If you've been itching for another new online game to play, you might want to check out Auran Games and Gamecock Media Group's Fury. Now that the MMORPG is free to play, more players are invited as extra Chosen keys needed to create accounts for free are being given away. For more details, head over to the full article.

If you recently tried out Fury and left, let it be known now that someone from Auran Games or the Gamecock Media Group wants you back badly. They want you back so much that they're willing to try unorthodox methods of coercing people into returning to the game, such as calling players losers.

Yep. Warcry's Razorwire received one such email, the contents of which can be found after the jump.

Gamecock Media Group and Auran Games have announced a new free to download, free to play business model for Fury. This will be implemented when the first major free content update called Age of the Chosen goes live on December 14. This system adds new player categories called Chosen and Hero which grants users access to more content than those who download the game and play for free.

If you want to find out more, head on over to the full article.

Auran Games and Gamecock Media Group have announced that Fury has already been shipped to various North American Retailers. MMORPG fans will probably find this game quite refreshing since it focuses more on Player versus Player combat than the usual Player versus Environment formats most titles follow.

Perhaps the biggest come-on of the game is that it gives players the option to either play online for free or to avail of the Immortal subscription plan at US$ 9.95. Unlike some of the other games which offer this option, the developers have announced that all abilities, weapons, armor, and free content updates will be available no matter which subscription players choose.

The Fury community has shown a lot of support for this upcoming game. We'll have to see if the game catches the interest of the rest of the gaming community when it comes out later in the month.

If you haven't heard of Fury, Gamecock Media Group and Auran's upcoming RPG that seeks to deliver the most intense Player versus Player matches in the history of online gaming, then this video should make you sit up and pay attention. No monsters or grinding to be found here - only you, your opponent, and the blood-strewn path to victory (preferably not your blood). Check out the video and see just what Fury's all about.

This video clip is certainly not for the faint of heart, as it shows a rather scantily-clad spear-wielding female facing off against a heavily-armored foe. The battle is heated, ferocious, and fast-paced, and we see both combatants using both their weapons and the terrain to their advantage. The fight ends with an unlikely victor, with a rather sneaky finishing blow - but all's fair in love and pretty glowing jewelry, right?

Enjoy Fury's video!

Even as the Entertainment Software Association's (ESA) E3 Media & Business Summit draws closer this week, the invite-only event may have scared off many publishers and developers, aside from consumers, due to extraneous costs and a smaller retail presence. Reports are coming in that companies have declined their invites, while others have wanted to go but never received an invite.

Tecmo (Ninja Gaiden Sigma) was one company that had turned down the invite to the E3 Media & Business Summit, following a history of impolite treatment from the organizers, lower retail presence and a pessimistic outlook on the part of Tecmo. "New show management didn't seem to know what they were doing," said John Inada, vice president.

A representative from GameStop had claimed that the company had "limited folks" who were going to attend the show, but it appeared to major publishers that no retail presence was going to show up at all. Retailers such as Best Buy have been reported to opt out entirely, prompting other publishers to high-tail it out of the event.

"Why should we bother dealing with the ESA's confusion when we can meet with our retail partners separately and then stage our own gamers' day event later on in the year where we set the rules? It just doesn't make any sense," said a source, coming from a publisher not going to E3.

In contrast, XSEED Games (Brave Story: New Traveler) didn't have a choice laid out for them. Even while the publisher decided to go to the event, they didn't receive an invite. "Assuming we had a chance to participate, the costs of securing a meeting area in one of the hotels, from what I've heard indirectly through third parties, would have been cost-prohibitive for us," added XSEED's Ken Berry, head of sales and marketing.

Money was another issue, forcing even some of the big name publishers to re-think their showcasing strategies and host their own events, rather than attend E3. GameCock Media Group (Sector 8) created their own little E3 in response to the new invite-only arrangement.

Publishers believe that E3 needs more tweaking if they're to attend the succeeding events - a possibility that's fast fading after many other companies anticipate 2007 as E3's final year. In an end-note, GameCock's co-founder Mike Wilson said:

We're going to have some fun on the beach and say good-bye to the magical beast of yore that was E3. I'd say there's a fair chance there won't be a show called E3 anything next year, which is why we're saying farewell to it on the beach. But I can't wait to see what emerges.

