Author - Jerry Paxton

DiRT Rally Gets New Multiplayer Rallycross Mode

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UK – August 25, 2015 – Codemasters today announced that DiRT Rally™ just got (more) serious with the introduction of the all-new multiplayer rallycross mode, free to download now for all Early Access players. From today, drivers will not just be racing against the clock, but against fellow DiRT Rally owners from around the world. A new video is available to view now at www.dirtgame.com.

DiRT Rally’s multiplayer update is the second pack to feature content from the FIA World Rallycross Championship and will see gamers compete online in the highly demanding, super-charged and full-contact racing of one of the world’s fastest growing motorsports. Players will be vying for glory across three locations in six of the world’s fastest off-road cars.

The cars:

  • DS 3 (Newly added today)
  • Subaru WRX STI (Newly added today)
  • MINI Countryman Rallycross (Newly added today)
  • Ford Fiesta WRX
  • Volkswagen Polo Rallycross
  • Peugeot 208 WRX

The tracks:

  • Hell, Norway (Newly added today)
  • Lydden Hill, United Kingdom
  • Höljes, Sweden

Since its launch this April, DiRT Rally’s player base has steadily grown month-on-month and to date:

  • Over 44 million kilometers have been driven
  • Players have driven 1.5 million clean stages
  • 1.2 million barrel rolls have been complete

Today’s update continues Codemasters’ commitment of delivering free, regular and substantial content updates during DiRT Rally’s Early Access phase on Steam. Further content is planned for the coming months.

DiRT Rally is available to purchase here.

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Corpse of Discovery Launch Trailer

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Chicago, IL (August 25, 2015) – Corpse of Discovery, Phosphor Games’ thought-provoking first-person planetary exploration game, launches on PC today. As a lone astronaut venturing across the terrain of uncharted planets searching for answers, the most crucial thing on your mind is how you can complete the mission you’ve been tasked with and return home to your family.

You can watch the Corpse of Discovery launch trailer here:

Corpse of Discovery is centered around the universal truths we often grapple with as we work to figure out our identity and how to best balance our time, our most precious resource. Heavily inspired by Creative Director Chip Sineni’s experiences as a developer spending long hours away from his family, Corpse of Discovery became a way for him to connect with others who’ve faced similar challenges. To keep his loved ones as near as possible while working on the game, he incorporated them through voice-overs and imagery.

As you search different planets for mission objectives, map undiscovered expanses, and fight against scorching heat and wild storms, messages from home serve as constant reminders of what you have given up in the name of the mission.

A deeply personal game about the cost of ambition, Corpse of Discoveryencourages players to ask themselves: What is worth sacrificing for success?

Dying Light: The Following 15 Minutes of Gameplay

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August 15th, 2015 – Wroclaw, Poland/ After the release of the heart-pumping reveal trailer for Dying Light: The Following, Techland is giving fans the chance to take a closer look at the upcoming story-based expansion. A video has been released with over 15 minutes of uncut gameplay coupled with commentary from some of the Dying Light team – all recorded during last week’s Twitch stream. In the playthrough, fans are taken down the “The Trust Is Out There” quest chain, which showcases some of the core new features of Dying Light: The Following, including a massive new map, drivable and upgradeable dirt buggies, and new types of ranged weapons.

Dying Light: The Following will take players to a hazardous outback ruled by mysterious and fanatical cultists, whose beliefs have unnerving connections with the Harran zombie outbreak. The expansion will be priced at $14.99, while all Season Pass holders will receive it completely free.

Moreover, the 2nd edition of “Beyond Dying Light” Dev Tools contest for innovative fan-made maps is in its final week with submissions closing off on August 31st. Fans are competing for the chance to win an Alienware Alpha i7 and a Dying Light-branded backpack filled with various branded swag. More information and the submission form can be found at DyingLightGame.com/Devtools-Contest. To ease new users into the world of user generated content, Techland is keeping an ongoing series of video tutorials explaining ins and outs of the tools.

Jon Braver’s Delusion Finds Permanent Venue – No Haunt in 2015

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Looks like Jon Braver’s haunted play experience, Delusion, has found a permanent location! Their production company is now building out the space but, because of the timelines involved, will not host a new haunted play in 2015. Don’t fret, however, as Braver, in a letter to his fans, stated that the location would be able to host screenings, parties, magic, and more. Additionally, he says that there will be a limited run of a haunted play experience in early 2016! So, you won’t have to wait too long for your Delusion fix!

