Ben is different from your typical teenager. His life is a universe unto itself, where he plays his favorite online computer game Archlord avidly; trying hard to train himself for the real world he lives in. The harsh world of a technical school is for him a daily kind of hell. As the horror of being a daily subject to bullying grows, Ben devises a plan.

BenX is an amazing and touching film about a young man with Autism (or rather, the misunderstanding that others display toward people with this disability). I had multiple reasons to see this film, I like the idea of the director using the community of gaming to illustrate one’s need to escape the real world and enter their own. It was also recommended by my girlfriend, Jen, who is kind of an indie film expert and I call her my film agent. She of course, will deny working in that aspect at all other than to make certain recommendations.

It is based on the novel Nothing Was All He Said by Nic Balthazar, who also directed the film. The novel was inspired by the true story of an autistic boy who committed suicide because of bullying. Ben is played by Greg Timmermans who is an absolute newcomer to the screen. He is also a revelation in this starring role. BenX is the first feature film of this young theatrical actor, while Marike Pinoy as his distressed, frustrated mother is also dead on casting.

Ben is mainstreamed in regular school, tormented by the usual bullies, taught by clueless teachers, “helped” by incompetent psychologists, and cared for by a loving, but totally exasperated, mother. Ben is totally in touch with the real world around him, but can only relate and react to this real world through the eyes of his game character that he plays incessantly. Inevitably, life reaches a crisis point, mainly due to the bullies, and he rationalizes he has to end this game — both real life and online are synonymous to him — and start a new one. How Ben does this end-game, and his choice of a new game, are what this story is really all about. The story is told from Ben’s perspective, interspersed with narrative interludes from his mother, divorced father, teachers, psychologists, etc.

I was touched by this film and I would give it a standing ovation if not for watching it at home. This film offered a rare glimpse into the life of someone who has an amazing mind trapped in a body that cannot express it. I am not going to sugar-coat things; this film can be depressing (on the scale with movies like Requiem for a Dream) but have courage to stick until the end because it’s definitely worth it. There is a rumor of an American adaptation but I sincerely hope not: The Dutch version creates a mood that would be ruined by an American attempt. You don’t have to be a gamer or know a lot about gaming to understand this movie either. Share and enjoy.

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Een vrolijke Ier met de naam Jamie neemt plaats aan een tafeltje met een laptop erop en vertelt wat over de achtergrond van Allods Online. Na het opstarten van de game is direct te merken dat ’t niet om zomaar een gratis MMO gaat. De makers, Astrum Nival, hebben duidelijk erg veel werk gestoken in het vormgeven van het spel. De grafische stijl deed me direct denken aan World of Warcraft, al moet ik bekennen dat ik Allods mooier vind. De kleuren zijn wat scherper en de stijl is net wat leuker doordat het naast een fantasy-sausje ook veel sciencefictioninvloeden heeft.

Allods Online speelt zich af in de spelwereld The Astral Space. Dit is een grote ruimtewereld bestaande uit verschillende eilandjes. Deze stukken land komen van de planeet Samaut, die door een explosie uit elkaar is gesprongen. Het is de bedoeling om een schip te bouwen, dat vol te krijgen met minimaal vier en maximaal negentien andere spelers en vervolgens met dat schip The Astral Space te gaan verkennen. Op zo’n schip kan de speler fungeren als Captain, Navigator, Helmsman, Engineer of Cannoneer. Elk is erg belangrijk op zijn eigen manier. Zo moet de Engineer schilden repareren, de Cannoneer schieten op vijanden en moet de Navigator een koers uitstippelen voor het schip.

 
Terwijl spelers door de ruimte reizen is er grote kans dat er vijanden op diens pad komen. Dat kunnen één van de driehonderd verschillende wezens zijn of simpelweg een vijandig schip. In een strijd is het belangrijk dat de Engineer goed zijn werk doet. Elk schip heeft vier schilden. Wanneer die naar de Filistijnen zijn, kan er ingebroken worden in het schip. In dat schip zullen dan weer gevechten plaatsvinden tussen jou en het binnenvallend gespuis. En uiteraard gaat dit gepaard met melee-, ranged- en magic-aanvallen zoals we wel van meer games kennen.

