Arcade1UP’s Dragon Lair home arcade machine is available now! The Arcade1Up Dragon’s Lair home arcade cabinet not only features the title game, but also the sequel Dragon’s Lair II: Time Warp, and the sci-fi adventure themed Space Ace. All featuring the beloved animation style of Don Bluth, all a phenomenal fun time.
It was stunning then, and it’s stunning now: Arcade1Up is thrilled to release Dragon’s Lair in a home arcade form factor, faithfully reproducing its nostalgic gameplay, and gorgeous cabinet design! In 1983, video game designer Rick Dyer and legendary animator Don Bluth captivated the industry with Dragon’s Lair, a spectacular game that was unlike anything seen before, so ambitious and so advanced that it mesmerized video game players across generations.
With its hand drawn animation, creative levels, and strong dose of sword and sorcery humor, crowds gathered around Dragon’s Lair just to catch a glimpse of this “I can’t believe I’m playing a cartoon!” sensation.
The Arcade1UP Dragon’s Lair home arcade machine retails for $649.99 ($599.99 on sale at the time of this writing). You can find the product page here.
Universal Studios Hollywood debuts the first four electric trams in its fleet of 21 Studio Tour trams. Weather and feature anchor of NBC’s TODAY and Co-host, 3rd Hour of TODAY, Al Roker is featured in a video introduction aboard the trams as part of the guest experience.
“I am extremely proud of this innovative undertaking and our commitment to creating a zero-emissions Studio Tour fleet in collaboration with our parent company and local partners,” said Scott Strobl, Executive Vice President and General Manager, Universal Studios Hollywood. “This is just one of many steps we are taking to transform our business in line with Comcast NBCUniversal’s carbon neutral goal, all while pioneering first-class attractions for our guests.”
The world-famous, behind-the-scenes Studio Tour is a hallmark Universal Studios Hollywood attraction that, for over 55 years, has taken millions of guests from around the world through authentic movie and television production studios, featuring iconic sets made famous in blockbuster movies such as “Back to the Future” and dynamic rides such as “Fast & Furious—Supercharged” and “King Kong 360 3-D.”
“The Universal Studio Tour has always been a groundbreaking attraction with lots of thrills, excitement and scary moments. I’m honored to be part of an experience for adults and children to learn about these best-in-class electric trams that will transport them around this iconic studio lot and help the environment,” said Al Roker.
The conversion to electric trams was spearheaded in 2017 by visionaries within the Universal Studios Hollywood technical services department and represents some of the first-ever and largest battery-powered, off-road, high-torque and low speed mass people movers in the U.S.
Full conversion of the 21 trams from diesel-hydraulic engines to electric will help reduce carbon emissions as well as improve the guest experience by reducing noise associated with the diesel-hydraulic engine.
Installation of inductive charging technology from WAVE (Wireless Advanced Vehicle Electrification) by Ideanomics was a critical factor in the conversion designed to meet the trams’ rigorous daily demands of navigating the Studio’s varying topography. Trams will routinely charge during the normal operation at the start and end of the attraction route. Coupled with a regenerative braking feature, the trams will continue to build up charge when they travel downhill, providing added energy efficiency.
The elaborate clean air conversion design process evolved from a collaboration between Universal Studios Hollywood and L.A.-based Complete Coach Works to reimagine the trams from diesel-hydraulic engines to electric.
The project continues to be made possible by a grant from the South Coast Air Quality Management District — the local regulatory agency that works to reduce air pollution in the region — which provides funding to replace older equipment with cleaner ones that are cost-effective while reducing air pollution. It was also supported by a significant investment from Comcast NBCUniversal and Southern California Edison through its Charge Ready Transport Program.
“It is truly so exciting to see initiatives like Universal Studios Hollywood’s new fleet of electric Studio Tour trams come to fruition — initiatives that show our public and private entities working together to do our part to combat air quality and climate change,” said L.A. Councilmember Nithya Raman. “As a new member of the South Coast Air Quality Management Board, I am looking to broaden these types of collaborations and accelerate the positive impacts they will have for our region and world. Our climate crisis demands we do this.”