Here is the full letter:

To our amazing, loyal and patient Delusionals,

We cannot even begin to count the strange, disturbing and exhilarating memories (and people) from the otherworld of Delusion over the last four seasons.
Last year, I recall a guest so into the story that he begged our protagonist to sign his Playbill! This intimate, theatrical adventure means so much to so many people and we want nothing more than to share this experience further.

As many of you know, we’ve been looking for a long term and non-residentially zoned venue for quite some time. I am beyond excited to announce that we’ve found a special place to call our cryptic home for years to come! But can Delusion exist outside of the Fall season? Damn right it can. It’s interactive theatre! And strange, intimate adventures, to places we cannot even fathom, should exist any time of the year!

So for limited nights, starting early next year, you will play your part once again. And beyond the play, we’ll have special screenings, parties, live music, magic and so much more at the new space! 

Ok, I know what you’re saying, “That’s amazing! But will there be a play this fall season?!” This time around, having recently found the right space, we need to focus on building out our most spectacular show yet. Of course I’d be lying if I said we won’t miss falling down the rabbit hole with you this Fall. But never fear (or do), as we will dive into another psychologically disturbing journey before you know it!

You should know that this is all your fault! You made us do it! So from all of us who create Delusion, we can never thank you enough for your incredible support. It has, and will continue to be, darkly euphoric. 

Playing My Part,
Jon Braver – Creator/Writer/Director – Delusion

P.S. You made it this far! You deserve a hint about our first play at the new space:
A misshapen figure sits at the piano, his fingers dance across the keys as the darker melodies of Chopin bring him further, blissful misery. 
“Death is… whimsical tonight.”  He whips around and faces us.

The Art of Fallout 4 Book Announced

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MILWAUKIE, OR – Dark Horse is pleased to announce its newest art-book partnership will be with Bethesda Game Studios for Fallout® 4, one of the most anticipated games of 2015.

Bethesda Game Studios, the award-winning creators of Fallout® 3 and The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim®, welcome you to the world of Fallout® 4—their most ambitious game ever and the next generation of open-world gaming.

Featuring never-before-seen designs and concept art of the game’s dynamic environments, iconic characters, detailed weapons, and more—along with commentary from the developers themselves—The Art of Fallout® 4 is a must-have collectible for fans and a trusty companion for every Wasteland wanderer.

Fans will have the chance to go behind the scenes of the highly anticipated installment of the Fallout® franchise when The Art of Fallout® 4 goes on sale December 22.

The Art of Fallout® 4
Bethesda Softworks (W/A/Cover)
$39.99
On sale December 22

WARD 13 Haunted House Tickets Now On Sale

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Looks like Evil Twin Studios, the production company which brought us the awesome Raymond Hill Mortuary haunted event in 2014 has launched ticket sales for their upcoming WARD 13 haunted attraction. Based in Pasadena, CA the event runs eight nights during October, so be sure to pre-purchase. The line gets super-long. Tickets are $15 dollars for pre-purchase and $17 dollars at the door.

Purchase Tickets Here

Press Release

SOUTH PASADENA, CA (August 2015): Evil Twin Studios, the demented team that brought you Theater of Terror and award-winning Raymond Hill Mortuary, returns this October with an all-new haunted experience and location that you’re sure to go crazy about. WARD 13 is an intense, immersive, interactive, walk-through haunted attraction where sanity comes to die.

There have always been dark rumors about the Raymond Hill Sanitarium, but the most disturbing ones center around an undocumented area for the most violent patients where experimentation took precedence over finding a cure. For the residents of the sanitarium, there was one thing they all feared more than death… WARD 13.

For eight insane nights, WARD 13 will electrify you at 1020 El Centro Street in South Pasadena, CA. The haunted attraction will be open Fridays and Saturdays from 7:00 to 11:00 PM, October 9, 10, 16, 17, 23, 24, 30, and 31. Tickets ($15 online, $17 at the door) are available via www.eviltwinstudios.com.

Proceeds from WARD 13 benefit the South Pasadena Educational Foundation (SPEF).

Not recommended for the faint of heart. You’ve been warned.

Star Trek: The Cruise Announced for 2017

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New York, NY (August 24, 2015) — Entertainment Cruise Productions, LLC today announced the launch of Star Trek: The Cruise, an immersive Star Trek experience for 2,200 fans, set to sail in January 2017.

As part of the 50th anniversary celebration of the iconic franchise, the first authorized cruise under license by CBS Consumer Products will offer fans the opportunity to engage with the global science-fiction phenomenon’s past, present and future universe.

William Shatner, who portrayed the iconic James T. Kirk in Star Trek: The Original Series, will be on board to socialize with fans and lead the celebration.

