News Digest, Number 4 of....

This is how the rest of the world views Aion. Yes, it's not the most impressive news, but it is what everyone else is seeing and considering, so it's definitely important.

News briefs:

Quote:

Shanda Interactive Entertainment (SNDA), a NASDAQ-listed Chinese digital entertainment portal, has appointed Precision Digital Marketing to launch its Aion game in Shanghai.

Precision is tasked with developing the digital strategic planning through online word-of-mouth and social networking marketing. Forum marketing and blogger out-reach are also on the agenda.

Source: SNDA hires Precision Digital to launch Aion - Digital Media

Quote:

As a visually stunning fantasy 3D MMORPG, AION has received much acclaim and multiple awards since its release in Korea. The game was selected as the "Most Anticipated Online Game in 2009" at the 2008 China Game Industry Annual Conference and the "Most Anticipated Online Game of the Year" at the 2008 Annual Conference of the Chinese e-Game Industry. Both these awards are considered among the most prestigious within China's online game industry.

Source: http://news.prnewswire.com/DisplayRe...5005005&EDATE=

Quote:

The leading Chinese online game developer and operator previously announced that the game would start its open beta test on April 8, 2009, with concurrent players breaking 500,000.

Source: IELSF,SNDA Shanda OK'd to Operate Aion in China

Financial stuff:

Quote:

Pali analyst says, "After being in beta testing for only one day, SNDA announced last Friday that it will commercially launch AION on April 16th. The quick turnaround from beta testing to commercial launch shows that the game is good enough to skip the open beta phase, which normally takes about a 1 ? 3 month period to accumulate gamers. We believe AION has the potential to be a hit game in the China market for two reasons: 1) An outstanding start - the number of players during the first day of beta testing reached more than 500K, which is unprecedented since the development of China?s online game market in 2000. Even though all servers (more than 70) were running on full capacity, it is still not enough to accommodate everyone as there are about 100K ? 200K players waiting to log into the game; 2) Historically, if a game is very successful in Korea then it is highly likely that it would be a success in China as well. AION has already become the #1 game in Korea after being in operations for only 6 months. This is a good indication of its potential success in China, in our view...What could be the financial impact on SNDA? Based on the initial data, at RMB 0.48 per hour and 500K PCU, we believe we could see additional revenue of $86.3M and $180.7M in 2009 and 2010, respectively."

Source: StreetInsider.com - Pali Research Maintains a 'Buy' on Shanda Interactive (SNDA); Raises Price Target on Positive AION Launch

Blogs:

Quote:

One of the most anticipated MMOs right now is Aion: The Tower of Eternity. NCSoft's high fantasy MMO is catching the eye of gamers all over the world with stunning graphics, flight, and PvPvE.

Source: Oklahoma City MMORPG Examiner: Chinese beta gives first true look at Aion

Here's a short announcement:
source

"NCsoft announced today that they will begin beta testing in Japan in July.
There's gonna be a pre-open beta starting in mid-late June and open beta will start on 12th of July.

While NCsoft still haven't confirmed payment methods in that region, all signs indicate that it will follow the model they're using in Korea and China.

Following the korean and chinese release, Japan, Taiwan and the western parts of the world will get the game later this year (in that order - tr)."

NEW IMAGES!
[CONCEPT]:

[SCREENSHOTS]:

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