Endemol Shine Studios picked up Mirror’s Edge TV Show Rights

Endemol Shine Studios have acquired the TV show rights for Mirror’s Edge. There has been talk of an action driven series based on the futuristic dystopia of Mirror’s Edge, a well known EA title. Nothing is yet certain of course, but Sharon Hall, the president of Endemol Shine Studios have said: “We clearly see Mirror’s Edge as a franchise for the global TV audience,”[…]“It has a strong female protagonist, a wildly rabid fan base and a worldwide brand that Electronic Arts and EA DICE have done an amazing job establishing.” Endemol Shine Studios is known for e.g.Biggest Loser, Hell on Wheels and Master chef.

This is not the fisrt time that a video game has been attemped to adapt into a TV series, Battlefield had been prepared for a TV show but that never happened. We also heard that there has been some talk of a Titanfall TV series.

Remember that Mirror’s Edge Catalyst is out in June 7!

auburn.geek

500 Fans Will Gain Early Access To The New Legend Of Zelda Game At Nintendo’s Super-Fan Signup Day!

Nintendo is organizing a “Super-Fan Signup Day” on June 11th at 9 a.m. At this event The Legend of Zelda fans are given a rare opportunity to experience the company’s upcoming title in advance! The first 500 people in line at Nintendo’s New York store(Nintendo NY, 10 Rockefeller Plaza, New York, NY 10020) will gain access to playing the new game on designated times on june 14th-19th.

There will be a lot of other festive activities on the above mentioned dates. This is what Nintendo has told the press: “The six-day free event will begin at noon ET on June 14, when fans will be invited to watch gameplay of The Legend of Zelda live-streamed from Nintendo’s booth at this year’s E3 video game trade show in Los Angeles to the 15-foot gaming screen inside Nintendo NY,”[…]”From June 15 to June 19, Nintendo experts will also be giving guided game-play demonstrations on the big screen for everyone to watch and enjoy. Several fans may even get the chance to participate in guided demonstrations. There will also beThe Legend of Zelda trivia for a chance for fans to win fun prizes.”
So if you are in or near New York at the time, go try you luck out!

Play with passion!
auburn.geek

Mass Effect Theme Park Ride in 4D!

California’s Great America amusement park will open a new ride for Mass Effect fans this month. EA and Bioware have taken part in the making of the new holographic journey that takes place during the original trilogy and thus includes familiar settings and characters from the popular game series. There has been talk of Shepard, Garrus and Wrex showing up in the adventure, as well as the dreaded reapers. Some well known scenes like the Citadel and the Normandy are told to be included in the story too. Sounds like a Mass Effect fan’s dream come true! The new ride will use the world’s largest LED screen, 3D glasses, motion based seating and real actors to create an exciting experience.

At Great America’s website introducing the new ride there were comments from both EA and Great America about Mass Effect New Earth:

“Teaming with a world-wide gaming leader like EA will enable us to build an incredible user experience for Great America guests,” said California’s Great America Vice President and General Manager Raul Rehnborg. “This combination of technology and creative video game content is sure to usher in a new wave of entertainment innovation at amusement parks.”

“EA and BioWare are thrilled to partner with Great America and see one of our most iconic games turned into an exciting high-tech attraction,” said Patrick O’Brien, Vice President of Entertainment and Licensing, EA. “Having a partner who shares our commitment to thrilling our fans is extremely important to us and we look forward to building an attraction that will appeal to the Mass Effect fan-base and introduce it to many more.”

The North American geeks and gamers have such thrilling times ahead of them. I for one am at the moment very, very jealous for not living in the USA!

auburn.geek

What’s Obsidian been up to?

The famous rpg developer Obsidian is known to us for games like Planescape Torment, Icewind Dale, Fallout New Vegas, Star Wars Knights of the Old Republic 2 and Pillars of Eternity, among others. Obsidian has been working on a new RPG called Tyranny, which will be released this year. Tyranny’s idea in short is that the world has already been overrun by the bad guys, and the player(“Fatebinder”) is working for the overlord, wandering around the world delivering justice(or something like that) however he sees fit and the world should react to the player’s choices(especially near the beginning) in abundance.

