UltraMarines: Warhammer 40k Movie Announces Voice Actors (Video)
We'll soon be treated to a few movies based of video games, like this one. TRON seems to be a great candidate for a video game based movie, and that trailer makes it look like it will be one to watch. Another notable movie will be the one from Legendary pictures based on Blizzard's Warcraft games, but that may still be a while off. However, there are other noteworthy ones in the works as well. If you haven't heard about it already, let me introduce you to the UltraMarines, a movie based on the Warhammer 40,000 intellectual property from Games Workshop. Updates have been coming fast and furious from the people behind this movie, and the most recent was the press release clip below that announces the stellar voice acting cast for the clip via interviews done with them: The UltraMarines movie is using facial animation technology from Image Metrics to create those truly lifelike CG graphics we've all become accustomed to seeing. It looks like the UltraMarines characters will truly come to life in this movie if the Image Metrics technology and previous work is on par with what they've done in the past: It has no official trailer available ...
Place Your Bets: Valve Bringing Steam To The Macintosh
Many of us have noticed that Steam recently released a new beta client, complete with all kinds of cool new UI improvements and other assorted bells and whistles. In reading the beta release notes recently I noticed something interesting. One of the line items in those notes was that Valve has replaced the in game web browser's rendering engine with WebKit instead of IE. Since Steam runs on Windows only, it makes perfect sense that it would be easy to just use IE, so their motivation to make this change seemed curious to me. What if you wanted Steam to run on a machine that wasn't Windows based? You would need to remove all dependencies on Windows, which includes the in game browswer using IE. Changing to WebKit during this beta release is a tell tale sign of portability I tell you! This was my theory. In making my rounds around the interwebs today I came across some very interesting articles that pretty much validated my thinking, and I went from theorizing to placing my bets on this inevitability. *Update: Others have reported seeing OS X buttons in the graphics folder of the Steam install, ...
Battlefield: Bad Company 2 – The Awesome Starts Tomorrow (Video)
I've been playing the BFBC2 demo and I have to say that this looks like the next great shooter that I'll be getting into, although I think I certainly need to buy a joystick for my PC if I'm going to think about flying a helicopter. Beta saw me attempt to fly these in a fantastical noob style with only my keyboard and mouse, and the attempts nearly always ended in a crash and burn mere yards from the launching pad and lots of kids cussing me in chat for trying to fly. Crashing and burning aside, I can't wait to get the full game. Check the video below, and if this doesn't get your action juices flowing, I don't know what will: The game is set to launch tomorrow, March 2nd and I'll be running around getting owned by adolescents and juvenille adults with a big adrenaline junkie style smile on my face. Look up Stimulus Package on Steam or in game if you'd like to shoot me as well. ~br3ntbr0
Transformers: War For Cybertron – The MMO That Should Have Been (Video)
Transformers: War For Cybertron is a game that has seems to have all the key pieces; deep lore, two opposing sides struggling in a world destroying war, and of course drool worthy animations and sound effects. It breaks the fantasy mold quite well despite having no light sabers or phasers, fitting nicely into it's own sci-fi action niche. That said, it's great news that High Moon Studios is releasing War for Cybertron this year. The problem is, this version of the game isn't an MMO (see Joystiq's preview) but more of a single player game instead: Trailer: Game Play Reveal: It's my opinion that if ever there was an intellectual property out there in need of an MMO, it's the world of the Transformers. It begs to question if there just aren't enough investors out there willing to take the plunge into the volatile MMO market. This type of game seems like it would have been poised to be a great persistent online world, yet it seems like this is a stand alone game that doesn't seem to promise much MMO-like persistence. Hopefully, it is still a solid game despite it's single player/co-op design. This game has Activision shown as it's publisher, ...
