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The folks at Kotaku were tipped by a reader to the possibility of a new twist in the MMO console wars. The popular job board/want ads service Craigslist is currently playing host to a job posting from Cryptic Studios. Developer of Star Trek Online and Champions Online, the company already has deep roots in development for the Xbox 360. They've shown their second superhero game playing quite well on Microsoft's console at events all through the summer con season. Now it seems as though they're looking to bring those games to the PlayStation 3 as well.

The Craigslist listing specifically calls for a "PS3 Engine Programmer", and the job description includes daily duties touching on the company's massively multiplayer games. "We have developed a flexible, cutting edge MMO platform to power games like Champions and Star Trek Online. It runs on PC and XBOX 360 - now we want to support PS3 too." Kotaku labels this as a rumor, and rightly so; no confirmation or announcement from Cryptic means that this may be nothing more than fact-finding.

We've all known about Turbine's plans for a console MMO for a few months now, but in a recent interview with videogaming247.com, Lord of the Rings Online's Executive Producer Jeffrey Steefel mentioned the fact that an announcement will be coming early next year on what type of "products" Turbine aims to release for the console.

"What we're doing now is the early development work and the work with the hardware manufacturers to understand where they're heading in the online space, where the connectivity between the console and internet is really headed," Steefel said in the interview. Since Turbine's recent work with Warner Bros, the speculations have been across the board from a Harry Potter MMO, to LotRO being ported to the console or even an entirely new project. The biggest news of this interview though is the fact that he mentions "products", plural. Guess we'll just need to wait a few months to know for sure. In the meantime, we should be able to keep ourselves busy.

Massively has been following the Free Realms project over at Sony Online Entertainment for some time now. Not quite as targeted as The Agency or action-oriented as DCUO, Free Realms nonetheless represents the third axis of a whole new base for the company. In its way Free Realms is actually more important than either of those two titles, throwing together a AAA-quality teen-aimed fantasy MMO experience together with free-to-play and microtransactional economics. An ambitious and unique undertaking, to be sure, from a fairly traditional company. It's great, then, to see real public progress on the game over at the official Free Realms website.

They've updated with a ton of new content, including videos, screenshots, and writeups about what they hope to accomplish with the game. Even more exciting is a page which will allow prospective players the chance to sign up to participate in the game's Beta. Word from SOE is that the game will have a lengthy Beta experience, eventually leading to a 'service-style' launch rather than one you'd expect from a boxed game.

If you're not familiar with Free Realms, we have you covered. Read into our A to Z guide on the game, take a peak at plans for eventual sequels (already!), and figure out how social networking will fit into all of this! Go check it out.

October 20th marked the 30th anniversary of the very first Multi-User Dungeon (MUD). For those that don't remember MUDs, these text based multiplayer computer games were the precursors of modern MMOGs. I think it's safe to say that multiplayer computer gaming was the exclusive domain of hardcore gamers and geeks back then. People playing MUD1, Elendor MUSH or Pern MUSH were nerds, like myself, that knew computers, knew gaming, and loved roleplaying online. With the advent of online games with graphics, MMOGs like Everquest and Ultima Online began to attract a wider variety of gamers. The gaming demographic began to shift.

Modern MMOGs like World of Warcraft ushered in a new era of gaming and a very different demographic of gamer. WoW's colorful, friendly style, easy to use interface and simple gameplay concepts make it very easy to pick up and play. WoW appeals to almost everyone: parents, kids, men, women, and people that might not normally play video games. It's about as close to mainstream as you can get in a MMOG. While the Wii is often credited with finally capturing traditional non-gamers, I submit that MMOGs like WoW did it first and continue to do it well.

