Costa Mesa, CA – Families can take free photos with Santa and Mrs. Claus from 10am to 2pm Saturday and Sunday, December 16 and 17. Children 12 and under receive free admission (adults are $2) and all activities are free to participate. Parking is free through gates 2 and 10 and be sure to tell our attendants you’re here for the Market Place.
In addition to taking your own photo with Santa, kids can enjoy free face painting Saturday and Sunday from 11:30am until 2:30pm. On Sunday, we will have a special performance by The Puppets & Players Little Theatre at 11:00am and 1:00pm, also free to watch. Guests are encouraged to wear their ugly Christmas sweater along with the staff at Orange County Market Place for a truly festive experience!
With several hundred vendors onsite, holiday shopping is a breeze. The Market Place will open from 7:00am until 4:00pm to shop. Be sure to stop by the Westside Grill for lunch and try the newly released holiday Grinch-amole Burger. This burger is piled with guacamole, bacon, and cheese.
To stay up to date on all upcoming events at the Orange County Market Place, including coupons, free admission and special offers, sign up for our EClub, and follow us on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter. More information can be found by visiting www.ocmarketplace.com.
About Orange County Market Place
The Orange County Market Place®, America’s most unique market, is a celebration of food, fun, value, and the entrepreneurial spirit. With hundreds of thousands of visitors each year, the Orange County Market Place has grown to become the centerpiece of the Orange County outdoor shopping experience. The Orange County Market Place®, founded in 1969, is owned and operated by Spectra and is located on the Orange County Fairgrounds in Costa Mesa at Fair Drive and the 55 Freeway. The Orange County Market Place operates every Saturday and Sunday of the year except during the Orange County Fair in July/August. Operating hours for the general public are from 7:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.
About Spectra
Spectra by Comcast Spectacor is an industry leader in hosting and entertainment, partnering with clients to create memorable experiences for millions of visitors every year. Spectra’s unmatched blend of integrated services delivers incremental value for clients through several primary areas of expertise: Venue Management, Food Services & Hospitality, and Partnerships. Learn more at SpectraExperiences.com.
About Comcast Spectacor
Comcast Spectacor is part of Comcast Corporation, a global media and technology company that operates Comcast Cable and NBCUniversal. Headquartered in Philadelphia, Comcast Spectacor’s three core businesses are the National Hockey League’s Philadelphia Flyers, the Wells Fargo Center Complex, and Spectra, a leading hospitality firm that provides Venue Management, Food Services & Hospitality and Partnerships to more than 300 client properties in the United States, Canada, and Singapore. Visit us at ComcastSpectacor.com for more information.
The holiday season is upon us once more, and again we make the pilgrimage to Knott’s Merry Farm to checkout their seasonal offerings. Knott’s Merry Farm, for those of you unaware, is the holiday season makeover undertaken by Knott’s Berry Farm in Buena Park, CA. It runs from now until January 7, 2018 and costs no added charge on top of the standard ticket price. For not paying anything more, however, you are certainly getting a lot extra! I should note that, in the past, Knott’s offered a special, reduced-price ticket to visit just the crafting village. However, I do not see that option available this year – call the park for clarification.
First, you get access to the craft village setup in the Calico Ghost Town area of the park. There, you will find a plethora of vendors hawking their wares – wares such as hand-made soaps, ornaments, and a whole lot more. Also, the park designers have done an excellent job of decorating Calico Ghost Town for the holiday season. There are boughs of holly, ornaments, trees, and a lot more gracing the usually-Spartan, grizzled Western town. Even the Calico Railroad has been made up some for the holiday season and you may not run into your usual train bandits during the excursion around the park.
Further down the road into Calico Ghost Town you’ll find Santa’s Christmas Cabin, where the big man himself waits to take photographs with guests and their families. Also in the cabin is a delightful array of holiday treats. There are freshly-dipped caramel apples, hot cocoa, tamales, wine selections, popcorn, and a host of other offerings that you owe it to yourself to sample upon your visit, so don’t fill up elsewhere! Even the Calico Railroad has been made up some for the holiday season and you may not run into your usual train bandits during the excursion around the park.
Also taking place during Knott’s Merry Farm is the award-winning Merry Christmas Snoopy! ice show with an impressive cadre of skaters as well as Peanuts characters on the ice. Unfortunately, while the skaters and dancers are very skilled, the ice show hasn’t changed much in the last few years and I hope they update it for the 2018 Knott’s Merry Farm event. Also returning this season are A Christmas Carol and Gift of the Magi in the Birdcage Theatre. These short format plays are a lot of fun and a must-see during your visit. At night, you can enjoy the lighting of the very impressive Calico Christmas tree across the way from the new Calico Main Stage. Speaking of which, you can also watch the It’s The Merriest Christmas Show Ever, Charlie Brown stage show there. This show is well produced and features many memorable moments. Also roaming the ghost town are the Calico Carolers, a vocal quartet that bump up their impressive singing with equally-impressive bell work!
