Geek and Fandom Events in BC and Washington State
Resident Evil: Operation Raccoon City only scored a 53 on Metacritic, but the disc itself is not without a few surprises. Betagames.org was able to locate a hidden folder containing loading screens from a canceled Star Wars: Battlefront sequel. Check it out at NeoGaf and gaze in wonder at what might have been!
Sources:Reviews on the Run.
Due to Financial troubles at THQ, Vancouver Game Studio Relic Entertainment and Vigil Games in Texas had to go through some painful restructuring. The Warhammer 40k MMO Dark Millennium online was reduced to single player game, and Relic had to let go of 39 employees, while Vigil cast off 79. According to the Excapist, studios like Treyarch, Popcap and Insomniac stepped in to headhunt the latest casualties of Game Industry capriciousness.
All these companies lining up to snap up the new layoffs sounds like a good thing, but is it, really? Is it fun to have to sell your house? Is it fun to uproot your family and move across country? Is dealing with immigration your idea of a good time?
I get that the Video Game Industry is fraught with instability. But does it have to be? A layoff like this makes all the gaming blogs, but what about the rounds of layoffs that go on every Christmas? What about the 100 day unpaid “vacations” that non-Full time employees have to take? What about the interns?
How about this whole black book of tricks wrapped in shrivelled human skin that software publishers use so their workers never see a decent dime in their lives?
The problem is that most Triple-A titles are bankrolled by large publishers like EA and Activision. While they are video game companies, they have no interest in even making video games, much less keeping happy employees. That’s because they are publicly traded companies. Their goal is not to make video games, but to make their share price attractive to your Dad’s retirement fund. If they could sell you a credit card reader in your house that charges you a dollar so you can watch two lights blinking on and off, they’d do it.
So what are employees and consumers supposed to do? Well, the great thing about being in video games is that you can always take your ball and go somewhere else. You can download most game engines for free, and if you want to take your game to market, the fees are almost insignificant. As Minecraft and other indie successes have proved, the key to success is not money from the stock market, but the amount of work you put into your game and your relationship with the fans. And there is nothing EA, Sony, THQ, or anyone else can do to stop you.
Source:The Escapist.
Sakura-con has listed the major anime properties that will premier next week at the convention. First is Bakemonogatari, the story of a recovering vampire who ends up solving all manner of paranormal mysteries, but mostly ones surrounding the girls at his highschool.
Fate/Zero is the prequel to the light novel and game series Fate/stay Night, where seven magi summon seven holy spirits to do battle over the power of the holy grail.
Dragon Age: Dawn of the Seeker is an anime adaptation of the BioWare franchise of the same name. A conspiracy threatens to tear apart the ancient Templar Order, and a Seeker named Cassandra Pentaghast, is the only one who can stop it. The feature-length film contain’s one of Gackt’s latest singles, “Until the Last Day”.
Source: Sakura-Con
The producers of Fringe have gone to twitter in a last ditch attempt to save their favourite show from cancellation. The hashtag #WhereYouBelong was seen during last week’s episode, causing fans to tweet and speculate about its meaning. Fox has decided to show new hashtags for each of the 7 new episodes left in Fringe’s run, but will it be enough to save the show?
The First ever Fringe Fan Event is taking place in Vancouver on August 10-12, and pre-reg passes have already sold out! The show may have enough juice for a 5th season yet.
Source: Reviews on the Run
As of March 31st, the duties of developing, supporting, and maintaining the Halo series finally changed from Bungie to 343 Studios. As a grand send-off for the franchise, Bungie put together this infographic detailing the 235,182 years players have spent battling in the Halo Universe. Click away to enlarge.
Source: Bungie.net.
Ah, Spring. The buds are blooming, the birds are singing and the internet musters its comic might for the information prankfest that is April Fool’s. Alan Bailward over at Ufies.org has found a collection of April Fool’s pranks on Reddit and Tumblr. Here’s a collection of our favorites.
Thinkgeek
Thinkgeek always puts on the best show for April Fool’s, but you’ve got to wonder if it isn’t just a test-bed for their concept gag gift products. Yeah, you’re not likely to get donuts from a Keurig coffee maker, but a techno-mage hoodie is likely to be a standard accessory for any woodlands LARP session.
Kodak
This makes me feel bad that Kodak’s going broke.
Harmonix
I was wondering when they were going to come out with the new Rock Band.
Mojang
Introducing Mojang’s new game with completely original game with a name that no one’s going to sue over! Now, how’s Notch going to settle for the name this time? I know! Baldur’s Gate Enhanced Edition Speedrun Competition!
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