Dead Space: Animated

Electronic Arts Inc. (NASDAQ:ERTS) and Starz Media announced today the development of an animated movie prequel to the highly anticipated sci-fi survival horror game Dead Space™. The companies also have animation projects in development for two other EA franchises. The relationship kicks off with this Dead Space prelude that will deliver new details on the horrifying tale the game will unleash this Halloween.

The script for the Dead Space animated feature picks up the plot where the original comic book series ends and leads up to the beginning of the Dead Space game. The story focuses on the events aboard a futuristic mining spaceship, the USG Ishimura, after it pulls a mysterious artifact from a remote dig site. The artifact triggers the sudden invasion of a long-dormant alien presence, and the Ishimura’s crewmembers find themselves locked in a frantic struggle to survive. The animated feature is slated to premiere at the same time as the game is launched.

This project signals both companies’ belief that mass-appeal games provide opportunities for new and exciting programming in a variety of different media. This announcement comes at a time when the video game industry is valued at more than $30 billion worldwide for packaged goods, wireless and online games in calendar year 2007 and game-inspired entertainment is pervasive in movie theaters, on TV and across online media.

Starz Media is currently in discussions with broadcasters worldwide that have already expressed interest in airing Dead Space, which is scheduled to be released via broadcast TV and then on DVD. The company will launch international sales of the animated feature at the upcoming MIP-TV market in Cannes, France. Starz Media will also market the movie through its home entertainment company Anchor Bay Entertainment, as well as via online and wireless distributors.

The deal with Starz Media and its animation unit Film Roman reflects EA’s growing commitment to developing filmed entertainment projects based on the company’s games. For Film Roman, the venerable animation company behind “The Simpsons,” “King of the Hill” and the pre-school hit “Wow! Wow! Wubbzy!,” the booming video game business is fertile territory for developing new hit movies and series.

“Due to the richness and complexity of stories that have evolved for video games, they have become a type of entertainment that can span generations and provide fantastic inspiration for other forms of media; especially in the realm of animated features,” Film Roman President and COO Scott Greenberg said. “We’re particularly thrilled to be starting off with Dead Space.”

“We are really excited to be working with Film Roman to create an animated feature that will tell the portion of the Dead Space saga between the comic and game,” said Glen Schofield, Executive Producer for Dead Space. “With the video game, comic book and now animated movie, Dead Space has become a true multimedia brand. Each of these elements delivers the story to new audiences and tells it from different aspects and perspectives.”

Film Roman is producing “Dead Space” in alliance with Digital Tetra Inc., in Korea. The Gotham Group of Los Angeles, a leading animation representation company, helped put the production arrangement together.

Under development at EA Redwood Shores, Dead Space is not yet rated by PEGI or ESRB. For more information about the game, go to the website at www.deadspacegame.com.

Dark Sector’s Enemies

This week, D3 Publisher released these five looks at five major enemies from Dark Sector, and we present them all to you here…

Downey, Howard voice Iron Man game

SEGA® of America, Inc., SEGA Europe Ltd., and Marvel Entertainment, Inc. announced today that the Iron Man™ video game, based on the successful Marvel comic book series and the upcoming film by Marvel Studios, will feature the voice talents of Robert Downey Jr., Terence Howard and Shaun Toub. All three actors will reprise their onscreen roles of Tony Stark (Downey), Lt. Col. James “Rhodey” Rhodes (Howard), and Yinsen (Toub). The Iron Man video game launches day and date with the blockbuster movie on May 2, 2008.

Iron Man, an explosive third-person action shooter game that pits one of the world’s most renowned Super Heroes against unspeakable odds, draws its story from the upcoming movie while also incorporating story elements from original Iron Man comic books. Using the advanced technology in Iron Man’s suits of armor, gamers can take advantage of the wide array of high-impact weapons to strategically annihilate any enemy force standing in their way. Before tackling stunning and immense open battlefields, players can customize their armor suit as they encounter progressively more vicious enemies, and fight in epic battles that could challenge even the toughest Super Heroes.

Iron Man is the story of Tony Stark, a billionaire industrialist and inventor who had it all. But during a routine weapons test in the Middle East, Stark was captured and forced to construct the ultimate weapon. Instead of following his captors’ demands, Tony built his own devastating weapon – a powerful suit of armor that provided the key to his heroic escape. From this point forward, Tony Stark became more than a man. He became Iron Man.

I am Iron Man

Sega’s trailer for Iron Man: The Game (based on the upcoming movie). I’ve got very high hopes for this one…

C&C begets Tiberium

EA’s trailer for Tiberium, the first person shooter based on the Command & Conquer universe:

EA unveils Sims 3, world yawns

Electronic Arts Inc. announced today the first details on one of interactive entertainment’s most anticipated games, The Sims™ 3. Featuring a brand new engine that has been in development for nearly three years, The Sims 3 allows you to immerse your unique Sims in an open living neighborhood right outside their door. The initial feature-set unveiled includes the new seamless, open neighborhood, new Create-A-Sim, new realistic personalities and new unlimited customization. The Sims 3 will launch globally in 2009.

