When DC Universe Online debuted last January, it became the first MMO available for the PlayStation 3. Sony Online Entertainment wants to celebrate the first anniversary of this hit game by providing a special mission and item in game today.

“We broke a lot of new ground with last year’s launch of DC Universe Online, both by successfully creating the first PS3™ MMO community and adding true action combat to the genre,” said Lorin Jameson, Executive Director of Development, Sony Online Entertainment. “The free-to-play transition at the end of last year is a proof point that our community is stronger and larger than ever. We are very proud of what we’ve accomplished thus far and look forward to continuously striving to improve the game.”

To celebrate the game’s one-year anniversary, players will receive a special one-of-a-kind One Year Anniversary Cape that features a number “1” on the back. The cape will be granted to players through their mission journal on January 11. The character must exist on the 11^th to be eligible to receive the mission. However, players do not need to log in on the 11^th; as long as the character exists on the 11^th, players will receive the mission the next time they log in.

The game went free to play late last year and has been a hit among MMO fans and comic book fans a like. More on what the game has accomplished in it’s first year after the jump.

While DC Universe Online may be doing well in its own right, and churning out tons of new downloadable content, there has been rumors of a Marvel-based online multiplayer for nearly a decade. With the help of Gazillion entertainment, that’s becoming more of a reality.

Now, under the temporary title of Marvel Universe (temporary for obvious reasons), the game is set to give gamers complete control over some of their favorite heroes and villains from the Marvel Universe.

Much like DC, the game will be available online to everyone, but the two major differences are the playability of classic characters, and the fact that the game will be available on PC and XBox 360, which will be a direct competition to Sony Online’s deal with DC Universe Online and the PlayStation 3.

While the game doesn’t have a solid release date, that isn’t stopping Gazillion from releasing tons of new details and goodies from the game. We’ve got a bunch of new character designs straight from the game designers. Take a look after the jump and keep it here for more details on the game as they develop.

Sony Online’s DC Universe Online has had a pretty rough year. Between the server blackouts, the massive PSN hack, and dealing with a paid service to a broke community, they’ve fallen on some hard times.

But that isn’t stopping them from releasing tons of new content for their now free DC Universe Online. Just a few months ago, we were opened up to the world of Green Lantern with their Fight for the Light DLC. Now their continuing in the trend with a whole Flash universe-based DLC in Lightning Strikes.

Set to hit your console and PC next week on December 6th, the new features include a brand new Eletricity Power set, as well as an all new map, new challenges, and tons of Flash-based characters for you to interact with.

We’ve got a brand new trailer highlighting these features for you to check out after the jump, as well as the full rundown on what the DLC includes. Take a look at that after the jump, and don’t forget to grab DC Universe Online for FREE on PC and PS3 now.

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.

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.

The main benefit to Sony’s DC Universe Online being a mass-multiplayer online role playing game is that they are constantly updating the software with new and exciting add-ons and challenges. During the month of February, they added the Valentine’s arena in which players fought as cherubic angels against one another.

This month, the digital universe is going back to it’s comic book roots with a story plucked straight from the panels in which Batman’s worldwide security system, Brother Eye, goes haywire and needs to get taken down. Here’s the official description from SOE.

The Batcave Inner Sanctum, the latest group combat raid from DC Universe Online, reveals the fight inside the Batcave to prevent Brother Eye from accessing the cave’s main computer in hopes of using it as a nexus point for sending signals around the world. Will Brother Eye succeed, or are the heroes inside the DC Universe up to the challenge?

The raid is currently available, and we’ve got a sneak peek for you to check out exactly what you’re in for, just after the jump.

Okay, here’s my official take on the Academy Award show this year. The entertainment world is abuzz today with reports of how horrible James Franco and Anne Hathaway were as hosts of the show. I think that they are being unfairly maligned. I found Hathaway charming, beautiful, and eager to please.

On the other hand, Franco seemed like he didn’t give a crap about the show or his performance. He was obviously stoned out of his mind, and I am not one to judge, but that is flat out disrespectful. Do that stuff on your own time, not when you are in front of a billion people. Anne Hathaway didn’t stand a chance when she was saddled with the stoner from hell. I genuinely felt bad for her.

Franco has had an amazing year. I used to dismiss him as a joke, until I saw his performance in 127 Hours. He was astounding. Shortly after I saw the film, I spoke at a public event, and swore that I would never sell him short again. Until now.

Franco has squandered all the good will he has earned in one catastrophic hosting gig. Back in the penalty box you go, Mr. Franco. This time it won’t be so easy to earn your way out. For a very funny take on Franco’s questionable frame of mind, check out this Gawker.com article.

To be fair, I truly didn’t feel that the two were given much to do. Outside of a great film montage at the beginning of the show, they were barely present. Perhaps that was a blessing. Still, Hathaway deserves props.

Franco’s quick little appearance in drag was bizarre, jarring and random. I felt like I was watching an SNL skit.

As it is every week, this week’s episode of The Flickcast is brimming with fun, entertainment, knowledge and all sorts of humor and insightful commentary. Well, it’s sorta funny at least.

Anyway, this week Chris and Matt are joined by Chief Gaming Guru John Carle to talk all things DCU Online, Sony PS2, PSP2, Activision and Toy Fair. In addition, they discuss new trailers for X-Men: First Class and I Am Number Four, Smallville‘s series finale featuring Lex Luthor and a whole lot more.

Chris, Matt and John also make some new picks this week to help guide you and highlight movies, TV shows, games and more that you may not have heard of. What were the picks? Well, you’ll just have to listen to the show to find out. We can’t always give everything away.

As always, if you have comments, questions, critiques, offers of sponsorship or whatever, feel free to hit us up in the comments, on Twitter, at Facebook and MySpace or via email.

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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.

As many were aware, yesterday was potentially a historic day for both comic book fans and video gamers alike, as DC Universe Online, the largest MMO role playing game for both the PS3 console and the PC with actual licensed characters, hit shelves everywhere in the US. The game is said to be a landmark in the way comic fans and gamers cross over, and could even be huge for more cross-platform marketing.

DC Entertainment has quite a big year ahead of it in the box office as well, with their first big-budget, costumed live action flick since Dark Knight hits theaters with Ryan Reynolds’ Green Lantern. You can expect to see plenty of marketing between now and the film’s June release, even in-game marketing with DCUO. From Heat Vision:

Jim Lee, co-publisher of DC Entertainment and executive creative director for DCUO, said that while the game will remain focused on 75 years of comic book lore, future expansions of the game will tie into film events like Warners’ The Green Lantern.