Sony Online Entertainment is removing the barriers to entry for DC Universe Online this October when the game goes free-to-play. At that point, anyone with a PS3 or PC can download the game and get to playing around in the land of licensed superheroes.

The game will now operate in three tiers. Anyone who comes in after the switch without paying for anything stays on the “Free” level, those who spent $5 or more on the game at any point in time are “Premium” members and the “Legendary” level is reserved only for those who continue to pay for a subscription.

The three tiers’ privileges look like this, per IGN:

Free
New players will now have access to the current gameplay in DC Universe Online (including Gotham City, Metropolis, and all current raids and alerts), with the ability to create two characters, join a league and many other benefits. Free level players will be able to purchase downloadable game packs/updates, additional character slots, powers and more through microtransactions.

Premium
Any player who has spent at least $5 (including former paid subscribers and new players who have purchased $5 of in-game items) will qualify for the Premium access level. Premium level players will have more benefits available to them than the Free level player, including additional character slots, additional inventory slots, and higher cash limits. Downloadable adventure packs, additional character slots, and more can be purchased in-game.

Legendary
Maximum features and benefits are included at this level. Loaded with enhanced additional features, Legendary access will be available for a $14.99 monthly fee and includes all DLC packs at no cost, more than 15 character slots, more than 80 inventory slots, the ability to form unrestricted-sized leagues, and many other benefits.

What is especially interesting is that this may have been the intended pricing structure all along. At least, that’s how SOE president John Smedley thinks it should have been:

“In terms of ‘Is it a result in a drop in subs’ – absolutely not,” he told IGN. “This is the right business model. If I can be honest, the game ended up costing a lot more than we thought it would, and this was our preferred business model from day one.”

So I suppose everyone that bought it first helped pay for some of the extra development costs? Not too sure how I’d feel about that.

In an interesting move, Sony Online Entertainment has announced the first DLC (downloadable content) for DC Universe Online. “Fight for the Light, features Green Lanter (Hal Jordan), and introduces a new power set – light.

“The Green Lantern has been a mainstay for DC Comics fans for more than 60 years, and is a fan favorite among our players,” said Mark Anderson, Game Director of DC Universe Online. “We’ve listened to the feedback, and fans can now create their own Lantern-inspired characters including the use of light powers.”

There are two specific gameplay scenarios mentioned. S.T.A.R. Labs and Coast City are mentioned as new locations/events. The interesting move is that SOE has decided that the will charge for this DLC. It will be $9.99 for PS3 and PC players. First, it would be interesting to see if this actually expands the gameplay by $10. But for players that are already paying a monthly subscription fee, are they willing to pony up more money for something that isn’t a full expansion set? I’m seeing some discussion on Twitter about this and would love to know what you think. Would you pay more for DLC to an MMO where you are already paying a monthly subscription?

Green Lantern #1

Geoff Johns has been charting the adventures of Hal Jordan and the Green Lantern Corps since Green Lantern: Rebirth, collaborating with such major artists as Ethan Van Sciver, Darwyn Cooke, Prentis Rollins, Marlo Alquiza and Mick Gray. This fall, Johns reunites with artists Doug Mahnke and Christian Alamy, as the series begins anew with Green Lantern #1 with cover by Ivan Reis and Joe Prado. Together they will continue to thrill readers and expand the Green Lantern mythos.

Change is coming. But set aside your fear. It’ll be worth the wait.

Green Lantern Corps #1

When deadly conflicts emerge across the universe, it’s up to Guy Gardner, John Stewart and an elite Green Lantern strike force to keep the peace. Green Lantern Corps #1 will be written by Peter J. Tomasi with art by Fernando Pasarin and Scott Hanna. The cover to #1 is by Doug Mahnke and Christian Alamy.

Green Lantern: The New Guardians #1

Who are The New Guardians?

The power of Rage, Avarice, Fear, Will, Hope, Compassion and Love combine to be the most powerful (and colorful) team in the corps under the leadership of Kyle Rayner. Beware their power . . . and their volatility! Green Lantern: The New Guardians #1 will be written by Tony Bedard and illustrated with cover by Tyler Kirkham and Batt.

