Even though SDCC is already a month removed, we still have some games news still to cover. One of those stories is that of Payday: The Heist. Coming from Sony Online Entertainment, Payday: The Heist is a four player cooperative shooter inspired by the combination of the movie Heat, the most famous heist movie of all time, and the game Left 4 Dead, a stunning example of cooperative shooter gameplay.

This isn’t the first time Heat has played inspiration to the video game world. Anyone who got into Grand Theft Auto 4 will remember one of the best missions of the game comes from the bank robbery based off of Heat. Now, instead of a third person single player experience, gamers can team up with up to three friends to take down a bank and try to escape with their winnings a la Left 4 Dead, minus the zombies.

Players need to be conscious of everything from hostages which can be used as currency to revive killed teammates to security cameras which can be disabled in order to reduce the amount of intel available to SWAT and hostage extraction squads.

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When DC Universe Online launched earlier this year, it was possible to recreate almost any character, classic or modern, that fans of comics have loved for decades. There was one group of heroes and villains though that was noticeably left out in terms of power sets though. The Lanterns. Green, Red, Yellow, Blue and all the others had no presence in DC Universe Online from the player community. Sure they could fight alongside Hal Jordan but without a power ring of their own where is the fun in that?

Coming at the end of summer, the Fight for the Light expansion comes to DC Universe Online allowing ring based power sets to create a new array of combat options. Boxing gloves, freight trains, fighter jets, machine guns and more all produced by little green rings will up the ante in DCUO.

At Comic-Con, Mark Anderson from Sony Online Entertainment spoke with The Flickcast about what we would see in this expansion. In addition to seeing sights like Coast City or the Science Cells on Oa, the expansion will also help wrap up the story with Brainiac and the anomalies of the power rings. Players will be given the role as Corps Reserve members to help explain why so many lanterns are running around in a single sector.

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Poor Sony just can’t seem to get a break lately. With hackers already breaking into Playstation Network and Qriocity services only last week, the company now says hackers may have stolen the personal information, including credit card numbers, of 24.6 Million users of Sony Online Entertainment.

“We are today advising you that the personal information you provided us in connection with your SOE account may have been stolen in a cyberattack,” Sony wrote in a statement on its website on Monday.

Sony Online Entertainment is a division of the company that publishes online multiplayer games like the recently released DC Universe Online. Sony turned off all SOE game services Monday after it learned of the intrusion.

Sony said that the compromised personal information includes customers’ names, addresses, e-mail addresses, birth dates, gender, phone numbers, logins and hashed passwords. Also at risk are the credit card numbers and expiration dates of 12,700 non-U.S. customers, plus 10,700 direct debit records from customers in Austria, Germany, Netherlands and Spain, containing bank-account numbers, customers’ names and addresses.

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After years of waiting (and reporting) DC Universe Online has finally made its way to both the PC and PlayStation 3 console. And we are happy to see it has lived up to the hype. While DCUO isn’t a ground breaking experience that will redefine the MMORPG genre, it does provide an addictive and fun super hero world for people to play in.

Taking a few lessons learned from previous super hero titles like City of Heroes and Champions Online, DCUO allows players to experience an MMO world in an iconic universe with well known locations and super hero and villain compatriots at their side. Unlike SOE’s previous iconic MMO with Star Wars Galaxies, players are actually able to fight alongside their favorite heroes and villains instead of just receiving missions from them. The game also has a fully voiced cast, a much notable difference to players of past titles like classics like Everquest or Galaxies.

Gameplay:

DC Universe Online plays similar in many ways to most other successful MMOs. It is to be expected since those formulas have proven successful for the type of game. Players move using the traditional WASD format combined with their mouse for changing directions and looking around and aiming. Different tap and hold button combinations on the mouse (unlocking more as players increase in level) release different attacks on foes. Additional super powers are unlocked and assigned to the 1 through 8 keys that can be used during combat.

Combat itself is fast paced and fun without much down time between. Unlike many MMORPGs, combat is not item-centric where players must worry about equipping tons of healing items to use after each combat instance. As long as players don’t run through like a lunatic kamikaze, they should be able to take a breather between fights to allow their character to quickly heal up before heading into the next encounter.

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One of Cartoon Network’s most popular shows has been Star Wars: The Clone Wars. It is only fitting that only days before the show begins its third season, players will get the chance to jump in on Star Wars: Clone Wars Adventures.  On September 15th, players will be able to begin their unique online Star Wars experience. And on Friday the 17th, the newest season of Star Wars: The Clone Wars begins.

At Comic Con, we got the chance to speak with Sony Online Entertainment about the upcoming title and get a walkthrough of some of the features in the game including both the Star Fighter and Lightsaber Duel minigames, both seen in the video below.

We were told that the main goal of Star Wars: Clone Wars Adventures was to make the player feel as though they are a part of the Star Wars: Clone Wars universe with iconic characters to interact with and environments to explore. Unlike Star Wars: Galaxies, players are intended on being able to get instant gratification in this rather than grinding their way through levels in order to unlock upper tier content.

This also closely works in favor of the game’s younger target market. Right from the start, players can go up and talk to Obi-Wan Kenobi and Captain Rex. These characters help introduce players to the minigames.

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At Comic-Con, we had some time to spend talking with the developers and getting some more hands on exposure to DC Universe Online. In addition to talking to Executive Creative Director on the game Jim Lee,  we also got to talk to some of the more hands on members of the team.

Up until this point, the focus of the DC Universe Online message has been your own character’s adventure with interaction with the iconic characters. What they are looking to do now is have a mentor method where to learn from the Iconic characters such as Batman, players must experience what it’s like to be them.

