watchmen
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Warner uses Facebook to sync up Watchmen BD-Live viewing sessions
In July, BD-Live is going beyond the players when Warner Bros. includes a Facebook tie-in on the Watchmen: Director's Cut Blu-ray release. Probably not enough to turn around BD-Live's rep with this crowd, but others may be surprised to find community screening invites wedged between their Mafia Wars invites and status updates. Also exclusive to the Blu-ray is "Maximum Movie Mode" for a split screen view of the action and video commentary from director Zach Snyder, plus Watchmen: Focus Points, Real Super Heroes, Real Vigilantes and Mechanics: Technologies of a Fantastic World extras. Due either July 21, The Hollywood Reporter says we can expect the theatrical version on VOD, Xbox and PlayStation movie stores, while iTunes and Amazon will deliver the Director's Cut without the disc.Read - Watchmen Gets Heroic on DVD and Blu-ray on July 21stRead - Warners teams with Facebook for 'Watchmen'
Watchmen: Justice is Coming is an impressive tech demo
There's a whole lot of promise in the Watchmen: Justice is Coming game for iPhone/iPod touch. Unfortunately, the game is beset by some bugs and gameplay fumbles. The more I played, the more I got used to the quirks, but eventually there's a certain monotony to the game that left me rather unsatisfied. Hopefully, as Mike reported, Last Legion Games will take note and keep improving the experience. I'm not saying it is bad -- it is an amazing glimpse into the power of Apple's mobile platform -- but it's more a tech demo at this point than finished game.The gallery will take you through most everything in the game that I've found thus far. Essentially you start with a male or female character, do a cute "personality test" and your stats are generated. Your bikini-clad crimefighter is born, and aside from a username/password for accessing the server, there's not much customization you can do -- yet. As you go through the streets you're able to check dumpsters, where you'll pick up more costume parts. As you fight more bad guys (there are preset NPC's throughout, but you can also challenge other human-powered characters -- this is a MMO, after all), you'll get more experience and you can eventually level up and enhance various skills.Life in the game is simple, but there's a story too. In fact, the game has a point system based on your random adventures as well as points for the story. So you can ditch the story and wander around, or you can focus on finding your sister. I won't spoil any more of the story, but it's not bad, and the progression is well done. If you're a fan of the GTA series, where you can wander around or go on missions, you may be a little disappointed. There aren't missions, really. Just one story arc and a bunch of random encounters to be had.I haven't finished the game, but I will say that, after I rebooted my iPhone to stop the incessant crashing, I find myself playing Watchmen every other day or so. Keep reading for more about the good, the bad, and the ugly in Watchmen: Justice is Coming.%Gallery-48954%
Trophies: Watchmen: The End is Nigh Part 2
The End is Nigh ... again. Nite Owl and Rorschach return in the next episode of the Watchmen episodic adventure. View Trophy List | Visit Trophy Portal
Watchmen: The End is Nigh provides more of the same in Part II
Poor reviews won't stop the episodic Watchmen game. The End is Nigh: Part II has been rated by the ESRB, and it looks as though the next installment won't stray far from the first. For those that have played the first episode, that's not a good thing. According to the ratings board, Rorschach and Nite Owl return in the second episode, dashing our hopes of playing as other characters in the Watchmen universe. Once again, Rorschach and Nite Owl will take advantage of rudimentary brawling skills to take down "bikers, gang members, and thugs." The setting of the second episode seems a bit raunchier than the first, with players tracking down "a villain who has molested an actress appearing in a pornography film." Players will then have to enter a strip club that contains caged dancers, peep-show booths and porno playing in the background. Hot stuff? We're hoping that, in spite of the ESRB rating, the next episode of Watchmen takes its time to come out. Who knows? With a bit more development time, the developers might be able to churn out a more solid product. If not, can they at least drop the price?
Microsoft 'wrestled' with Watchmen XBLA size exception
Following the debut of Watchmen: The End is Nigh on Xbox Live Arcade, Ars Technica spoke to Microsoft regarding the game's size. The title clocks in at over 1.2 gigabytes, making it the largest Xbox Live Arcade title to date. Honestly, the size restriction on XBLA -- originally 50MB -- seems to change so much that we're beginning to lose track. Still, even with games regularly hitting the service at over 300MB, 1.2 gigs is pushing it. So, what pushed Watchmen over the edge? We imagine being tied into the release of the film had something to do with it, not to mention that a refusal by Microsoft would have made the game exclusive to the Playstation 3. Ars Technica reports that Microsoft "wrestled" with the decision to make an exception, but eventually allowed it in order to "ensure the best customer experience and optimize overall gameplay." If 1.2 gigs is indicative of the overall quality of Watchmen, the next game had better be twice as big.
