NCsoft is operating six games at once? Yes they are, and Halloween is coming to each one of them. The Mad King Thorn returns to Guild Wars, Scarecrow Jack visits Lineage II, the original Lineage has a costume party, the City of Heroes faces a Halloween Apocalypse, and Exteel's Mechnaughts get painted orange and purple.

Yes, the festivities abound, but by far my favorite is what's going on in NCsoft's latest release, Aion. Since the world is split into two halves, there are two different celebrations! The Asmodians, otherwise known as the best faction, celebrate by going on a Wild Hunt, cooking special dishes and having a good time. The lowly Elyos, on the other hand, get plagued by zombies. They totally deserve it too.

Check out the full list of NCsoft's Halloween celebrations below!

Aion – Harvest Revel

During the Fall harvest, the people of Atreia have always celebrated the bounty of the land. Years ago, the joy of the annual revels was troubled by an eclipse-a peculiar and magical eclipse that brought darkness to Asmodae and Elysea. Ever since, for days during Harvest Revel, the sky goes dark and the people of Atreia join in the hunt.

Asmodians celebrate the bounty through the Wild Hunt, racing after the Wild Kurthanir hunt leader and cooking special dishes made from the meat. On the other side of Atreia, the Elyos encounter undead creatures pulled back into a semblance of life by the power of the eclipse. Elyos must join roving Dark Night bands to hunt and destroy the undead before they invade Elyos villages.

Each day during Harvest Revel players will be rewarded for their investment with new lore and tasty treats including a Halloween Hat and candy that will transform players into in game creatures!

· Starts: Sunday, October 25, 2009

· Ends: Saturday, October 31, 2009

Visit www.aiononline.com for more Aion-specific information.

Guild Wars – The Return of Mad King Thorn

It's Halloween in Tyria, and that means one thing: the return of Mad King Thorn ! Similar to years past, the maniacal monarch has come to play, and he's got a bag full of tricks and treats to delight and dismay. But non-tricksters fear not, there are plenty of ways to celebrate Halloween – participate in several special events (a new series of quests and a costume PvP brawl) or explore the decorated cities/towns adorned with Halloween décor.

· Starts: Friday, October 23, 2009

· Ends: Monday, November 2, 2009

Visit www.guildwars.com for more Guild Wars information.

City of Heroes – Triumph over the New Deadly Halloween Apocalypse

Players brace themselves for a new apocalypse as City of Heroes' annual Halloween Event returns with legions of Zombies, Werewolves, Jack-o-Lanterns, and other foul denizens descend upon Paragon City and the Rogue Isles. This year they're bringing even more powerful allies! The new apocalypse is deadlier than ever as mysterious monstrosities join forces with the Eidolons, Shivans, and others. Paragon City and the Rogue Isles are in terrible peril, and only the greatest Heroes and Villains can turn back the tide. The greater the challenge, the greater the reward!

· Starts: Tuesday, October 20, 2009

· Ends: Tuesday, November 3, 2009

Visit www.cityofheroes.com for more City of Heroes information.

Lineage II – "Scarecrow Jack" and Halloween Adena Art Contest

Halloween is just around the corner and players can win in-game prizes by showing off their creative holiday spirit. Players are encouraged to create and share their Halloween and/or autumn themed adena art (visual art created by dropping adena on the ground in-game to create an image seen from above.) For those just looking to have fun this Halloween, players can don a "Scarecrow Jack" illusion featuring two animated emotes. Along with the illusion, players will receive 5 revita pops to refill their vitality bars while in game.

· Starts: Wednesday, October 28, 2009

· Ends: Thursday, November 19, 2009

· Deadline for art submissions is Saturday, October 31, 2009 at 11:59pm CDT

Visit www.lineage2.com for more Lineage II information.

Lineage – " Cavern of Chaos" Costume Party

The Lineage team is hosting the in-game party of all parties this Halloween – costumes not required, but highly encouraged! In addition to free polymorph "costumes," most monsters will drop pumpkin seed, which is redeemable for prizes like a Pinewand to spawn monsters of choice, accessories, and Stat t-shirts from NPCs. No tricks about it, as an added bonus, players will be treated to increased item drops from Bosses. See you at the "Cavern of Chaos!"

· Starts: Wednesday, October 28, 2009

· Ends: Wednesday, November 4, 2009

Visit www.lineage.com for more Lineage information.