Нет, спасибо (No Thanks): Allods Offline
That didn't take long I think I can safely say that my Allods Online experiment is done, and it seems like I was just getting started with the game. I stated previously that I thought Allods had alot of good things going for it, especially that it launched at a good time. However I knew the devil was in the details, particularly with the item shop. As it turns out, gPotato and Astrum Nival are as lost as a fart in the wind when it comes to bringing a game to the American market and will soon find themselves with little or no customers. You're doing it wrong If you want a case study in how to do it wrong, look no further than this game. Exorbitant prices in the item shop are one thing, but when patches go into the game that basically require you to purchase these high priced items (thanks Keen for this insight) from the shop, it's game over. Most US gamers are not idiots (note the word most there) and won't support this kind of underhanded management of the game. Нет, спасибо (No Thanks) Most American gamers don't trust our own game development companies, much ...
Feb 16th
Mass Effect 2: What Mass Effect 2 Means For Star Wars: The Old Republic (Video)
I have fallen in love with BioWare’s RPG’s. Many of you may have been experiencing the quality games they’ve been putting out for quite a while now, but I was a relative RPG newbie – until recently. I had not played Mass Effect 1, but had ME2 on pre-order, especially after having played Dragon Age: Origins. Nearly 3 weeks after I started the game, I have completely finished the game on Insanity difficulty twice. I did it first as a Sentinel and second as a Vanguard. I also played about half the game as an Adept, and… Read >>
Feb 5th
Global Agenda: Pricing and Micro-transactions
The MMO that Could!
A Global Agenda Micro-transaction and ‘One time’ purchase deal.
I was thinking about RMT and cash shops in games. Then a few weeks ago I read a blog about MMO pricing over at GameMonkey. So I’d like to take a min and discuss what Global Agendas pricing plan is and future that may or may-not have a cash shop in it.
When I go to a purchase a game or MMO, there are a few things that play out in my head.
- Can I afford this? Is there a monthly
Feb 1st
Global Agenda: More Impressions
After just a few days in the Global Agenda ‘Head Start’ event, I can tell this game will be one I’ll be playing for a bit. Some things I noticed instantly were: A) How easy it was to get set up on Hi-Rez’s website and download the game via steam. (Not sure if I’ll have to re-download anything upon launch Monday, Feb 1st but I’m not worried about it either.) The second thing that stuck out after I was all loaded up and registered was the polish of the game. Once entering in the Character… Read >>
Jan 28th
Battlefield: Bad Company 2 – Port Valdez Demo Gameplay Seals The Pre-Order Deal (Video)
In my first look at Battlefield: Bad Company 2 I stated that I thought this game was coming to kick Modern Warefare 2’s ass. Today we have more video of the Port Valdez Demo to drive that point home, and apparently beta testing is now in full swing. Retailers began selling pre-orders with beta access and all sorts of other goodies, and from what I’m hearing the beta servers have been getting pounded. Over twitter EA stated they were having trouble getting beta information out on their blog since it was also getting crushed. It… Read >>
Jan 26th
Because We Demand It: 10 Things Our Online Games Should Have
1. PVP and PVE balance
Dismiss one play style or the other at your own peril. There is a reason that games like Call of Duty have single player campaigns, and World of Warcraft has battlegrounds. Both styles of game play provide a good mix of experiences for the player, and draw a wider range of gamers to a given title. Having both in an online game seems just about mandatory for today’s games.
Many games pit the player versus the environment. Via developer scripted battles and non player characters, these games give their audience a great experience
Jan 25th
Syp’s Quips: Dear Dr. Wily
Need help with your short game or end game? Suffering from an embarrassing rash of altitis? Can’t tell the difference between a noob, a newbie, and a n00b? Then pose your conundrum to Syp, the MMO Master, and prepare yourself to be rocked by advice from a gamer who truly knows what “/afk” means. No question is too serious; no answer is too silly!
Dear Syp,
Every day that I’m at work, my co-workers ask me what I did the previous night. Now I know they’re expecting answers like “went to the… Read >>
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Feb 1st
Posted by Rackham in Comics ...
5 comments
GRATS! WoW is a Lazy Dungeon Master
We are in an age of stagnant online entertainment my friends. We now live in a time where creativity and innovation have been trashed for statistics, mindless grinds, and false achievements. Story and plot have taken a backseat to repetition and grinds. We are players in games where the destination is now more important than the journey. We are a people starved for innovation and lacking the key narrative element.
Read on my friends and I shall try my best to discuss what’s been bothering me and many others regarding this famine of RPGs.
World… Read >>