ININ Games and TAITO are happy to release the TAITO MILESTONES collection for Nintendo Switch tomorrow, April 15th in Europe and North America! Retro fans can get the special compilation of ten classic games spanning different genres through selected retailers and the Nintendo eShop.
Celebrating TAITO’s legacy!
To celebrate the milestones in their company’s rich history, TAITO combined ten groundbreaking classics from the ‘80s in one amazing collection, including games from several genres – platformer, sports, shooting, puzzle and more:
1981
QIX
1983
Chack’n Pop
1981
SPACE SEEKER
1983
ELEVATOR ACTION
1982
ALPINE SKI
1985
The FairyLand Story
1982
FRONT LINE
1986
HALLEY’S COMET
1982
WILD WESTERN
1987
THE NINJAWARRIORS
Avoid the enemies while filling in the territories on the playfield in QIX – the game that spawned a genre of action-puzzle painting games. Become a skilled ninja and defeat the evil Banglar’s hordes in THE NINJAWARRIORS – one of the games that established TAITO’s in-house sound team Zuntata in gaming music.
The collection represents the innovative ideas that led to TAITO’s arcade dominance at the time. So get ready for a true retro flashback – heading straight to your home screens!
The boxed edition and the digital download version of TAITO MILESTONES for Nintendo Switch will launch tomorrow, April 15th.
Check iningames.com for more information and the latest updates on the game!
The D&D Team at Wizards of the Coast is excited to debut D&D Direct, a jam-packed thirty-minute video presentation on April 21 at 9:00 AM Pacific Time.
Tune in to see exclusive reveals from the world’s greatest roleplaying game, including video games, entertainment, and more, guided by hosts Anna Prosser and B. Dave Walters.
Rebellion, one of the world’s most successful independent studios, has today released a new video for Sniper Elite 5 which gives in-depth insight from the development team about the variety of weapons in the game as well as the incredible customization options available to the player. The new Weapons & Customization Spotlight also reveals the steps the team at Rebellion takes to recreate the authentic weapons in minute detail and is available to view here:
Rebellion worked with renowned military historian and star of the Combat Dealers TV show, Bruce Crompton, as well as the Imperial War Museum and Royal Armouries Museum to capture thousands of reference images and audio recordings of World War 2 weapons and vehicles to help ensure maximum authenticity. The new video takes you behind the scenes and shows the meticulous level of detail that goes into creating the game.
Sniper Elite 5 offers a level of customization never seen before in the franchise with players able to change a weapon’s stock, magazines, receiver, barrel, scopes and iron sights as well as the materials. This enables the player to finesse their weapons to best suit their playstyle, whether that is stealthy and methodical, ‘run and gun’ or a mixture of the two. Customization options can also be accessed during gameplay as the player discovers Workbenches in the game maps. These will in turn unlock further customization options.
The latest game in the award-winning franchise, Sniper Elite 5 will release simultaneously on Xbox Game Pass, Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S, PlayStation 4 & 5, Epic, Steam and the Windows Store on May 26, 2022. The game is available to pre-order now and players that do pre-order will receive an additional Target Führer campaign mission titled “Wolf Mountain.” A Deluxe Edition is also available, which will include Season Pass One, as well as the P.1938 Suppressed Pistol for pre-orders.
To keep up to date with all the latest Sniper Elite 5 news please visit sniper.com and follow the game on social media: Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and YouTube.
MOUNTAIN, creator of innovative, premium peripherals with user-centric design to enable gamers and content creators to perform at their best, introduces its first small form factor keyboard with Everest 60. Staying true to its mission of delivering peak performance, MOUNTAIN cut no corners with the latest entry to the Everest product family.
Everest 60 comes in the extremely compact 60% form factor but does not cut necessary functional corners, as arrow keys remain part of the layout. Contrasting its sleek and minimalistic exterior is a complex and sophisticated interior design, using multiple layers of foam and silicone to create a satisfying and muted sound profile.