The Sims franchise has long been recognized for its appeal to a universal audience, both male and female, and at any age. Its broad appeal and loyal The Sims community has vaulted the franchise to an impressive 98 million games sold around the world and translated into 22 different languages. Celebrated for its creativity, humor, and community, The Sims franchise has become a global and cultural phenomenon since its inception in 2000.

Now, The Sims 3 is being designed to be the next-generation flagship game from The Sims Label.

“In The Sims 3, Sims can go beyond the boundaries of their home lot, and immerse themselves in an open, living neighbourhood, interacting with other Sims using our new deeper personality system,” said Rod Humble, Head of The Sims Studio. “It is this type of open-ended gameplay that inspires endless creative possibilities. In addition the new goals and rewards systems will give players of all kinds from core gamers to storytellers the ability to enjoy long-term gameplay.”

New Seamless, Open Neighborhood—Explore the Neighborhood Freely.
See the sights with your Sims! The new seamless neighborhood architecture allows your Sims to roam freely around the neighborhood and visit their loved one and friends—or foes. Discovering other Sims homes and families, traveling around to new locations like City Hall or the local park will create a whole new way of life for your Sims. Storytelling options will multiply as your Sims stroll downtown to meet new acquaintances, head across town for lunch, spy on their neighbors and bump into the boss when they least expect it.

New Create A Sim—Create Any Sim You Can Imagine.
In addition to the open, living neighborhood, the all-new Create-a-Sim interface will feature easy-to-use design tools that allow you to make truly detailed Sims that are more realistic than ever. Create-a-Sim gives you the incredible freedom to customize just about any Sim you can imagine. From thin to full-figured to muscular—everything in between and even the extreme! In addition to determining your Sims body shape and size, you will also be able to fine-tune every feature on their faces, customize their hair style and select their skin tone, all from a vast selection of options. With so many choices to choose from, it is fun to create more realistic characters that look like you, someone you want to look like, or even a famous personality.

New Realistic Personalities—Every Sim Is A Unique Person, With A Distinct Personality
With the innovative and proprietary Realistic Personality System in The Sims 3, you can attribute each character with five distinct personality traits, helping shape your Sims behavior and how they interact with others and their surroundings. This new system will empower you to create extremely complex and diverse in-game personalities. Will you create the nosy, inappropriate, kleptomaniac grandmother who loves to meddle in other people’s business? Or the commitment-phobic, hot-headed punk rocker whose rude nature and childish disposition keeps him from scoring a date? In The Sims 3, Sims will go beyond the basic set of day-to-day needs to be distinct individuals with multifaceted personalities, who can focus both on short-term opportunities and long-term goals. With a wide selection of personality traits to mix and match, more than 700 million combinations of Sims await. You never know who’ll meet in The Sims 3!

New Unlimited Customization—Everyone Can Customize Everything!
New and accessible creativity tools in The Sims 3 make it simple for anyone to customize anything, anywhere! From floors to flowers, fashions to sofas, wallpaper to window shades and more, The Sims 3 gives you all the flexibility and options you need to be the architect of your dream house or explore your interior design skills to outfit your ultimate home. Your Sims can make home an ultra-deluxe mansion, a cool bachelor pad, family’s dream home or charming cottage. The choice is yours in The Sims 3.

”The new engine and technologies in The Sims 3 are designed to unleash the player’s imagination with realistic looking Sims who have distinct personalities and a seamless living neighborhood for them to discover,” added Ben Bell, Executive Producer on The Sims 3. “Players are going to be thrilled by the level of realism in The Sims 3!”

For more information visit www.TheSims3.com.

Bring Down the Sky trailer

Here’s the trailer for the new Mass Effect expansion pack, “Bring Down the Sky.”

Edge of Twilight

SouthPeak Games recently announced that FUZZYEYES’ “Edge of Twilight” will be available for the Xbox 360™ video game and entertainment system, PLAYSTATION®3 computer entertainment system and Windows PC in 2009. The game is currently deep in development at FUZZYEYES utilizing SouthPeak’s studio-wide Unreal Engine 3 license.

“We are very excited to help bring FUZZYEYES’ creative vision to life. The team spent a lot of time developing a comprehensive story to give the universe a history and purpose, which can change based on the players’ interaction within the world,” said Melanie Mroz, CEO of SouthPeak.

“Edge of Twilight” takes the player into a lavishly envisioned steampunk world to play as Lex, an outcast bounty hunter who finds himself caught between clashes of two polar opposite civilizations. Delivering a unique brand of fast-paced cinematic action, the game will be a truly immersive experience.

“It is energizing to see our unique vision take shape. We are bringing some unusual ideas to the table and so far we couldn’t be happier with the results,” said Wei-Yao Lu, CEO of FUZZYEYES. “Gamers should look forward to 2009!”

Edge Of Twilight will be released in 2009. Visit www.edge-of-twilight.com for more.

Not so eternal Damnation

Codemasters®, a leading video game publisher, and US creative studio Blue Omega Entertainment today announced Damnation™, a new videogame franchise set to come leaping onto the Xbox 360® video game and entertainment system from Microsoft®, the PLAYSTATION®3 computer entertainment system and Games for Windows® this winter.