A key to WoW's success also lies is its low system requirements. Recent MMORPGs like Age of Conan and Warhammer may have more sophisticated graphics, but their higher system requirements work against their success in capturing a broad demographic of gamer. High system requirements are not just problematic for those particular games, but for the health and growth of PC gaming in general. Let's face it, when compared to console gaming, computer gaming isn't as cheap, accessible or simple. In order for MMOGs to continue to thrive, something needs to change at the hardware level. Without competitive pricing and standardization, PC gaming will continue to wither.

In continuing cross-platform MMO news, Turbine has expanded their views on plans to bring current and future projects to the console market. During a recent interview with Gamasutra, Turbine's CEO Jim Crowley spoke of the reasoning behind bringing MMOs to a console, and the future of the PC retail market.

Most of the recent push for console projects from otherwise PC-based games (like MMOs) arises for a few reasons. First, there's global allure. In the Eastern world, consoles are king. In order to appeal to that market, you need to bring your title to the platform which is most popular in a region with so many hardcore gamers. Secondly, as Crowley states, "There is irrefutable data that exists that [shows that] the willingness of retailers to support PC inventory has been decreasing with time." This isn't to say that Turbine believes the PC is a dying platform. "We have a wonderful business built on the PC platform; it's a growing and exciting business," he says.

Over the past few weeks, Sony Online Entertainment's President John Smedley has spoken candidly about his company's plans to bring MMOs to the console platform. More specifically, Smedley says that all of their future projects will release on both PC and the Playstation 3, even with some hints of MMOs coming to the PSP.

These future projects include some highly-anticipated titles such as The Agency, Free Realms and DC Universe Online. While we've talked about other companies announcing MMOs on the console coming soon, would the inclusion of future SOE titles on the PS3 be enough to persuade dedicated PC/MMO fans to buy the poorly-received Sony console?

From Chiba, Japan, AP reports on Sony and Microsoft's upcoming avatar-based offerings at the annual Tokyo Game Show. Associated Press goes to great lengths to avoid spooking what they seem to feel are a parochial and hidebound audience with gems like, 'In the so-called "metaverse" in cyberspace, players manipulate digital images called "avatars" that represent themselves, engaging in relationships, social gatherings and businesses.'

Of course, the notion of graphical avatars as a part of a wide variety of Internet services has persisted for most of the last two decades, but even the sense of this is backwards.To the casual and uninformed observer it might appear that the user manipulates this (ahem) 'digital image' to perform actions, but this is substantively not the case. The user moves or takes action through the virtual environment in relation to spaces and to other users, and the avatar represents the action to others.

It's just that sort of long-arm punditry that seems to make AP compare Sony's Home and Microsoft's Avatar service with Linden Lab's Second Life, despite Sony and Microsoft's respective services having about as much in common with Second Life, as they have with Mortal Kombat. 'The real-time interactive computer-graphic worlds are similar to Linden Lab's "Second Life,"' writes the AP correspondent, in a wondrously surreal moment.

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	Are you a part of the most widely-known collaborative virtual environment or keeping a close eye on it? Massively's Second Life coverage keeps you in the loop.

MTV Multiplayer blog contributor Stephen Totilo took a second look at Sony's Home -- a virtual world community for PlayStation 3 users. He had previously previewed the service at Kotaku and given it low marks. This time, though, he seemed a little more impressed. We're not really sure why he flipped, though. He wasn't very clear about it.

Home features several instanced locations where PS3 users may converse and play minigames such as bowling. There are game specific rooms, like, say, for Warhawk, where users can get tips and such. It's a virtual world, not an MMORPG, but there's something interesting stuff in that preview. Obviously, it's most pertinent if you're a PS3 owner.

During the demo, director Jack Buser suggested that the developers might eventually add non-human character models if the community demands it (but it's not part of the plan at the moment). Most of the preview is about how Home differs from its non-virtual-world competitor: Xbox Live. Buser said he hopes that Home will give users a place to meet other gamers in an environment that's more social than the games themselves. According to him, there hasn't been a good way to do that since the arcades of the 80s.