Featuring a plethora of high-end tuning, the manufacturing of Everest 60 includes countless extra steps to achieve a premium result. Unheard of outside of the keyboard enthusiast DIY space, including additional materials and hours of manual precision work, this intricate attention to detail delivers value unlike any other keyboard on the market today.
Premium switches are a key element to a superior mechanical keyboard. MOUNTAIN developed its very own lineup of mechanical switches with MOUNTAIN Linear 45, Linear 45 Speed, and Tactile 55 switches, which make their debut on Everest 60. Factory-lubed and optimized for smooth and precise operation, these switches are rated for a lifetime of 100 million actuations.
Rounding off its meticulous sound design are Cherry stabilizers, hand-clipped and hand-lubricated from the factory to enable rattle-free gaming and typing experiences. All Everest 60 keyboards ship with double-shot keycaps made of extremely durable PBT, guaranteeing translucent legends that never fade or wear off.
Much like Everest, Everest 60 is modular and upgradeable with its separately sold Everest 60 Numpad, which is hot-pluggable and can connect on either side. The switches are hot-swappable and easy to replace or exchange with any other Cherry MX style 3-pin or 5-pin switch.
Customization is at the heart of MOUNTAIN’s user-centric design philosophy. To enable every user to make Everest 60 truly their own, its launch is accompanied by the release of ten MOUNTAIN Mineral keycap sets. Also made of PBT and featuring translucent double-shot legends, a wide choice of colorways is available, inspired by some of the world’s most beautiful minerals.
“MOUNTAIN’s strong focus on putting users’ needs front and centre of every step in our product development bears fruit in a 60% mechanical keyboard unlike any other,” says Tobias Brinkmann, Founder and CEO of MOUNTAIN. “Everest 60’s custom layout ensures that, despite its portable form factor, functionality for both gamers and content creators remains intact.”
“The enormous success of Everest Max showed that our idea of a modern and innovative mechanical keyboard resonates incredibly well with gamers and content creators” added Bram Rongen, Brand Strategy Manager of MOUNTAIN. “We condensed the very essence of Everest in Everest 60 and introduced some of the latest trends in enthusiast keyboard tuning, such as multi-layered noise-dampening, 5-pin hot-swappable switch support, and more.”
MOUNTAIN Everest 60, Everest 60 Numpad, MOUNTAIN Mineral keycap sets, and MOUNTAIN Switches are now available, in stock and ready for immediate dispatch at https://us-mountainggshop.com
Big Brane Studios and nDreams are delighted to announce that nDreams will publish Big Brane’s upcoming title Sushi Ben VR (working title), coming to all major VR headsets.
Sushi Ben VR is the second title that nDreams are confirmed to be publishing following the creation of their Third-Party Publishing Initiative in 2021. We’ll be revealing more Sushi Ben VR details in the coming months.
“When we started looking for publishers nDreams was the first one we wanted to send our pitch deck to and, after speaking to just about every other VR publisher, nDreams wound up being the publisher we connected with the most!” said Kane Tyler, Head of Big Brane Studios. “I’m thrilled to have nDreams’ support and I can’t wait to share more about the game in the coming months.”
“When we first met Kane and the Big Brane team, we knew we had to work with them,” said David Corless, VP of Publishing at nDreams. “Sushi Ben VR is a captivating narrative adventure, and the imaginative use of Japanese-inspired narrative devices works brilliantly in VR. We’re excited to work with Big Brane to bring Sushi Ben to the world.”
Sushi Ben VR is a narrative adventure game where you have to save your favourite Sushi restaurant from going out of business by convincing the local town’s folk to eat there with you. However, not everyone will be easily convinced to come and dine with you. You’ll need to complete various tasks and help townspeople out of predicaments in order to earn their trust. Different narrative encounters will take place depending on your interactions with the game’s NPCs.
The game uses 3D manga panels as a unique narrative device and features an anime inspired art style. Kane previously worked in a sushi bar and Sushi Ben VR is loosely based on the life of his former colleague at the bar. After its initial reveal, Sushi Ben VR was nominated for two awards at the 2021 Raindance Immersive awards.
