Archive - 2015

Knott’s Merry Farm 2015

2015/12/09

Knott’s Berry Farm’s annual ‘Merry Farm’ event is now in season at the Buena Park theme park. Knott’s Merry Farm offers guests a number of holiday experiences, from an entire Christmas Craft Village erected in the park’s Ghost Town area to Santa’s Christmas Cabin, loaded with goodies as well as the big guy himself. Knott’s Merry Farm runs until January 3, 2016 and is included with a park admission ticket. The Bird Cage Theatre is in full entertainment mode as it presents two different holiday favorites: The Gift of the Magi and A Christmas Carol. Christmas carolers roam the streets of Ghost Town – not only using their voices but also bells to entertain. The group is very talented and well worth standing by to watch them perform.

The food at this year’s Merry Farm event has jumped up some notches from last year. Of note is that Knott’s Berry Farm has brought back its Beef Stew Breadbowls to the Ghost Town Grill. I highly recommend them as well as eating out on the patio so you can watch the goings-on of the theme park while you dine. Also returning this year are caramel apples using real caramel – not caramel sauce! Be sure to purchase one at Santa’s Christmas Cabin. They cool down quick but, while hot, are amazing.

Of course, a visit to Knott’s Merry Farm wouldn’t be complete without the Snoopy Ice Show. This year’s show is, once again, great and the skaters are simply terrific. The one caveat to this is the wardrobe choice of male skaters during a particular number mid-show. These male skaters look kind of like Don Johnson in Miami Vice. But, I digress – one weird costume choice doesn’t detract from the show’s spirit. Linus’ rendition of the true meaning of Christmas pulled straight from the cartoon always brings rousing applause.

Finally, we would like to thank Knott’s Merry Farm for allowing us access to their holiday event. We had a blast and highly recommend it to you and your loved ones.

Images from Our Visit

Bethesda Opens Montreal Studio

2015/12/09

Jerry Paxton

December 9, 2015 (Rockville, MD) – Bethesda Game Studios®, a ZeniMax® Media company, today announced that it has opened a new development studio in Montreal, Quebec to expand its development capabilities in console, PC, and mobile gaming.

“We’ve worked with some very talented developers in Montreal for a long time, and decided it was time to open a studio there,” said Todd Howard, Game Director and Executive Producer at Bethesda Game Studios. “It’s exciting to think about the new games we’ll be building together.”

Bethesda Game Studios Montreal has already established a core team of more than 40 developers, spanning both console and mobile development. The studio will be managed by industry veteran Yves Lachance as Studio Director.

“Our collaboration with Bethesda Game Studios has been an exhilarating and memorable journey already,” said Lachance. “We are thrilled to be launching the studio in Montreal and contributing our city’s great game-making talent to the kind of games that Bethesda Game Studios is known for.”

Bethesda Game Studios is currently hiring for both its Maryland and Montreal locations. For more information about available jobs, visit http://jobs.zenimax.com.

World of Tanks Blitz Update 2.4 Brings Shogun Warriors

2015/12/09

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Geek News, Mobile News, News

December 9, 2015 — Wargaming’s latest update for World of Tanks Blitz, “Shogun Warriors”, is now live worldwide. Update 2.4 continues to amplify game content on Android and iOS by adding the first Japanese tank line to the game, along with new and enhanced battle maps.

The new Japanese Tech Tree adds a full branch of medium tanks as well as three low-tier light tanks, including the rapid-firing Tier 8 STA-1, the powerful and maneuverable Tier 9 Type 61 and the fearsome Tier 10 STB-1. Famed for their armor and heavy-hitting weapons, Japanese tanks possess solid vertical elevation, giving them an advantage on hilly terrain.

“Shogun Warriors” also introduces the new winter-themed map “Himmelsdorf”, a unique urban battlefield. With its narrow roads and ample options for cover, this map is perfect for sneaking up on unsuspecting foes.

To learn more about World of Tanks Blitz, visit the official portal:

Elite Dangerous: Horizons Launch Date Revealed

2015/12/09

Jerry Paxton

Geek News, News, Windows PC News

In this letter from Frontier Developments PR and Communications Manager, Michael Gapper, the company announces that its upcoming Elite Dangerous: Horizons will launch on Tuseday, December 15, 2015!

The Letter

Hello, folks

Mike from Frontier here, tumbling down your inbox’s chimney and leaving you the gift of NEWS. As always, you can unsubscribe at the bottom of this mail if you don’t want any more alerts like these, but please stick around because I always try to bring good news.

Today’s good news is our new Elite Dangerous: Horizons trailer, announcing the game’s release date next week on December 15, 2015.

