Interview: The Winning G.I.R.L.

Julia Brasil was recently chosen as the winner of Sony Online Entertainment's first Gamers In Real Life (G.I.R.L.) design scholarship contest. Nearly 100 applicants submitted game concepts and essays, and Julia's Everquest II level and essay submission won her a $10,000 scholarship to The Art Institute of California, and a paid internship at Sony Online Entertainment.

We got a chance to chat with the 20 year-old Brasil (who's never won a contest in her life) about her winning concept, what she thinks of a "G.I.R.L" contest, and what she'll be working on with SOE — full interview after the jump.

SOE Clarifies The Agency's Real Money Trading

Last month Sony Online Entertainment announced that upcoming titles The Agency and Free Realms would be utilizing the Live Gamer service for real money transactions, which many people took to mean that players would be able to buy weapons and equipment to enchance their gameplay. In an interview published over at Eurogamer, lead designer Hal Milton explains that this isn't the case at all.

"I want to make this very clear," said lead designer Hal Milton. "This is not a microtransaction system within The Agency to allow players to buy weapons, outfits, or operatives to be effective within the game world. That's something that we're absolutely not planning on doing."

Instead, Live Gamer will be implemented as it is in EQII, allowing players to sell their own goods to other players. Milton did add that allowing players to recruit more operatives through a one-time out of game payment was still a possibility.

No microtransactions in The Agency [Eurogamer]

The Agency Team Sticks To Its Guns (No Licking)

At the US PlayStation Blog, director of development Matt Wilson of Sony Online Entertainment's Seattle studio, currently at work on development of The Agency, introduced himself with some quick updates from a recent open house alongside the recent ION Game Conference, which included an Agency-themed event.

At the event, apparently, everyone got to gawk at this giant gun made out of ice. Said Wilson, "A warning I gave during my introduction threatened to become our new tagline: 'Don't lick the gun.' (I personally think this is good advice in general, regardless of what the gun is actually made out of.)"

Wilson also recapped how the SOE Seattle studio got started, and how The Agency project came to be.

SOE's Agency, Free Realms To Support Real Money Trading

Sony Online Entertainment announced that its upcoming titles, The Agency and Free Realms, will support real money transactions, through the company's ongoing partnership with e-commerce platform Live Gamer.

Earlier in the year, SOE and LiveGamer built a new platform for microtransactions, incorporating and ultimately replacing EverQuest II's Station Exchange. The result of that collaboration is the Live Gamer Exchange in-game economic platform, and LiveGamer will be providing the RMT service and technology for both new titles as well.

As SOE says character customization will play a significant role in espionage action-shooter The Agency, players will be able to purchase new clothes, weapons, vehicles and other identifying items that "tailor their gameplay."

As for free-to-play, family-friendly adventure title Free Realms, in addition to a range of avatar customization items for purchase, players can make and trade their own on the transaction service as well.

Full release follows the jump.

The Agency Walk-Through

I hate to admit that I'm really looking forward to an MMO, mostly because I've been burned and burned out so many times on the over-used, under thought-out genre, but I really am getting psyched for The Agency. It looks like they've gone to great lengths to get rid of the stuff I hated in MMOs. Part two is on the jump.

The folks at Sony Online Entertainment are one of the few gaming companies who have a presence at CES, showing off upcoming wares like The Agency, the MMO that's heavy on action and light on grind. The development team walked us through a video demonstration of the game, one that was played live, but filmed from multiple perspectives and edited to show off the game's features, giving plenty of details on how the PC and PlayStation 3 game will work.

One thing's for sure, The Agency isn't even remotely attempting to attract lapsed Everquest or EVE Online gamers or anyone who feels that chopping virtual lumber is a fun way to spend a Friday night. No, The Agency is all tits, ass and guns, and I mean that in the nicest way possible. There are no bearded dwarf women or obese two-headed trolls to play, just foxy chicks in skin-tight outfits with overtly sexual walk animations and super cool, badass dudes that come in two flavors: sleek and burly.

SOE Starting Beta Registration For The Agency?

The Agency for PS3, PC Detailed