The result is the competitive versus mode that allows for players to take on the role of characters like Batman or the Joker and go up against other players in order to advance as characters. The theory is that by playing as these characters, players will better understand their strengths and weaknesses, their strategies and their tactics. These matches go from 2 vs. 2 to up to 16 vs. 16. The game modes will include territories, capture the flag and sabotage.

It also allows for quick jump in and jump out gameplay for a player who only has a few minutes to play and doesn’t have the time to complete a full thirty or more minute quest in the game. Players gain PvP points that can be spent later on unlocking other characters or their character’s raid suit.

At release, Robin and Harley will be available for players for the heroes and villains sides respectively. Gaining currency, players can then unlock Nightwing, Bane and Huntress, eventually unlocking the Joker at the highest levels. As a bonus to people pre-ordering the game, Batman will be available to them from the start.

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At Comic Con, we got the chance to talk to DC Comics Editor-In-Chief and the Executive Creator Director of DC Universe Online, Jim Lee about the game that everyone around the offices has been clamoring to get a hold of. As you’ll see in the’s interview after the jump, Jim explains what it takes to create such an expansive MMO game. Jim also discusses the newly announced two vs. two simulator mode which allows players the chance to step out of the boots of their own created character and instead play as the iconic heroes of the DC Universe such as Batman or Martian Manhunter.

Lee also discusses the Geoff Johns announcement from the Con for a Suicide Squad video game. Lee describes it was a Dirty Dozen style grittier than your average super hero game. For those who aren’t aware, the Suicide Squad is a team of villains who were put together on a mission where they knew everyone wouldn’t be coming back. It is definitely a darker take on the super hero genre which, if Batman: Arkham Asylum has shown us anything, looks like it is coming out at the right time in this industry.

What you don’t get to see on camera was when Jim mentions to us just how the trailer for the game comes into play. For those who have seen it, the trailer sets up the back-story of why a Luthor from the future comes back and talks to DC’s Trinity pleading for their help. The shockwave he sends on the planet sets forth an explosion of new powers, explaining logically why all these new heroes and villains are created. This ties in directly with the upcoming comics miniseries which will show how these new found powers affect the lives of average citizens who have now been transformed into powered beings.

Check out our interview in its entirety after the jump and stick with us for all things DC Universe Online as the Beta kicks into gear this month.

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“I will become the next legend.” That sums up pretty much every heroic fantasy that anyone who has ever picked up a comic book and wondered what it’d be like to save the world has ever thought in one simple phrase. Allowing that to happen is the goal of Sony Online Entertainment’s upcoming title for the PC and PlayStation 3, DC Universe Online.  We’ve been closely following DCUO since its initial announcement in anticipation for its release.

At E3, Sony Online Entertainment has released a new trailer and set of screen shots for the game. Plus, we’ve got some exclusive video of some of the gameplay from the show as well. While we had heard that players may choose either the side of heroics or villainy, this trailer is the first to give a true impression of the thought process of what a player will be going through when making this decision.

Seeing this unnamed hero/villain standing alongside and fighting against some of DC’s most famous and infamous faces makes a person wonder just which path they will choose when they turn on the game for the first time.

Take a peek after the jump at the new trailer, screen shots and gameplay footage for DC Universe Online and make sure to give us your impressions on them and give us a hint at just what kind of hero or villain you plan on becoming when the game is released.

(We had to remove the screenshots temporarily but they will be back soon. Sorry. – Ed)

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As we mentioned yesterday, at San Diego Comic Con we had the opportunity to sit down one on one with one of DC’s top creative talents, Marv Wolfman of Crisis of Infinite Earth fame, to discuss his involvement on DC Universe Online. During our time he discusses his involvement in the DC Universe as a writer and the many different mediums it has been a part of, his own video game fandom and

The Flickcast: First off, thank you for taking the time to speak with us about this project.

Marv Wolfman: My pleasure. This is fun.

TF: For the audience who doesn’t know yet, can you explain what your involvment with the project was? I’ve heard your name attached, Jim Lee and Geoff Johns. Can you explain how all that kind of fit together?

MW: Okay. Think of it as a building. Geoff put up the structure. It has all the beams. It has all the floors. I’m coming in now and I’m putting up the walls. I’m putting up the paintings. I’m painting the walls. I’m putting up the rugs. I’m filling it with furniture. Jim is the one who has designed all of that. (Phone call interruption) Geoff came up with an overview concept for the center part of the story.

The one that sort of motivates the entire storyline. I’m coming up with now hundreds of other stories, some of which will lead you to that center story. A lot are what I call just DC stories, stories that don’t center on that big storyline but are the things that characters do normally that you get involved with. So Superman adventures, Batman adventures, Wonder Woman adventures and all the other characters down the line.

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At the recent San Diego Comic-Con, we got some major quality time with all things DC Universe Online from our gameplay footage of the game to our interview with DC superstar artist Jim Lee . We also had the opportunity to get some hands with the game itself, have a sit down with some of the developers and a one on one interview with writer Marv Wolfman and discuss his work on DC Universe Online. Because there is just so much information from SDCC we have about DC Universe Online, this is going to a be two part story with the second half coming out tomorrow.

DC Universe Online was created with the goal of fulfilling the superhero fantasy in the DC world. Players will be given the ability to create their own hero or villain in order to achieve their own legacy. The ultimate goal of any hero or villain in the game would be to get invited in to the Justice League of America or the Secret Society of Super Villains respectively.

DC Universe Online is a Massively Multiplayer Online action game. Using a Playstation 3 controller or a keyboard, the player presses a button to perform an action. Players are able to string up button pushes to chain up together complex series of attacks. In addition, heavy attacks will knock certain objects around the environment, resulting in a world that is reactive to the player’s actions. If a player hits an explosive barrel in to a wall, there will be noticeable signs left behind from the barrel’s detonation left behind.

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