New Line Cinema has chosen Len Wiseman (”Live Free or Die Hard”) to direct the video-game adaptation of Gear of War for the silver screen.

Set on the planet Sera, the game (and subsequently the movie – if they stick with it) brings to life the battle between a human Delta Squad (as opposed to what?) and the Locust Horde. Chris Morgan (”Wanted”, “The Fast and the Furious 4″) is also on board and will be writing the screenplay.

Considering how most movie/videogame adaptations work out, this is really not something to get overly excited about and the subject is honestly just becoming a the proverbial “dead horse” so to speak. They will suck usually and there is nothing we can do, so we should just either go see it or not and just stop bitching about it because it will never do us any good. Hollywood has never done gamers any favors really, now have they?

However, Cliffy B Cliff Bleszinski seems to think that a videogame to movie adaptation is simple:

“Hollywood needs to take the source material seriously, win over the avid gamers and make it work for an audience that is young and old, male and female.”

Thank you for that mind blowing insight Cliff. No one has ever said that before! How profound and impressive Master of the Obvious!

He goes on to say:

“Disney made a great movie out of a theme park ride, and somebody is sooner or later going to make a great one out of a video game. Having someone like Len really helps the odds. I think we’re going to create something special here.”

The thing about the Pirates movies, although inspired by an amusement park ride, is that there never was a “backstory” to begin with therefore the script writer had carte blanche to come up with something fun and exciting. No “ride” at a theme park has a script to it so to compare it to a game is slightly silly.

Anyway, as soon as we hear more about this upcoming atrocity we will be sure to ruin your day with it.

Via: Yahoo News

Well, this has got to be one of the strangest studies I’ve heard about in awhile. Scientists recently studied the outcomes of 1,347 team matches on Unreal Tournament 2004 using data collected from public servers. You’d think they would have found that both the Red and Blue teams won almost an equal amount of times. But their findings, which they published in Cyberpsychology & Behavior this week, showed that the Red team wins 55% of the time over Blue. The researchers reasoned that this was because the color red can be a psychological distractor for men, which could be related to why men turn red when they’re angry. According to Mark Rein of Epic though, these findings aren’t going to have any impact on the Unreal games:

“While this is really an interesting analysis, the notion of red team versus blue team has been ingrained in the Unreal Tournament series for years. We don’t anticipate any immediate changes to team colors.”

On the other hand though, I wouldn’t be too surprised if more people were vying for the Red team when playing now. I wonder if this applies to Halo as well…

Via News-Leader

Midway and Epic have confirmed that Unreal Tournament 3 for the Xbox 360 will hit stores on July 7.

Included will be five exclusive maps, split-screen capabilities, two new characters and the all-new Warfare mode and no mod support.

Meanwhile, Europe will be getting their copies a few days earlier on July 4th. Maybe they should celebrate with some fireworks, overcooked hot dogs from the grill, apple-pie, potato salad and invite some sweaty beer swilling neighbors over to piss in their pool.

The full press release is posted after the break.

Thanks for the Heads Up: VG247

Read the full article »

We’ve shown you some of the cool mods that have been designed for Unreal Tournament 3 in the past, like the Samus and Master Chief character models or the complete LEGO makeover. The latest noteworthy mod to catch my eye is a remake of the classic first level of Super Mario Bros, which takes advantage of UT2D.

It’s still very much a work in progress, as the creator will tell you, but it still looks very cool. And, thanks to PS3 mod support, you’ll be able to annihilate fellow UT‘ers on your PS3 in Mario World 1-1. It doesn’t get much better than that. (Unless they figure out a way to merge this with Star Wars and LEGOs, then the mind-blowing would be truly complete.)

via PS3 Fanboy

3D Buzz has issued a challenge for modders to enter its Old School Level Design Contest for Unreal Tournament 3. The real challenge is to create an inventive deathmatch map using only the original content included in Unreal Tournament 3. Yes, that means no custom content… absolutely none.

The move is meant to level the playing field so novice modders will have a fighting chance to compete along side more experienced enthusiasts. The winner will have his or her level reviewed by none other than Epic’s Design Director, Cliff Bleszinski.

Contest Prizes:

Grand Prize Winner:

- $1000 cash prize
- PlayStation 3 game console (or $500 cash
- Autographed copy ofUnreal Tournament 3 signed by the developers
- Video review of your level by the staff of 3D Buzz
- Video review of your level by Epic Design Director Cliff Bleszinski

First and Second Runners-Up:

- PlayStation 3 game console (or $500 cash)
- Autographed copy of Unreal Tournament 3 signed by the developers
- Video review of your level by the staff of 3D Buzz

All challengers should report to the official 3D Buzz Old School Level Design Contest homepage. You can check out 3DBuzz.com for some inspiration. All entries must be in by 11:59:59 PM CST on June 30, 2008 so get a move on.

I find it both appropriate and satisfying that this announcement comes on the heals of my mod article. Viva la PC!

via Press Release

File-N-Forget returns this week with a discussion of the changing face of gaming. Our topic: Cooperative gameplay and its evolution over the last few generations of consoles. Additionally Shawn raves about the good part of the the Xbox Live! Arcade game delisting and Ron gets wishy washy with praise and damnation for Funcom’s Age of Conan.