What every superhero needs: Watchmen black SE/30
Even though reviewers and early attendees have pointed out a slew of Apple references (including a snippet of the 1984 ad) in the Watchmen film, the one we've been waiting for most eagerly is the appearance of Adrian (Ozymandias) Veidt's sleek black SE/30. In the film version of 1985, it's what every 'world's smartest man' is using as his desktop computer. Never mind that in our universe, Apple didn't introduce the 68030-based compact Mac until 1989. Looks like Gizmodo has the first photos of the all-in-one running System 6 (naturally). Hey, it's the consensus best Mac ever -- what else would you choose? Also, pay no attention to the fact that while that's a consistent ADB mouse, the keyboard appears to be for a PC. If you can't get enough Watchmen, Giz also has a spoilerific discussion of whether one of the characters resembles a certain iCEO, and the iTunes store is chock-full of smiley-face content for your enjoyment. If the idea of a black SE/30 makes you all tingly inside, check out geektechnique's slick mod on his machine.Update: Word is that there was, in fact, a security-hardened 'Tempest' model of the SE/30 that matches this description, except for the color. Commenter defor writes: IT actually IS a Tempest SE/30, model CSI-1891T (the proper model which is a SE/30 that's been tempest-ized) by Candes Systems http://web.archive.org/web/20011127001651/members.aol.com/tempestcsi/ I can't say I've seen one in black before, but it looks fully legitimate, and i've heard of them existing. The old manuals i had seen only showed the platinum variant. Those of you buying tickets to Watchmen via movietickets.com may have discovered, as I did, that there's an iTunes bonus in effect through 3/15: a chapter of the Watchmen motion comic + a "sneak peak [sic]" of the Tales of the Black Freighter animated minifeature. Be sure to scroll down on your ticket confirmation page to see the gift code, as it will not be emailed to you (at least, it wasn't in my case).Thanks to Laurie & everyone who sent this in.
The Daily Grind: Will you watch the Watchmen?
Okay, so we know we're nowhere nearly the only folks in the MMO universe who also happen to be enormous comic book geeks. (If we were, City of Heroes and Champions Online would have a wee teeny population.) So you can imagine what the general level of Watchmen nerditry is like today in the virtual Massively offices as we all wait for the opening tonight at midnight. This morning, we thought we'd see how many fellow Watchmen geeks are out there, so we wanted to ask - how many of you are headed to catch the movie? Will you be checking it out at midnight, or later this weekend? Are you as excited as we are? Also, to make this a somewhat MMO related question - will you be checking out the Watchmen iPhone MMO or snagging the Watchmen goodies on PlayStation Home when they come out? Or are you sticking to blowing your extra cash on seeing the movie again?
X3F TV -- XBLA in Brief: Watchmen: The End is Nigh
If you haven't already read Joystiq's review of Watchmen: The End is Nigh, you really should. If you have read it and you still have the masochistic desire to learn more, allow us to direct you to the latest installment of XBLA in Brief. Unfortunately, the game just isn't all that great. Of course, we expect that from licensed games, and we might even be willing to forgive it, but the $20 price tag makes The End is Nigh difficult to recommend. Don't take our word for it, though. Give the video a watch and see what you think. Download the trial version of Watchmen: The End is Nigh [iTunes] Subscribe to X3F TV directly in iTunes. [Zune] Subscribe to the X3F TV directly (Zune Marketplace link coming soon). [RSS] Add the X3F TV feed to your RSS aggregator and have the show delivered automatically. [M4V] Download the M4V directly.
