Funcom's Age of Conan: Hyborian Adventures will not be out this October 30, but is now slated to be released on March 25 next year. This is because the developers want to focus on honing, polishing, and improving the game. In that case, we still say "By Crom!"

Anyway, while this is a bit of a letdown for people waiting for Hyborian Adventures (also coming out on the 360), its nice to know that they're willing to hold back the game for a few months so that we'll be getting a better gaming experience.

Funcom CEO Trond Arne Aas announced this decision and provided the following details through a recent press release saying

We naturally regret that we have to push back Age of Conan. However, after careful consideration, and analysis of recent Beta feedback, we believe that the new release date is in the best interest of the gamers, our company and our owners.

We are fully committed to delivering games with absolute qualities, and in the current MMO marketplace we know that only the best is good enough to truly succeed.

With the new release date we have therefore given ourselves more time to meet and deliver on the massive expectations for the game. We are certain that our choice will ultimately pay off, and that all Age of Conan players will get a special online experience.

So it looks like gamers will have to wait a bit to fully explore the lands of Hyboria. Hopefully, this delay will be enough for Funcom to provide us with a good if not the best MMORPG experience. Keep checking back here for more updates on Age of Conan: Hyborian Adventures.

More money's rolling in for Funcom, and this time it's in the form of a grant from the Norwegian Film Fund. The grant enables Funcom to establish a core technology team which will research online-only delivery methods of episodic content, as well as lay the foundation for a later pre-production phase of Dreamfall Chapters.

Dreamfall Chapters begins right where Dreamfall: The Longest Journey ended. It will be released in episodic form, and as Funcom seeks to further strengthen an already established IP through this online-only continuation, the potential for a future The Longest Journey MMO increases.

"We will be researching an online-only continuation of the epic Longest Journey saga, and we very much look forward to develop new chapters to the Dreamfall gaming community," said Trond Arne Aas, CEO of Funcom. "To see the Norwegian government take such an active role in nurturing the local game development industry is impressive. In return for their trust we aim to deliver a modern adventure game with unique qualities."

The grant is part of the Norwegian government’s active endorsement of the Norwegian game development industry. Since the inception of the program in 2004 the government has supported a wide range of games, including Dreamfall: The Longest Journey.

Forget the ambiguous "Spring 2007" release date. Funcom and Eidos have finally given Age of Conan: Hyborian Adventures an official release date, and guess what? Both Funcom and Eidos have decided to "further hone the qualities of the game." The new release date is set to October 30 and will "further ensure an online experience with truly stunning impact."

Let's take a while to read up on some marketing talk from CEO Trond Arne Aas:

Age of Conan brings something brand new and highly innovative to the MMO genre. Age of Conan today looks and plays fantastically, as countless press previews and industry feedback attest to. Even so, we believe that by spending even more time and effort into polishing and enhancing the game we will ensure that the game reaches its full potential in terms of quality and subscriber base.

We are confident that our fan base will appreciate this commitment to quality. The prolonged development time reflects our ambition to meet and exceed the expectations of our fans for this game.

Personally, I think they're delaying it just so both the Xbox 360 and the PC versions get a simultaneous release, but hey, as long as the game delivers then I'm all for waiting a few more months. Age of Conan: Hyborian Adventures is currently in closed beta, and Funcom will soon be announcing a unique chance to secure a spot in the open beta of the game.

Lush, tropical, and rugged is how barbarian likes it. Here be a tonnage of screens from Funcom's Age of Conan: Hyborian Adventures to sweat to. Big, hairy barbarian also very happy to see a few scenes of combat against fellow barbarians and big, scary spiders. Doesn't take much to make barbarian happy, don't it? (Especially if Funcom throws in a drunken brawl every night...).

Ah, but big, hairy barbarian want to take 360 wireless controller and beat big scary creatures with it. Now it's possible. Funcom announced that Microsoft "gave them the green light" to dev their MMO for the Xbox 360, too. Says Trond Arne Aas, Big Barbarian Chief of Funcom, "This is a groundbreaking leap forward for Funcom. The fact that we now get the chance to develop Age of Conan for the Xbox 360 means access to a potentially whole new and large MMO market."

Interesting to see where this goes - Age of Conan is one of the Windows Vista showcase titles, and we're quite curious to see simultaneous Windows Live/Xbox Live multiplayer in the same manner as Shadowrun's. More puny skulls for barbarian to crush.

More screenshots at the full article.

In continuing to aim for the creation of the best graphics in any MMO to date, Funcom has announced that it will be working in collaboration with NVIDIA. This strategic partnership was born out of the desire to improve the visual quality in Age of Conan. At the same time, they are also gearing the game for DX10, Microsoft Windows Vista and the new NVIDIA GeForce 8800 graphic cards range.