In de game zijn welgeteld twee facties: League en Empire, die worden aangeduid met de kleuren rood en blauw. Hoe deze precies in het verhaal passen, werd me niet geheel duidelijk, maar gelukkig wees Jamie me erop dat op de website van de makers een uitgebreide documentatie over de spelwereld is terug te vinden. Jullie moeten me even vergeven dat ik nog niet alle dertig pagina’s heb doorgelezen. Wat ik nog wel meekreeg van het verhaal was het volgende: elk personage dient uit te vogelen waarom de planeet Samaut nu precies tot ontploffing is gekomen, en er zijn blijkbaar meer dan vijftienhonderd quests nodig om hierachter te komen.

Al met al ben ik onder de indruk van Allods Online. Het ziet er fantastisch uit, de gameplay belooft een hoop goeds en er lijkt meer dan genoeg content te zijn voor de game. Nergens kreeg ik het gevoel te kijken naar een gratis rip-off van World of Warcraft of iets in die richting. De game doet zijn eigen ding en is een goed voorbeeld hoe het ook kan. Dit is een MMO om in de gaten te houden.

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Webzen will kick-off its product launch by opening the official Archlord website via Webzen’s games portal at archlord.webzen.com on July 30th for everyone to see the game insights and to download the free game client. Following the commencement of the official website, the company will start the beta test in August, 2009.

According to the official statement, the game client has been made available to include all the latest features. The game items and character stats have been renewed. The boss monsters with various fighting patterns updated resulting the game balance being well brought out so that participants are able to have better game experience playing Archlord.

To celebrate the opening of Archlord, Webzen is planning on running many special events to give out free in-game items to the participants.

Webzen has also announced that MU Online will have a long awaited the first Castle Siege event on this month. The details of the Castle Siege schedule and entry process will be posted via muonline.webzen.com. Currently, MU Online is running ‘Cool Summer Event’ which placing many great premium game items for sale.

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Over 2008, the top online game operator was Huxley publisher NHN, who saw its revenues increase 51 percent year over year. The leading five South Korean publishers all operate free to play online games, also including Nexon, NCsoft, Neowiz and CJ Internet.

Pearl says its study demonstrates the resilience of the free-to-play market, showing that small-ticket virtual goods income remains consistent during a global economic downturn. Leading titles like NCsoft’s Aion and Lineage/i> still sustain growth on the microtransactions model.

In order for the South Korean market to keep growing, says Pearl, it’ll have to contend with intensifying domestic competition, a government crackdown on web-based board games, fewer capital resources for small and independent publishers, and the correlated rise in development costs as the market becomes packed with contenders.

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The world of Chantra is designed around the five elements, fire, spirit, earth, water and air providing all the areas with very unique and distinctive looks. As you move through the world from the dark expanses of the Orc home world through to the bright, light marble of the human world you will find yourself constantly drawn into to this lush and vivid environment.

Players are able to play as one of three unique races including Humans, Moon Elf’s and Orcs and within each race they will be able to choose from one of eight different classes depending on their chosen race. Each of these classes will have a host of unique features that players will need to master in order to become true masters of their class, this will present a challenge to both new and seasoned players alike.

One of the most appealing features is it’s ability to accommodate both the hardcore PvP fan as well as those looking for more solo action in a quest based game. Players will find themselves able to take part in massive real time battles between guilds accommodating hundreds of players. Or for those that wish to engage in more solo based play they will be able to partake in an extensive range of quests to explore the world and level their skills.

There is more to ArchLord than just the above, there are many features of the game that you really must experience first hand to get a feel for the depth and quality that this game offers. ArchLord has something for everyone, but do you have what it takes to become the ArchLord

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This patch will adjust the location that ArchLord looks at to connect to the patch server and game servers from an IP to a domain name. If you do not run this patch you will be unable to connect to the game servers after the data centre move on 24th November.
Important ArchLord Patch

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