Exteel – Halloween Event
Smashing pumpkins and bag snatching is easy! Try picking on a Mechanaught your own size, even if it is painted Orange and Purple! Exteel players are encouraged to celebrate this Halloween colorfully with free Orange and Purple paint. But that's not all! Players will receive +50% bonus credits during the week-long Exteel Halloween celebration!

· Starts: Wednesday, October 28, 2009

· Ends: Wednesday, November 4, 2009

Visit www.exteel.com for more Exteel information.

Hit the jump for more details, including what's in store for Lineage II, and Exteel players. Did someone say free giant mech paint jobs?

Guild Wars

On Friday, October 24, Mad King Thorn makes his return to Guild Wars in yet another ghoulish Halloween season in Tyria. Players can take on the king and his maniacal mini-games, jokes and riddles at their own risk. But the rewards will be worth the effort. Winners will earn fabulous prizes. Losers will be killed. But like any good Halloween event, you can always come back to try again. Other events for this Halloween season include a costume brawl in a newly designed area of Guild Wars, dreadful Halloween peddlers located in Lion’s Arch and Kamadan who will barter for their creepy items and photo ops where you can take your character’s picture amongst some of the holiday props and settings. More information on all the frightful happenings in Guild Wars can be found here, http://www.guildwars.com/events/ingame/halloween2008/.

City of Heroes

City of Heroes’ annual Halloween event is back again with even more evil twists. This season, gruesome zombies are on the prowl and they’re after all heroes and villains. In addition to fighting off the dead guys, City of Heroes’ Halloween event has a familiar look with Classical Costumes. Badges will be awarded to those who collect the most costumes. But don’t stop there. Wear your costumes and go out trick or treating in Paragon City. Check out http://www.cityofheroes.com/news/archives/2008/10/halloween_event.html for more info.

Lineage II

Lineage II players will be celebrating Halloween along with the launch of the latest update to the game, Gracia – Part 2. On Tuesday, October 28th, the day Gracia – Part 2 launches, all players level 20 and above who go to their warehouse will receive a Pumpkin Transformation Stick which will change the player into a pumpkin ghost. Additionally there will be a surprise gift, but we can’t tell you what this is until next week when the event starts. All the details about Lineage II’s special Halloween Haunt can be found here, http://www.lineage2.com/archive/2008/10/halloween_haunt.html.

Tabula Rasa

For the next two weeks players can participate in special Halloween missions scattered throughout Tabula Rasa’s expansive world. Complete them and you’ll get a trick or treat emote and one of nine masks. If you played trick or treat in Tabula Rasa last year, you may recognize some of the masks but some will be brand new. For more information visit http://www.rgtr.com/news/latest_news/trick_or_treat.html.

Exteel

Starting Wednesday, October 29, Exteel will be celebrating its first Halloween by giving all of its players the opportunity to paint their robotic Mechanaughts orange and black at no extra cost. They’ll also be able to enjoy their new Halloween-themed paint schemes while earning 50% more credits and experience for every match played in the game. Be sure to take advantage of it quickly—Exteeloween ends on November 5! For more information about Exteel go to http://www.exteel.com.

As an added bonus, both the $20 City of Heroes card and the $14.95 Tabula Rasa cards come with bonus in-game items - a jet pack and a rocket respectively. CoH and Exteel cards should be showing up at Target already, with those two and the exclusive Tabula Rasa cards appearing in Best Buy next week. Hit the jump for more info on pricing and availability.

NCsoft Expands Retail Presence with New Game Cards in Stores across North America
Target, Best Buy and Rite Aid to Sell Cards for Popular NCsoft Online Games

AUSTIN, Texas—(BUSINESS WIRE)—NCsoft® (KSE: 036570.KS), the world’s leading developer and publisher of online computer games, is teaming up with InComm, a technology firm that develops, markets and distributes stored-value gift and prepaid products, to bring many of NCsoft’s popular games to consumers on prepaid Game Cards.

Some of the top retailers in North America are participating in the new retail initiative that will include City of Heroes®, Richard Garriott’s Tabula Rasa® and Exteel™. Target, Best Buy and Rite Aid will be the first stores to offer the NCsoft Game Cards.

“This is a great opportunity for NCsoft to grow its expanding portfolio of triple-A massively multiplayer games beyond traditional retail channels,” said Lisa Bell-Cabrera, vice president of sales for NCsoft’s North American business. “Of course, we think this is a huge value to our customers. The InComm cards provide an incredibly convenient way for our customers to access our games and by using the cards, they’ll be getting some bonus items that will enhance their game play experience.”