Joystiq Review: Watchmen: The End Is Nigh
Before we get to the review in earnest, I'd like to address the die-hard Watchmen fans, the ones who fall asleep with their nose in the book every night and who are positive that the upcoming film will be incapable of capturing the book's dark yet occasionally cheerful nihilism. Watchmen: The End Is Nigh is everything you fear from an adaptation, and anyone who tells you differently is not and has never been your friend. Run far, far away. ... OK, with those nerdlingers gone, let's talk about Watchmen: TEIN's merits as a game, shall we? %Gallery-44353%
Watchmen available now from the European PSN Store
Checked the PSN Store today? Of course not, why would you? It's Wednesday. Perhaps as a sign that the End truly is nigh, the European PSN Store has updated today (a Wednesday, in case you forgot) with the first episode of Watchmen: The End is Nigh. There's no telling whether this was mistakenly released a day early, or whether it was placed on the Store on purpose. At the time of writing the American Store has had no such update. If you're not sure about whether to grab the game, you can try out the demo first, though it does weigh in at a pretty hefty 1.2GB. If you enjoy that chunk of gameplay, you can upgrade to the full game for £12.99/€14.99. We're not sure if the offline-only co-op brawler is worth that sort of money (that's four copies of Noby Noby Boy!) but it might do a good job of getting you in the mood for the movie which releases this Friday. [Thanks, Mads]
Watchmen developer chat on Wednesday
Looking forward to some Watchmen later this week? The movie releases in cinemas on Friday but on Thursday the episodic downloadable game, The End Is Nigh, will be made available on the PlayStation Network. Jerry Pritchard will be fielding your questions about the game for an hour on the PlayStation Blog tomorrow (Wednesday) at 11am PST. Not sure what to expect from The End Is Nigh? Check out our hands-on impressions.
New Watchmen gear and upcoming interactive spaces for PlayStation Home
Still wondering where those interactive spaces are for Warhawk and Uncharted: Drake's Fortune? Don't worry, we are too, but apparently there's a bright light on the horizon.TedTheDog, the community manager of PlayStation Home, has shed some light on the upcoming additions to Sony's online virtual space in his recent news update. What has officially been added are some brand new clothing in the Threads store, including a few free outfits and t-shirts featuring the Watchmen.Past those additions, Ted has added more news regarding the eagerly awaited interactive spaces, including information about the SOCOM 2 space, Uncharted space, Warhawk space, Resident Evil 5 space, and Siren: Blood Curse space. It appears that all of these spaces are being worked on and will be delivered shortly, the first ones being Warhawk and Uncharted space.The bad news to all of this is that no dates are given on any of it. Looks like we'll still be waiting, but perhaps not as long this time.[Via Eurogamer]
Watchmen MMO coming out for the iPhone
I love massively multiplayer online games, I love my iPhone, and I love Watchmen, the genre-defining graphic novel series of the late '80s (of which, I'll brag, I have a whole set of first edition copies) that's very soon to be the first movie blockbuster of 2009. That's why the news, over at our sister site Massively, that all of my loves were coming together in what's meant to be a Watchmen-branded MMO game for the iPhone made my day.Watchmen: Justice is Coming will have 3D environments, customizable avatars, and thousands of players interacting in the game at the same time. Massively's got some video from G4 showing off the app, put together by the apparent newcomers Last Legion Games. Unfortunately, while the concept is lofty (they've got a long-term vision for improving the game based on player feedback), the gameplay itself looks like clunky adware -- the kind you might expect from Warner Bros. and the iPhone deals they've come up with so far.So we're reserving judgment on this one until we can give it a try, and fortunately we won't have to wait long -- the devs say they've lined up the game for release later this week, right along with the movie. That timing doesn't impress us either -- usually, when a game and movie release simultaneously, one's been hurried to make the deadline, and trust us, it usually isn't the movie. It's Watchmen on the iPhone, so it's hit two of three bases with us already. But it'll need to bring a good game, too, if Last Legion is hoping for a home run.
Watchmen: Justice is Coming is ... coming to iPhone
We're not, as it were, opposed to the newly announced iPhone game (subtitled Justice Is Coming) based on this week's mega release Watchmen. We just, for the life of us, can't figure out what the hell it is. It's supposedly an MMO using Amazon's Cloud technology that lets players create their own character and battle it out for experience. But to our eyes, all of the characters basically look like homeless people fighting against other super-powered hobos. That's obviously a game we would want to play, but would anyone actually make it? Now, as to what started the hobo wars and what (if anything) will end them, you'll have to wait for the game's March release to find out.