I also heard that there will be no classes in this game, so that the players can build up their characters more freely, much like in Skyrim for instance. Tyranny being an Obsidian game, there will of course be different factions with which the player can either become friends or enemies with, and I for one am interested in how well they will succeed in making the factions and their reactions to the player function. One thing that sounded really fun to me was that the player gets some sort of special attacks depending on which factions they are siding with. The player will also get so called combo attacks that are done with their companions. The stronger the relationship, be it good or bad, the stronger the combo. But enough for the details, you can read more on Kotaku, from where I first read most of this info! In conclusion Tyranny has an interesting setup, decidedly different from the regular fantasy game’s good vs. evil setting, where the player is usually assuming the good guy-role. Of course the idea is not sensationaly unique but it’s nevertheless intriguing and I’m sure Obsidian will use this to the best of their abilities to make us an awesome game.

Obsidian has also been told to have started their work on Pillars of Eternity 2, but that project is still quite new and thus there is not a whole lot to say about it yet, but if anything, Pillars of Eternity 2 should be at least as epic and time consuming as the first one. While researching information about Obsidian’s latest movements I also stumbled upon Gamepressure’s interview with Obsidian’s CEO Feargus Urquhart, and he stated that: “there’s a small group of people within the studio that’s working on something completely new, but he didn’t want to share any details yet. What’s worth noting, though, is that the names of Tim Cain and Leonard Boyarsky came up while talking about this project. Feargus didn’t say that directly, but he pointed out that it might have something to do with the prototype based on the Unreal Engine”. Now this is definitely interesting and I for one can’t wait to hear more from this new, so far secret project! I won’t engage in writing more details about the games mentioned just now, because I don’t want to give out any flaky information. We’ll just have to patiently wait for more news from Obsidian. Nevertheless these are certainly exciting times to be an RPG fan!

Play with Passion!

auburn.geek

Mid Generation Upgrades: Yay Or Nay?

Before I begin let me say that the information I’m putting here is not yet confirmed, I have picked up pieces of rumors and info from different sources but we have to wait untill E3 to get anything solid about the matter at hand. Nevertheless the topic is quite interesting and somewhat controversial, so let’s begin.

There has been a lot of talk about playstation and Xbox releasing upgraded versions of the newest concoles only 3 years after the PS4 and Xbox1 became available. “Upgrade” is a misleading word here, since it is most likely the case that the existing consoles can’t be upgraded and the gamers will have to buy newish concoles for approximately the same price as the originals. This is something that will get many console gamers(especially those of low income) quite angry if it truly is happening, since the major bonus for being a console gamer has always been fixed price, stability and being able to play games without all the fuss, extra effort and money spending that is characteristic for PC gaming. If we are going to have to spend 400-500 euros/dollars/pounds every 3 years we would probably do better to change for PC gaming all together, since even if we weren’t able to work with computers ourselves, paying someone to help would be as (or less) expensive. I have always loved console gaming because of the effortless and relatively affordable way of doing things, so I really hope this won’t be the future of console gaming. Well, at least Sony has said that Playstation 4 won’t be replaced my PS4Neo(even though PS4 owners would have to settle for less), but we will see about that when they announce the upgrade.

Anyway, here are some specs and info on the upgrades. Playstation 4 Neo should be capable of 4K output and enhanced visual fidelity over the original PS4. The upgrades include a 1.3 times faster CPU, an improved GPU, and a 24% increase in memory bandwidth. There has been talk about the new games being required to have a ‘base mode’ and ‘Neo/upgrade mode’ so that gamers without the upgraded console could still play the new games(more work for the game developers, why not?). Also the online gaming should be shared so that PS4 an Neo gamers could still play together. Well I sure hope so! It would be rather ridiculous if it wasn’t going to work like that, so I personally am not giving any credit for this pseudo benevolence.

I couldn’t find as much data on the Xbox1 upgrade, but I heard they are also upgrading their controller. Why is it so hard to come up with a controller(and hardware) that could last for the whole of this generation(6years)? I know technology is developing fast but c’mon people, this is really stinking of greed. I think it would be better to focus on the actual next generation consoles properly than releasing something that has to be almost immediately improved. What’s really funny about this is that most gamers haven’t even thought that they would need “just a liiiittle bit more power” in their consoles. If console gamers were thinking like that, they would be PC gamers(exceptions of course exist). I know I am being quite the pessimist right now, but I want to be  positively surprised rather than negatively. I’m sure you know what I mean.

Here are some links for more info:

usgamer.net

eparisextra.com

gottabemobile.com

Play with passion!

auburn.geek

Gamer’s Memories

I know how even today some people think that videogames are a waste of time and money. That they make people lazy, anti-social or even violent, even though it has been many times proven  to not be true. Well I want to add to that proof by sharing some of my best memories! I know you don’t know me but I am a nice, trustworthy person who studies at a university and loves her family, so I am not anti-social or lazy or whatever  certain people think of us gamers.

