Kingdoms of Amalur Launch Trailer Leaks

Andy Chalk

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Nov 12, 2002
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Kingdoms of Amalur Launch Trailer Leaks

A leaked Project Copernicus video offers a glimpse into an MMO world we'll never get to explore.

Have you ever stopped to wonder what 38 Studios had in mind for Project Copernicus, the fantasy MMO it was working on at the time of its collapse? We'll never know for certain or to any great depth what was in store, but we can at least get a sideways look at it now thanks to a purported launch trailer that's found its way into the wild.

The trailer, which bills the game as simply Kingdoms of Amalur, shows off a few in-game characters best described as an ogre, a dwarf, and elf and a human, waving their weapons around and casting spells as a narrator talks about the infinite circle that ever turns. It looks potentially cool, if somewhat generic; to my admittedly untrained eye, this trailer, minus the title graphics, could have come straight out of World of Warcraft. But with a setting built upon the success of the single-player RPG Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning [http://www.amazon.com/Kingdoms-Amalur-Reckoning-Xbox-360/dp/B0044SA70M/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1341867631&sr=8-1&keywords=kingdoms+of+amalur+reckoning], there was at least some potential for the game to distinguish itself in the fantasy MMO genre.

I can't say it's fun to watch this video, because the ugly collapse [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/118053-38-Studios-Founder-is-All-Tapped-Out] of 38 Studios represents the end of a dream and significant personal trauma and financial distress for an awful lot of people. But it's fascinating to see, even for just a few seconds, what might have been.

Source: Kotaku [http://kotaku.com/5924410/the-trailer-you-werent-supposed-to-see-for-a-game-youll-never-play]


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Fiz_The_Toaster

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That looked really cool, and I would've actually played that.

Oh well, at least we got to see what it looked like before all traces of that went to deletion bin.
 

J. Mazarin

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Nexon or someone should buy that shit.

Come on, it's not like whoever the hell owns KOA can demand too much...
 

Falterfire

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I don't see why anybody would get excited by this trailer. It's so very solidly meh. At best it looks like a World of Warcraft clone. The whole "You can change fate!" shtick is so obviously meaningless when you're making an MMO that I have to wonder what they were thinking. The art direction is interesting, but I'm certainly not going to choose/play an MMO based exclusively on art style, especially not one with as baffling of writing as this one appears to have.
 

therandombear

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One said:
Nexon or someone should buy that shit.

Come on, it's not like whoever the hell owns KOA can demand too much...
2 bags of pretzels!

OT: Extremely dull voiceover, but I guess that was only a test trailer they made to actually get a trailer together and then get a new voiceover, though that is kinda late now. ;)

I can see from the trailer though that yes, it looked like an interesting place to explore, but I can not get myself to like games where you are born/spawned/summoned or in this case "revived/resurrected" as The One to save everything in an MMO.

This works in Singleplayer games, not MMOs where you are supposed to be The One, but as you turn a corner you see 100 other "Chosen ones".

Takes the magic out of it, imo.
 

Absolutionis

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It looks terribly generic.

Elves, Dwarves, and Humans in a medieval kingdom. Stuff about fate. As an MMO, it looks too close to WoW to be anything special.

I'm not going to say "good riddance", but it's good that 38 Studios died before they drained even more money on something that would inevitably fail.
 

Krat Arona

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Wait, I thought someone bought that company after all the major hubub went down. Wasn't it Epic or someone like that buying them a thing?

Or was there just talk of them being bought and I'm just crazy?
 

Starke

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One said:
Nexon or someone should buy that shit.

Come on, it's not like whoever the hell owns KOA can demand too much...
That apparently is actually the sticking point though. The State of Rhode Island owns it, and they want something to the tune of 3m for it. So, yes, far too much.
 

2fish

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Well It was ok I guess but it hit my instant mmo WTF moment. You are all the chosen one! Yeah the guy griefing the starting zone by bringing in huge monsters he was chosen by fate to save the world or chosen to do that act or just shut up he was chosen.

I fear it would have to have been much better than the ad to survive the MMO world.
 

Azuaron

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Krat Arona said:
Wait, I thought someone bought that company after all the major hubub went down. Wasn't it Epic or someone like that buying them a thing?

Or was there just talk of them being bought and I'm just crazy?
Epic bought Big Huge Games, which made Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning. 38 Studios (which owned Big Huge Games) was making Copernicus with a different dev team.

Captcha: LOL cat

Seriously?
 

J. Mazarin

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Jun 25, 2012
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Starke said:
One said:
Nexon or someone should buy that shit.

Come on, it's not like whoever the hell owns KOA can demand too much...
That apparently is actually the sticking point though. The State of Rhode Island owns it, and they want something to the tune of 3m for it. So, yes, far too much.
3 million? That's it?

I know whoever bought it would have to finish development and everything, but 3 million is chump change to some of these companies...
 

Scarim Coral

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I guess this had been added to the list of "wanted games that won't be made for real" to some people out there.
 

piinyouri

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SmashLovesTitanQuest said:
Fucking sucks man, the world really is begging to be lived in. It must be pretty shitty, lovingly crafting those environments and then never seeing the game released.
I agree.

Was I the only one who enjoyed the narration?
I was happily surprised to not be greeted by the truly generic "old grizzled man" or the "ephemeral elven-like female" voice.

It did look like a higher poly count version of World of Warcraft but I think I could have enjoyed this.

Sad indeed.
 

dessertmonkeyjk

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Thus, the circle keeps on turning until someone decides to do something with it.

I wouldn't mind a full-blown online version of Fable really. Just don't let Pete touch it.
 

InsanityRequiem

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The one thing I noticed with the little videos and pictures put out, is that huge would be an understatement for the game. While 'some' bosses and some set pieces may seem huge in some of the MMOs out now, nothing would have been as some of the set pieces in Project Copernicus. Which makes me sad. I would have loved to scroll the camera out as far as I can, and see that even pointing the camera downwards, or upwards for a perspective change, I may not even see the whole monster/building/geographical piece.
 

Clearing the Eye

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Just... Just sop making MMOs. Everyone, just stop. The vast majority of them suck biscuits and they're all almost interchangeable at this point.

Let this company be a warning to you all.