Author - Jerry Paxton

Live Action Remake of Dead Island Trailer

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November 1, 2013 — In 2011, Techland captivated the video game world when it released what is widely considered the greatest video game trailer of all-time for the relatively unknown at the time video game Dead Island. The trailer was viewed over 2.5 million times in the first five days and received universal praise from gaming and mainstream media outlets.

An All-new video game short, which comprises a shot–for-shot, live action adaptation of the beloved trailer, is now live on Machinima.  Featuring the same iconic music, the production team matched the emotion and action of the original down to the smallest detail.

Live Action Trailer

Reign of Terror Haunted House Review

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The folks behind Reign of Terror are back at it again this year and we were lucky to be able to experience their haunted house last week. Located above the Gold’s Gym in Thousand Oaks, CA, the haunted house features a huge amount of real estate and some of the most awesome set design and build quality I have ever seen in a haunt. Tickets are reasonably priced at $15 dollars each and, after purchasing, we were ushered around the backside of the gym and up a rear staircase. Once on the second floor, we found ourselves in an Old West mining town with a variety of sets to see. There were water features, a saloon, a small mining cavern, and a great deal more. The catch to this is that all that was just the queue line!

Once we entered the caverns signalling the start of the actual haunted house portion of the experience, we just kept getting blown away. Reign of Terror has done such a great job of making you feel like you are in the set environments. A haunted house, mortuary, science lab, prison, and a other locales will grace your journey towards the exit – each have a unique look and feel. Walls are an important aspect to any professional haunted house. You can often times judge the level of technical skills a haunt has by how they dress them. Are they simply painted plywood or have they gone the extra mile and textured them? Reign of Terror is all about the technical and their texturing is terrific.

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Additionally, while there is a lot of monster talent roaming the maze, a great deal of the scares found within are animatronics-based. Usually, I have a big problem with this as it makes the attraction feel like one of those old-school carnival dark rides. Reign of Terror has done an excellent job at making them feel as organic as possible. There was even one animatronic jump scare that actually made one of our party scream a little (a large feat as we are all grizzled and jaded haunted house-goers from ‘wayback’).

Overall, the Reign of Terror Haunted House needs to be on your to-do list for next October. They are doing an outstanding job and should be commended for their efforts.

Address

197 N Moorpark Rd
Thousand Oaks, CA 91360

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Big Worm’s Sherwood Scare Review

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We had the opportunity to checkout some “home haunts” during our rounds this Halloween season, and were absolutely blown away by what the folks at “Big Worm’s Sherwood Scare” were able to create around their front and back yards. The basic theme of this haunted house is that all 64 kids attending Camp Sherwood went missing in 1975. After this event, the camp was closed – but, of course, recently re-opened. As guests of the camp, you get the chance to check it out and get more than you bargained for.

Approaching the home where Sherwood Scare is located, I was immediately impressed with the sheer length of the line to get into the attraction. This haunt has been highly-praised and we were so excited to get the chance to check it out. The attraction asks for a $3 dollar donation to the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation, so you can rest easy knowing that you are not only going to have fun but, also, give to a good cause. We were eventually ushered into the large cabin facade out front and sent towards what is usually the home’s back yard.

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Around the side of the house was a really cool effect of a campsite with smoldering campfire. There was a tent where you could see a projection of two girls’ silhouettes moving about and even hear them speaking to each other. It’s fairly innocent banter, except for the cryptic stuff about the “man in the lake”. Once inside the first “room” of the haunted house, we met one of the camp counselors who showed us a really cool video to set the stage for what we were about to see. It starts as a promo video for the camp and is “taken over” by two girls who are pleading to leave (the recorded over the tape, basically). From there, you are sent into the darkness of the haunted house.

While Big Worm’s Sherwood Scare has a number of talented monsters working its winding pathways, and the duration of the experience is quite good, taking us about six minutes or so to get through, what stuck with me most was how the event kept the story of the camp going throughout. The narrative of the world they constructed was clearly present throughout and the final meeting with the “man in the lake” was a direct callback to the introductory video we watched as well as the two girls in the tent talking about it.

Big Worm’s Sherwood Scare is a very well-crafted home haunt and we can’t wait to see what they bring us next year!

