The Archivist Coalition has finally determined the date for the New Year, and they're sponsoring a First Night festival to celebrate. Wastelanders from all over the Grand Canyon Province will join together, briefly putting aside their differences, at least until Seasonal Arctic Network of Toy-based Altruism (S.A.N.T.A) and the Emissaries Leaving Free Stuff (E.L.F.S) visit. Once the fruitcake arrives - that's when the shooting generally starts. At least in my family.

Fallen Earth passed along some postcards to go along with the celebration, and they are pretty much as creepy as you'd expect. At least now we know why Rudolph's nose was so red.

If this sort of humor tickles your tickly bits, then perhaps Fallen Earth is for you. Visit the game's website to find out.

The beta testing is over, the Earth has been destroyed, and the monkeys are a great deal more intelligent now in Fallen Earth, the post-apocalyptic MMO that combines shooter style with RPG progression to create a persistent world title not quite like any other. The game is now available to purchase and play through Steam and other places like it, with a retail version recently added to the mix.

"The thoughtful development and diligence of our team is realized in a physical product, and that's exciting," said Jessica Orr, product manager for Fallen Earth. "We are pleased to add another avenue of purchase for our fans in conjunction with our existing digital sales."

Fallen Earth will be hitting store shelves on September 30th, or you can buy it right now at FallenEarth.com.

Players who want a taste of the action, which combines skill-based gameplay with that of an FPS, plus a real premium on crafting, need only sign up at FilePlanet begininning Friday at 1 pm U.S. Eastern time.

The game is set in the Grand Canyon in the year 2156, and players either protect and control resources for themselves and their towns, or use them for more perfidious ends.

There's also some pre-order premiums through Fallen Earth's preferred digital distributor. More info at the official web site.

Battle Begins Aug. 17 in Open Beta [Fallen Earth site, via Blue's News]

Yes, scenic Monkeytown, a former animal testing site now inhabited by intelligent talking gorillas who just want to be left alone to farm. Help out the local inhabitants and you might find yourself walking away with a shiny new Monkey Wrench. I can't imagine the developers weren't singing "Funkytown" with altered lyrics the entire time they were building this area. Hell, I'm singing it right now.

St. Sebastian's might not be as lyrical as Monkeytown, but it's still a lovely little place to visit. Built from a pre-Fall church, St. Sebastian's serves as a stronghold for the Lightbearers, the faction dedicated to helping humanity emerge from the darkness of post-apocalyptic society. Unfortunately, this postcard contains no monkeys.

And neither does the one for Barret Manor, one of the last bastions of culture in the ruined world. The oldest and most interesting families in Grand Canyon Province make their homes in this community, which boasts one of the only intact art galleries on the planet. It sounds like where snobs go when the world dies.

These are just a few of the fun places to visit in the Grand Canyon Province. There's also the Tech town of Picus Ridge, where worshippers of technology (aren't we all?) roam free, or New Gallows, a ruined golf course where members of the mutant-hating Human League don't want mutants, baby. Don't want them oooooooh.

Head over to the game's official website for more info on the history, factions, and scenic locales of Fallen Earth.

Fallen Earth is a skill-based MMO that combines the experience gain and skill advancement of traditional online role-playing games with the accuracy and fast action of a first-person shooter. The game is set in the Grand Canyon in the year 2156, where six warring factions struggle for control of resources and towns, each attempting to further their own goals, from rebuilding civilization to furthering the destruction that's already laid waste to the planet. Crafters should definitely look into the game, as 95% of the items found in Fallen Earth will be player-made, courtesy of a real-time crafting system.

The game will be going live on September 9th, with copies available both at retail and through digital distribution. Those interested in giving the game a go before launch can still head over to the game's website and sign up for a chance at a beta slot, but hurry - the end is nigh.

I say rarely, because the post apocalypse is nothing new to video games. I'm almost certain I've spent nearly as much time exploring the ruins of civilization as I have casting spells at scantily clad elven women. The difference here is the post-apocalyptic theme applied to a massively multiplayer online game. It's been dabbled with in games like Auto Assault and its echoes are certainly felt in Anarchy Online, but Fallen Earth is full-on wasteland wandering goodness from start to finish.

Check out the game's official website for the latest information and screens concerning life after the end of the world.

While we twiddle our thumbs waiting their game to come out, Icarus have announced that they want to support the Icarus Platform on the iPhone.

This may mean lots of always-on persistent shared world antics on the iPhone, which will be nice — although they also make virtual worlds for businesses, so there could be some non-gaming stuff in there too.