I’m also pleased to announce that anyone who preorders now from FrontierStore.net will receive immediate access to Elite Dangerous, and can start playing right away. Elite Dangerous: Horizons will be available on Steam soon, and all FrontierStore.net customers will have the option of exporting a personal Steam key to add Elite Dangerous: Horizons to their library.

You’ll find the trailer below, showing planetary landing gameplay across a variety of worlds. Planetary Landings is just the start of Horizons’ season of expansions, all for the one-off price. Following Planetary Landings, additional expansions will come online in 2016, including:

Loot and Crafting, unlocking a world of customization options and adding new value and meaning to every action.
Multicrew, allowing teams of players to assume roles aboard the same ship.
Commander Creation, giving a unique appearance to players’ in-game avatars.
Ship-Launched Fighters, allowing larger spacecraft to carry their own short-range fighter ships for attack and defense.
New Missions and Ships, expanding the already massive amount of playable content.
New Close Quarter Combat (CQC) Arenas, providing additional challenges to prove multiplayer superiority.

And one more thing – we’re keeping the Elite Dangerous community together in the same galaxy, and we’ll continue full support for Elite Dangerous.

Thanks for sticking around. I’ll be back in your inbox next week when we launch. Don’t forget to leave me a mince pie. Until then, please enjoy the trailer.

Michael Gapper
PR and Communications Manager, Frontier Developments

Cougar Launches Attack X3 Mechanical Gaming Keyboard

2015/12/09

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News, Peripherals News

December 9^th, 2015, Taipei, Taiwan – COUGAR is proud to announce the arrival of COUGAR Attack X3. This new keyboard caters to those purist gamers who crave for a high quality mechanical gaming keyboard that simply provides three things: quality, useful functions and an elegant and durable design. Attack X3 fulfills these requirements with a combination of Cherry MX switches, gaming features and an impressive aluminum based design.

COUGAR Attack X3 uses the original Cherry MX mechanical switches that guarantee the incredible performance people associate with a true mechanical gaming keyboard. Their unique tactile and audible feedback will provide you with an unparalleled gaming experience.

COUGAR UIX System will allow gamers to get the most out of this keyboard. With UIX, the user can easily define the function of any key, and use up to ten of them as macro keys. All the settings (up to three full configuration profiles) can then be conveniently stored in the keyboards on board memory, which allows the user to bring the keyboard to another computer and keep all the settings.

Quick response is guaranteed with a 1000Hz polling rate that can be fine-tuned to suit users’ preferences. The keyboard’s N-Key Rollover capabilities bring absolute input accuracy: It doesn’t matter how many keys the gamer presses, the result will always be accurate input.

Finally, the aluminum frame that covers the keyboard provides a distinctively elegant design that sets it apart from the loads of plastic keyboards that flood the market. Durable and classy, this keyboard comes also with exceptionally strong red backlights that will not only allow you to play even in dimly lit environments, but also enhance the gaming atmosphere.

Attack X3 is, in short, everything gamers need it to be, and nothing they don’t. It will be available in December in the EU, and in Q1 2016 in the USA. USA MSRP: USD 119.9 (VAT excluded).

For more information on the Attack X3 please visit:

COUGAR Attack X3 http://www.cougargaming.com/products/keyboards/attackx3/

The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt Blood and Wine DLC Gets First Screenshots

2015/12/08

Jerry Paxton

Geek News, News, PlayStation 4 News, Screenshots / Photos, Windows PC News, Xbox One News

December 8, 2015 – CD PROJEKT RED, creators of The Witcher series of games, have just released the first two screenshots from the upcoming expansion to The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt — Blood and Wine. The expansion is slated for release in the first half of 2016. The studio has also announced that The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt has collectively garnered over 300 awards, including a Golden Joystick for Ultimate Game of the Year, and The Game Award for Game of the Year.

“2015 is almost behind us. It’s a great year for open world games and a fantastic time for The Witcher. A year of intense work for the team and a time filled with many personal victories for everyone involved in a project that received more than 300 awards so far (wow!). We overcame so many obstacles to get to this point, and we’ve always done it with gamers rooting for us. It’s your year, too!” said Konrad Tomaszkiewicz, Game Director, CD PROJEKT RED. “Blood and Wine, the second expansion for The Witcher 3, is on the horizon. It’s a massive new land to explore, visually unlike anything you saw in Wild Hunt or Hearts of Stone, and it too is brimming with stories we want you to discover,” adds Tomaszkiewicz.