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Address

8856 Encino Ave
Northridge, CA 91325

Promo Video

Thief – Stories from The City Part 1 Video

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Montréal (November 1, 2013) – Square Enix® and Eidos-Montréal™, the award winning studio behind the critically acclaimed Deus Ex: Human Revolution® today released the first trailer in a new series of stylized videos that focus on the rich tapestry of THIEF™; its City and its characters.

Each trailer in this new series tells the story of The City from the perspective of a different character inTHIEF’s narrative describing what life is like in the broken, repressed City that is being ravaged by the evil Baron Northcrest and the mysterious sickness known as ‘The Gloom’.

The first trailer focuses on Basso, a former boxman (safe-cracker) turned fence, who uses his vast connections to The City’s underworld to organize thieving jobs for Garrett. He owns an intelligent, but bad tempered magpie called Jenivere who delivers messages for him. Garrett might consider himself a loner, but Basso is the nearest thing he has to a friend – and whether he readily admits it or not; he rather likes the fellow.

THIEF launches on February 25, 2014 in North America on Windows PC, PlayStation®3, PlayStation®4, Xbox 360 and Xbox One.

Trailer

Tank Operations: European Campaign Announced

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October 31, 2013, Ridgewood, NJ – Kalypso Media Digital is pleased to announce a publishing agreement with Linked Dimensions GbR to publish Tank Operations: European Campaign, a classically inspired turn-based strategy game for Windows PC. In Tank Operations: European Campaign, players will take on the role of a WWII Field Marshal, blasting through 12 campaigns in turn-based warfare. More than 50 units will be available to the player, offering you control of land, sea and air as you battle the AI.

Tank Operations: European Campaign will be available via digital download this autumn.

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The 7th Guest 3: The Collector Kickstarter Unveiled

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MEDFORD, OREGON – Trilobyte Games, LLC today announced the final episode in the studio’s blockbuster franchise; The 7th Guest: 3, and unveiled a new Kickstarter crowdfunding campaign designed to underwrite production of the videogame.

The 7th Guest was released in 1993. At the time, Bill Gates called it: “…the new standard in interactive entertainment.” The title sold over 2 million copies and drove hardware sales. The sequel,The 11th Hour, was released in the fall of 1995.

“We’ve been waiting to make The 7th Guest: 3 for a long time,” said Rob Landeros, co-founder, creative director and CEO of Trilobyte Games. “The team’s in place; new puzzles are in development, and the most notorious villain in all gaming, Henry Stauf, is poised to return and finish the story that begin in The 7th Guest.  With the launch of our Kickstarter campaign, we’re turning to our fans and the gaming community to provide the only remaining ingredient, development and production funding.”

In The 7th Guest: 3, Stauf’s house is filled with 20 devilishly clever puzzles that will test wits–and scare even the most jaded gamers. The house is not only filled with puzzles, it is a puzzle; one gigantic, mechanical mind-bender. To complete the game and the story, players must solve every puzzle in the house and the puzzle of the house itself. Only then will the final, dreadful secret of that brilliant madman, Henry Stauf, be revealed.

While the gameplay of T7G3 will fairly closely follow that of The 7th Guest and 11th Hour, Trilobyte plans to thoroughly leverage touch-screen, mobile technology, and modern standards in video-game presentation to bring players the 7th Guest of their fondest dreams (and nightmares)!  “We are committed to staying true to the spirit of the original 7th Guest,” said Landeros.

The new Stauf mansion will be rendered in beautiful high-definition, extensively renovated and furnished with hundreds of interesting new items. The house’s remodelers won’t stint on redecoration. The grand, revamped edifice will be something of an historical museum.

“We estimate development and production time of approximately one year to finish this final episode,” said Landeros. “Our team is already working and we’re the kind of studio that delivers on its promises, so be ready.”  Company officials note that the price of the new game is not yet set, but is anticipated to be in the $29.95 per copy range for PCs and Macs.

Kickstarter is all about rewards. And Team Trilobyte has cooked up some creative incentives to motivate its target funders. “How’d you like to be immortalized in a blockbuster game?” asked Landeros. “At the highest donor levels, we reward backers with portraits and busts of their likeness at prominent points in the mansion – as well as a producer’s credit on the title. True fans may secure, with a major donation, an invitation to dine with Stauf in costume, party with the team, and tour the actual mansion modeled in the game.”