My earliest and dearest memories are of gaming with my father. We only saw  each other on weekends and holidays so it was that much more important to make memories and enjoy our time together. Of course we did other things too, but playing videogames with him was something special. I didn’t have any sort of gaming device at my mother’s so it was our thing. Me and my dad’s. We had Sega Mega Drive and lots of fun games to go with it. One of the most fun ones was ‘World of Illusion’ which is a Disney game starring Mickey Mouse and Donald Duck, where you get to explore many interesting and amazing worlds of Disney. I loved that game! Especially because we played it together.

Then when I was a bit older I got a little brother and  i eventually started playing with him just like my dad did with me. It was not only fun but we also bonded over playing videogames. I was a nice big sister and would mostly let him have the controller until the game got too hard for him. We played Crash Bandicoot, Spyro, Klonoa, Cool Boarders and many more games on playstation. We still played with the Sega too of course. What’s best was that  we  would never fight when we were gaming!

And now that I’m 27 and married, I make new lovely memories with the love of my life. And many of them have something to do with gaming. I actually lured my husband on a secret date with me at my place(he was totally clueless of my plan, mwahhaha!) over 8 years ago, inviting him to play Soul Calibur and eat pizza. Then he kind of stuck around and we would share countless brilliant games together and we will continue to do so till the end. Right now we are playing one of my favourite horror games(project zero/fatal frame 2) together and we are having the best of times. So there. Gaming can be a wonderful part of ones life, and add to it rather than take something away.
Play with passion!

auburn.geek

New Console Coming From Nintendo!

There has been a lot of talk about a new console, Nintendo NX, launching in March 2017. The specifics are still a mystery but we will get more information later this year. Oddly enough though, Nintendo won’t be introducing it’s newest creation at the E3, their focus at the event is going to be on the upcoming Legend of Zelda game, which they said will be released for both Nintendo NX and WiiU. Another game that is going to be released for NX is Dragon Quest XI, but so far these are the only known games planned for NX at the moment. There have been rumors that WiiU’s production will be stopped in 2018 so it seems Nintendo has high hopes for the next console, WiiU being their worst selling console yet.

One imaginary alternative for how the NX console would look like.

What’s more, Nintendo has stated that the Nintendo NX will not be a new version of Wii or WiiU but a whole new, unique experience. There has been talk about the NX being a sort of a hybrid of a “home” console and a mobile part that you can take with you, not a bad idea since Nintendo’s handheld consoles have been quite successfull! The operating system for the NX is still not known, although there have been guesses of Android based system or something similar to the other newer console’s systems. There has been a rumor that NX would work with Playstation 4, Android and PC, I have not heard of any confirmation yet though but this would be a really big bonus for the consumers. Also the NX is rumored to be backwards compatible with Wii/WiiU games, and there has been some mention of an online service and access to online gaming that resembles those of playstation and Xbox.

An analyst Michael Patcher has given a heavy view of the new console, thinking that Nintendo will probably use “backwards looking technology” like before, and that the console is in serious danger of not being that good. One decision that  may have affected this conclusion is that the NX will support 4K/60 fps video streaming BUT that the  gameplay will only run at 900p, which is not that bad, but it is without a doubt a bit outdated since the  other consoles have done it already. So the hardware is a few years old, this is pretty much what they did with Wii. But what does it mean? Well for one, that the visuals are going to be a lot improved from Wii and WiiU, but they won’t be anyhing that hasn’t been done before. This of course doesn’t mean that we shouldn’t be very exited for the Nintendo’s newest family member. I for one can’t wait for more information about this new reportedly unique gaming system!

Play with passion!

auburn.geek

Gamer’s Thoughts (And What I’ve Been Up To)

I haven’t got any game reviews or introductions in line right now, but i wanted to drop a few lines anyway so you know I’m still here. Remember how I told you in the first posts that my blog is going to be carefree? Well this is me trying to  keep it that way. So what have I been up to? Gaming, roleplaying and reading of course. You know how we got the awesome Dark Souls 3 collector’s edition a while ago? Well now we bought Assassins Creed Syndicate special edition box, I know we are super late on this game but since we are almost always pretty low on money we have to decide which games are holding the priority. But now we got it, and it’s been fun to play together! I can honestly say it’s the perfect game to play with your friend or significant other since there are two playable characters which you can switch almost at any time. The box included the game’s soundtrack, a cool map of London, an awesome artbook and of course the game with some add ons. Here’s a few unboxing pics

 

 

 

 

