Author - Jerry Paxton

Borderlands: The Pre-Sequel Claptastic Voyage Trailer

2015/03/11

Geek News, News, PlayStation 3 News, PlayStation 4 News, Trailers / Videos, Windows PC News, Xbox 360 News, Xbox One News

March 11, 2015 — 2K and Gearbox Software present the official trailer for the fourth add-on content pack for Borderlands: The Pre-Sequel, Claptastic Voyage and Ultimate Vault Hunter Upgrade Pack 2. As shown and announced on the Gearbox panel at PAX East, this add-on content pack is coming to Xbox 360, PS3 and PC on March 24th, as well as on Xbox One and PS4 via Borderlands: The Handsome Collection.

In Claptastic Voyage, Handsome Jack has found something ludicrously powerful inside Claptrap’s mind and has digitized his team to go in and get it. Claptastic Voyage offers Vault Hunters an all-new story campaign, unique enemies, weapons and irreparable psychological trauma. Also included in the add-on pack is the Ultimate Vault Hunter Upgrade Pack 2 which raises the level cap to 70, giving each character 10 new levels and 10 new skill points to earn.

Trailer

World of Warships Closed Beta Starts March 12

2015/03/10

Jerry Paxton

Geek News, News, Screenshots / Photos, Windows PC News

March 10, 2015 — Wargaming is excited to announce that preparations are underway for the World of Warships Closed Beta, which will begin on March 12. Applications open for Europe at 11:00 CET, North America at 11:00 PST, and Asia at 17:00 SGT. During the test, players will dive into online naval battles, sharing their feedback with the development team to improve the experience.

Held in December 2014 and January 2015, the two World of Warships Beta Test Weekends attracted over 75,000 users. Boasting 15,000 concurrent players, there were an average of 60 battle sessions played by each tester in only four days.

In the upcoming Closed Beta, players will have access to five original maps, taking them on a journey through arctic oceans to tropical archipelagos. On their voyage, 50 U.S. and Japanese warships are available for players to challenge the seas and enemy ships.

Both nation’s cruisers are great, nimble vessels that have the upper hand against enemy destroyers, and even deal a significant blow to ships of the same class. Japanese battleships are fierce attacking ships, which, thanks to their thick armor, can also offer other vessels on their team excellent cover. Destroyers from both nations are perhaps the most maneuverable of ships, and are perfect for scouting, offering backup, and carrying out deadly torpedo strikes. The fourth and final class are aircraft carriers, initially represented by American warships. These types of ships are unmatched at attacking the enemy and providing reconnaissance—ideal for the more tactical player.

Crews (represented by warships commanders) play an integral role in gameplay. With each level, Commanders gain points that can be spent on a variety of skills divided into several ranks and categories. Players can choose to improve the Commander to best suit their play style from increasing a ship’s resistance to certain damage to decreased reloading times.

In addition to personnel training, Modernizations allow players to develop a ship’s combat capability. There are numerous Modernizations available, such as increasing a weapon’s durability or ship’s resilience to fire and flooding.

For those that enjoy working together as a team to conquer the seas, they can join forces with two other players in Divisions.

In the future, World of Warships will add Japanese aircraft carriers and U.S. battleships. Achievements for many accomplishments in battle as well as customization options will also be introduced to the game.

To learn more about World of Warships and become involved in the Closed Beta, visit.

http://worldofwarships.com (North America)
http://worldofwarships.eu (Europe)
http://worldofwarships.asia (Asia)

Screenshots

Star Trek Online Delta Recruitment Recruitment Event Announced

2015/03/09

Jerry Paxton

Geek News, News, Windows PC News

REDWOOD CITY, Calif. – March 9, 2015 – Today, Perfect World Entertainment Inc. and Cryptic Studios announced Delta Recruitment – a new in-game event set to prepare the world of Star Trek Online for the upcoming Iconian War. Beginning April 2, both novice and veteran players will have the opportunity to earn unique rewards when they take their first steps to conclude a conflict that has been brewing in Star Trek Online for more than 5 years.