Last night, on the other side of the world, Nintendo announced its intention to step up the battle between Sony and Apple for the soul of the handheld gamer. We talk semi-regularly on Massively about the hardcore console battle, with games like Age of Conan and Champions Online heading for the 360 and SOE's stable of new titles (DCUO, The Agency, Free Realms) heading for the PlayStation 3. The handheld battle hardly ever gets discussed here on the site, though, and that's a shame. The modern ubiquity of handheld gaming is really the future of 'console' gaming, and with all three handheld platforms featuring built-in internet connectivity the age of "MMOs on the go" is inevitable.

Join us as we walk through each of the three handheld platforms, discussing what their potential is for playing MMOs and what we currently know about MMO plans for the platform. Even though they're pretty quiet, there are more than you think. Who knows, perhaps the WoW nation of today will be tapping out messages to each other on their DS handhelds five years from now?

In previous interviews with Turbine, we've heard about their interest in developing an MMO on the console. There was speculation of a Harry Potter MMO, following some venture funding by Warner Bros, but now we have a piece of information that might put the console spotlight back on Lord of the Rings Online.

According to a job posting on Turbine's website, they're looking to hire a Senior User Interface Engineer who "may be refactoring existing user interfaces or implementing completely new user interfaces for systems such as combat, skills, inventory, treasure, and social systems." Does this mean LotRO? There's no question that LotRO is Turbine's largest and most successful game, and this topic has been discussed before. In fact, LotRO's Executive Producer, Jeffrey Steefel has mentioned in the past that "we have the Lord of the Rings license for use on all platforms, and we're determined to use it."

Would you want to see LotRO on a console? Tell us your thoughts!

There's a thread over at NeoGaf reporting that Japanese game publisher Koei, which is famous for its Dynasty Warriors beat-em-up/battlefield-strategy hybrid games, might be developing an MMO. The company's Tokyo Game Show page was briefly updated with an entry for an MMO title for both PC and PS3. When the mistake was caught the entry was immediately taken down. Fans of Dynasty Warriors and Romance of the Three Kingdoms are very excited. Everyone else can probably move on, because Koei has done pretty little that wasn't at least mostly the same concept as one of those.

Also, our friends at PS3 Fanboy have celebrated the launch of the free-to-play Asian PS3 MMO Angel Love Online (a veritable cute fest, that one) by writing up a guide to getting the game running for non-Japanese users. Angel Love is currently available only through the Japanese PlayStation Network store, but that sort of thing has never stopped anyone smart and resourceful, has it? If you succeed, you'll get to play it entirely in Japanese! Oh, yay! It looks very Secret of Mana-esque.

Due to the language barrier, most Western PS3 owners will probably want to wait for The Agency, Free Realms, and DC Universe Online, but if you can't wait, here you go. And remember, if seeing Japanese culture Lost in Translation is what you want, there's always TV. In Japan. Read on below the cut for a look at Angel Love Online.

The MMO genre was born and raised in the PC culture. The reasons are obvious, of course -- personal computers have been connected to networks for a long time, the keyboard was more effective for communication before the advent of Voice-over-IP. That said, a lot has been done to make platforms like the Xbox 360 and the PlayStation 3 more attractive for MMO developers and players.

Funcom plans to release Age of Conan for the 360. DC Universe Online, The Agency, and Free Realms will all be available on the PS3. In fact, noted MMO developer SOE was not long ago moved into what is basically Sony's PlayStation division with the explicit intent to focus on console MMOs. Blizzard has hired workers with console experience to work on its unannounced "Next-Gen MMO." Clearly, this generation is going to greatly expand on the pioneering efforts of past console MMOs like Final Fantasy XI. Surely if the genre doesn't explode on today's consoles it will in the next batch, right?

Are you looking forward to leaving behind the mouse and keyboard so you can lounge on the sofa with a wireless controller, or are you concerned that too much will be lost in translation? Maybe you think that attempts like The Agency will fail, and the bubble will burst before anyone even really notices it. There are a lot of problems, such as the expense and hassle of the process of authenticating patches in a tightly-controlled service like Xbox Live. Are problems like that deal breakers?