Of course, you have access to all the standard Knott’s Berry Farm rides and attractions during the Merry Farm, and you can even see the progression of the parks upcoming Hang Time roller coaster as it is being constructed! The Calico Mine Ride and Timber Mountain Log Ride are operational and it is always a treat to ride these classic attractions. They really don’t make them like that anymore and the two fit right in with the old thyme holiday theme.
Overall, Knott’s Merry Farm is a Southern California holiday tradition that is not to be missed. It is fun for all ages and a delightful place to visit. Knott’s Merry Farm runs from now until January 7, 2018 during normal park operating hours. You can find out more about Knott’s Merry Farm such as ticket information and hours at the park’s official website.
11 December 2017 – London, UK – CCP Games has announced that Gunjack 2: End of Shift – the sequel to one of the best-selling mobile VR games of all time, the critically-acclaimed Gunjack – is launching today for Gear VR on the Oculus Store, available to download for $8.99 SRP. Gunjack 2: End of Shift, which was originally released exclusively for Daydream, is also receiving a permanent price drop on Google Play, from $12.99 SRP to $8.99 SRP.
To mark the launch of Gunjack 2: End of Shift on Samsung Gear VR, CCP has issued a new trailer here:
The release of Gunjack 2: End of Shift on Gear VR enables mobile gamers to download and play both the original Gunjack and itssequel on a single platform for the first time. CCP is also launching a bundle edition with both the original Gunjack game and Gunjack 2: End of Shift on Gear VR, at a discounted price point.
Additionally, the original Gunjack is receiving a permanent price drop from $9.99 SRP to $4.99 SRP across all available platforms – for Gear VR and Oculus Rift on the Oculus Store, for HTC Vive and Oculus Rift on Steam, and for PlayStation VR on the PlayStation Store.
“Gunjack was praised for its breakthrough graphics when it launched on Gear VR in November 2015, and with Gunjack 2: End of Shift, our development team has raised the bar again for mobile VR games,” said Michael Lee, Gunjack 2: End of Shift’s Senior Brand Manager. “With broader availability, bundles and price cuts, we look forward to introducing many new players to the Gunjack series this holiday season.”
Gunjack andGunjack 2: End of Shift are fast-paced, space shooters set in the science fiction universe of EVE Online®, built from the ground up for mobile VR using Unreal Engine 4. As a turret operator with a formidable arsenal at their disposal, players are charged with the defence of a vast interstellar mining rig and must protect its precious cargo from bandits trying to blow the rig apart.
Gunjack 2: End of Shift seamlessly integrates intuitive motion controls with intense, full-immersion action for an unmatched mobile VR experience. Players can use the Gear VR motion controller to aim and shoot down swarms of enemies, strategically deploy special weapons, and activate an energy shield to survive the most dangerous situations. The game also features procedural daily missions, ensuring endless replayability.
Full details about Gunjack 2: End of Shift can be found via www.gunjack2.com
20th Century Fox has debuted the official trailer for ALITA: BATTLE ANGEL from visionary filmmakers James Cameron and Robert Rodriguez starring Rosa Salazar, Christoph Waltz, Jennifer Connelly, Mahershala Ali, Ed Skrein, Jackie Earle Haley and Keean Johnson!
Moscow – December 7, 2017 – Deep Silver and 4A Games today announced that Metro Exodus is set for release in Autumn 2018, on Xbox One, the all-in-one games and entertainment system from Microsoft, the PlayStation®4 computer entertainment system, and PC.
Revealed during The Game Awards, The Aurora Trailer offers a glimpse of post-apocalyptic Moscow – a hostile world locked in an endless nuclear winter. The desperate survivors who cling to existence beneath the surface in the ruins of the Metro have long given up hope of a life beyond Moscow… all except for one.
As Artyom, you must flee the Metro and lead a band of Spartan Rangers on an incredible, continent-spanning journey across post-apocalyptic Russia in search of a new life in the East. This thrilling story-line will span an entire calendar year through the changing seasons.
Inspired by the internationally best-selling novels Metro 2033 and Metro 2035 by Dmitry Glukhovsky, Metro Exodus continues Artyom’s story in the greatest Metro adventure yet.