In an effort to deliver unique Star Trek adventures for science-fiction fans, the Delta Recruitment event unveils the invasion of the Iconians – an ancient race threatening to reassert their rule over the galaxy – creating a call-to-arms to combat this ultimate threat. With the conflict festering over the past five years of in-game content, the Iconians present a massive threat for the captains of Star Trek Online as they embark on a story rich wartime experience that will span several months.

In an effort to strengthen forces, new captains created during the Delta Recruitment event will earn progression based rewards including gear, week long events, upgrade materials, and valuable numerics through both personal and community-wide goals. Existing players will receive a new character slot to create a Delta Recruit and each of the progression based rewards comes with an account-wide unlock variant in order to keep their alternate characters up to speed while leveling a new recruit.

Star Trek Online is a free-to-play massively multiplayer online game where players can pioneer their own destiny as Captain of a Federation starship, become a Klingon Warrior and champion the Empire through the far reaches of the galaxy, or rebuild the Romulan legacy as the commander of a Romulan Republic Warbird. Its last expansion, Star Trek Online: Delta Rising, brought players into the Delta Quadrant and reintroduced them to iconic members from the Star Trek: Voyager cast including Seven of Nine, The Doctor, Harry Kim, Neelix and Tuvok. In Star Trek Online players have the opportunity to visit iconic locations from the popular Star Trek universe, reach out to unexplored star systems and make contact with new alien species.

To download and play Star Trek Online today for free, visit http://www.arcgames.com/en/games/star-trek-online

First Two Images of TV’s Supergirl Released

2015/03/06

Jerry Paxton

Comics News, Geek News, Movie News, News, Screenshots / Photos

March 6, 2015 — Please find attached the first two images from CBS’s new pilot SUPERGIRL, from Warner Bros. Television and based on the characters from DC Comics.

SUPERGIRL stars Melissa Benoist as Kara Danvers/Kara Zor-El and Supergirl
The costume for Supergirl was designed by three-time Oscar® winner Colleen Atwood, who also designed the costumes for THE FLASH & ARROW and whose motion picture credits include Academy Awards® for her work on Alice in Wonderland, Memoirs of a Geisha and Chicago, as well as eight additional Oscar® nominations for films such as Into the Woods, Snow White and the Huntsman, Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street and Sleepy Hollow, among others
Colleen Atwood said, “In designing Supergirl, I wanted to embrace the past, but more importantly, thrust her into the street-style action hero of today.”
Production begins on the SUPERGIRL pilot this week

Born on the planet Krypton, Kara Zor-El escaped amid its destruction years ago. Since arriving on Earth, she’s been hiding the powers she shares with her famous cousin. But now at age 24, she decides to embrace her superhuman abilities and become the hero she was destined to be.

The SUPERGIRL pilot is from executive producers/writers Greg Berlanti, Ali Adler and Andrew Kreisberg. Sarah Schechter is also executive producing, with Glen Winter directing.

Based on the characters from DC Comics, SUPERGIRL is produced by Berlanti Productions in association with Warner Bros. Television.

SUPERGIRL Images

Bone Yard Effects Premieres Interactive Exhibit at ScareLA 2015

2015/03/06

Jerry Paxton

Geek News, Halloween, News

LOS ANGELES (Friday, March 6, 2015) – ScareLA, the Southern California convention dedicated to Halloween, is pleased to announce the premiere of an exclusive interactive exhibit “Angels & Demons” by renowned makeup artist Larry Bones of Bone Yard Effects, this August 8 and 9 at the Pasadena Convention Center. A fan favorite for the past two years, Bones returns to ScareLA accompanied by over two dozen talented artists to transform select ScareLA attendees into beautiful and terrifying creatures from the supernatural.

