9Dragons goes commercial

Acclaim's martial arts-themed MMORPG, 9Dragons, has shifted from the realm of free-to-play to mostly-free-to-play with the announcement of a new in-game purchase system called the "Item Mall."

Users will be able to pay extra for unique outfits, Kung Fu boosts and, oddly, healing herbs. The free crowd will have totake the old-fashioned route with their wounds:Quit whiningand be a man.

The game, which is free to download in addition to a lack of monthly fees, has been available in Beta form for some time now, with a registered subscriber base of over 500,000.The game boasts itself as offeringa world like that of"Hero, House of the Flying Daggers, Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon and Drunken Master rolled into one." We're not entirely sure rolling all of those into one is such a great idea - might wind up with a drunken tiger trying throwing daggers at a flying dragon.

May 9, 2007