This Wednesday: 'Watchmen: The End Is Nigh' blows up XBLA
We'd love to be more excited about this week's release on XBLA, Watchmen: The End Is Nigh, but we're having a tough time of it. We're fans of the book and we're sure the movie will be great, but when you combine our lukewarm impressions of the game with the nothing-short-of-indulgent 1600 ($19.99) asking price, we're somewhere between mildly curious and totally unenthused. But if you're the sort that's excited about helping Rorshach and Nite Owl punch and kick a seemingly unending stream of generic thugs, please, don't let us stop you. %Gallery-44353%
Three words that sound like crack: Watchmen iPhone MMO
As with just about every group of comic book geeks out there, the Massively offices have been positively abuzz with discussion of the Watchmen movie coming out this Friday (or Thursday at Midnight, if you're like us and already have your tickets). Of course, with any hot movie property comes a video game, and it appears that Watchmen is to be no different. Well, no different, save that the Watchmen: Justice is Coming game is getting the MMO treatment - on the iPhone and iPod touch. In a special edition of the MMO Report on G4, details have been released on this new portable-platform MMO that's been developed by Last Legion Games in conjunction with Warner, Paramount and Legendary Pictures. The idea is that in Watchmen: Justice is Coming, players start out as regular everyday people out to combat crime in a 1970's pre-movie New York, who gain better items to gear themselves up. (Sound familiar?) While the combat appears to be old-school basic Street Fighter style, the general concept could be pretty cool. But really, who are we kidding? We'll probably buy it just to play an MMO with Rorschach in it and to check out this new iPhone tech. Since it goes live in the App store on the 6th, it will give us something to do while we're waiting in line to see the movie again. Be sure to check out the video behind the jump, or head on over to the official Watchmen: Justice is Coming site for some more screenshots.
Buy Xbox Live product, get two movie tickets to Watchmen free
This week, Best Buy is offering a not-to-be-missed deal for anyone interested in seeing the Watchmen flick. With any Xbox 360 console OR Xbox Live purchase, customers will receive a free Watchmen Movie Pack, the contents of which include two Watchmen movie tickets (up to a $24 value) and access to behind-the-scenes content via the Xbox Live Marketplace. Not too shabby of a deal ... but it gets better. Both 1600 Microsoft point cards and 1-month Xbox Live subscriptions are included in this offer. So, one could purchase some MS points or simply spend $8 on a 1-month subscription to receive the two free tickets. That's a deal even Rorschach could smile about ... that is if his inkblots could be formed to resemble a grin. [Via SlickDeals]
Watchmen: The End is Nigh will be $20 on XBLA/PSN/PC
Is it just us, or are digital downloads getting progressively more expensive? Just last summer we were reporting on why Jonathan Blow was charging $15 for Braid and now here we are less than a year later reporting what Warner Bros. Interactive told us this afternoon: The XBLA/PSN release of Watchmen: The End is Nigh next week will be dropping for 1600/$19.99 (respectively). Steam's PC release will also carry the same price tag. The amount of visual polish that goes into a title as graphically intensive as Watchmen may justify the unusually high price tag. If the similarly priced Penny Arcade Adventures are any indication of where this series is headed, we'll be waiting a few months for a price drop before sinking into this beat-'em-up. Feel free to check out the gallery below and see for yourself why Watchmen: The End is Nigh received its luxury price. %Gallery-44353%
Watchmen Q&A streaming live from Home
Today is the day of the live in-Home Watchmen Q&A with Zack Snyder and Dave Gibbons. You're invited to watch ten specially selected guests asking the director of the movie and the artist of the graphic novel about what we can expect to see, come March 6. The organizer, PPC, has opened a window to the event allowing you to stream video footage live and chat with other viewers as you do so. There will also be a recut version going up later in the day, for those who missed the Q&A live. The event kicks off at 4:30pm GMT (11:30am EST). Don't forget that more Watchmen stuff is due to hit the Home stores later this week. What better way to market the movie than with hundreds of Rorschachs running around a virtual world?
Live Watchmen director Q&A coming Home this month
European Home-goers will no doubt have noticed the virtual world's Theater is plastered with Watchmen posters. Back when the partnership between online marketing company PPC and Sony was first announced there were hints of more Watchmen related content coming to Home. Today PPC has announced that a live Q&A between ten specially invited guests and the film's director and the artist behind the original graphic novel, Zack Snyder and Dave Gibbons, will be taking place on February 23. While the ten-person guest list may seem impossibly exclusive, everyone will be able to participate thanks to an online live stream and a specially edited version coming later. This will include footage from the movie and from the red carpet of the film's London premiere. On February 27 more Watchmen content will be available in Home, including t-shirts, full costumes and a Doomsday clock, in order to further promote the movie, which debuts in the US and Europe on March 6th.
