April 6, 2015 — Milestone s.r.l., and BANDAI NAMCO Entertainment America Inc. will be moving the release of RIDE for the Xbox One, PlayStation 4, Xbox 360 (digital only), PlayStation 3 (digital only) and STEAM to Tuesday, June 23rd.
From the grease of the garage to the sight of burning rubber on the racetrack, RIDE offers motorcycle enthusiasts and gamers alike a complete racing experience as players take on four different categories of racing – more than 100 Superbikes, Supersports, Naked, and Historical bikes. The title offers extensive vehicle and rider customization, presenting gamers with a vast array of options to keep gameplay fresh and exhilarating through a huge selection of circuits that range from city, country, and historic tracks from the world of motorcycling.
REDWOOD CITY, Calif. – (April 6, 2015) – Crystal Dynamics, a Square Enix studio, today announced that the award-winning TOMB RAIDER® (2013) has sold more than 8.5 million copies worldwide, more than any other game in the legendary Tomb Raider franchise’s history. Originally released in March 2013, the game also set franchise sales records for its first day and month.
TOMB RAIDER won numerous awards, including IGN’s Best Overall Game of E3 2012. TOMB RAIDER: Definitive Edition, which included additional content and enhanced graphics for next gen platforms, was released in January 2014 for Xbox One and PlayStation 4.
“TOMB RAIDER ignited and expanded the fan base, pushing the series to a new level. The game’s incredible sales success reflects the passionate response of players,” said Darrell Gallagher, head of studio at Crystal Dynamics. “Our studio is proud of what we accomplished with the game.”
TOMB RAIDER explores the intense origin story of Lara Croft® and her ascent from an untried and untested young woman to a hardened survivor. Armed only with raw instincts and the ability to push beyond the limits of human endurance, Lara must fight to unravel the dark history of a forgotten island to escape its relentless hold.
TOMB RAIDER is available on Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, PC and Mac, and TOMB RAIDER: Definitive Edition is available on Xbox One and PlayStation 4.
Six Flags Great Adventure has released their schedule of April events – enjoy!
Six Flags Spring Break — Daily through April 12
The theme park is operating daily for Spring Break from 10:30 a.m. to 8 p.m.
Fifth Harmony in Concert – April 11 The park’s MIKE AND IKE® concert series kicks off with chart-toppers Fifth Harmony and Trevor Moran on Saturday, April 11, presented by Z100. The group of five young women brought together by the reality show TheX Factor has been touring the country and boasting record sales on their first full-length album.Show takes place in the Plymouth Rock Assurance® Arena at 4 p.m. and is free with Season Pass or theme park admission.
Academic Adventures
Safari Off Road Education – April 14, 15, 21, 22, 28 & 29 Incorporating the Safari Off Road Adventure, Six Flags takes students grades K-6 on a journey in learning with 1,200 animals from six continents through the 350-acre wildlife preserve lead by experienced tour guides. This program takes place when the theme park is not open and is limited to 400 students per day. Tickets are $20.99 + tax per person.
Biology Days – April 24 & 30
Six Flags is proud to bring biology students up close and personal with 1,200 animals from six continents in the 350-acre wildlife preserve, and marine mammals such as California sea lions and Asian small-clawed otters in the theme park. Experienced safari tour guides and marine mammal experts lead the day. This event takes place on exclusive education days when the theme park is only open for schools/educational groups.
Six Flags Step Invitational – April 25 The Six Flags Step Invitational will feature teams of all ages from New Jersey competing with fancy footwork for cash prizes and bragging rights. The event takes place on Saturday, April 25 and tickets include entry to the park and competition. For ticket and registration information, visit www.njstepteam.org
Fast Tracks and Food Trucks Festival – April 25 & 26 At this delicious festival, guests can enjoy a variety of cuisines ranging from barbecue and tacos to hibachi and sliders, plus sweets including gourmet waffles and cupcakes. More than 20 trucks will be available from 12 to 7 p.m., and six award-winning New Jersey wineries will also be on hand from 1 to 6 p.m. for sampling and wine purchases. The festival is included with theme park admission; wine sampling and food requires an additional fee. Tickets may be purchased online with the promo code TRUCK.
I’ve been a player of real-time strategy games since the golden days of the genre. By golden era, I mean those titans like Warcraft, Command and Conquer, and the first StarCraft. For a while, there were tons of them – each with expansions and mods and the playtime seemed eternal. Those golden days have passed so that now you have to keep your eyes open for games that will keep you coming back for more. I was lucky when I got Etherium.
