t think it was nearly to the level that the middle Ultimas did.
BIZ: If Electronic Arts wanted you to return and author a single-player Ultima for the consoles, would you do that?
Garriott: Conceptually? Sure. The property Ultima is still very near and dear to my heart. I think that if, by hook or by crook, I had access to that property, either in solo-player or multiplayer, I would absolutely love to continue to play in the Ultima universe.
Yeah, I know…it’s not a formal announcement of his triumphal return to the Ultima franchise in the wake of recent shifts in EA’s game development strategies and policies. It’s still interesting, all the same, to see just what Lord British is up to these days, and what his vision for the future might just be.
Tags: EA, Electronic Arts, Lord British, MMO, MMORPG, NCSoft, Richard Garriott, Tabula Rasa, Ultima
You totally didn’t read it here first, but there it is: Ultima series creator Richard Garriott has parted ways with Tabula Rasa (also his creation) publisher NCSoft in order to pursue new interests.
Apparently, his recent trip into space (a “lifelong dream” of his) has prompted him to look for a change:
“Well, that unforgettable experience has sparked some new interests that I would like to devote my time and resources to. As such, I am leaving NCsoft to pursue those interests.”
Well, here at Aiera, we wish Lord — now General — British all the best in whatever new venture he strikes out toward, whether those interests exist within, or outside of, the gaming industry.
Interesting factoid I did not know previously: Lord British is apparently the son of an astronaut.
(thanks to Reader mageguru for the link to this article)
Tags: Aiera, Lord British, NCSoft, Richard Garriott, Tabula Rasa, Ultima