There’ll be more Sushi Ben VR updates in the coming months so be sure to follow Sushi Ben VR on Twitter and nDreams on Twitter, Facebook, TikTok, Instagram, and YouTube to be first in line to find out the latest updates.
Today Aspyr Media, a wholly owned subsidiary of Embracer’s Saber Interactive operative group, has entered into an agreement to acquire the video game studio Beamdog. Best known for bringing beloved Dungeons & Dragons role-playing games like Baldur’s Gate and Planescape: Torment to desktop, tablets and modern consoles, Beamdog will operate as an independent studio within Aspyr. The closing of the acquisition is subject to regulatory approval and other agreed-upon closing conditions.
Founded in 2009 by former BioWare leads Trent Oster and Cameron Tofer, Beamdog is one of Canada’s most established game studios. Its team of 80 artists, designers and developers has relationships with top licensors, including Wizards of the Coast and Hasbro, as well as an impressive catalogue of RPG titles. Through the acquisition, Aspyr will add a veteran North American development team, which will continue to be led by Oster.
The two companies will collaborate closely on Beamdog’s newly revealed MythForce, which Aspyr will publish as an early access title on the Epic Games Store on April 20, 2022. Inspired by beloved ‘80s cartoon franchises like Thundercats and He-Man, MythForce unites colorful swords and sorcery with gripping first-person combat in a roguelite adventure.
“Beamdog is a tremendously talented group that we’ve admired for a long time. Their development philosophy and studio vision are perfectly aligned with ours. We look forward to seeing them realize their ambition with MythForce while maximizing the long-term potential of an incredible archive of classic games,” said Ted Staloch, CEO of Aspyr.
“This acquisition will open up a ton of exciting opportunities for us. Beamdog can now focus our talent, efforts and imagination on building the great games we want to play while properly looking after established fan-favorite RPGs. Beamdog’s first original IP is a fun-filled start to our studio’s next chapter,” said Beamdog CEO Trent Oster.
For more information on MythForce, visit www.MythForce.com, and follow @MythForce on Twitter for the latest updates.
Stranger Things 4 Vol. 1 premieres May 27th, only on Netflix.
It’s been six months since the Battle of Starcourt, which brought terror and destruction to Hawkins. Struggling with the aftermath, our group of friends are separated for the first time – and navigating the complexities of high school hasn’t made things any easier. In this most vulnerable time, a new and horrifying supernatural threat surfaces, presenting a gruesome mystery that, if solved, might finally put an end to the horrors of the Upside Down.
“Ave Imperator, Morituri te salutant!” (“Hail, emperor, those who are about to die salute you!”) – a sentence shouted by the warriors, who were about to risk their life not for their country or a greater cause but for glory itself: The Gladiators! In ancient Rome, it was all about “panem et circensis” (~ “bread and games”) to entertain the masses and to keep them satisfied with the current rulership.
With its brand new DLC “Death or Glory”, the critically acclaimed CRPG Expeditions: Rome will bring the feeling of these ancient roman games to your PC by introducing a new class – the Gladiator – and adding arenas to the different regions, you’ve visited throughout the campaign. You can now prove the combat prowess of your praetorian guard in the sands of the arena and fight against various enemies, including ferocious lions and very talented champions – will you claim their titles for yourself?
The new DLC is out today and a legion of other additions are coming along with the Gladiator-class, and its unique set of 24 skills. There are the new arenas, new weapons, new armours, new crafting recipes, and new enemies as well as new customization options for your legion and your praetorians. The DLC content will be included into the campaign or can be accessed directly by starting the game in the new “Gladiator Mode”.
The Expeditions: Rome DLC Death or Glory launches today, April, 12th, 2022 on PC at an SRP of $ 9.99 | € 9.99 | £ 7.99 and comes with a 20% release discount.
Try before you buy? Download the Expeditions: Rome demo now on Steam, you can even continue playing from your save game if you get the full game: https://thqn.net/rome-steam