“I’m so excited to bring Bone Yard Effects back to ScareLA this year,” says Larry Bones, founder of Bone Yard Effects. “I have loved being part of this awesome event for the past two years, and am amazed by how fast it is growing. As ScareLA gets bigger, we at Bone Yard have the opportunity to grow as well. I’m pleased to announce Bone Yard’s ‘Angels & Demons’ presentation. A huge team of Bone Yard artists will create either an angel or a demon character from head to toe, each with its own unique attributes. You’ll see over twenty five different characters over the weekend, and will have the opportunity to get a photo with them on our display stage. We look forward to seeing you all at ScareLA 2015!”

Bone Yard’s “Angels & Demons” demonstration will culminate in a small army of over 25 creatures roaming the show floor, interacting with guests, and making themselves available for unforgettable photo opps. The installation spurs from the convention’s unique focus on creating high quality immersive entertainment. It is to complement over a dozen onsite mini-haunts and experiences only found at ScareLA.

“Every year, Larry gives his Bone Yard Effects crew a new makeup challenge to unveil at ScareLA, and every year, they top themselves with even more creative and scarier creatures that end up wandering our show floor” says David Markland, Executive Producer of ScareLA. Co-producer and ScareLA founder Lora Ivanova adds, “In addition to his team’s amazing artistry, Larry offers an invaluable learning opportunity for makeup enthusiasts and professionals. Every step of the creature transformation shows tips from one of Hollywood’s greatest. We can’t wait to see what he creates with us this year.”

Since 2006, Larry Bones has been the department head of Makeup and Hair for Universal Studios Hollywood’s blockbuster event, Halloween Horror Nights in Los Angeles. Each season, Bones oversees the transformation of hundreds of men and women into horrific monsters that lurk in the theme park’s mazes and fog-choked scare zones. His extensive list of film and television credits include Scary Movie 2, Congo, Dawson’s Creek and Roseanne.

In addition to film and themed entertainment production work, Bones offers a line of hand-made consumer-level foam latex prosthetics, FX Faces, which will also be on display at the Bone Yard Effects booth during ScareLA. They are available for purchase online at www.boneyardfx.com.

Less than 48 hours are left of the ScareLA 50% off tickets pre-sale discount. Pre-sale ends Friday, March 13. For more information and to purchase tickets, visit: www.scarela.com.

New Cities: Skylines Video Dev Diary

2015/03/06

Jerry Paxton

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

STOCKHOLM – March 5, 2015 – Paradox Interactive and Colossal Order, rumored to be secretly constructing the eighth wonder of the world, have today released the final installment of their video developer diary series for Cities: Skylines, the highly anticipated city simulation game for PC, Mac and Linux set to break ground on March 10th!

Lifting the lid on a variety of clever systems within the game to make your job of building your perfect working metropolis as streamlined as possible, the brand new video diary highlights that Cities: Skylines isn’t just a looker but has smarts too!

To uncover just what a clever game Cities: Skylines is, watch the brand new developer diary:

Never before seen in a city builder, Cities: Skylines contains the first integrated Dynamic Water System giving all the rivers and estuaries within the game real-world mass and direction. This will mean that you must think carefully where to place your water services to ensure that your city’s waste will go downstream and that you don’t pollute your population’s water supply!

The video developer diary also explores Zoning within the game, built to enable you to reasonably simulate a realistic city of up to one million people, along with the District Tool and the Economic Simulation model.

Players of Cities: Skylines will have total control in endless sandbox city-building gameplay across massive maps, allowing them to design and manage the metropolis of their dreams. Vast backdrops and maps provide players with countless ways to improve and expand their cities, while extensive modding support allows players to design everything from in-game parks and buildings to new landscapes.

Cities: Skylines can be pre-ordered at www.citiesskylines.com.

Evil Twin Studios Announces 2015 Haunted House

2015/03/05

Jerry Paxton

Geek News, Halloween, News

Evil Twin Studios, the dementedly-brilliant folks behind last year’s Raymond Hill Mortuary (See Our Review Here) have announced that they will once again be scaring the masses this October. In an email blast this morning, the group stated:

All new haunted house experience coming Halloween season 2015!
We are thrilled to announce that Evil Twin Studios will once again make nightmares come true in South Pasadena. In addition to a new theme, we will be scaring at anew location just down the street from our previous haunts. Proceeds from our 2015 haunt will benefit the South Pasadena Educational Foundation (SPEF). More disturbing details coming soon.