“We were overwhelmed by our fans’ reaction to the announcement of Metro Exodus at E3,” said Andriy Prokhorov, creative director and co-founder at 4A Games. “We’re sorry to have kept you waiting so long for further news, but you’ll be hearing a lot more from us in the months ahead.”
Be the first to learn more about this incredible new title by registering for updates at MetroTheGame.com, and follow us on Twitter and Instagram @MetroVideoGame or on Facebook at Facebook.com/MetroVideoGame.
(Glendale, CA) December 7, 2017 – Marvel Entertainment announced today, “Marvel Rising,” a brand-new, multi-platform animation franchise starring the next generation of Marvel heroes set to launch in 2018. The program will launch with six, four-minute digital shorts that spotlight Spider-Gwen with her new secret moniker, Ghost-Spider, and introduce audiences to the world of “Marvel Rising.” Following the shorts, a feature-length animated film, “Marvel Rising: Secret Warriors” will premiere later that year. Distribution partners for the content to be announced at a later date.
Meet the characters and all-star voice actors behind the all-new franchise “Marvel Rising” here:
The content features an all-star line-up of voice talent including Dove Cameron, Chloe Bennet, Tyler Posey, BooBoo Stewart, Kathreen Khavari, Milana Vayntrub, Cierra Ramirez, Kamil McFadden, Skai Jackson, Kim Raver, Ming-Na Wen, Steven Weber, and Dee Bradley Baker among others. Future stories and content are also being developed across Marvel’s digital and publishing platforms and will be announced at a later date.
“Marvel Rising: Secret Warriors” is a long-anticipated event, bringing together Marvel’s newest and beloved characters that have garnered major fan excitement over the last few years. Powered teens Ms. Marvel, Squirrel Girl, Quake, Patriot, America Chavez, and Inferno join forces as an unlikely, but formidable crew of aspiring heroes. When a threat no one could have expected bears down on the Marvel Universe, this ragtag, untrained band of teens have no choice but to rise together and prove to the world that sometimes the difference between a “hero” and “misfit” is just in the name.
“Marvel characters are so relatable because they live in our world and face the same challenges we do. So I’m very excited that our Marvel Rising team of heroes is so inclusive, reflecting characters with different backgrounds, particularly a set of strong female leads that our young audience can connect with,” said Cort Lane, Marvel’s Senior Vice President of Animation & Family Entertainment.
Sana Amanat, Marvel’s Director of Content & Character Development, added, “This project is unlike anything we’ve done before—from featuring the rising and fan-favorite stars of the Marvel Universe, to a visually distinct animation style, this is a groundbreaking animated event. It’s an action-packed adventure, full of comedy, heart and powerful messages for every kind of Marvel fan.”
Meet the characters behind “Marvel Rising”:
Gwen Stacy aka Ghost-Spider (formerly Spider Gwen) voiced by Dove Cameron (“Descendants,” “Hairspray Live”) – a free spirited teen who found her calling to be a super hero after being bitten by a radioactive spider and gaining spider-like powers. As Ghost-Spider, she aids those in need, but has to keep her alter-ego a secret from her father, Captain George Stacy, who sees Ghost-Spider as more of a menace than a hero.
Daisy Johnson aka Quake voiced by Chloe Bennet (“Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.,” “Nashville”) – a leading agent of S.H.I.E.L.D. whose tendency for rule-breaking gets her into trouble now and then. Daisy befriends the young group of heroes and through them discovers how to become a better leader. She can generate powerful vibrational waves, which produce effects similar to earthquakes.
Dante Pertuz aka Inferno voiced by Tyler Posey (“Teen Wolf,” “Lincoln Heights”) – a brooding, dark loner on the run. Dante has the power of pyrokinesis, which makes him capable of generating flames – however, he is not fully in control of his fiery abilities. It’s a thin line between good guy and villain for the unpredictable Inferno.
Victor Kohl aka Exile voiced by BooBoo Stewart (“Descendants,” “The Twilight Saga”) – a charming, handsome, and troublesome young Inhuman whose quest for superiority places him into the wrong crowd. He can use Darkforce energy to create weapons and portals that allow him to teleport.
Kamala Khan aka Ms. Marvel voiced by Kathreen Khavari (“Marvel’s Avengers Assemble,” “Big Little Lies”) – a devoted fan of Super Heroes, especially of her mentor Captain Marvel; she is determined that she too can be a great hero! If only she’d be taken seriously. Kamala is equipped with metamorphic powers that allow her to stretch, enlarge, or shrink her overall size, parts of her body, or alter her physical appearance. She is especially fond of “embiggening” her fists.