The City of Heroes cards will provide purchasers with an exclusive in-game jet pack in addition to a convenient way to download and play the comic-book inspired online computer game without requiring a credit card. The City of Heroes Game Cards will retail for US$20 and come with 30 days of game play.

Tabula Rasa Game Cards will retail for US$14.95 and will be available exclusively at Best Buy stores. Those who purchase the Tabula Rasa Game Card will get an exclusive in-game rocket. Like the City of Heroes card, the Tabula Rasa card provides a handy method for downloading the game and includes 30 days of game play.

Those who enjoy the fast-paced action of fighting robots on futuristic battlegrounds can purchase the new Exteel Game Cards at participating retailers. The cards will provide buyers with NCcoin™, NCsoft’s new micro-transaction system that allows customers to use real-world money to purchase in-game items and upgrades. The Exteel card will include 1,000 NCcoin, plus 200 bonus NCcoin, to purchase more powerful weapons, skills and parts for your fighting Mechanaught. Exteel is a free-to-download and free-to-play game. The Exteel Game Card retails for US$10.

“The prepaid card market continues to grow year over year,” said Brooks Smith, InComm President and CEO. “We are thrilled to have one of the leading MMO publishers as an addition to our growing portfolio of prepaid game cards. With its limited packaging, the InComm card provides consumers with a ‘green’ alternative to their game purchases, plus it adds flexibility and other offerings that consumers can appreciate.”

City of Heroes and Exteel Game Cards will be available at Target stores the weekend of July 26. City of Heroes, Exteel and Tabula Rasa cards will be available at Best Buy beginning August 3 and Rite Aid will begin offering City of Heroes cards on September 3. Other games and retailers are expected to be announced in the near future.

To activate their prepaid cards, NCsoft gamers simply purchase a Game Card, scratch off the serial number on the back of the card and activate their new game on http://www.PlayNC.com/us/gamecard/.

NCsoft's goal is to bring more and more people into the online gaming market, and part of achieving that goal is to continue to diversify how customers can pay and play," said Chris Chung, NCsoft North America's president. "This system will offer our customers much greater flexibility and convenience in paying for content.

NCsoft rolls out NCcoin, a new micro-transaction system for online games- Austin, Texas - April 16, 2008

NCsoft® Corporation, the world's leading developer and publisher of online computer games, unveiled today the details of a new micro-transaction system called NCcoin™. This system will allow customers to use real-world money to purchase in-game items and upgrades.

NCcoin, debuting in the action-packed game Exteel™, was designed so that each dollar spent (US$1) equates to 100 NCcoin, which can be used to acquire in-game items and for upgrade purchases. NCcoin is part of NCsoft's continuing efforts to offer a variety of business models while giving customers easier access to NCsoft games.

"NCsoft's goal is to bring more and more people into the online gaming market, and part of achieving that goal is to continue to diversify how customers can pay and play," said Chris Chung, NCsoft North America's president. "This system will offer our customers much greater flexibility and convenience in paying for content. Micro-transactions are a growing part of the online gaming industry and NCcoin will allow us to support micro-transaction based games efficiently, allowing developers and players to quickly enjoy the benefits of those systems. We will soon be rolling out more contents that leverage the flexibility of NCcoin."

In addition to Exteel, NCcoin is expected to be incorporated globally into many of NCsoft's existing and upcoming games. NCcoin is currently available in 100, 500, 1000 and 2000 denominations for $1, $5, $10 and $20 amounts, respectively.

For more information about NCcoin go to: http://www.plaync.com/us/nccoin/.

... We queried him on the exclusive deal that NCsoft recently signed with Sony for the PS3. We've yet to see an MMO game take off on consoles, so how will NCsoft approach this challenge? "I think there are a lot of causes that factor into good MMOs on a console," Chang ventured. "These are elements like 'does the person have a standard definition TV or an HDTV?' You don't have a good a resolution on regular TV, and a lot of games were hurting for that. Ultimately, we have to really optimize for consoles; we have to create an experience that's suited for the [PS3] and supports the MMO element. I think the shift is inevitable; real-time strategy is one of the last PC genres moving onto consoles, and I think we'll see a similar trend for online games as well."

Chung has some other, more general comments related to the casual and MMO markets and a little about the two new games NCsoft will be launching this coming year, Aion and Exteel.

NCsoft's Chris Chung On the Future, Worldwide Hits and PS3 MMOs [GameDaily]

NCsoft Vouches for In-Game Ads [Next Gen]