Blood and Wine is a 20-hour tale that will introduce the all-new in-game region of Toussaint, and will take Geralt to a land untainted by war, where an atmosphere of carefree indulgence and knightly ritual masks an ancient, bloody secret. Currently, Blood and Wine is available for purchase as part of The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt Expansion Pass — more information available here.

Screenshots

MGM Invests in Interlude for New Form of Media

2015/12/08

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Industry News, News

NEW YORK – December 8, 2015 – Interlude, a media and technology company that is pioneering a new kind of video that responds to a person’s emotions and interests, announced today that Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios (MGM) has made a strategic investment in the company. As part of the investment, MGM’s Chairman and CEO Gary Barber has also joined as Board Observer for the company. Interlude’s industry-leading interactive technology is changing the dynamic between content and consumer. The company’s form of seamless, responsive video empowers both viewers and creators to form a deeper, more meaningful relationship through video. MGM Television previously announced a partnership with Interlude to create an original digital short inspired by MGM’s three-time Academy Award® nominated 1983 feature film “WarGames.” MGM is joined in this $18.2 million funding round by Warner Music Group, Samsung, and returning investors including Sequoia Capital, Intel Capital and others.

“Though video has always been a very powerful storytelling medium, it has not, to date, been able to adjust and adapt from viewer to viewer,” said Yoni Bloch, founder and CEO of Interlude. “But we are aiming to allow filmmakers and content to form a unique connection with each viewer. This has the potential to change the relationship between film and individual audience members.”

“MGM continues to expand its footprint by identifying innovative platforms and technologies, such as Interlude, to introduce new audiences to our creative content,” said Barber.

Interlude has, to date, been primarily known for its award-winning and internationally acclaimed work with music video and branded content. It will use the new funds to build on its momentum. This expansion has three components: creating new forms of serialized video content spanning drama, comedy, news, sports, music and pop culture; growing the Interlude ecosystem of creators; and advancing the unique technology that realizes the vision of video that feels and responds.

Because Interlude’s content is designed to adapt to a person’s interests and preferences, it brings video in line with other forms of digital media that have long embraced personalization. While traditional, “linear” video is focused on offering viewers a “lean-back” experience, Interlude video leads fans to “lean into” the content, encouraging them to actively form deeper bonds with the narrative through in-video participation and customization.

The power of this bond dramatically impacts a viewer’s engagement and retention; Interlude content has an average of 10 times better engagement, retention, and sharing versus traditional Internet video content. This has substantial business implications for Interlude partners who use the platform, both in entertainment and advertising.

About Interlude

Over the past year, a number of Interlude projects have gone live. Interlude and Morgan Spurlock’s Warrior Poets recently announced a co-production partnership on “Call Bulls#!t”, a unique, fact-checking, interactive treatment of news. Carly Rae Jepsen’s video “Run Away with Me” was relaunched as an interactive experience; musical artists Aloe Blacc, CeeLo Green, Led Zeppelin and Coldplay have launched Interlude experiences based on their music. Moreover, a number of branded content projects like Coca-Cola’s Mother’s Day and MTV’s Scream have used Interlude. Interlude’s technology is also being used by third party producers for a BBC interactive drama, “Casualty: First Day” and a murder mystery online series, “Virtual Morality”.

Interlude (www.interlude.fm) is pioneering a new form of media in which video can respond to a person’s actions and interests in real-time. Stories told using our patented technology platform can adapt in a multitude of directions; like in a video game, the viewer steps into the story to make choices that affect dialogue, and even the plot, at any particular moment in time. This means that viewers are offered nearly infinite experiences in live-action video within a single piece of content. The result is highly engaging game-like videos that consumers play over and over. We partner with entertainment companies, independent creators, and top brands to create episodic series that are distributed widely through a network of affiliates on the mobile web, mobile apps, and the web. Interlude investors include Sequoia Capital, NEA, Marker, and Innovation Endeavors. Strategic investors include MGM, Intel Capital, Warner Music Group and Samsung. The company is based in New York, NY with additional offices in Tel Aviv, Israel and Los Angeles, CA.

About Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer is a leading entertainment company focused on the production and global distribution of film and television content. The company owns one of the world’s deepest libraries of premium film and television content. In addition, MGM has investments in domestic and international television channels and is the majority owner of and distributor for United Artists Media Group (UAMG). For more information, visitwww.mgm.com.