“I am excited to be the host of Star Trek: The Cruise,” says William Shatner. “When I was told that this was the first authorized Star Trek cruise and part of the 50th anniversary celebration, I just knew that my participation would be something that our fans would enjoy. It should be a lot of fun.”

Fan favorites from the franchise will also join the voyage, including Marina Sirtis, Jonathan Frakes, Robert Picardo, John de Lancie, James Darren, Denise Crosby, Steven Rankin, Vaughn Armstrong and Casey Biggs.

Star Trek: The Cruise will include innovative programming that brings the stars together with guests in extraordinary settings and journeys as it sails from January 9-15, 2017 from Miami, FL to Cozumel (Mexico), Nassau (Bahamas) and the private island of Great Stirrup Cay (Bahamas). Quintessential locations from the television shows and films will be recreated onboard while events will be built around key characters and their defining traits. More actors, performers and industry leaders joining Star Trek: The Cruise will be announced in the coming weeks.

Star Trek: The Cruise will give guests the chance to become part of the Star Trek universe throughout their 6 day, 6 night voyage. Staffed by crew dressed in distinctive uniforms featured from the franchise, every venue on the ship will pay homage to favorite Star Trek haunts and destinations with parties and gaming competitions inspired by pivotal moments in the series’ history. The cruise will host a series of events featuring experts exploring the impact of Star Trek on social issues, technology and scientific development.

Entertainment Cruise Productions is the world leader in live entertainment at sea and has produced more than 60 full ship charters over the world. “Being able to program and produce a Star Trek cruise is both a great honor and a huge responsibility,” says Ron Roy, Marketing Director of Entertainment Cruise Productions. “In many respects, Star Trek is the Holy Grail of cruise concepts and we are grateful for the opportunity. This cruise will be amazing.”

Cabin prices begin at $995 per person, and include all meals, tickets to all major events, parties, activities and even 24-hour room service.

Visit www.StarTrekTheCruise.com or follow hashtag #StarTrekTheCruise for more information in the coming months.

JG BAR-10 G-Spec Airsoft Stock Sniper Rifle Review

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JG’s BAR-10 series of VSR-10 compatible airsoft sniper rifles have often been looked at as the go-to platforms on which to build out your airsoft sniper rifle. You might ask why would a person want to buy an airsoft sniper rifle just to upgrade it? The answer is simply that, for the most part, airsoft sniper rifles have notoriously mediocre build quality – especially with regards to their internal parts. For most players looking to take their airsoft sniper loadout into bigger, milsim events or just more hardcore games with higher FPS limits, you will need to do some upgrades.

For this review, we are looking at the stock JG BAR-10 G-Spec airsoft sniper rifle. The “G-Spec” version is shorter than its BAR-10 brother, with an inner barrel length of about 300mm. For an airsoft sniper rifle, this is really short! In fact, this is shorter than most M4 style inner barrels. I was unsure what effect this would have on the rifle as far as its accuracy was concerned, so I was very eager to begin testing it out. We would like to thank AirSplat for letting us take a look at one of their JG BAR-10 G-Spec rifles that they had in stock.

Internally, the JG BAR-10 G-Spec is of decent quality for an out of the box sniper. It performs decently enough for local fields in our area – again, with the 450 FPS or less rule. The bolt pull is very smooth and they have used a generous amount of grease inside the cylinder. It should also be noted that this is the JG BAR-10 G-Spec model with the metal trigger box. Some of these rifles being sold elsewhere don’t use the metal trigger box and that means they will not last you nearly as long.

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In the box, I found a mock suppressor which screws into the outer barrel of the rifle, adding about 7 inches to the overall length of the rifle and giving it an increasingly-professional, “operator” look. It should be noted that this is not a barrel extension – simply the suppressor. A longer inner barrel could be added to the rifle using this suppressor however, if some minor modifications are made to the outer barrel of the rifle – but more on that in our next article on upgrading this beast. For now, we are focusing on this rifle in its stock form. Also included by JG is a small screwdriver and two hex screwdrivers which consist of all the tools you need to teardown the rifle. I love that JG included these right in the box as it is often a pain to search for just the correct driver head for a given hex screw. Finally, this airsoft rifle ships with one 26 round magazine and a small package of BBs.