Doreen Green aka Squirrel Girl voiced by Milana Vayntrub (“Marvel’s New Warriors,” “This Is Us”) – the uber-positive, hilarious best friend and teammate of Ms. Marvel. With advanced computer skills, enhanced strength, agility, durability, and senses of a squirrel, Doreen (along with her squirrel partner, Tippy Toe!), is primed and ready to become a successful hero.
America Chavez voiced by Cierra Ramirez (“The Fosters,” “The Secret Life of an America Teenager”) – a strong, independent young hero whose painful past drives her to reject leadership and remain a loner. America’s powers include superhuman strength, speed, and durability, plus the ability to fly.
Rayshaun Lucas aka Patriot voiced by Kamil McFadden (“K.C. Undercover,” “Grown Ups 2”) – a natural born leader who is quick to leap into action to impress his colleagues at S.H.I.E.L.D. Rayshaun strives to live up to Captain America’s legacy with integrity, honesty, and order above all. His skills include heightened strength, speed, stamina, and durability.
Gloria “Glory” Grant voiced by Skai JacksFron (“Bunk’d,” “Jessie”) – Gloria, or ‘Glory,’ is Gwen Stacy’s friend and member of their garage band “The Emm-Jays.” Gloria is a smart, hard-working girl that genuinely cares for Gwen, but has felt a distance growing between them ever since their friend, Kevin, was murdered. When being casual, Gloria’s known to be funny, sarcastic and sassy.
Carol Danvers aka Captain Marvel voiced by Kim Raver (“Grey’s Anatomy,” “24”) – a bold leader who doesn’t sugar-coat and is guided by a strong sense of duty and honor. She’s the ultimate inspiration for our band of misfit heroes. She is equipped with superhuman strength, can fly at high speeds, and can project intense energy blasts.
Hala voiced by Ming-Na Wen (“Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.,” “Mulan”) – Hala is a Kree Accuser bent on galactic domination. She’ll go to any length or treacherous means to achieve what she, and the entire Kree race, wants: Power. Hala is cold, cryptic and nefarious, often challenging those who try to oppose her.
Captain George Stacy voiced by Steven Weber (“13 Reasons Why,” “NCIS: New Orleans”) – Chief of the NYPD and Gwen Stacy’s loving, but fiercely protective father. Captain Stacy is a very disciplined, hard-working man that will stop at nothing to obtain justice – who unfortunately sees Ghost-Spider as a menace and a threat to society.
Lockjaw and Tippy Toe are voiced by Dee Bradley Baker (“Star Wars Rebels,” “Gravity Falls”). Two lovable and heroic sidekicks: Lockjaw is Kamala’s trusty, teleporting mutt and Tippy Toe is Doreen’s partner in crime and best squirrel friend.
“Marvel Rising: Secret Warriors” is executive produced by Joe Quesada, Dan Buckley, Cort Lane, and Eric Radomski; co-executive produced by Stan Lee, Sana Amanat, and Marsha Griffin. The film and shorts were written by Mairghread Scott. Alfred Gimeno served as supervising director.
STOCKHOLM — Dec. 7, 2017 — Paradox Interactive, a publisher and developer of games that tell human interest stories, today released a new Species Pack for Stellaris, the sci-fi grand strategy game from Paradox Development Studio. “Humanoids Species Pack,” available today for a suggested retail price of $7.99 on Windows, Mac, and Linux PCs, includes a wealth of new cosmetic content for ambitious galactic rulers. With new species portraits, ship models, music tracks, and voice sets for VIR, The Humanoids Species Pack provides more variety and character to Stellaris’ most-played phenotype, inspired by the classics of Western science fiction.
Follow the ambition of the latest species to explore the stars in a new trailer for Humanoids Species Pack:
Stellaris: Humanoids Species Pack adds new options to Paradox’s empire-building sci-fi strategy title, giving players additional choices for their species that are closer to home – or at least closer to our home galaxy. The pack includes:
Ten New Portraits of Humanoids
New Ship Models Inspired by Humanity’s Imagination
Three New Voiceover Sets for VIR
Three Remixed Music Tracks to Add to the Stellaris Soundtrack
Hamburg, December 6, 2017 – Today, Hamburg-based indie developer ROCKFISH Games launch the standalone Hardcore Mode for EVERSPACE™ players on Xbox One and the Windows 10 Store. This free update to the arcadey roguelike 3D space shooter (Xbox Metacritic 84) provides a brand new challenge for pilots who have successfully surmounted every obstacle the game has thrown at them. Rather than merely being a maddening new difficulty level for the game’s primary story, Hardcore Mode comes in the form of a brand new, standalone experience.
