Author - Jerry Paxton

Disney and EA Sign Multi-Year Star Wars Games Deal

2013/05/06
Jerry Paxton
Geek News, Industry News, News

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BURBANK & REDWOOD CITY, Calif.–The Walt Disney Company (NYSE: DIS) and Electronic Arts Inc. (NASDAQ: EA) today announced a new multi-year exclusive licensing agreement to develop and publish globally new games based on Star Wars characters and storylines.

Under the agreement, EA will develop and publish new Star Wars titles for a core gaming audience, spanning all interactive platforms and the most popular game genres, while Disney will retain certain rights to develop new titles within the mobile, social, tablet and online game categories.

“This agreement demonstrates our commitment to creating quality game experiences that drive the popularity of the Star Wars franchise for years to come,” said John Pleasants, Co-President of Disney Interactive. “Collaborating with one of the world’s premier game developers will allow us to bring an amazing portfolio of new Star Wars titles to our fans around the world.”

“Every developer dreams of creating games for the Star Wars universe,” said EA Labels President Frank Gibeau. “Three of our top studios will fulfill that dream, crafting epic adventures for Star Wars fans. DICE and Visceral will produce new games, joining the BioWare team which continues to develop for the Star Wars franchise. The new experiences we create may borrow from films, but the games will be entirely original with all new stories and gameplay.”

Financial terms of the agreement were not disclosed.

The Sims 4 Announced

2013/05/06
Jerry Paxton
Mac PC News, News, Windows PC News

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Electronic Arts has posted on their official blog that The Sims 4 is officially coming to Windows and Mac PCs sometime in 2014.

Official Post:

Maxis and EA today announced that The Sims™ 4 is currently in development at The Sims Studio for release on PC and Mac in 2014. The Sims 4 celebrates the heart and soul of the Sims themselves, giving players a deeper connection with the most expressive, surprising and charming Sims ever in this single-player offline experience.The Sims 4 encourages players to personalize their world with new and intuitive tools while offering them the ability to effortlessly share their creativity with friends and fans.

The Sims franchise is fueled by the passion and creativity of its millions of fans around the world. Your continued devotion to the franchise ignites the fire of creativity of the team at The Sims Studio, driving them to continually improve and innovate on one of the world’s most successful simulation game that has sold more than 150 million copies worldwide.

As a thank you for the support of the more than 30 million fans that share and discuss stories about The Sims across global social networks, we held a special VIP briefing this morning where several of the world’s top fans were amongst the first to hear the news about The Sims 4. They got to speak with the creative team for The Sims 4 and will have special access to the development team.

To stay up to date with the latest information please visit www.thesims.com/thesims4.

Help us spread the word! #TheSims4

Spicy Horse Seeing Alice Cosplayer in Contest

2013/05/06
Jerry Paxton
Geek News, News

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MAY 6th, 2013 — Spicy Horse Games announced today a cosplay contest seeking the world’s best cosplayer to appear in the work-in-progress Kickstarter pitch video for Alice: Otherlands, the still-in-negotiations successor to the American McGee’s Alice series.

One lucky winner will be flown to Shanghai, China in June of 2013 to appear in a video shoot for the Kickstarter campaign, though all entrants should ensure they have plenty of time to secure a visa for a trip to China.

The full instructions are:

• Send only one image of yourself dressed as Alice – preferably in her “classic” blue and white dress.
• Image should capture the entire costume from black hair to boot heels.
• Image should be no larger than 2MB. Save in JPG, GIF, or PNG format.
• Send via email to contact@spicyhorse.com
• Include name, age, country of origin, contact information, and a brief introduction of yourself
• All Submissions due by 5/20/2013

The full requirements are:
• Must be able to travel to Shanghai, China during June 2013 for the video shoot
• This means: Must have a passport, be of legal age to travel, and have the time to obtain a travel visa.
• Must speak English (to read lines for the video).
• Failure to abide by these guidelines will result in disqualification.

This contest in no way guarantees that Alice: Otherlands will enter production or succeed in its planned Kickstarter campaign as negotiations may still stall or fall through.

For more information, visit the Alice: Otherlands Facebook page at: https://www.facebook.com/AliceOtherlands?fref=ts

EVE Online Celebrates 10 Years

2013/05/06
Jerry Paxton
News, Windows PC News

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REYKJAVIK, ICELAND—May 6, 2013—CCP Games, the world’s leading independent developer of massively multiplayer games, today celebrated the 10th anniversary of the launch of EVE Online®, the groundbreaking, sci-fi online game with over 500,000 subscribers worldwide. Launched on May 6, 2003, EVE Online marked its anniversary in style with an enormous in-game celebration that led to a new peak concurrent user (PCU) record for the game of over 65,000 players connected to the same server.

Unlike in most online games, every one of those players was celebrating in the same connected universe. EVE Online has continuously existed on a single persistent server cluster shared by all its inhabitants for ten years. This unique shared environment means actions have lasting consequences that ripple across the thousands of solar systems of EVE, and players’ reputations are built and destroyed by their own skill, deeds and relationships with other players.