As Auran and Gamecock Media Group's Fury nears its fourth quarter release schedule, the beta trials are being set up for the PvP MMO title rendered by Unreal Engine 3. Auran's Fury site has opened up the beta to interested PvPers, although they have indicated a limited number of slots available for the trials.

Players will have the option of testing out various modes and facets of the game, including clans, the various maps, and the modes of play to climb the Beta Ladders. The Brisbane-based developer assures that there will be no grinding, no crafting, and certainly no enemy AI in the game.

So it's no suprise that Auran also released another gameplay trailer, entitled "Waste Enemies". True to what the trailer says, there's no need to waste time, just your enemies. And if the trailer was enough to get your fingers itchy, head off to the beta signup page provided in the Read link below.

GameCock Media Group's Mike Wilson, one of the co-founders of the independent game publishing company, believes that alternative events will eventually replace the Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3). And in an interview with Joystiq, Wilson believes that it could end really soon - 2007 in fact, if he were any more specific.

 

"I'd say there's a really good chance this is the last E3. Or anything that's even remotely related to E3. In fact, we're planning a funeral service for E3 on the beach Friday night of this event," said Wilson. Invite only doesn't seem to be GameCock's cup of tea, or an effective way of reaching out to the core audience - the gamers - in a fun, interesting, and all-out way. Wilson continues:

There will be alternative [gaming] events popping up and we will be part of those. Hopefully we can help drive creativity and direction of making an event that's more fun and welcoming than the E3 that needed to die or this, sort of, I don't know what to call it ... the business summit, as it were.

Being an independent entity in a industry that grosses revenues in the hundreds of millions may be daunting, but it appears to look different in GameCock's eyes. After jokingly commenting on a funeral soon to be held by GameCock behind Hotel California - one that isn't invite-only (hurray?) - Wilson hinted at why the indies would think E3 Media & Business Summit won't be as stellar as ESA claims it to be:

It'll be a combination funeral for E3 and a wake (celebration) for originality, creativity and independent development. We think there's plenty of stuff to be excited about out there, all original, all from strong independent developers and that's all the tip of the iceberg. I think there's a real movement, the pendulum is swinging back I think.

Click on Full Article to read more on Wilson's opinion of E3 and the new direction of the game industry.

In Fury, the sixth age of the world of Altaia sees the rebirth of the Chosen, an elite fighting force legendary when deployed as individuals, unstoppable when united as one. These warriors were brought back from the nightmarish Fade, along with the skill and prowess they had used many lifetimes over.

Even in a new Age, the Chosen adapted quickly against the tides of time and change. Combat was their life lesson, and they mastered its many blows and glances with passion and fervor. And it was because of their sheer skill that the Sorelan were able to harness as much Essence as they needed...to live.

But the brave and valiant Chosen of martial perfection were no longer themselves - an empty shell of their former glory. The Sorelans chose to aid them against their torment, as a gratuitous offering for the life-giving Essence they bring. Making use of their own powers, the Sorelan helped reveal memories and hidden powers of select Chosen that were lost ages past, wrought by the eons drifting in the void of the Fade.

Today, the many realms of Altaia summon their own Chosen to form a renowned fearsome army and to battle other Chosen of rival realms. The rising conflicts bring forth an age where realms continue to chase Essence for their own survival - battle after battle. Welcome to the Age of Fury.

Come forth, brave one. Join the many brave souls side by side in the glorious fight of any of your former lives, by Q4 of 2007.

For this particular MMO gee- err... fan, Fury looks promising. The first trailer was definitely a teaser running only for 19 seconds. With this new trailer, you're definitely in for more than death throes (read: the ouch sounds).

This will be brought to us by Auran, in partnership with Gamecock Media Group (how can we miss that signature published by Gamecock... just sayin'?). Fury is an upcoming MMORPG which leans heavily toward players' pent up rage, or better known as PvP (Player vs Player). It sure sports some interesting animation and sprites. We can see the gameplay during the entire trailer - though note the detail on the environments and music is rocking - and we were fully expecting somebody to shout "FINISH HIM!!!" on some parts of it.

Anyway, as this writer is about to zone out into the MMO world, Fury is set to bring another brand of online experience on Q4. Time to open that can of whup ass. (Oh and enjoy the video, you can download the clearer version by clicking the link below.)

Download: Fury trailer