It’s been a while since I wrote a blog. I’m going to try and do this more often, but I’ve been traveling quite a bit.

I just got back from the China Joy show in Shanghai. That show is very, very cool. The noise from the booths is deafening. You will literally see two companies with full-on bands on stages 30 feet from one another, both going at a volume that will blow out your eardrums. All of this is taking place in one of the most amazing cities on this planet — Shanghai. Imagine taking the Manhattan skyline and expanding it to the square mileage of Los Angeles and it’s a good start. It’s pretty hot there this time of year — it felt like what the surface of Venus must feel like — but it didn’t stop the masses from visiting this show. I’ve never seen more people packed into a convention in my life.

As an American, it really is quite a sight to see how big online gaming is in the Asian market. The closest comparison is probably E3 for online games – with Chinese style. There were three very large exhibit halls filled with online games from all over the world.

We were there showing a new game we’re developing in our Taiwanese studio, SOGA. We’re not quite ready to announce it just yet, but let’s just say there’s a whole lot of Kung Fu fighting going on in it!  I played the latest rev when we visited the SOGA team in Taipei after China Joy, and it’s a hell of a lot of fun.

One of the things I like best about SOE’s overall development direction is that we’re creating a wide variety of new games. We have four diverse MMO titles in internal development, not counting the five MMOs we currently have live, or our partnership with Sigil for Vanguard.

Each of these new games is aimed at a very different market and all of them are in different genres. From our perspective, it’s time to shake things up a bit in the online gaming space. We’re aiming for very high production values that will bring us (and gamers) into completely new places. We’re bringing mercenaries, spies, super-heroes and a new whimsical world to life as I write this. We’re also concentrating on bringing each of these games to you on both the PC and the upcoming PlayStation 3.

With the exception of the DC Comics game we’re working on, each of these games is an original IP. Our teams in San Diego, Austin, Seattle and Taiwan are excited about working on game worlds that we’re developing ourselves. It’s often frustrating to work with third party IP. There’s a constant battle over what the right direction is for the game, and from our own recent experience, it’s not something we enjoy. It very often puts handcuffs on what we can and can’t do and, frankly speaking, it’s a lot harder to make great games when the IP holders don’t understand the online gaming market.

The exception to this rule has been our relationship with the team at DC Comics. I have to say they are indeed a pleasure to work with. Jim Lee’s involvement as the Executive Creative Director has been a hell of a lot of fun. I just saw the latest build, and the team has come up with a combat system that I think is hands down the best I’ve ever seen. It doesn’t remotely feel like today’s MMOs. It’s all about the action.

One last thing:  In the near future, you’re going to read about another big development here at SOE. We recently acquired a game developer that is going to take us into a new space entirely. We’re really excited about it and I think when you hear what it’s about and see what they’re working on you’ll agree!