Evolving the shooter genre with its unique and exhilarating combination of fluid action and combat, Damnation will feature huge, open environments, frenetic combat, daredevil acrobatics and high-octane vehicle-based stunts. Presenting players with an intense test of reflexes, quick thinking and rapid-fire conflict, Damnation will feature vast, breathtaking landscapes, each covering miles of distance and thousands of vertical feet.

Billed as a ’shooter gone vertical,’ and visually inspired by iconic elements of American history, these massive streaming landscapes will form the battlegrounds for a post-industrial conflict between humanity and an unstoppable arms dealer hell-bent on total world domination.

Players will be able to choose their own paths and navigate the world by performing daredevil feats on the edge of human ability. However players aren’t the only ones with mind-blowing acrobatic skills; intelligent enemies will give chase and engage players in frantic gun fights and attacks that can come from any direction – in Damnation’s world there’s no safe place to hide.

With up to three hours of actual gameplay stretching out in front of them per level, players will need more than just muscle power to get across each level safely. Damnation will offer players a selection of awe-inspiring vehicles, from motorbikes capable of launching across seemingly infinite chasms, to huge, armor-piercing marvels that will induce mayhem with every huge shell.

The high action will be supported with an epic and in-depth story which, while focusing on the exploits of the hero character Rourke, is truly an ensemble piece. Players will meet and become involved in intricate story plots that reveal much more than the obvious.

In addition to the single player experience, Damnation comes complete with a unique set of multiplayer options that take full advantage of the game’s expansive levels. Currently in development at Blue Omega’s facilities in Annapolis, USA, Damnation will be available for Xbox 360, the PLAYSTATION 3 system and Games for Windows in late 2008. For more information and to catch a glimpse of what the future of gaming has in store, visit http://www.codemasters.com/playdamnation.

Bring Down the Sky

This Monday BioWare released the first episode of its promised downloadable content for Mass Effect, its latest RPG/shooter. The content pack is called “Bring Down the Sky” and promises fans of Mass Effect an hour and half of gameply for a mere 400 Xbox Live points (five dollars in Earth money). Not only this, but it introduces a new race into the Mass Effect universe, a species mentioned but never seen on the game disc itself – galactic gangsters, the Batarians.

The story is this: Batarian extremists have hijacked an asteroid and are aiming it squarely at humanity’s first and largest colony world. If’ you’ve seen Armageddon, you are well aware of the problem this poses, namely, mass extinction on a global scale. Instead of Bruce Willis, however, we have commander Sheppard, your avatar. Like Willis’ character, Sheppard has a choice to make – one that is less black and white than Willis’ sacrifice at the end of his meteor movie.

The gameplay is exactly what you’ve come to expect from Mass Effect, if a little ramped up in difficulty. There is little difference in appearance between the Batarians, Human, and Asari. They’re all bipedal humaniods, and when you’re trying to gun them down you’re not looking too closely at their faces or how many fingers they have. As enemies, the Batarians seem a little smarter, tougher, and more accurate than your average though, though with my level 54 Vanguard character I only died twice.

The moral dillemma you are faced with really makes an impact. I found most of the large decision in Mass Effect to be fairly black and white in nature. And, being the sap that I am, I almost always chose to do the “right” thing and collect a nice number of paragon points. However, Bring Down the Sky forced me to make a choice that I was uncomfortable making. I still saved the day… but not without losses, and that is what made this new content stand on its own as a storyline within a storyline.

For those who were disappointed in the side missions in the main game and are wondering if this is simply more of the same – yes and no. There are for major installations on the asteroid that you have to shut down, and yes, three of them are the same pre-fab buildings that seem to breed like rabbits somewhere in the Mass Effect universe. One large room with a ramp, balcony, and two smaller rooms budding off like polyps. However, each room is filled with different stuff, and the last of them almost convinced me that it was a different building for a moment or two. The main installation, however, is a completely new structure, a large, multi-tiered building that looks something like an arena with plant life, giving it a Citadel-esque feel. Also, the presence of extra characters and storyline cut-scenes make Bring Down the Sky feel a little more like a main storyline mission, so it feels a little fresher this time around.

And now for the main gripe – why do I have to play access this content by using a save somewhere in the middle of a game? This content would have worked a lot better as a playable mission after the main story events of Mass Effect. Their decision to only make it accessible through the galaxy map, and the lack of a post game “free-play” means that you either have to start a new save and play up to the point where you are given the Normandy, or use a save from somewhere in the middle of the game, which is a huge hassle to anyone who just wants to play the darn content. The main storyline of Mass Effect was felt so urgent, the threat Saren posed to the galaxy so near that many players felt that putzing around the galaxy looking for sidequests broke the pace. And the vast array of things there is to do in Mass Effect is truly intimidating. Why BioWare chose to not allow free-play after the ending is beyond my reasoning.

Now, for the question on all of your minds – is it worth it?

If you enjoy Mass Effect, have 400 points to spend, and don’t mind using an old save file, then yes. It adds another layer of depth to the Mass Effect universe and gives you an experience you’ll wish all of the side quests had offered.