As this is the review for the stock JG BAR-10 G-Spec, my only preparation for using it was to run a barrel swab down its inner barrel to make sure it was free of debris. I highly recommend that you do this with all of your new airsoft guns – you never know what dust or particulates might be hiding there from how it was packaged up. I loaded up the rifle’s magazine with .25g BBs and setup my target paper exactly 100 feet away. For this test, I used the Splatterburst™ target paper as it readily displays where hits penetrated the paper with bright yellow coloring. I sat the rifle on a duffel bag and aligned the direction of the barrel to the target’s center with a laser.

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As you can see, the shot pattern is spread out a bit, however all BBs hit within the 12” x 18” inch target paper. Surprisingly, I chronographed the JG BAR-10 G-Spec with .25g BBs and got average readings of 399 to 403 FPS! This calculates to 1.85 Joules of energy and would mean a .20g BB should fire at a velocity of 448 FPS. This is perfect for most Southern California airsoft parks which put a .20gBB / 450 FPS limit on bolt action airsoft sniper rifles. Something to note is that, while I was shooting the airsoft rifle, I did not hear any rattling of the inner barrel. After further inspection of the rifle, I discovered that JG has pre-installed barrel spacers to keep the inner barrel secure.

I also got the chance to take this rifle out to SC Village in Norco, CA where I had a great time taking shots at opposing players. With the FPS being right on the money for the field’s sniper rifle velocity limit, I was able to exploit this added power to use .30g BBs during play for greater accuracy. While I am still inexperienced with actually using an airsoft sniper rifle during games, I fell into a rhythm soon enough and my spotter and I acted as a two-person team prosecuting targets from afar. In hindsight, I really need to add some combat webbing or vegetation to my boonie hat – it would probably disrupt my silhouette enough during a game for added advantage – but, I digress…

Overall, the JG BAR-10 G-Spec airsoft sniper rifle is a terrific, entry-level sniper platform. Not only is it the go-to platform to build more high-end snipers with but, it also performs good enough in its stock form to use in local pickup games – especially those with 450 FPS or less sniper rifle field limits. Once again, we’d like to thank AirSplat for allowing us access to the rifle for this review.

[easyreview title=”JG BAR-10 G-Spec Airsoft Stock Sniper Rifle Review Score” cat1title=”Overall Score (out of 5)” cat1detail=”” cat1rating=”4″ ]

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*Stay-tuned for our next JG BAR-10 G-Spec related article where we take apart the rifle and walk you through some upgrades! Then, we will put it on the range and test it again!

Product Link

Prima Airsoft BB Target Trap Review

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There are a lot of target traps on the market, but most leave you with airsoft BBs bouncing out and into your home – or, the BB just penetrates straight through and you still end up stepping on them in the middle of the night. Recently, we got the chance to review the new BB target trap from Prima USA, and the difference between this trap and most on the market is staggering. The Prima USA BB target trap is simply the best on the market right now. Arriving looking like some sort of weird fold-out sunshade for your car windshield, the BB target trap quickly assumes its box like shape once out of its included carrying case. The body of the BB target trap is mainly made from a synthetic material similar to a tent – the real magic is in its BB dampening and absorption system. The first layer of this system is made up of a 60’s door curtain like array of camouflage strands. These are very important as they help to reduce the possibility of slowed BBs bouncing back out of the trap. The second layer is made of two thin curtains with a slit down the center. These two curtain pieces help slow the BB down even more while still allowing it to pass to the next layer, closing off behind it. This further reduces the chance of a ricochet. The final layer is one large curtain and is thicker than the others. This is the final knockout blow to the oncoming BB, fully stopping its flight path.

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You can even put a patch or target paper on a piece of Velcro located at the top of the BB target trap’s mouth – however, a patch and target are not included out of the box.Testing this BB target trap, I didn’t really believe it could work the way it does but, sure enough, it is the real deal. I sat the BB target trap up at the opposite side of my apartment and pulled out my upgraded JG BAR-10 G-Spec airsoft sniper rifle. I inserted my high velocity cylinder set, which is clocked at 500FPS using .20g BBs, and loaded up a magazine with .30g BBs. I fired the whole 30 round magazine into the trap from a distance of about twenty feet. Not one BB bounced out of the target trap – nor did it penetrate through and out the back of the target trap.

The Prima USA BB target trap is the real deal, and will turn any room in your house or dorm into your own airsoft firing range. Just be sure to always wear your safety goggles to be extra careful! The Prima USA BB target trap retails for about $15 dollars at most places, so it is very budget-friendly to boot!

[easyreview title=”Prima USA BB Target Trap Review Score” cat1title=”Overall Score (out of 5)” cat1detail=”” cat1rating=”5″ ]

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Product Links:
Prima USA, Evike, AirsoftGI

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