Richard Garriott spent years as the ruler of a fictional kingdom before he became a second-generation astronaut. Sounds like the kind of guy you’d want to make a movie about! That’s exactly what filmmaker Mike Woolf and his production company, Beef & Pie, has done, and it sounds like it’s going to be a treat not only for old-school PC game-types who remember “Lord British,” but also anyone interested in the process of going into space.
Richard Garriott: Man on a Mission, a film about the preparation and execution of Garriott’s 2008 trip to the International Space Station, will premiere at the South by Southwest Film Festival in Austin, Texas, with showings on Sunday, March 14 and Thursday, March 18. The film includes “never-before-seen training footage in Star City, Russia’s secretive cosmonaut training facility,” as well as footage of the launch and video taken from space by Garriott. Check out a trailer after the break.
Continue reading ‘Richard Garriott: Man on a Mission’ premiering at SXSW Film Festival
‘Richard Garriott: Man on a Mission’ premiering at SXSW Film Festival originally appeared on Joystiq on Fri, 05 Mar 2010 15:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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First Asteroids. Then Missile Command. Now, Hollywood is making a movie out of Space Invaders.
The Los Angeles Times reported Tuesday that Warner Brothers is negotiating with Taito to grab the rights to the classic arcade game. If the deal goes through, Mark Gordon, Jason Blub and Guymon Casady will produce.
In 2009, Universal won the rights to produce a movie based on the Atari classic Asteroids. Last month, the Times reported that Atari was shopping around another hit shooter, Missile Command.
The notion of a Space Invaders movie might seem silly, but as I explained earlier, Hollywood needs pre-existing properties to help get their movies made. And arcade games, with their wafer-thin plots and archetypal conflicts, are the perfect venue for getting action, adventure and fantasy movies off the ground.
Space Invaders, designed by Tomohiro Nishikado for Taito, debuted in Japanese arcades in 1978. Later, Bally Midway brought the smash hit game to the United States. In what is considered to be the father of the shooter genre, players controlled a slow-moving laser cannon, fending off an oppressive alien invasion. In the decades since Invadermania swept the world, the game’s simplistic alien invaders — inspired by crabs, octopi and the invaders in H.G. Wells’ “The War of the Worlds”, have insinuated themselves into the mass consciousness, an iconic representation of videogames themselves.
Taito has managed to keep the Space Invaders flame alive with a series of remakes, reboots and anniversary editions. The best was Space Invaders Extreme (above), a clever remix of the game that used trippy background visuals by Jeff Minter. The oddity Space Invaders Get Even for the Wii is worth playing, if only for the chance to play as the aliens.
Videogame incursion into Hollywood could continue with Space Invaders [LA Times]
Image courtesy Microsoft
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With the Blur multiplayer beta going live on March 8, we’re anxious to get some quality time with Bizarre Creations’ upcoming racer. In the interim, the game’s official blog details what players can expect from the beta, but perhaps more interesting is what’s tucked at the bottom of the update: a release date of May 25. Europeans will have to wait a few extra days, as the game won’t be in shops until May 28 over there.
While you wait, might we suggest you check out some new screens in our gallery below? That is, if you want to — no pressure or anything!
Blur arrives May 25 in the U.S., May 28 in Europe originally appeared on Joystiq on Wed, 03 Mar 2010 10:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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When Glen Schofield and Michael Condrey left Visceral Games to form Sledgehammer Games with Activision, you may have jokingly speculated that the Dead Space creators set to work immediately on Call of Duty. After all, it was either that or Guitar Hero.
You would have been correct.
Activision today revealed that Sledgehammer is working on a Call of Duty game with a targeted 2011 release date, which will “extend the franchise into the action-adventure genre.” No other details were released about the game, but it sounds more like a spinoff than a sequel. Third person, perhaps?
Sledgehammer Games working on Call of Duty game originally appeared on Joystiq on Tue, 02 Mar 2010 16:45:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Namco Bandai has announced that it’s localizing Majin: The Fallen Realm, Game Republic’s action-adventure about a boy and his giant, adorable monster pal. The game, now called Majin and the Forsaken Kingdom, is expected to release in North America on both PS3 and Xbox 360 this summer.
According to the publisher’s press release, Majin stars a “cunning young outsider” who explores a kingdom that was mysteriously overwhelmed by a “dark force” one hundred years prior. During his travels, he meets Majin, a super-strong monster, and the two explore the kingdom together. Gameplay-wise, the player works with the AI-controlled Majin, who acquires new abilities throughout the game, as they solve puzzles, fight enemies, and navigate ruins together. Namco Bandai calls it an “emotional journey of courage and respect.”