Icarus will demoing the iPhone client at the Austin Games Developers Conference, starting tomorrow.

ICARUS STUDIOS PORTS VIRTUAL WORLDS PLATFORM TO IPHONE; FIRST SHOWING AT AUSTIN GDC

GAME DEVELOPER CONFERENCE, AUSTIN, TX — SEPTEMBER 15, 2008 – Icarus Studios, which provides a turnkey solution for creating virtual worlds, MMOGs, and serious games, has announced the expansion of their development platform to the iPhone. Icarus will demo a prototype of their 3D platform running on the iPhone for the first time in booth 316 at the Austin Game Developer Conference where it will also showcase its RealTime™ online development suite and the Icarus 3D and Flash based client software.

“We are committed to porting our platform to established and emerging devices. The iPhone offers a tremendous opportunity to extend Virtual Worlds and MMOGs to mobile devices in a visually rich and intuitive device,” said James Hettinger, Chief Executive Officer, Icarus Studios.

The prototype demo on the iPhone extension will include a 360-degree panoramic tour of a sample virtual world location, with navigation ability through the accelerometer. The official launch of the Icarus 3D iPhone client will be in Q1 2009.

Built by a team of industry veterans, the Icarus suite was designed to meet the specific needs of next-generation Virtual Worlds and MMOGs supporting functionality such as user generated content, in-world social and entertainment activities, scriptable AIs, dynamic game systems, diverse revenue models, and in-world profiled marketing on a secure and scaleable platform.

The Icarus platform incorporates a number of best of breed technologies such as Vivox® for VoIP, Ageia for its physics engine PhysX™, IDV for SpeedTree®, and OC3 for avatar speech and facial expressions.

For more information visit http://www.icarusstudios.com.

RealTime is a trademark of Icarus Studios. Vivox is a registered trademark of Vivox, Inc. PhysX is a trademark of Ageia Technologies, Inc. SpeedTree is a registered trademark of IDV, Inc.

Fallen Earth Project Manager Colin Dwan said, “During the Alpha test phase, testers will be focused into specific towns so we can have miniature stress tests each week. They will be able to experience all of our game systems including missions, combat, crafting, scavenging, economy, and vehicles. We are extremely excited to move from general content creation to game balance and bug fixing.”

Incidentally the game date is 2145 and their apocalypse of choice is a plague named Shiva that wiped out 99% of the population. Always good to know which post-apocalyptic scenario we are working with. Hit the jump for full details on the alpha sign ups.

FALLEN EARTH ANNOUNCES ALPHA TEST

CARY, NC – August 12, 2008 - Post apocalyptic MMOG Fallen Earth announced today it will officially begin Alpha testing on Thursday, August 14, 2008. The test is scheduled to run through early 2009, immediately followed by Beta testing to begin in 1Q09.

Fallen Earth Project Manager Colin Dwan said, “During the Alpha test phase, testers will be focused into specific towns so we can have miniature stress tests each week. They will be able to experience all of our game systems including missions, combat, crafting, scavenging, economy, and vehicles. We are extremely excited to move from general content creation to game balance and bug fixing.”

Fallen Earth is a post-apocalyptic massively multiplayer online game that mixes first person shooter and role playing game style mechanics. The game is set in 2156, one hundred years after the world is brought low by a plague known as Shiva that killed 99% of the population. The game takes place in and around the Grand Canyon, one of the few habitable places left on Earth, which makes it a place many are willing to kill to control. Our world is one where mankind teeters on the edge of extinction, clinging to the bones of the old world while trying to recover their lost secrets. It's a world of scavengers and desperation. The players are those who choose to rise above the hardships of this new world and work toward a better world, or decide the old world was corrupt and all signs of it must be erased completely.

Gamers who are a GameSpot subscriber can apply for the free Alpha test at http://www.gamespot.com/event/codes/fallen-earth/. Gamers who are not GameSpot subscribers can go to http://www.gamespot.com/signup/index.php and sign up for free. Participants will be chosen based on qualifying criteria, applicant numbers, and testing schedules. If accepted into the Alpha test, gamers will receive a key code and can download the file immediately.

Fallen Earth, being developed using the Icarus Studios Tools Suite platform, will be showcased in the Icarus Studios booth 307 at the Virtual Worlds Expo in Los Angeles, CA, September 3-4, 2008 and in booth 316 at the Austin Game Developer Conference Expo, September 16-17, 2008.

For more information, players can visit www.fallenearth.com.