C’mon, someone had to. If I had a nickel for the number of times I’ve seen ‘Rogue’ misspelled as ‘Rouge’ on the internet, well, I’d probably be living in the US already where having a lot of nickels actually means something.

The first (or second) paid expansion for City of Heroes was haphazardly announced this week, which might have been some email software’s fault, or a cunning plan to fail to attempt to get buzz. Either way, er… mission accomplished?

It was interesting timing, regardless, with Champions Online spinning up the rumour mill (“We might end up on PS3! We might have microtransactions! We might have cake, and eat it too!”) and NCNC Paragon Studios trying to reverse their way out of the dead-end they seem to have ended up in after cracking down on Mission Architect farmers a little too hard. (Hey, I’ve got no problem with the policy, but from a community point of view, it was a classic case of taking a dump where you eat. Or gnawing on the hand that feeds you. Choose your metaphor.)

In case you haven’t had dinner with me recently, I’ll tell you for nothing that Going Rogue has been around, in concept at least, for probably a couple of years. I certainly remember hearing about it looong before I was shown the door by NCsoft. A paid expansion was always part of the City of Heroes ‘Five Year Plan’, which started to form after the IP was finally wrestled away from Cryptic. (Apparently it helps to distract people with large piles of cash when attempting such a move.)

I seem to also recall that Going Rogue was an early title, but I’m going to keep quiet on the other potential title just in case it’s being used for something else. The other title certainly fits Going Rogue’s story, which seems to imply a big bust-up between Paragon City and an evil alternate universe. The idea of being able to switch your hero to villain and vice-versa always seemed like a good one to me, not least because it could potentially let you explore double the amount of content in the game. However, I don’t think Paragon are going to stop with just that, not by a long shot. Here’s hoping for more Archetypes, Origins and Powersets as well as new Zones and NPC groups, eh?

They certainly need to up their game, because between Champions Online, DC Universe Online and eventually Marvel Universe Online, superhero MMOs are almost going to be as ubiquitous as fantasy in the next few years. No bad thing for us consumers, but it’s going to be a bloody battle to keep what, so far, has proved to be a relatively niche audience.

I genuinely think the key to a true mass-market superhero MMO (ie, one that reaches considerably more than 200K subscribers) is going to be a combination of console-based gameplay and highly recognisable IP. That’s why right now, until we have more to go on regarding Gazillion’s Marvel project, the smart money’s got to be on DCUO. Having said that, don’t count out the PC-browser market; if Gazillion’s Marvel Super Hero Squad project can get up to Free Realms level of polish, it could become a monster hit.

Considering all this, it’s not surprising to see Cryptic suggesting they’re working on a PS3 version of Champions Online. NCsoft have also invested time and money into exploring PS3 development, although I expect you’ll see a new game announced on PS3 from them before you see anything ‘old’ being ported. And let’s be honest, even though SOE are talking confidently about a PS3 version of DCUO, they’ve acknowledged that there are large hurdles to overcome to actually make it happen – and they’re part of Sony!

Whatever happens, our choice in online superhero gaming is going to expand dramatically in the next few years, which for me, can only be a good thing. It’s going to be very interesting to see how each product differentiates itself going forward, and even more to see who ends up on top.