Co-Chairman and President of Perpetual Entertainment Chris McKibbin has announced that they will be putting Gods & Heroes: Rome Rising on hold indefinitely to focus on Star Trek Online. According to him, they made this decision after evaluating the current competitive landscape, the game's state, and the company's goals. 

McKibbin pointed out that they would still need to make a "significant investment" if they want Gods & Heroes to reach the level of quality and polishing they want. Apparently, they don't have the resources to do that at the moment so they decided to shift their focus to Star Trek Online.

Fans of the Gods & Heroes will undoubtedly be disappointed by this move by Perpetual Entertainment. It was pretty surprising considering it was only recently when they started asking for more beta testers for a stress test. On the bright side, the company hasn't completely abandoned the game and may choose to go back to developing it after they have finished Star Trek Online.

 

Perpetual Entertainment have announced that they will be releasing some beta codes for Gods and Heroes: Rome Rising. The keys are being given out to help facilitate the stability test that will be happening over the weekend.

Before you go rushing off to get a beta key though, you might want to know what the game is about first. Players will be placed in a very problematic time in the history of Rome. A race of beings that the Olympian gods imprisoned has returned from exile seeking vengeance. They start their assault by kidnapping all of Rome's heroes and inciting beasts, creatures, and rival cultures to attack the city.

If that got you interested in trying the game, click on our Read Link for more details on how you can get a beta code for Gods and Heroes: Rome Rising.

You can't play Gods and Heroes: Rome Rising without delving into the history and culture of Rome itself. It's part of the title after all, and you'll be spending a lot if time in the city once the game arrives so a quick look into the heart of the city won't hurt. Unless when you're fighting of course.

In Rome, you'll be able to align yourself with two gods (there are plenty to choose from, don't worry). Each class quarter in Roma has two temples, one for each god of that class. Each class quarter has its own Skills and Feats trainers where you can train for new abilities, moves and skills.

You can also give offerings to your gods in the temples to keep yourself in their favor. In fact, it's a must. Training your skills will be essential in fighting, but you must have the favor of the gods or you will not last long. Here's a brief overview of the gods you can find in Roma.

Caelius is the Scout quarter of Roma where you you can train for archery and hunting in the temples of Apollo and Diana. Capitolium is the Priest quarter, where the temples of Pluto and Juno reside. The Colosseum district houses the gladiators and you can train in weaponry at the temples of Fortuna and Jupiter.

In Palatinus lies the temples of Trevia and Bacchus. It is the district where the legendary Romulus and Remus were said to have first established the city. Vallis Murcia is the Soldier quarter, where the barracks of the city can be found. The temples of Minerva and Mars are in this district. In Viminalis, the Nomad quarter, you can find the darker side of the city. Within lies the temples of Mercury and Nemesis.

Gamasutra reports that the release of Gods and Heroes: Rome Rising, the upcoming MMORPG from developer Perpetual Entertainment, has once again been pushed back, this time due to the need for further beta testing. The game was already delayed back in December 2006.

Perpetual will also reportedly be laying off around 30 to 40 people, similar to what happened when the game was first delayed. In an interview with Gamasutra, Perpetual CEO Chris McKibbin said that while content creation requires a sizable team, "the process of really play-tuning and balancing takes a much smaller, more focused and agile team", hence the layoffs.

McKibbin further stated that the company will be helping its former employees in finding new jobs within Perpetual or with other developers. McKibbin declined to give a specific release date for Gods and Heroes: Rome Rising, but mentioned that the company is looking at an early 2008 release.

It seems religious groups continue to take notice of the social interactions provided by Linden Lab's Second Life MMORPG. Just recently, a Jesuit academic has sent out the call to fellow Catholics to start bringing their missionary work to the virtual world.

"It's not possible to close our eyes to this phenomenon or rush to judge it," said Antonio Spadaro in an article in the Rome-based Jesuit journal La Civilta Cattolica. "Instead it needs to be understood ... the best way to understand it is to enter it."

Spadaro wrote that while the virtual environment of Second Life is home to a lot of people who seek an escape from the real world, it is also full of those who are looking for something more. Spadaro is optimistic that religious enlightenment is one of these things.

"Deep down, the digital world can be considered, in its way, mission territory," he said. "Second Life is somewhere where the opportunity to meet people and to grow should not be missed, therefore, any initiative that can inspire the residents in a positive way should be considered opportune."

