Hey buddy, what are used Romulans going for now days?

(Gamespot) – Less than three years ago, Atari acquired Cryptic Studios in a deal potentially worth $75 million, with the intention of making the massively multiplayer online game developer a cornerstone in its transition to becoming an online game publishing giant. That intention will never be realized, as the publisher today announced it plans to wash its hands of the studio behind Star Trek Online and Champions Online.

Atari revealed the planned divestiture in its full-year financial report, with Cryptic’s impact on the bottom line filed under the “discontinued operations” section of Atari’s report. For the fiscal year ended March 31, 2011, Atari reported that Cryptic lost a total of €5.3 million ($7.5 million). That was an improvement over the prior year, when Cryptic launched both Star Trek Online and Champions Online, and Atari had the studio down as losing €12.6 million ($17.8 million).

“In line with the previously stated strategy of fewer but more profitable releases and further expansion into casual online and mobile games, the company has determined that external development creates more flexibility in the changing marketplace,” Atari explained in its financial report. “Therefore, the company has made the decision to divest itself from Cryptic Studios. The divestiture process is underway and more details will be provided as appropriate.”

Beyond its previous two online role-playing games, Cryptic has also been at work on Neverwinter, an online game based on the Dungeons & Dragons brand popularized in games by the Neverwinter Nights series. As of press time, Atari has not responded to GameSpot’s request for a status update on Neverwinter, or how the divestiture will impact the ongoing operations of Champions Online and Star Trek Online. However, a community representative on the Star Trek Online forums indicated “there are no planned changes to the way any of our games and projects will operate.”

Champions Online Free Play Weekend 10-31 to 11-02

Next weekend, if you haven’t bought your Halloween costume yet, whip you up a superhero suit on Champions Online and spend some time making the city streets a better place by paticipating in their free weekend play session.

From Friday October 30th to Monday November 2nd, Cryptic is opening up Champions Online to any and all who want to come try it out. Simply head over to the free play promo page, sign up for an account, download the client, and then start desiging your hero.

The free play weekend coincides with Champions ”Blood Moon” Halloween event, which introduces invading zombie hordes and the introduction of the new Celestial power set. The event begins for current subscribers on the 27th. Free players can play around with it once the weekend starts.

Since MMO’s are an ongoing monthy investment, anytime the free downloads and plays are available we’d say “hey your crazy not to give it a whirl”.

[Source]

-BG Crew

Nellie shares a tender moment with the hero Foxbat

Last year at PAX ’08, we had the great fortune of meeting some of the people working on the upcoming MMO Champions Online at the after party they hosted. Three things happened that night: First, we consumed copious amounts of alcohol… really, no surprise there. Second, the bits of the game we saw and the discussions we had with the people working on it had us hooked. Again, if you’re at all familiar with the Reckon Crew’s love of all things comics, this shouldn’t be much of a shock.

The third was the surprise. Along came Nellie Hughes. Aside from being one of the most interesting people we met while we were at PAX, being a content designer for Champions Online, she had an unnatural obsession with the word “koozie” after hearing it for the very first time from us of all people. Almost a yearmeeting us, she’s finally able to talk about what makes a good MMO, the future of player created content, and how she really, really, really wants to see the Reckon Crew in spandex.  True story.

BG: To begin, are you a Busy Gamer?
Nellie Hughes: Yes, I have a 2 year old and trying to get gaming in while being the world’s best parent means you can only game in small amounts. I usually only play for one or 2 hours a night, in between cleaning and other domestic duties.

BG: What’s your favorite type of game?
Nellie Hughes: I would say currently these days MMO’s, Of all time, it would have to be older adventure games like Kings Quest or Monkey Island

BG: What’s your all time favorite game?
Nellie Hughes: I would say for nostalgic reasons it would have to be Legend of Kyrandia.

BG: What are you currently playing?
Nellie Hughes: Warcraft, Champions, Fallout 3, Katmari Damacy on my phone.

BG: Since you’re working on Champions Online, what’s your super hero name and your powers?
Nellie Hughes: I haven’t picked one out yet. There is so much to choose from in the different power sets we offer in Champions Online that I wanted to test drive them all before I settled down with a set I’m comfy playing with. I’m usually a ranged player, so I’ll most likely make myself a fire or darkness build.

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