Rock Band 4 Announced

2015/03/05

Jerry Paxton

Geek News, News, PlayStation 4 News, Trailers / Videos, Xbox One News

Cambridge, Mass. – March 5th, 2015 – Harmonix is excited to announce that it is teaming up with Mad Catz to bring Rock Band™ 4, the next generation of the award-winning social and interactive music gaming platform, to PlayStation®4 computer entertainment system and Xbox One, the all-in-one games and entertainment system from Microsoft®.

Players can guarantee that they can be ready to rock with new hardware on release day by signing up to be alerted when pre-orders go live at http://www.rockband.com/preorder.

Additionally, fans attending PAX East in Boston between March 6 and March 8 can pre-order an exclusive Penny Arcade-themed guitar in person at Harmonix’s booth, #4224.

START A BAND. ROCK THE WORLD.

Rock Band 4 brings the critically-acclaimed franchise to a new generation of consoles, focusing on the features and gameplay that people love, and expanding the franchise in innovative ways that were informed by how fans play and what they want.

“With Rock Band 4, we’re doubling down on the energy and excitement of playing music live with your friends,” says Harmonix Chief Executive Officer Steve Janiak. “Focusing on the core experience that our fans have told us they love allows us to evolve established gameplay in meaningful ways that we can’t wait to share with everyone later this year.”

“We couldn’t be happier to be working with Harmonix and help bring the band back together for the launch of Rock Band 4,” added Darren Richardson, President and Chief Executive Officer of Mad Catz. “Harmonix possesses unrivalled passion and vision for music gaming and we can’t wait to introduce the next generation music platform to passionate gamers.”

Harmonix will reveal to its fans more details about exciting new features of Rock Band 4 this coming May.

STILL THE MOST MUSIC. PERIOD.

In addition to a killer on-disc soundtrack, Rock Band 4 will support over 2000 tracks released since the 2007 launch of the original Rock Band, accounting for more than 500 of rock music’s most legendary artists.

“Since the beginning, we’ve called Rock Band a music platform. Players responded by downloading hundreds of their favorite tracks, and building a massive library of playable music,” says Rock Band 4 Product Manager Daniel Sussman. “It’s important for us to respect those purchases and enable our fans to bring that content over to the Rock Band platform on new generation consoles.”

Players who’ve purchased or downloaded playable tracks on last-generation consoles will be able to download and play those tracks on their new platforms at no additional charge*. Hundreds of tracks will be available at launch, with more back catalog music – and new tracks – to be added regularly after launch.

CELEBRATE WITH FREE DOWNLOADABLE CONTENT FOR ROCK BAND 3, AVAILABLE NOW

To celebrate the long-awaited announcement of Rock Band 4, Harmonix is offering a free downloadable track. “I Still Believe,” recorded by UK-based songwriter Frank Turner for his fourth EP, Rock & Roll, is available now for download today, free of charge, on PlayStation®3 and Xbox 360®. Playable today in Rock Band 3 and Rock Band Blitz, this is one of the hundreds of songs that will be compatible with Rock Band 4 when it ships later this year for PlayStation®4 and Xbox One!

Rock Band 4 will be available later this year. For more information, head over to http://www.harmonixmusic.com and follow @RockBand on Twitter for updates.

Elite Dangerous Coming to Xbox One

2015/03/05

Jerry Paxton

Geek News, News, Xbox One News

Cambridge, UK. 4 March, 2015. Frontier Developments plc (AIM: FDEV) today announced plans to bring the definitive massively multiplayer space epic Elite: Dangerous to Xbox One, the all-in-one games and entertainment system from Microsoft, in this calendar year.

Elite: Dangerous is the critically acclaimed third sequel to the genre-defining Elite, created in 1984 by David Braben and Ian Bell. Elite: Dangerous brings gaming’s original open world adventure into the modern generation with a connected galaxy, evolving narrative and the entirety of the Milky Way re-created at its full galactic proportions.