Throughout the last 24 hours, CCP and its players held numerous live events in game and players were given special fireworks launchers munitions for their ships with which they could celebrate the game’s 10th anniversary.

In addition, players received several other valuable gifts—character implants, avatar clothing and a “Sarum Magnate” frigate.

In honor of today’s anniversary the appreciation continues as CCP delivers a unique and powerful battlecruiser, the Society of Conscious Thought “Gnosis,” to the hangars of all active subscribers.

EVE Online’s 10th anniversary celebration comes as CCP prepares for several additional major initiatives.

Today also marks the launch of the “Uprising” expansion to DUST 514®, the company’s free-to-play online first-person shooter fully integrated into the universe of EVE Online. The Uprising expansion brings with it numerous improvements and enhancements including a substantial graphics upgrade, an updated user interface, and new gameplay modes, weapons and equipment. Uprising is the biggest update yet for DUST 514 and is currently available to download for free for anyone with a PlayStation®3 and access to the PlayStation Network.

CCP recently announced that DUST 514 will officially launch on May 14, escalating the struggle for interstellar dominance in the EVE Universe as players in both games join forces in shared, player-driven warfare spanning the depths of space and the surfaces of countless planets within it.

On June 4th, CCP will launch EVE Online’s 19th free expansion. EVE Online: Odyssey will take the exploration of space to a whole new level with an entirely revamped scanning mechanic, a fresh and accessible user interface and enticing new rewards for finding and interacting with sites hidden among the stars. All of Odyssey’s exploration changes are designed to make space feel even more alive and they will make it easier and more compelling for pilots to forge their path through the mysterious and dangerous universe.

Throughout the year, CCP has been celebrating the 10th anniversary of EVE Online with a “Second Decade” theme, focusing on the wealth of stories and successes of the first ten years of EVE and its year-on-year subscriber growth.

The new EVE Universe: Origins trailer can be seen here. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FZPCiqBLPM8

FUSE Demo Date Set

2013/05/03
Jerry Paxton
News

fuse

REDWOOD CITY, Calif. — May 3, 2013 — Today, Electronic Arts Inc. (NASDAQ: EA) and Insomniac Games announced the release of an action-packed demo for the co-op shooter, Fuse™. The fast-paced demo will be available on Xbox Live® Marketplace and the PlayStation® Network on May 7, allowing players to play online* cooperatively with up to four players, or in a 2-player split-screen. In the demo, players will take on the role of four elite operatives – Dalton Brooks, Izzy Sinclair, Jacob Kimble and Naya Deveraux. These special agents are out to protect mankind from Fuse, a deadly alien energy source which has been stolen by the rogue paramilitary organization, Raven. Each of the characters delivers a unique gameplay experience, as they have their own individual and unique “Xenotech” weapon and specialized skills. Players will use these abilities as they track down the Fuse source in a snowy secret weapon depot. Developed by the critically-acclaimed independent studio, Insomniac Games, Fuse will mark the company’s first multiplatform release when it becomes available for PlayStation®3 computer entertainment system and Xbox 360® video game and entertainment system on May 28 in North America and May 31 in Europe.

“When it comes to Fuse, the biggest thing we’ve noticed when sharing it with others for the first time is that playing is believing,” said Ted Price, CEO and founder of Insomniac Games. “Fuse takes four player co-op in a new direction with features you won’t find in other third person shooters: from LEAP where you can jump between each of the four unique agents at will to the experimental Xenotech weapons to the deep RPG-like character progression system. And by the way, all of these features rock for solo players as well. Join us in this brand new universe for a quintessential Insomniac Games experience.”

Fuse is a co-op action game that allows both co-op and solo players to experience the unique attributes of each operative by using the game’s unique LEAP feature. Players can use LEAP to switch between the four Overstrike operatives at-will during combat. Each of the four characters is equipped with unique skills and weapons that are not only necessary for survival, but also create unexpected and extraordinary results. Powered by Fuse, the Xenotech weapons give players unique capabilities to expand their strategic options in combat. Through lethal teamwork, players can combine their weapons for unique kills to earn Fuse points for powerful upgrades. Players can also play online* or offline and level up along unique character paths, unlocking more powerful Fuse-driven abilities as the game progresses. In addition, the game’s progression system is unified between the campaign and wave-based Echelon mode, allowing players to continue improving their operatives regardless of how they play.

Created and developed by Insomniac Games, Fuse will be available on May 28 in North America and May 31 in Europe for the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3. For more information on Fuse, please visit www.fusegame.com, and for the latest news visitwww.facebook.com/fusegame or follow on Twitter at www.twitter.com/insomniacgames.

Wargame AirLand Battle Unveils US Units

2013/05/03
Jerry Paxton
News, Screenshots / Photos, Windows PC News

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Focus Home Interactive has sent out screenshots from Wargame AirLand Battle, showing off the forces of my homeland, the good ol’ US of A. There looks to be quite the unit selection – especially in the main battle tank department. Looks like they are going all the way back to the M103!

Screenshots