Description:
Etherium is a real-time strategy game set in a science-fiction universe, where three factions battle it out for a mysterious and rare resource known as ‘Etherium’.
Manage your resources, develop your base, and take command of infantry, tanks, aircraft, and gigantic colossi of war to battle not only your foes, but weather anomalies and mysterious secondary factions in richly strategic and original RTS gameplay. In the single player Conquest mode, develop your technological capabilities and expand your colonies over the furthest sectors of space, assembling a formidable armada.
Each of the three factions have their own strengths and weaknesses, as well as different tactical command skills such as map exposure, climate control, or planetary bombardment. Define your own strategy, deciding to either fell your enemy by striking their mother-ship from the planet’s surface, or rapidly crushing their colonies. In multiplayer, team up or wage battle in all-out deathmatches with up to 4 players!
Features:
3 empires with distinct characteristics, units, and special skills
A dynamic weather control system that directly impacts your strategy
A challenging multiplayer mode where up to 4 players can compete in intense matches
A dynamic campaign where each decision counts
Hands On:
It doesn’t take an RTS expert, or even a big fan of the genre, to see that there are some similarities to a powerhouse RTS game already on the market. This may bother some people but as someone who has only seen that powerhouse add updates to StarCraft 2’s multiplayer maps recently (to be fair that is the game’s bread and butter via tournament play), I am quite happy to get my hands on some fresh sci-fi RTS fun in the same vein. Etherium’s three empires are quite a bit different both from each other and from those found in StarCraft 2, so each campaign feels completely fresh while only requiring the slightest adjustments to get used to the control set up.
Each side gets one main base and destroying the other team’s base is one of the main ways of winning the game. Destroying the enemy’s fleet above the surface is another method for winning. You take regions by capping a pillar with a colony or outpost and then, if it has an Etherium bubble on it, you can start mining it for money. There is a build time on structures but unit builds are almost immediate. They are considered fleet drops so they can only be dropped at locations with spaceports. Building those spaceports at colonies or outposts throughout the map can mean the difference between wining and losing the planet at hand. Turret placement can only be done within a controlled territory and the number of turrets are limited in each one so be careful positioning. There are a lot of things to consider for each faction and each map, figuring out the strengths and weaknesses is all part of the fun.
The game could definitely use more single player missions. Most folks will probably be playing the online maps and not be too concerned with this aspect but when I get frustrated with “zerging” or bad sportsmanship, I like to go back and do some single player stuff. This game has the potential for expansions or even just new single player maps for skirmishes that could really make this game have legs. Also, with new multiplayer maps, it could make Etherium a contender for ESL tournament use. The model is in place and the formula has already been proven – it just needs proper support and community.
The other drawback is a small aspect to this game that is turn-based space fighting that allows you to engage enemy fleets in space before planetary landing. It plays kind of like a mini game and does add a bit of variety to the game but didn’t really feel necessary or very engaging. If it winds up being your favorite part of the game I would recommend playing turn-based strategy rather than real time.
Last Call:
Etherium is a solid real time strategy game with engaging game mechanics. It has massive potential for becoming a hit, especially with the right support and nurturing over time. This is the game to watch and play with hopes that one day you can say you were playing it before anybody knew what it was.
Another WonderCon has come and gone. The 2015 incarnation of the event saw a ton of panels, exhibitors, and cosplayers from around the country and we were thrilled to be a part of it. Here is our photo gallery from the comic convention. We’d like to thank David Glanzer and Karen Mayugba from CCI for making our attendance possible.
Beverly Hills, Calif., April 2, 2015 – The STARZ Original series “Ash vs Evil Dead” released a first look motion graphic and teaser art for the 10-episode first season of the half-hour series executive produced by Sam Raimi, Rob Tapert, Bruce Campbell, the original filmmakers of the franchise, and Craig DiGregorio who will serve as executive producer and showrunner. The teaser will premiere on-air during the “Outlander” premiere on Saturday, April 4 at 9 PM ET/PT. “Ash vs Evil Dead,” which will film in New Zealand, is the long-awaited follow-up to the classic horror film franchise The Evil Dead and is set to premiere on STARZ in late 2015.