This weeks show is available by direct download here.

As always, you can get past episodes from our podcast page at http://podcast.filefront.com, and you can send your comments, questions, suggestions, or snarky comments to podcast@filefront.com.

File-N-Forget is also available on the iTunes Music Store.

PC gaming is dead!

We’ve all heard it over and over recently from many pessimistic sources in the games industry. They cite software piracy as a major culprit, claiming an incredible percentage of games are stolen. We’ve heard how PCs are so much more expensive to upgrade than consoles and with the seemingly infinite combinations of hardware, software and drivers is it any wonder consoles look so promising to developers? With each successive generation of systems, consoles have become more sophisticated and now rival the performance capabilities of midline PCs.

PCs are hard to write games for. Again and again, developers complain about the time and money involved in creating games for systems that have no standard specifications and have a wide range of performance capabilities. Consoles represent a base configuration, sure they may or may not hare a hard drive and even when they do the size might vary but its nothing like PCs and its use of different hardware, OS and drivers. There’s no guarantee that a game will work for every build out there even if the machine meets the minimum system specifications.

All these are legitimate complaints, but I think there is one very important reason why the cries of PC game death are false. PC games have an appeal that is uncommon among the proprietary game consoles by offering a training ground for future developers. Gamers modify PC games adding increased value for other players while granting the titles a longer life span if the mod scene takes off after release. Developers even plan for and encourage game owners to create new content and change existing code. What console offers this sort of tool? Some games come with tool sets packaged with the game, while others are free to download. Its become common for development teams to challenge amateur game makers to enhance or create new game content through contests, some – like the Make something Unreal contest, offer substantial prizes to the winners.

Read the full article »

Getting an early start on your Halloween costume? Then you may be interested to learn that TriForce Sales has just announced they soon be releasing life-size armor and weapons based on those found in the hit Gears of War game. After acquiring the license from Epic, TriForce is now planning to release 1:1 scale replicas of the COG armor, COG helmet, and Lancer Assault Rifle like those used by Delta Squad. They’ve also enlisted the services of Sid Garrand from Nightmare Armor Studios to sculpt the gear:

“I have been a huge fan of Gears of War since its release in November of 2006,” said Garrand. “In my spare time I sculpted a full set of armor for myself, which I enjoyed showing off at conventions. When the fans saw it they all asked me how they could get it. I was thrilled when the team from Epic saw it, and liked it, which allowed us to move to the point to where we are today. It all truly began as a labor of love.”

“Sid Garrand’s team came to our offices wearing the armor one day, and everyone here at Epic was blown away. The level of detail in these pieces is incredible, and it’s so rewarding to see our work come to life,” said Dr. Michael Capps, president, Epic Games. “We’re really psyched TriForce will give fans – and our team – the chance to own some of these awesome pieces from the Gears of War franchise.”

I have to admit, I wouldn’t mind having an actual Lancer laying around. Well, maybe if the chainsaw actually worked. If you want to get your own COG armor and weapons, be sure to place your advance order on July 8th at TriForce’s website.

Via Press Release [image via Kotaku]

An updated two-disc retail version of the Xbox 360 version of Gears of War will hit North America beginning June 24. The two-disc version includes previously released multiplayer map packs, the Annex game mode, and the ability to earn up to eight additional multiplayer achievements worth 250 Gamerscore. Gamers will also get a taste Gears of War 2, through trailers and other extras.Two-Disc Version Contents:

DISC ONE – GAME DISC

DISC TWO – EXTRAS
• Map Packs 1 & 2
• Theme – ‘Emergence Day’
• Gamer Pics – ‘Gears of War,’ ‘Emergence Day’

Gears of War 2 Extras:
• Trailers – ‘Duel,’ ‘Assault’
• Theme – ‘Bare Your Teeth’
• Gamer Pics – ‘Crimson Omen’

For more information on prices and availability, check your favorite gaming store online or in person.

Via: Press Release

Denis Dyack, president and founder of Silicon Knights, recently gave an interview to his hometown paper on Too Human and the future of the company. A successful launch for Too Human would mean expansion for Silicon Knights and new jobs for St. Catherines. Dyack is already making plans for expansion. However there have been some problems along the way that have left that success in doubt.

The battle between Silicon Knights and Epic Games over faulty core technology is still on going. The original engine for Too Human left gamers and publishers with a less than stellar impression of the game. Dyack is aware of the complications, but confident that gamers will see the value in the new game engine Silicon Knights has created for Too Human from scratch.

“If Too Human is perceived for what it is, and people look at it, I think it will do extremely well. We’re in a really strange position, because most games are released with a ton of hype. Generally, previews don’t say anything negative at all.”

Dyack and Silicon Knights are forging ahead with polishing Too Human and working on other projects, including one for Sega. Dyack’s staying positive, and feels the game has exceeded his expectations. Let’s hope that Silicon Knights puts out a demo on this one to prove that Too Human is worth the wait. We’ll find out in August.

via St. Catharines The Standard