Kotaku, “Mirror’s Edge Demo Hits This Week”
Looks like that rumored Mirror’s Edge demo will be hitting the Playstation 3 and Xbox 360 earlier than we thought.
Electronic Arts just announced that the demo for the free-running blank canvas will hit the Playstation Store on Oct. 30 and Xbox Live Marketplace on Oct. 31. The demo will include the prologue of the game, a tutorial and a segment of the single-player story mode.
Also people who pre-order the game through “select retailers” will receive an unlock code for access to the Time Trial mode. In the Time Trial mode you will have to try and find the fastest routes through chunks of the city.
I’ll be interested to hear if it makes anyone trying it motion sick. I was fine when I played the game, but Ash got all green and icky feeling.
Kotaku, “Here’s When Mirror’s Edge Will Be Out”
Guildford, UK – Sept 18, 2008 – Take a leap of ‘Faith’ this November! DICE, an Electronic Arts Inc. studio (NASDAQ: ERTS), today announced that the highly acclaimed first-person action adventure title, Mirror’s Edge™ will ship on November 11th for the PLAYSTATION®3 computer entertainment system and the Xbox 360® videogame and entertainment system. The PC version of Mirror’s Edge will ship later in the winter. Prior to launch, players worldwide will get an early peek at the game when the demo* becomes available via Xbox LIVE™ Marketplace and PLAYSTATION® Store. The demo will feature the prologue of the game including the tutorial and a segment of the single-player story mode. Starting September 26th, players who pre-order Mirror’s Edge at selected retailers will get an exclusive code that unlocks the Time Trial mode in the demo.
Time Trial mode challenges players to find the fastest route across the rooftops and through the streets. Players can upload their best time to the Mirror’s Edge leaderboards for their friends to download and compete against. Players can see their friend’s ‘ghost’ run as they race their way through the course to the top of the leaderboards.
Continue reading ‘Mirror’s Edge shipping November 11′
Kotaku, “Max Payne Producer Working with 3D Realms on Duke Nukem Movie”
LOS ANGELES, CA—A pair of new console games isn’t the only thing cooking for the classic 3D shooter franchise, Duke Nukem. Hollywood producer Scott Faye, who’s readying Max Payne for its October 17th release, is working with 3D Realms’ Scott Miller on a Duke Nukem movie.
“I’m working diligently at making a Duke Nukem movie scenario that will live up to the character and its import in the videogame world,” said Faye. “As is the case with all of my game adaptations, I’d rather not make the movie than make a poor adaptation.”
Continue reading ‘Max Payne Producer Working with 3D Realms on Duke Nukem Movie’
Kotaku, “Yes, Tiger Woods Can in Fact Walk on Water”
I’m speechless, really, I don’t even know what to say. With what might be one of the greatest and most controversial EA Sports viral marketing videos ever, it is indeed true that Tiger Woods can walk on water. About a year ago a YouTube poster uploaded a video of a glitch in Tiger Woods 08. He was able to get Tiger to stand on top of a lake and drive the ball into the hole. In response, EA just came out with this viral video to show that what the poster had claimed, is indeed true in real life.
Kotaku, “Meet The New Lara Croft”
With Tomb Raider: Underworld on the horizon, it’s time to roll-over that lease into a newer model for series heroine Lara Croft. Meet 23-year-old Alison Carroll, a professional display gymnast from the Croydon area of London, England, who has performed in front of Prince Charles himself. Miss Carroll beat out hundreds of applicants for the role of Lara Croft, the new position allowing her to quit her day job as a receptionist. She’s now undergoing a rigorous daily training schedule to make sure she is ready to pose next to red-faced fans, far too nervous to notice what seems to be a scar on her left knee or the well-placed mole, not that I was paying attention.
If you have any doubts as to Miss Carroll’s athletic prowess, hit the jump for an action shot that proves once and for all that she could completely kick your head off while standing right next to you.
Continue reading ‘Meet the new Lara Croft’
Kotaku, “Peacemongers Protest Ubisoft HQ Over War Games Claims”
San Franciscans who had an open afternoon took to the streets today to protest the work of Ubisoft and the United States Army, claiming that the America’s Army line of video games “has been developed by the United States Army to recruit children under the age of 17 in violation of the U.N. Optional Protocol and international law.” Fortunately, Wired’s Game|Life was on hand to capture the action, beat by beat.
In short, the protest group Bay Area Direct Action feels that, due to the ‘Teen’ rating of the America’s Army series, Ubisoft is in violation of “international law” by making joining the Army seem totally rad — just like sitting on your ass playing video games all day, instead of focusing on how you could be maimed or killed or mentally scarred for life.
Wired points out how wrong this is in between bouts of dissecting how ill-prepared the group was with clever signs, pun-laden chants and logic. Since it went down in San Francisco, so a genuinely crazy guy shows up. It’s worth a read.
Kotaku, “You Will Never, Ever Game On This 40-Foot Rig (With 27 HD Monitors)”
One of our readers - who would prefer to remain nameless - installs PC rigs for a living. He helped install this one, in a government office, then proceeded to do what anyone confronted by twenty-seven 67″ HD monitors would do - he played a ton of BioShock and WoW on it. For reference, 27 panels equates to a display that’s 40 feet wide and 15 feet high, with a desktop resolution of, oh, 12600 x 3150.
Kotaku, “Your 360 Themes “Could” Look Like This On The New Dash”
The new 360 dash sure looks nice. Classy. Surprisingly classy, considering the raw functionality of the blades system. But as nice as it looks, what’s to become of those themes you’ve tarted your current dashboard up with? Well, according to Microsoft’s Larry Hryb, this is what they “could” look like. Which means it’s probably what they will look like.
Thanks Oliver
Kotaku, “Netflix Partners With Microsoft”
Neflix is Microsoft’s new media partner. Users will be able to watch the entirety of Netflix’s film library directly from their Xbox 360s, and movies and TV shows can be shared with the avatar-based community called Live Party, just announced earlier this morning.
Microsoft’s John Schappert said that there would be no additional cost imposed on the Netflix service beyond the regular Netflix subscription costs.
Kotaku, “GTA4 Hands-On: The World is Yours”
…To shoot while driving you have to smash out your window. Once, while driving around a guy who was smoking pot, I smashed out the window and within seconds billowing clouds of smoke were pouring through the busted glass.
There’s almost no HUD—instead your entire communication with the game and its many options is through your cell phone. You use it to get missions, find people, even do things like play (and buy) music or take pictures in game.
One of the more memorable moments for me was almost an accidental aside. Standing near the docks one in-game evening, I noticed little white lights lifting and drifting down. Nice touch, I thought, they’ve included distant airplanes. As we moved toward the lights, talking about some mission or maybe the mechanics of play, I looked up and saw that those lights were now fully formed airplanes. I could actually make them out in detail.
“Oh wow, those are actually airplanes?” I said, a little surprised.
My demo team seemed just as surprised.
There is an entire airport of them, they tell me, taxiing, landing, taking off. And it’s all part of the game…
Thanks, Nick