Perpetual Entertainment has released a new trailer for their upcoming MMORPG title, Gods & Heroes: Rome Rising. The video should be quite a treat for action fans, as it's essentially a collection of some pretty cool action-packed fights.

That said, the squeamish should probably stay away though, as while there's no blood spilled in the vid, the fight animations are quite brutal at times. If that's more your thing, then by all means check out the trailer below.

Gods & Heroes: Rome Rising is slated for release sometime this summer (September 25, according to some sources).

What we have below is an interview video about MMO video game Gods and Heroes: Rome Rising. It features Design Director Stieg Hedlund from development studio Perpetual Entertainment as he discusses the title's "Minions" feature and how these can be customized to fit any player's style of play.

Think of Minions as your very own party while wandering around the ancient city and nearby areas. According to Hedlund, there are many ways to obtain Minions. Some of these guys will join you simply by giving them money while some others will require you to perform quests first before they render their services to you.

It's quite a simple feature but it can get very complicated if that Minion you are trying to obtain is playing hard-to-get. To know more about this feature, just watch the video clip below. Gods and Heroes: Rome Rising is currently in closed beta testing and Perpetual Entertainment currently still have open slots for those who want to participate.

In the MMO video game Gods and Heroes: Rome Rising, players are tasked to venture to an epic journey and help save Rome and the Olympian Gods themselves. With this kind of endeavor in hand, players sure do need some practice.

That's why Perpetual Entertainment just announced the closed beta testing for the title. Now, closed beta doesn't always mean the community gets left out. You can actually participate as the developers put up an official dedicated sign up page.

All you have to do is go to Rome Rising's official site, register, and pray to the gods that you get chosen. Perpetual Entertainment Co-Chairman and President Chris McKibbin said,

By identifying what works and what does not, our closed beta testers will help shape the final version of the game. It's an exclusive opportunity to help us polish the final version of Gods and Heroes: Rome Rising, thus making it a truly legendary experience.

One of the good things about Rome Rising is its rather unique squad combat system. Here, players will have the ability to command the powers of the gods and their own custom squad to battle larger-than-life enemies such as Cyclops, Minotaur, Hydra, Medusa, and the other creatures from the Roman pantheon.

What are you waiting for would-be heroes of Rome? The sign up page awaits via our Read link below!

The annual Sony Online Entertainment (SOE) Fan Faire has been announced and it will be taking place this August 2-4 at the Rio Hotel in Las Vegas. Hosted by Sony to "allow gamers from around the world the chance to meet in person with other members of their online community," this even has recently opened its doors for registration.

Sony Online Entertainment's Director of Community Relations Alan Crosby spoke about this event saying:

Fan Faire is an example of SOE’s commitment to our dedicated and passionate fan base of players. A majority of this year’s attendees will have been actively playing our titles for many years and this event is a terrific opportunity to provide them with a 'thank you' in the form of a fun-filled and community-driven weekend experience.

Those who choose to attend this event will be very busy indeed. Gamers who visit will be able to attend a poolside party, the SOE player Hall of Fame inductions and ceremony, How-To forums, and a workshop for those who are interested in getting into the gaming industry. Other highlights of the event include getting an opportunity to meet development teams of a few popular online games.

This year's SOE Fan Faire will feature a variety of games including Vanguard: Saga of Heroes, Star Wars Galaxies, The Matrix Online, EverQuest, EverQuest II, EverQuest Online Adventures, and PlanetSide. For those who want more info on Gods & Heroes: Rome Rising, they will even be hosting the demo version of it for attendees to try out.

If this got your interest, you can head over to the SOE site via our read link to register for this event. This looks to be a very fun and casual event for online gamers who can make the trip to Las Vegas.

A new bunch of screenshots from Gods and Heroes: Rome Rising have been released into the wild Internet jungle, but before we get to them, let's bring out the fact sheet first.

Gods and Heroes: Rome Rising is a new MMOPRG from Perpetual Entertainment that puts players on a heroic journey to save Rome and the Olympian Gods. Along the way, players will get to command the gods' incredible powers as they do battle against a myriad of mythical creatures.

Reminiscent of an action RPG, Gods and Heroes: Rome Rising lets players link combat moves together and even include finishing moves for that extra "oomph". Squad-based combat is also present in the game. Players will earn the command of a custom group of NPC warriors that can be deployed in a variety of strategic groupings.

Gods and Heroes: Rome Rising is slated for a Summer release. The screenshots are below.

More screenshots after the jump!