System Shock 3 Teased

2015/12/08

Jerry Paxton

Geek News, News, PlayStation 4 News, Windows PC News, Xbox One News

OtherSide Entertainment’s website featured a countdown timer page that went off early, revealing their teaser of System Shock 3, the next in the series of horror/FPS titles made famous by Looking Glass Studios and Irrational Games back in the 1990s. This teaser doesn’t mention anything save for the name “System Shock 3” – details such as any involvement by current System Shock license holder Night Dive Studios, or where the crowdfunding campaign will be hosted are missing. OtherSide Entertainment is most recently famous for running an extremely successful Kickstarter campaign for their upcoming Ultima Underworld, which gained $860,356 in funding.

Gamevice for iPhone 6 Series Now Available in Apple Stores

2015/12/08

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News, Peripherals News

December 8, 2015 – Gamevice, the attachable gamepad controller that transforms your iPhone 6/6+/6s/6s+ into a hyper-advanced handheld gaming console, is now available in selected Apple retail stores and online – both nationwide and internationally. Gamevice connects directly to become one with your Apple device – not a separate controller.

Play more than 750 controller-supported iOS games including Minecraft, Final Fantasy VII and Marvel: Contest of Champions with Gamevice. Gain a tactical advantage over other iOS gamers using Gamevice thanks to its superior controls. From Halo: Spartan Strike and Halo: Spartan Assault to 2K Drive to NBA 2K16 and FIFA 16 Ultimate Team, Gamevice improves your reaction time and gives you a competitive edge thanks to its low latency. Play Grand Theft Auto (III, San Andreas & Vice City), Afterpulse, Call of Duty Strike Team, Goat Simulator(original, GoatZ and MMO Simulator) and Crazy Taxi as the developers intended, but on your iPhone 6 thanks to Gamevice.

Gamevice evolves i-gaming into a console experience by transforming mobile devices into full-fledge game machines with controllers. Now you can easily play these games on the go.

Gamevice 2015 Product Line-Up

Now Available: iPad Mini: Price $99.95

Now Available: The iPhone 6, 6+, 6s and 6 Plus S: Price $99.99

Operation Frostline Hits EVE Online

2015/12/08

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Geek News, News, Trailers / Videos, Windows PC News

December 8, 2015 – Today brought the largest release for EVE Online in 2015, which includes an evolution of EVE’s epic sci-fi storyline. Named after a new and engaging series of events happening throughout the New Eden universe, Operation Frostline sets the stage for the massive Spring 2016 EVE Online: Citadel expansion, which will reconstruct the very foundations of the famous sci-fi universe and transform the sandbox game design it is built on.

The deadly mercenary faction known as Mordu’s Legion, having recently liberated Outer Ring Excavations (ORE) stations, now calls on pilots across the universe to raid the Serpentis Corporation’s vaults and pillage their valuable troves of implants, blueprints, PLEX, SKINs, and more before they can get their defenses back online.

Today’s release also brings 13 new ships, the largest introduction in a release in years. Command Destroyers make their debut, altering the battle meta with area-of-effect Micro Jump Field Generators pulling all nearby sub-capital ships with them as they leap 100 kilometers in the direction they are heading. Also unveiled is the Endurance, a nimble ice-mining frigate designed to travel into deep space and harvest precious ice ore from shattered wormholes and the most lucrative null-security regions. Four new Navy Electronic Warfare Frigates deliver powerful support to fast moving gangs and Tech II Logistics Frigates provide crucial restorative power for the shields and armor of their fleetmates.

Several significant graphical updates were also added to EVE Online, including: a running kill-mark tally of PvP victories on each ship, accumulated rust and dust on hulls, stunning new shield and armor damage effects, gorgeous engine effects for all ships, subtle yet vibrant changes to the nebulae and starfields, new ship SKINs, beta-versions of new orbital and first-person camera controls, module effect overhauls for smartbombs, e-war modules, cynosaural fields and more.

The EVE Universe thrives on change, especially from the players as they scheme and cajole, collaborate and command, and perish and conquer. It wouldn’t be an EVE release without shifting the conflict metagame a bit further by challenging the shifting tactics of the players before they get too comfortable. Today’s changes include even more module changes, new energy neutralizer variations, falloff for remote repairers, and new missile tracking disruptors. An exponential alteration to the size of grids will have far-reaching combat implications and set the stage for the massive structures coming in EVE Online: Citadel.

Altogether, additions alter the boundaries of EVE-as-it-has-been for a new future with unique new tactical considerations and rejuvenated graphical beauty.

Full patch notes and information on other improvements can be found here.

Current, past, and future features for EVE can be found on the EVE Updates page, including Preliminary information about EVE’s next big release, EVE Online: Citadel, and projects like Tranquility Tech III, the upcoming massive server upgrade for EVE Online.

Dev blogs on today’s additions and more can be found in the dev blogs archive