Doing away with the precious permanent ship improvements players have unlocked with credits earned from each run in the normal game mode, Hardcore Mode runs begin with a fixed set of perks that can only be upgraded as sectors are completed. Adding to the constant sense of danger this squishiness affords, players will have to chose from a series of “handicap” modifiers each time they enter a new sector. This could be anything from fuel leaking, combat not pausing while repairing or crafting items, jump suppressors in every location, or even a peculiar retro game mode with visual and sound effects like it’s 1991, again.
This means players will have to contend with more than just their hostile surroundings as they fight tooth and nail on their way to Hardcore Mode’s revamped end sector and final battle. Those who played EVERSPACE as part of Xbox Game Preview may even notice some familiar mechanics in the new final battle, given fans’ passion for a gone-but-not-forgotten encounter from the game’s early days, but it wouldn’t be Hardcore Mode without there being a healthy number of twists.
Whether it’s veteran pilots looking for a challenge worthy of their flight chops, or returning pilots looking to face down some space-faring punishment, EVERSPACE’s Hardcore Mode offers a fresh experience on Xbox One and Windows 10 that’s sure to keep players looking over their shoulders.
“We are excited about Hardcore Mode bringing a fresh challenge to veteran Everspace pilots on Xbox One and Windows 10 including continued XPA support,” said Chris Charla, Director ID@Xbox at Microsoft. “Everspace has come a long way since it launched as Xbox Game Preview more than a year ago and we can’t wait to hear what else Rockfish got up their sleeves for the future of Everspace.”
“By releasing Hardcore Mode on Xbox One, we successfully delivered on our last remaining promise from our Kickstarter in 2015,” said Michael Schade, CEO and co-founder of ROCKFISH Games. “But, there is even more to come. Currently, we are migrating the project to Unreal Engine 4.17 to support Xbox One X in native 4K resolution It will come as another free upgrade right in time when the highly-anticipated EVERSPACE – Encounters add-on will be released on the entire Xbox One family of devices in Q1 next year.”
Prague, Czech Republic, December 6, 2017—Bohemia Interactive, today, announced the official release of its new sandbox adventure game, Ylands, on Steam Early Access. The beautiful open-polyworld of Ylands completely unleashes players’ creativity to craft, explore, and create anything they have ever imagined. Bohemia’s hardcore titles, Arma and DayZ, are known for their huge open terrains, lots of gameplay freedom, many opportunities for content creation, and their involved community. While this family-friendly title might look like a very unusual addition at first sight, Ylands aims to bring exactly those elements that made Bohemia successful to a brand new group of gamers.
Ylands is a unique sandbox game that lets players explore their creativity. Players can seamlessly switch between single and multiplayer modes while exploring uncharted ylands, laying siege to castles, engaging in naval battles, taking part in car races, crafting monumental structures or quirky things like crab armor, cheese walls and much more. Ylands lets you live your childhood fantasies and create your own new adventures.
Another powerful feature of the game is the Ylands Editor. With interactive scripting and thousands of objects to play with, it makes Ylands much more than yet another sandbox game. It’s a platform where players can create their own games and share them with others through the custom-made Workshop.
“You don’t need any special skills or knowledge to become a creator in Ylands – if you have an idea, that one creative spark, you’re all set,” said Aleš Ulm, the Creative Director of Ylands. “We can’t wait to see what players think about our game and hope that together we’ll shape it into something unique” he added.
Ylands is now available for purchase and play, and as a special bonus early birds will get a 20% discount from now on until December 11 (normal price: €15 / $15 / £13). With the core features already implemented, the developers are planning to spend roughly six months in Early Access, mostly polishing gameplay and multiplayer aspects so it can be released later in 2018.
December 6th, 2017 – Take on today’s most challenging, graphics-intensive games without missing a beat. The EVGA GeForce GTX 1070 Ti delivers the incredible speed and power of NVIDIA Pascal – the most advanced gaming GPU architecture ever created. This is the ultimate gaming platform.
Featuring an all-new 2.5 slot cooler and ultra silent fan profile, the EVGA GeForce GTX 1070 Ti FTW ULTRA SILENT gives you the best of both worlds – Cool, silent running and game-changing performance! The larger heatsink efficiently removes more heat, which allows your fans to run at a lower and quieter speed. Alternatively, the improved cooling gives you more headroom to overclock and improve performance without worrying about heat.
