OK, I’ve got a tiny cold today, so my ten or so posts I wanted to do have been cut down a bit by common sense (as in I decided to stay home and not exacerbate my condition by hanging out in a public place with other germy folk). Anyway, I’m doing better, so here’s one more update: I’m a little worried about DEFIANCE doing as well as it should at least on consoles. I’ve read elsewhere today (and had this figured for a while) that Blizzard and Sony have done research that reveals many PS3s are never connected to the Internet. And I’d bet good money that the ones that ARE play mostly the same games or types of games. That said, DC Universe Online seems to have done well and certain franchise shooters seem to grab players as soon as they ship. On the other hand, Defiance breaks much new ground in the MMO space, but does absolutely NOTHING for those who want an offline experience. I think this is a mistake, as more people playing your game is ALWAYS a better thing than LESS and every MMO will shut down that last server at some point.  

 
Hopefully, all three versions of the game will sell like gangbusters and Trion Worlds will also hear from solo play fans who want either a stand alone game they can call their own. Or something for the Vita (which has suddenly become an indie game darling). Or both…

So, if that 14 minutes or so of first episode footage shown on syfy’s site is any indication, DEFIANCE will be a pretty decent new show after all. This bodes well for the online-only game coming to Windows PC, PS3 and Xbox 360 April 2 and yes, the show, which premieres on April 13. I need to now actually look up that darn channel’s schedule, as I haven’t paid attention to it for a while except when there’s a Twilight Zone marathon running and I swing by for a half-hour or so fix. The game is definitely solid from what I’ve played, but I do have an issue with it I’ll kick around (again) in the next post…

OK, OK, that’s a line from the wrong sci-fi deal (five cents if you guess where it’s from), but yeah, I see that there’s one piece of DEFIANCE kit that won’t come as part of the standard version. I’m gathering there will be a bunch of these tricked out Dodge Challengers rolling over friend and for alike when the game ships on April 13, 2013. If you were poking around earlier today, you may have seen the live stream of the game on Twitch TV with Grant Bowler and you may have even walked away with a Beta Key (lucky!). I didn’t, as I was out of the home office, but it’s OK – I’ll be watching the show more than playing the game thanks to no offline mode and my awful internet. Still, what I did get to play at Trion’s press event last year was REALLY great stuff (as in it’s all quality and tons of fun).