Part of the stipulations of the partnership is for the game to enter NVIDIA's "The Way It's Meant To Be Played" program. This program is to ensure the smooth compatibility with NVIDIA products, along with the engineering and marketing support. "Solid and fun gameplay is our mantra, and we never compromise on that, but as we enter a revolutionary new generation of PC graphics and technology we are given the power to create the worlds with unprecedented beauty and depth," says Trond Arne Aas, Funcom's big boss.

You can check out the trailer of Age of Conan right here by downloading it through the link below. Get a sweeping view of Hyboria, and some tough sword action that's sure to get you asking for more.

Download: [Age of Conan Trailer]

This October, a number of good things have been reported for Anarchy Online: the Halloween treat, bigger player participation in Test Live and the opening of customer service support. As far as we are concerned, it is still very much October and so there is no reason why good things for this MMO won't continue.

Today, Funcom announced that there would be an extension of the completely free and play-all-you-want offer until January 2008.  Not only that, the offer now includes the award-winning expansion, Notum Wars. This in turn would give free players to take part in a PvP combat. "The free offer has been an amazing success and a chance to show massive amounts of players how good this game actually is," declares Funcom CEO Trond Arne Aas.

Anarchy Online was named "Best MMO of the Year" by PC Gamer US despite players being exposed to in-game advertising. While the company thinks that this type of promotional campaign is revolutionary, free subscribers are hoping they don't over do as it potentially distracts (or destructs?) the game.

It started with shop signs, hung out by tradesmen in ancient times. From there, it went to print ads, then billboards that multiplied like locusts, blighting the land. From there, it went to radio, aircraft, TV,  blimps, movie theatres, the Web...is there no escaping the relentless, unending hucksterism?

Toyota has become the first company to utilize interactive ads in an MMORPG with its interactive "dynamic billboard advertisement" in Anarchy Online. New technology allows players to interact with these "dynamic billboards" in the game, which proponents claim makes for a "more memorable and interactive advertisement experience."  Toyota's campaign allows players of the free version to walk up to in-game billboards and interact with them to unveil the product. AO publisher Funcom expects this will pave the way for more of the same.

Mitch Davis of Massive, Inc. is delighted, calling it  "a tremendous step forward in terms of giving advertisers what they want- the ability to target the elusive male 18-34 range and allowing them to interact with the products for a more memorable experience.” He goes on to say  “This is just the beginning of interactive ads in games, and we are very pleased to unveil this new technology together with Funcom and Toyota."  Davis was quick to mention that  "...we are not adding this to distract from the game experience itself. Our company always has the best interest of the gamers and the game experience in mind."

Massive Inc., which was recently acquired by Microsoft,  is a pioneer when it comes to in-game ad technology, and is currently advertising network in the gaming industry.

"In Funcom we are always trying to push the envelope in innovation and technology, and this recent move with Funcom, Massive and Toyota is a perfect example,” says Trond Arne Aas, CEO of Funcom. “Our primary goal is always to deliver the best possible entertainment, but to offset the high development costs in today’s gaming landscape we need to look at additional forms of income. What Massive is offering us is exactly that, and we are therefore very pleased to continue working with them to introduce new technologies that give us a competitive edge."

Funcom has just sent out word that Age Of Conan is entering the first phase of beta testing, which will for now only include the publisher's QA department and select experienced beta testers - but as the game moves closer to launch, the beta phase will get more open, which means more external beta testers will eventually be able to get their hands on the game. Funcom says they'll probably start accepting beta applications in fall.

If you want to increase your chances in becoming an Age Of Conan beta tester, subscribing to the newsletter and registering in the forums could help. Other than that, as a normal gamer, there's little possibility that you'll be selected anytime soon.

Arne Aas, CEO of Funcom said: "We have worked hard on ‘Age of Conan’ for more than two years, and it’s great to see that our collective effort has led us to this point. The game already looks stunning and it’s a lot of fun to play. We are looking forward to include our community, partners and press once we move into the later stages of the Beta.”

Age Of Conan had a successful E3 display, receiving the "MMO of Show" award from numerous big gaming sites such as IGN and GameSpy. It will become a "Windows Vista Showcase" title as well, similar to Shadowrun.

To remind you a little of what'll be going on in Age Of Conan: As a player, you'll encounter the brutal, mythical universe originally created by Robert E. Howard in the '30s. It's a world filled with gods, strange creatures and struggling civilizations. The mighty barbarian Conan has claimed the throne of Aquilonia, but it's a time of chaos and ancient evil is threatening the kingdoms. Under Conan's reign, you must fight to survive and at one point, your fate will become important to the future of the world.