Red Lanterns #1

Going solo. Atrocitus and his Red Lantern Corps return in their own series, battling against injustice in the most bloody ways imaginable. This Lantern Corps takes no prisoners, they are judge, jury and executioners! Red Lanterns #1 will be written by Peter Milligan with art and cover by Ed Benes and Rob Hunter.

WonderCon attendees will have a ton of Green Lantern goodness available to them. Kicking things off, on April 1st, Ryan Reynolds, Blake Lively and Peter Sarsgaard will be signing autographs at 4pm and talking about the upcoming Green Lantern movie on a panel at 5pm.

After that, Warner Bros Entertainment will be featuring the Blu-Ray and DVD feature of “Green Lantern: Emerald Knights” at the Esplanade Ballroom on Friday evening. There will be a panel after featuring filmmakers and the voice cast.

The DC Comics booth will have the Green Lantern game, “Green Lantern: Rise of the Manhunters”. The game will be available this summer on the Xbox 360, Wii, Nintendo DS, and Playstation 3.

Green Lantern

Do you like Green Lantern? I have to admit that I actually don’t know much about the story behind Hal and the Green Lantern Corps. Soon we’ll be seeing Green Lantern everywhere as Warner teams up with Mattel for a licensing program to work toward the summer 2011 release of Green Lantern from Warner Bros. Pictures.

“The sheer volume of the DC Comics property portfolio lends itself to an incredible array of consumer offerings,” said Brad Globe, president, Warner Bros. Consumer Products. “As master licensee, Mattel has consistently created innovative products that are true to the spirit of the DC Comics heroes and villains from which they are inspired. We look forward to seeing the results of the next wave of property collaborations.”

Mattel won’t be just sending out toys for the kids. They recognize that there are plenty of adult fans as well.

“We have a fantastic global partnership with WBCP and we’re thrilled to be working with them on the release of their next super hero blockbuster film. The beauty of Green Lantern is that he is an inspirational super hero with a rich, unmatched heritage that will appeal to boys of all ages. Adult collectors will be attracted to our highly detailed line of action figures and boys will be attracted to our playsets, role-play toys and vehicles because of the innovation infused throughout the entire line,” said Tim Kilpin, general manager, Mattel Brands.

DC Universe Online

Hal Jordan is the latest character to be announced for the upcoming PC and PS3 game, DC Universe Online. For those that may not be familiar with the story, Hal Jordan is the premier Green Lantern in the famed Green Lantern Corps. The corps is an intergalactic police force. Hal using his ring as a weapon which can basically do anything powered by his imagination.

“In brightest days, in blackest night,
No evil shall escape my sight.
Let those who worship evil’s might
Beware my power, Green Lantern’s light!”

Here are some brand new screenshots that showcase the Green Lantern doing his thing:

Green Lantern

Ryan Reynolds is moving from Marvel into the DC Universe. Reynolds was tapped yesterday to play Green Lantern. The Warner-Bros film is being directed by Martin Campbell and produced by Donald De Line and Greg Berlanti.

The rumors started earlier in the week when Jared Leto and Justin Timberlake joined Reynolds with testing for the role.

The deal is not sealed yet, but if Reynolds takes the role he’ll be the only actor to play both a Marvel and a DC character. Deadpool is still set to get his own spinoff movie and Reynolds is still attached to that.

“To promote the Blu-ray and DVD release of “Green Lantern:  First Flight” on July 28, a sweepstakes has been created to get fans involved and give them a chance to win cool prizes.  Green Lantern fans can enter the sweepstakes and learn more about the fifth entry in the popular DVD series of DC Universe Animated Originals through a Facebook Power Ring widget.

Green Lantern : First Flight, Available on DVD & Blu-Ray 7/28

Once the Facebook Power Ring Widget has been added to a fan’s page, they can “recharge their ring” continuously to keep it powered to 100% and automatically submit additional entries in the sweepstakes.  Additional features of the widget include a Personality Quiz, Green Lantern IQ Test, Video, News and Updates, Downloads and Links.”

