By Aasa Christine Stoltz
With real swords, metal and leather body armor and fake
blood, Norwegian gaming company Funcom launched its "Age of
Conan" Internet role-playing game with a recreation of the
famed Barbarian King's brutal world.
Guests and more than 100 journalists found themselves in an
ancient village, surrounded by sword-wielding warriors,
soldiers on horses and leather-clad women firing arrows.
In "Age of Conan," players enter the world of Hyboria to
live, fight and explore its dark nature, wary of cruel gods and
mythical creatures lurking around every corner.
All Hyboria residents are actual people signed up to the
game, taking advantage of a new technology which enables
massive multi-player online role-playing games (MMORPG).
The world is based on the works of author Robert Howard,
whose fictional fighter in an ancient world was brought to life
on the silver screen by Arnold Schwarzenegger in the 1982 film
"Conan the Barbarian."
Funcom said that over a million fans have signed up for the
test phase of the game, which boasts realistic graphics and
original music.
"We believe this represents the largest ever beta (test
phase) sign-up figure in the history of this genre of games,"
Funcom said.
Since the start of the year, Age of Conan had more than
five million unique visitors with a total of over 70 million
page views, Funcom said, citing data from Google.
"I am really ready to give birth to this thing," game
developer Gaute Godager said. "What you have today is something
bigger than what we ever dreamed of having," said Godager.
Age of Conan gives players numerous character development
options and customizes skills, abilities and deadly spells to
ensure that no two characters are exactly the same.
The massive player-versus-player combat system allows
warfare on an epic proportion. Players can also hire themselves
out as mercenaries and battle for pay.
"We have spent over $20 million over four years and had 200
people working on this project," Funcom's product manager
Erling Ellingsen told Reuters.
"This is in line with the biggest Norwegian film
productions, if not bigger," he said on the eve of the launch
in North America on May 20. The game will launch in Europe
three days later.
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