Dungeon Runners

Massively: Now when you're talking about stepping more in the direction of the triple-A titles, that sort of implies that you're getting away from some of the smaller games that you guys have been working on in the past. We know that the Dungeon Runners team is experiencing some changes – can you talk specifically about that game, and what's going to be happening with those folks?

David Reid: Even before the NC West announcement, the Dungeon Runners team went through some changes. You're probably referring to the announcement of the reduction we had of about 21 people, several weeks before the announcement of NC West, and Dungeon Runners was part of that. And that was about the fact that – yes, we like Dungeon Runners as a service, but there was a decision not to port that product on to other platforms but to keep the game intact as it is right now on the PC platform.

There were a number of other projects that had not been announced that were part of that, and they too were what we'll call lighter and smaller MMO fare, rather than triple-A types of products. Beyond that, Dungeon Runners is as healthy as it's ever been, and is still a vibrant part of the NCsoft portfolio. It's just that it's a different sort of business, and one that is a very successful kind of business overall, it's just not where NCsoft is going to continue investing its product development publishing resources, going forward.

Massively: So it would be fair to say that people who enjoy Dungeon Runners shouldn't expect it to go anywhere, but as far as a ton of new content in the future... that would probably not be the direction that the company would be going in for that product?

David Reid: I'd clarify that answer just a bit. We were thinking seriously about 'should we bring Dungeon Runners to other, alternative platforms?' And that's what a large amount of that team was working on, and other parts of NCsoft. That decision has been: no, we're not going to. I wouldn't read into that anything about the amount of content that the Dungeon Runners team is going to be making on a regular basis. That will continue to go forward.

Console Ports

Massively: You mentioned porting to other platforms a couple of times now. We think it's a little more than a year ago at this point that you announced you had that agreement with Sony to think about doing some stuff for the PS3. We haven't really seen that so far. Is that part of this announcement, sort of refocusing NC West on getting some of Ncsoft's more stable games over to the Playstation 3?

David Reid: Yeah... I can tell you that we do think console development is an incredibly important part of our future. We do think that, you know, you look at companies like... NCsoft today is a PC only company, and we've seen what's happened with some of these formerly PC only (or predominantly PC) companies who have successfully brought their properties to the console.

As a gamer myself, I take a lot of inspiration from what the Tom Clancy series did for UbiSoft, or what Morrowind as a shifted Xbox and PC title did for Bethesda. And we believe that there is a transition like that that NCsoft can have, by taking some of its triple-A properties, and making a great triple-A MMO that works on the console.

"As a gamer myself, I take a lot of inspiration from what the Tom Clancy series did for UbiSoft, or what Morrowind as a shifted Xbox and PC title did for Bethesda."

So yeah, it is true. You can't do everything all the time, and at some level we recognise that the best prize for NCsoft to be focused on is the triple-A space, and that's on the PC platform and on the console platform. But beyond that, I don't have an announcement that I can make for you at this time!

Massively: Not a problem. We just wanted to clarify, because it seems like a natural progression from where you guys are talking about with triple-A titles being your focus.

David Reid: We passionately agree. Absolutely.

Massively: We really appreciate you guys' time. We know that the readers have been... we guess the best word is confused, because as we said, it sort of came out of nowhere. And we're glad we had the chance to talk!

David Reid: You bet! Well, at the end of the day, I hope that for folks who are fans of these giant triple-A games, these big investments in the MMO space with high production quality, there should be no confusion: this is good news for that game. We are going to get back to doing this all day, every day, in a world class way. The lighter side of the business, the free-to-plays and things like that, those are great businesses, but there will be other companies who will be delivering that form. It won't be NCsoft so much, going forward.

Read what David Reid had to say on Tabula Rasa and Guild Wars.