Enter RIGHT NOW at 810081;">GreenLanternSweeps.com

Green Lantern First Flight

Bruce Timm is the Executive Producer on Green Lantern: First Flight and is finally giving his thoughts in a Q&A about the film. Timm has been responsible for much of the success of the animated DC Universe. He’s currently working on a few other films within the DC Universe but he stopped to answer some questions.

QUESTION:
There was no downtime for you and director Lauren Montgomery between Wonder Woman and Green Lantern: First Flight. How did you two make that quick transition, and what kept it fresh for you?

BRUCE TIMM:
Lauren did such a great job on Wonder Woman, she was immediately my first choice for Green Lantern. I thought she might be a little burned out after the massive Wonder Woman project, but to my immense relief and gratefulness, she was eager to do it.

All that said, Lauren definitely needed to take a little bit of a break in terms of character design and I wasn’t about to step up to that role, either. The tricky thing about Green Lantern is that we wanted to have a unique style sensibility. We’ve done quite a bit with the Green Lantern and characters on the Justice League, including the entire Green Lantern Corps, and we certainly didn’t want to go back and reuse any of those designs. Another really talented young artist named Jose Lopez, who had worked with Mike Goguen and Jeff Matsuda on the recent The Batman series, was brought to our attention. I looked at his portfolio and I thought, “Wow, this guy is really cool.”

Jose has a completely different design sensibility than I’m accustomed to working with. He’s a little bit anime-flavored, but not specifically anime. We brought him in to do some designs on Green Lantern, and he ended up being pretty much our entire character design department. He designed not just Green Lantern and most of the major characters but zillions of background aliens. Jose brought a really unique visual sensibility to the movie.

QUESTION:
Did you need to restrain Jose Lopez in any way, or did you just let him go wild with the character design?

BRUCE TIMM
This is a total science fiction film – we spend maybe 10 minutes on Earth at the beginning of the movie and then the rest of it all takes place in outer space and in several different alien environments. So while we did base the initial, broad strokes design on pre-existing comics characters, we still needed armies of Green Lanterns and tons of aliens. Jose designed virtually all of them – literally hundreds of unique alien species for all of these different polyglot worlds. And they are all really cool. I mean, some of the designs are really out there. Sometimes they’d hand me his designs and I’d say, “Wow, what am I even looking at? That’s a sentient being? You’ve got to be kidding me.” It’s funny because both Lauren and I encouraged him to think way outside the box. And he did – maybe further than we even imagined. Jose came up with some really bizarre life forms and they’re all good.

QUESTION:
You and Alan Burnett have been working together for a very long time. What’s that relationship like, and what does he bring that makes these projects so special?

BRUCE TIMM
Alan is the quiet man of Warner Brothers Animation and, to a degree, I feel bad because he doesn’t really get enough credit for all that he has done over the years – going all the way to Batman: The Animated Series and all these shows he’s worked on since. He actually kind of prefers to stay in the background and just do his job and not get in front of the cameras and go to conventions and speak in front of crowds. He doesn’t enjoy that aspect of it. He’s never been about tooting his own horn, but he’s always been the rock on our projects. Alan is the stabilizer. I think it was Glen Murakami who referred to Alan as the glue that binds everything together. And it’s true. He’s a really solid professional. He knows all the ins and outs of story construction and character dynamics and then all of the extras that a good writer knows to plus out a story. At the same time, he likes to push himself to do things that he hasn’t done before and explore different avenues of story lines. He’s got a sense of humor that sometimes comes out in really odd, unique ways. On BTAS, he would go down story lines and even I would be saying, “Wow, you really want to do THAT in a children’s cartoon?” He’s funny that way – he likes to upset the apple cart and take chances. So Alan is really solid and dependable and at the same time he’s also very experimental. It’s like the best of both worlds. That makes him the perfect collaborator on these films.

Green Lantern: First Flight comes to Blu-Ray and DVD on July 28, 2009.

This fan may have built the best fan-made trailer of all time. The trailer shows Nathan Fillion as Hal Jordan. After watching it, I don’t think that’s a bad match up. After doing a voice in animated Wonder Woman, maybe Nathan Fillion will his own super hero movie.