Yaiba: Ninja Gaiden Z Release Date and Trailer

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BURLINGAME, Calif. – OCTOBER 31, 2013 – TECMO KOEI America and Team NINJA announced today that YAIBA: NINJA GAIDEN Z will launch in North America on March 4, 2014 for the PlayStation®3 computer entertainment system, Steam® (PC) and Xbox 360® video game and entertainment system from Microsoft. Additionally, a new trailer has been released, introducing Miss Monday, YAIBA’s in-game tour guide, as well as offering an in-depth look at how Yaiba’s newly implemented skills will deliver increasingly gruesome kills.

In YAIBA: NINJA GAIDEN Z, players battle fierce zombies as YAIBA, a cyborg ninja brought back to life with cyber-technology, who will do anything for revenge. Brandishing his deadly ninja sword and the mecha weapons integrated into his cyborg arm, he slaughters zombies with brutal, over-the-top abandon.

Step into a stylized living comic book where stunning graphics depict a world gone mad overflowing with hordes of the undead.  Only YAIBA’s drive for retribution and willingness to use any means necessary to get the job done can stop the countless waves of zombies in his path. YAIBA’s lust to kill is insatiable as he mercilessly slices through masses of enemies with his sword, or the array of weapons accessible via his cyborg arm. Miss Monday is Yaiba’s virtual escort and is vital to his survival. However, not even she is safe from his brash, unbridled sarcasm.

YAIBA: NINJA GAIDEN Z comes from the two teams behind the most famous ninja and zombie videogame creations as Team NINJA and legendary producer Keiji Inafune team up to create a new experience. The world of the ninja meets undead warriors, cybernetic weapons, comic books, in an entirely new IP that draws from the NINJA GAIDEN franchise with a host of bold, new features including an original storyline and style of gameplay.

Always intense, never boring, YAIBA: NINJA GAIDEN Z is violent, creative, and daringly different. Sharpen your sword, fire up your cyborg arm, and prepare to GET SOME!

YAIBA: NINJA GAIDEN Z will be available for the PlayStation®3 computer entertainment system, Xbox 360® video game and entertainment system from Microsoft and Steam® (PC) March 4, 2014. This title has not yet been rated by the ESRB.

Trailer

Survive Trailer for Arma 3

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Prague, Czech Republic, Thursday 31st October 2013 — To reinforce the launch of the Survive campaign episode, Bohemia Interactive has released abrand new trailer for Arma 3. The first campaign episode – which introduces the conflict between the NATO, CSAT, and AAF factions – is now available as an automatic update on Steam.

In Arma 3’s campaign, players take on the role of Ben Kerry, a soldier who is a part of the NATO peacekeeping operation in the Mediterranean. Five years after the bloody civil war in the Republic of Altis & Stratis came to an end, NATO has started to withdraw its forces from the region – unknowingly creating the conditions for a Mediterranean flashpoint. Kerry’s unit, ‘Task Force Aegis’ – together with a clandestine group of UKSF operators – is soon caught up in a situation beyond their control, and trapped in a fight for survival.

Besides new playable content, the first campaign episode also provides extra building blocks for Arma 3 content creators. These come in the form of new weapons, animations, 3D objects, and scripted modules. More free content, including new vehicles, is expected to be released together with the next campaign episodes. The exact release dates of the second (Adapt) and third (Win) campaign episodes will be announced later.

Arma 3 features the large open terrains of ‘Altis’ (270 km²) and ‘Stratis’ (20 km²), 12 singleplayer showcases, 3 factions showcases, 9 multiplayer scenarios, 10 firing drill challenges, more than 20 vehicles and 40 weapons, 5 factions, the scenario editor and modding support. The singleplayer campaign is deployed across 3 campaign episodes.

People can purchase the regular Arma 3 (44.99 EUR/39.99 GBP/59.99 USD) or the Arma 3 Digital Deluxe Edition (49.99 EUR/42.99 GBP/64.99 USD) from Steam and Store.bistudio.com. A boxed version of Arma 3 is also available at many of the major retailers.

Trailer

Happy Halloween from Think Jam and Fright Night 2

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The good people over at Think Jam and the new horror flick, Fright Night 2 (now on Blu-ray and DVD), have wished us all a “Happy Halloween!” and sent over some cool e-cards. Check them out below!

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