Starting with only a small starship and a few credits, players do whatever it takes to earn the skill, knowledge, wealth and power to survive in a futuristic cutthroat galaxy and to stand among the ranks of the iconic Elite. In an age of galactic superpowers and interstellar war, every player’s story influences the unique connected gaming experience and handcrafted evolving narrative. Governments fall, battles are lost and won, and humanity’s frontier is reshaped, all by players’ actions.

Elite: Dangerous for Xbox One will include all content added to the PC version by February’s Community Goals content update and March’s Wings content update. Available for free next week on PC, Wings unites players to cooperate and collaborate across the galaxy and share in the rewards together. Wings will empower players to help protect friends on a risky trade run, spread out to map systems or hunt prey, and work together to reshape the galaxy.

Elite: Dangerous for Xbox One is planned to launch in 2015. For further information and to subscribe to the Elite: Dangerous for Xbox One mailing list, visithttp://www.elitedangerous.com/xboxone

Razer to Give Out Smartbands at GDC 2015

2015/03/04

Jerry Paxton

GDC, Geek News, News, Tech News

SAN FRANCISCO (GDC 2015) – Razer™, a world leader in connected devices and software for gamers, today announced it will give Razer Nabu X smartbands at no-charge (MSRP: $49.99) to developers who visit its GDC booth during expo hours from March 4 to March 6.

Interested developers will need to provide proof of an app they have developed or are developing on the iOS or Android platform to be eligible to receive a Nabu X. Alternately, interested parties, and those not attending GDC, may apply for entry in the Nabu Developer Program to be considered for a Nabu X unit.*

“Since its launch last year, the Nabu Developer Program has grown significantly,” says Jun Shen Chia, Razer product marketing manager. “We have an evolved SDK, comprehensive guidelines to help programmers get started quickly, and an open communication channel to our Development Relations team at Razer. We’re looking forward to meeting developers in-person at the (GDC) show and get them rolling on connecting great apps with our award-winning hardware.”

Watch the Nabu Developer Program video here:

*Free Nabu X units subject to availability and at Razer’s sole discretion. Supply is limited. If stock runs out at GDC, qualified developers will have their units shipped to them after the event.

About the Nabu Developer Program:

The Nabu Developer Program offers mobile app developers an opportunity to connect their apps to an open wearables platform with a simple-to-use SDK. To-date, 13 third-party apps have been connected to the Nabu wearables platform, and more are expected.

Countless developers have signed up to the program, coming from a wide-range of industries including gaming, military, healthcare, enterprise, telecommunications, and more.

For more information on the Nabu Developer Program, please visit http://developer.razerzone.com/nabu/

About the Razer Nabu X:

The Razer Nabu X joins the Razer Nabu in the company’s wearables category, both as separate solutions being sold side-by-side. The company’s first wearable features a private message OLED screen. The Razer Nabu is an award-winning wearable that was first introduced at the Consumer Electronic Show (CES) in 2014 where it won a “Best of CES” award as “People’s Choice,” besting a field of more than 40 finalists by earning 50 percent of the popular vote during the show.

The award-winning Razer Nabu X was introduced at CES 2015 and is available now atwww.razerzone.com/nabu-x.

Price: U.S. $49.99 / EU €49.99

Availability: Razerzone.com – Now available

Product features:

Compatible with: iOS devices – iPhone 5, 5S, 5C, 6; and Android 4.3-and-up devices
Lithium-polymer battery with 5 – 7 days of battery life, 30 days standby
IP67 water resistant, up to 30 min. in 1 m depth

Display and sensors:

3 LED indicators
Accelerometer
Cylindrical vibration motor

Software:

Pairing via Bluetooth Low Energy
Nabu X Utility app for band customization, notifications, data, app discovery, and other settings
Nabu Fitness app for activity logging and monitoring
A growing collection of Nabu-and-Nabu-X connected third-party apps

For more information about the Razer Nabu X, please visit www.razerzone.com/nabu-x.