 

 

It’s so much fun to get exited and enjoy gaming with the person you share your life with. I get a lot of comments on instagram about having such a “goals” relationship, because me and my husband always play and do lots of other cool stuff together. I am super happy about my situation, especially since it seems that many gamers really wish they had someone to share their life AND hobbies with(but they haven’t been lucky enough to find someone suitable). Completely understandable, I’ve heard so many stories about people being in a relationship where the other one doesn’t understand gaming at all and then the couple ends up fighting a lot about it. This of course can happen with any hobby your boy/girlfriend doesn’t like, but gaming seems to attract more heated debate than e.g. going to gym, watching sports or reading. I wonder why that is? Maybe because gaming is many times pretty solitary in nature?(doesn’t have to be!) Or because it takes a little more work to get into games if you’re a total noob? Or is it just attitude? I still hear from some adults how games are for adolescents and how childish a hobby gaming is(like F you too!). And how especially weird it is that anyone over 40 would play videogames or read comics or get exited about a superhero movie, it’s seen even as pathetic or scary! Interesting how they make so much R- rated games etc. then.. I don’t think gaming has an age limit(okay it does, but only for too young people not too old) but somehow it is stigmatized as an immature hobby. Funny thing is, many(not all, duh) gamers are actually more mature and have better education than some who think us stupid. Oh well. In conclusion, maybe being with someone who thinks your hobbies are immature(and that you should stop gaming) isn’t the right one after all. I really hope everyone finds someone nice.

Sorry for all the rambling! Hope you had at least some fun reading my chaos.

Play with passion!

auburn.geek

 

Mirror’s Edge Hype

I fell in love with the first Mirror’s Edge game in 2008 and I’ve played it through several times. Mirror’s Edge was quite a phenomenon when it was first released, and for a good reason. The game was pretty unique at the time since it’s main idea was to parkour through different levels, with it’s relatable and authentic female protagonist Faith who was a messenger (“runner”) of a sort fighting the power in a dystopian city where no one had true privacy anymore. So she ran through the corrupted city to deliver important messages and fought the law successfully. The idea of the game was simple but believable like that. The areas/levels in the game were fun to play and beautiful to look at. The simplicity in the city’s structure was well planned, even though it may not have been the most authentic way to depict the grimm future. Of course there were frustrating parts and some less than perfect level planning in the game too but all in all it was really good!

Faith became one of my favorite female characters because she is a woman but she wasn’t sexed up like so many other female characters have been. She is credible and the game focuses on her skills, mission and personality rather than her cleavage. Most importantly she is depicted as a human. This is something we don’t see enough in games, and characters like Faith give a really good picture of how to make a woman real.

So now that the sequel Mirror’s Edge Catalyst is finally coming i am pretty excited, there’s so much to look forward to! The art looks really beautiful and the levels seem to be more versatile than in the first game. There are also more content in the world, we will see  different factions like the runners, the gonglomerates(basically the corporations) and even a terrorist group called Black November. We will also learn more about Faith and the cause which she follows, and if I’m understanding correctly we’ll know more about the city as well. I don’t yet know when i will be able to tell you more since I’m not sure I can afford the game on the release day, but if i get my hands on it on time I’ll report what it’s like.

Play with passion!

auburn.geek

Dark Souls 3 The First Glance

So we just got the collector’s edition of Dark Souls 3 and it’s pretty awesome. I live in Finland so we had to wait a bit longer to get this, but finally it’s here!

As a long time fan of the game series I love it so far. I have to make it clear though that although i have indeed played the earlier games(plus Bloodborne!), i have used even more time watching my husband play them. So my knowledge of the game is more profound than my concrete gaming skills which are of course at least okay too. I can’t give you a lot of details of the game, but thus far the game seems to be a perfect combination of the best features of the older games. The fighting is made much more efficient and fun; something has been learned from bloodborne and so the fighting is less passive than in the earlier games. Don’t fear though, the good old shield&sword tactic works still as well. Also there are new techniques to use in battle which cosume fp(the blue gauge). The enemies feel more intelligent and capable in fight too. They have also finally been able to make the long desired slime/liquid like enemy!

The graphics(and art allover) are totally brilliant, frame rate is smooth and you can see the enemies in the distance much better than e.g. in Dark Souls 2. And right from the start the game’s style and ambiance  have been epic and the plot and the lore  interesting. I can’t wait to learn more and more as the game progresses further. I’ve got nothing bad to say yet. I will of course give an update on that opinion if there is any reason to change it.

Play with passion!

auburn.geek