Campbell will be reprising his role as Ash, the stock boy, aging lothario and chainsaw-handed monster hunter who has spent the last 30 years avoiding responsibility, maturity and the terrors of the Evil Dead. When a Deadite plague threatens to destroy all of mankind, Ash is finally forced to face his demons –personal and literal. Destiny, it turns out, has no plans to release the unlikely hero from its “Evil” grip.
The cast is led by Bruce Campbell (Evil Dead, “Burn Notice”) in the role of Ash Williams, Lucy Lawless (“Salem,” “Spartacus”) as Ruby a mysterious figure who believes Ash is the cause of the Evil outbreaks, Jill Marie Jones (“Sleepy Hollow”) as Amanda Fisher, a disgraced Michigan State Trooper set to find our anti-hero Ash and prove his responsibility in the grisly murder of her partner, Ray Santiago (“Touch,” Meet the Fockers) as Pablo Simon Bolivar, an idealistic immigrant who becomes Ash’s loyal sidekick and Dana DeLorenzo (A Very Harold & Kumar 3D Christmas) as Kelly Maxwell, a moody wild child trying to outrun her past.
Raimi is directing the first episode of “Ash vs Evil Dead” that he wrote with Ivan Raimi (Darkman, Army of Darkness, Drag Me to Hell), Craig DiGregorio (“Workaholics,” “Chuck”) and Tom Spezialy (“Chuck,” “Reaper,” “Desperate Housewives”). Raimi will also serve as executive producer, along with Rob Tapert (Evil Dead, “Spartacus,” Xena: Warrior Princess”) and Bruce Campbell (Evil Dead, “Burn Notice”) along with Craig DiGregorio (“Workaholics,” “Chuck”) who will serve as executive producer/showrunner. Ivan Raimi will co-executive produce and Aaron Lam (“Spartacus”) will serve as producer.
Join the conversation with #AshvsEvilDead and #STARZ.
Looks like game-streaming service OnLive will be closing its doors on April 30, 2015. Here is the official letter to subscribers:
Dear OnLive Gamer,
After five years of uninterrupted service, the OnLive Game Service will be coming to an end. Sony is acquiring important parts of OnLive, and their plans don’t include a continuation of the game service in its current form. Your service should continue uninterrupted until April 30, 2015. No further subscription fees will be charged, and you can continue to play all of your games until that date.
As the first-ever game streaming service of its kind, everyone who has ever played a game using OnLive has contributed to the technology and its evolution in some way. We’re immensely proud of what’s been achieved and extend our heartfelt gratitude to you for being a part of the OnLive Game Service. For more information, please see our FAQ section.
Mario Lopez and Ryan Reynolds reveal Deadpool’s R-rating in the BEST way possible – an April Fools Day video! Watch all the way until the end…. Glad Jesse is safe now…
April 2, 2015 — Bohemia Interactive today released the second developer diary about the upcoming Arma 3 Marksmen DLC.
While the first developer diary explored the new weapons and free platform features, this new developer diary takes a closer look at the new showcase scenarios, training courses and firing drills, Virtual Garage, the new End Game multiplayer mode, and some of the experimental multiplayer systems.
Video Dev Diary
The Arma 3 Marksmen DLC includes seven new weapons, two scopes, remote designators, ghillie suits, firing drills, and the Marksmen showcase scenario. The DLC will be accompanied by a major platform update, which will be free for all people who own Arma 3. The supporting update will introduce weapon resting and deployment, improved recoil simulation, improved AI suppression, various sound enhancements, a new multiplayer mode and showcase scenario, suppressor and bipod weapon attachments, heavy and grenadier vests, nine additional face paints, and Virtual Garage.
The Arma 3 Marksmen DLC will be available on April 8th for 12.99 EUR/10.99 GBP/15.99 USD, and is available for pre-order exclusively at the Bohemia Interactive Store with a 10% discount. People can also purchase the Arma 3 DLC Bundle, which includes the Arma 3 Karts, Arma 3 Helicopters, and the upcoming Marksmen DLC, for 19.99 EUR/16.99 GBP/24.99 USD – saving them more than 25% over buying the DLC piece by piece.
Those who are completely new to Arma 3, but are looking for the complete experience, can purchase the Arma 3 Extended Edition at Bohemia Interactive’s official store. The Extended Edition includes the Arma 3 Digital Deluxe Edition and the Arma 3 DLC Bundle, and saves people 9.99 EUR/11.99 GBP/14.99 USD over buying the vanilla game and DLC bundle separately.