Meet your giant new pal: Namco Bandai announces Majin and the Forsaken Kingdom originally appeared on Joystiq on Tue, 02 Mar 2010 14:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Looking to get a little more mileage out of your copy of Star Wars: The Force Unleashed before the sequel arrives? As we knew from yesterday’s PSN update, PS3 owners can now download the Hoth mission which came bundled with the “Ultimate Sith Edition” re-release of the game — however, 360 owners will be able to follow suit on Tuesday, February 23. The DLC is going for $9.99 on the PSN, leading us to assume it’ll cost Xbox Live Marketplace browsers a cool 800
.
The mission on Hoth follows the events of the Tatooine sidequest, and tasks the Secret Apprentice with shutting down the Rebellion and squaring off against Luke Skywalker. Remember, these extra missions are non-canonical — meaning the fate of the aforementioned frostbitten Force-wielder is up in the air.
Star Wars: Force Unleashed Hoth DLC out on PSN, coming to Xbox Feb. 23 originally appeared on Joystiq on Fri, 19 Feb 2010 14:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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In the five-ish years since the Xbox 360 launched, ushering in the current console generation, we’ve heard a whole mess of talk about this console life cycle pushing past the usual five-ish years they tend to span. Given that we’re approaching the mark as we speak, MCV talked to execs from the big three and got an update on where each stands in terms of new hardware in the coming year(s). “The benefit of hardware remaining relevant for longer is the fact that it gives more developers a chance to get the very best and most out of current generation systems, rather than the cycle changing just as people have become used to maximizing a console’s performance and abilities,” says senior product manager at Nintendo UK Rob Lowe. “We strongly believe that there is still huge potential for both Wii and DS to continue to bring in new gamers and change rejecters’ perceptions.” Watch your back, rejecters!
Perhaps unsurprisingly at this point, Sony and Microsoft corroborate Lowe’s claims, with VP of Sony Worldwide Studios Michael Denny adding, “Of course new hardware causes a large spike in consumer interest, but so does the launch of new, exciting games … Modern Warfare 2 didn’t need new hardware to break all the records.” And with two new motion … things coming to Sony and Microsoft’s consoles — not to mention the worldwide economy still struggling to recover from a near-meltdown — we have to imagine that we won’t be seeing any new $400 to $600 hardware anytime soon.
But hey, there’s always 3D to take our money, right?
Execs from the big three weigh in on the current console cycle originally appeared on Joystiq on Mon, 15 Feb 2010 14:41:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Have you had a Time Ripping adventure lately? Or an interactive nightmare? If you’re eager to experience either (and you are), GoG’s latest Month of Activision offerings are for you. The online classic games store is offering some of Sierra’s best adventure game classics, and also Phantasmagoria.
For just $9.99, you could be playing Space Quest IV, V, and VI, sci-fi adventure games starring everyone’s favorite space janitor, Roger Wilco. Or, if your tastes run spookier, you can put your ten dollars toward Phantasmagoria, the horror game written by King’s Quest creator Roberta Williams, starring some video clips.
Phantasmagoria, Space Quest games now on GoG originally appeared on Joystiq on Thu, 11 Feb 2010 11:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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If you’ve been following the Wii Netflix saga, you’re probably familiar with Nintendo’s stance on HD movie streaming. The company’s Reggie Fils-Aimé recently went on record saying that the average Wii user won’t care about the Wii’s inability to push HD Netflix. That’s expected though, right? He works for Nintendo, after all. But get this, now Netflix itself is deemphasizing its own HD streaming service.
Speaking to TheWiire.com, Netflix VP of Corporate Communications Steve Swasey recognized that the Wii can’t handle HD streaming, but stated that Netflix doesn’t believe that to be a problem for Wii households. Swasey noted that only 1 in 17 titles are available in HD, adding that HD content is only 720p — not 1080p — and that it’s not available with 5.1 surround sound. “The HD experience at Netflix Instant Watching isn’t that overwhelming,” said Swasey, adding, “It’s a little bit underwhelming.”
So there you have it. There’s absolutely no reason for anyone to even want HD streaming. Ever. Now go order your Wii Netflix disc.
Netflix promotes Wii streaming with ‘underwhelming’ HD argument originally appeared on Joystiq on Tue, 09 Feb 2010 16:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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As bold as day, Electronic Arts has stated that Dead Space 2 will not be coming to PC. A version for computers was conspicuous in its absence when EA listed its releases for 2011, and when asked about the situation, EA was forthcoming in its declaration that Dead Space 2 would be a console-only affair.
The publisher has been less clear as to why it is denying the PC crowd. No reasons have been given for Dead Space 2’s console-only status. All that’s been said is that “As of right now, a PC SKU is not in the plan.” Until that changes, fans of computer gaming are being left out in the cold.
With the original Dead Space not selling as well as EA wanted, you’d think the publisher would be doing all it could to push the sequel on as many formats as possible. Apparently not. I guess either the sales figures were so bad on the PC that the sequel just isn’t worth it, or EA simply doesn’t rate the PC market anymore. Either way, it looks like you guys are boned if you were hoping to play Dead Space 2 on anything other than a PS3 or 360.
No PC Dead Space 2 [Blue's News]
