Auran studios is giving you the opportunity to play their game for free for the next ten days. You can download the free trial of the game at their site. There have also been some big improvements to the game since the beta: 

• Massive performance increases (many players are reporting double frame rates, especially in Low Spec renderer)
• New game maps, with more to come next week
• New Bloodbath Training Ground with 4 bots and 3 other human players in a FFA (great for perfecting your skills before the challenge of taking on higher level opponents
• Changes to the Ranking system (Rank is now determined by your skill in battle not trials completed or time played)
• Pre-made groups and pick-up groups are now separated in the Matchmaker queue
• Lower ranked players (i.e. new players and beginners) receive an Offense and Defense bonus (making it more likely for them to hit their target)
• Major improvements to the Database which improve loading times and mail/vendor response times during peak periods
• Lots and lots of minor bug fixes, crash fixes and optimizations (with more still to come)

The first two games under the Gamecock name will finally be coming out in October. On October 9th, Fury be will unleashed on to the PC. 

Shortly following that, Dementium: The Ward will be released on October 31st. The official box art for the Ward was just released as well. Not bad, especially since most DS box arts are all bright and full of happiness. 

Overall, I'm really excited to see the Gamecock games come out. Dementium was one of the games I was really looking forward to playing at E3 and I was really satisfied with what I played. I was even surprised that I enjoyed Fury, especially since I can't get into MMO type games at all.

Want a second opinion? Our friends at Modojo also just got their filthy hands on it.

[Via Game Industry -- Thanks TheGoldenDonut!] 

Another MMO, you say? Gosh, break out the party hats. Seriously though, I actually give a damn about NCsoft releases, and that probably has a great deal to do with the character creation system (otherwise known as pure crack cocaine for the comic book nerd) in City of Heroes. Apparently not afraid to talk big, NC claims Aion to be "the most visually stunning MMORPG ever made." That's lovely, guys, but what makes it different from every other online grind out there?

Aion centers around the concept of flight, not for transport alone but also for battle. They also claim to be introducing PvPvE, a system that claims to combine PvP and PvE play into one seamless game experience. I'm not sure if I think the concept is good or disturbing. Do I want to be unprepared for a legion of seventeen year olds disguised as flying monkeys to loot my sh*t at anytime? I guess it does add that element of reality in there. Anyway, throw in a storyline with an epic war brewing between Divine beings, and you get the idea of what Aion is going for.

Bottom line: I need a reason to play an MMO other than grinding. As beautiful as this game does look, and as much faith as I have in NCsoft, I still am not convinced it's worth it to play it. It seems to be a new syndrome cropping up in the gamer community --MMO's aren't worth the amount of time you pour into them. What would make you want to play an MMO enough to give up real life time to do so?