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Zack Snyder is turning Norse myths into anime for Netflix
Netflix isn't just tapping Zack Snyder for a zombie action movie. The streaming behemoth has announced that Snyder and DC animated movie director Jay Oliva are creating an anime series based on Norse mythology. There's no mention of plot, a release date or even a name, but Netflix is counting on the close connection between the two masterminds as a selling point. They've worked together on more than a dozen movies, including Man of Steel and Justice League.
FBI maintains that North Korea hacked Sony as detractors mount
Did North Korea's government hack Sony Pictures? Though the United States government and FBI say yes, a growing chorus of detractors is pushing back on that claim. And the FBI is apparently listening: one firm, Norse, met with the FBI this past Monday to present its own claim that a group of six people were responsible. Moreover, at least one of those six is said to be an ex-Sony employee, reports Politico. Norse says its been looking into the attack on Sony Pictures since before Thanksgiving, and it presented the results of that research to the FBI yesterday. For its part, the FBI is sticking to its story -- at least for now. "The FBI has concluded the Government of North Korea is responsible for the theft and destruction of data on the network of Sony Pictures Entertainment. Attribution to North Korea is based on intelligence from the FBI, the U.S. intelligence community, DHS [Department of Homeland Security], foreign partners and the private sector," an FBI statement provided to media reads.
Sit back and watch hacks around the world in real time
Want to feel anxious about your internet connection? The security firm Norse is more than happy to oblige. It's running a live hacking map that shows the attacks against a worldwide honeypot (that is, purposefully vulnerable) network as they happen. While this isn't representative of the full internet, it does act like a microcosm to some degree -- the bulk of attacks originate from China or the US, while Americans almost always serve as the punching bag. You'll even see large-scale (and surprisingly pretty-looking) assaults if you tune in at the right time. Now if you'll excuse us, we're going to double-check on our firewalls... this map isn't exactly reassuring.
Funky free roguelike Soul Fjord out now, exclusively on Ouya
Soul Fjord is now available on the Ouya store. Developed by Airtight Games, the rhythm-action game stars an afro-sporting viking named Magnus Jones, who is hacking through enemies to get to the afterlife nightclub Valhalla. The developer describes its gameplay as "an extreme mash-up of rhythm game meets dungeon crawler with a roguelike twist," so death in the Norse mythology-based world holds some permanence, as seen in the game's launch trailer. Soul Fjord is free to download and supported by in-game purchases. Airtight previously launched first-person puzzler Quantum Conundrum for PC, PS3 and Xbox 360. Creative Director Kim Swift also served as co-creator of Valve's hit puzzle-platformer Portal. If that's not enough star power for the funky game, its soundtrack comes from Grammy-nominated Journey composer Austin Wintory.
The Banner Saga marches to PC and Mac in January
Stoic Studio's strategy RPG The Banner Saga will launch on January 14, 2014. The developer announced that the game is essentially "playable from front to back," in an update on its Kickstarter page. Stoic Studios earned $723,886 on the funding platform in April 2012 to develop the full game. The Banner Saga is a hand-animated RPG inspired by Norse culture, complete with horned vikings and characters classes like archers, warriors and raiders. Stoic Studio says the game will feature a conversation system in which player's decisions will merit some form of consequence in the game's story, which is noted as more mature than the animated visuals might indicate at first glance. The developer launched a related stand-alone, free-to-play online multiplayer game on Steam called The Banner Saga: Factions in February as a means of providing backers a taste of the turn-based combat in The Banner Saga early.
Teaming up with Hi-Rez for some Halloween SMITE
Halloween is a holiday when people typically dress up in outlandish costumes and go out hunting for treats. This year, I got to put a bit of a different spin on it by dressing up as a mythological god and going out to hunt for gold and items in some games of SMITE. Hi-Rez invited Massively along for its Halloween stream earlier this week, and I tagged along for some great fun. Despite being relatively inexperienced with the game, Reason Gaming's Lassiz was along for the ride as well, and his professional play helped lead us to a decisive victory. Although it's still in closed beta, SMITE currently boasts a surprisingly large playerbase with hundreds of thousands of players and a very unique twist on the MOBA style. If you're looking for more information or a way to try the game for yourself, read on!
SMITE enlists Freya, Queen of the Valkyries
SMITE's mining the Nordic pantheon for its starting lineup these days, as Hi-Rez Studios has revealed the newest playable character: Freya, Queen of the Valkyries. No, kids, Freya's not just a lingerie brand; she's a kick-butt warrior with a very long sword. Hi-Rez released a five-minute video on this tattooed protagonist to get players up to speed. "Every rose bears thorns, but this one wields swords," the video narrator begins before launching into a rundown of the character. Freya is a melee magical fighter who can use her magical power to beef up her physical attacks. Freya boasts abilities such as Irradiate, Pulse, and Banish, although her Valkyrie's Discretion is perhaps the coolest. This ultimate ability allows her to fly above the battlefield and attack without fear of reprisal. Check out Freya's video after the jump!
The Game Archaeologist and the What Ifs: Mythica
While Microsoft may be the big cheese when it comes to operating systems and worldwide domination, for whatever reason the company has the absolute worst of luck (or worst of decision-makers) when it comes to MMOs. Microsoft Game Studios has proven remarkably skittish when it approached the swimming pool of online RPGs, choosing to dip a toe into the water, give a girlie scream, and run away without taking the dive. True Fantasy Live Online had a bumpy ride with the studio, Marvel Universe Online circled the drain faster than my morning shower, and the less said about its relationship with Vanguard's development, the better. But there was yet another aborted project that Microsoft jumped into -- and then back out of -- between 2003 and 2004, and in my opinion, it was the one the company should've stuck out to completion. I remember when Microsoft first announced Mythica, because I thought "This is gonna be cool." Vikings, Norse mythology, gods made flesh, and a big-name studio funding limitless adventures. In the pre-World of Warcraft era, the field was wide open for a company to come up and rival Sony Online Entertainment for the crown, so why not this one? But... cold water, skittish toes, and another MMO kicked the bucket before it saw the light of its first day. Take my hand (don't worry, I washed today) and we shall travel back to Ragnarök and beyond!
Sony Wonder-ful: get a free LittleBigPlanet DLC pack
There are a lot of LittleBigPlanet DLC packs out there. However, thanks to a tip submitted by Marius, you can get access to one pack absolutely for free. Sony Wonder is giving away free codes for the "Norse Mythology" content pack, which adds all sorts of costumes and stickers for inquisitive creators. All you need to do is have a US PlayStation Network account and click here. It's as easy as that.[Thanks, Marius!]
The Daily Quest: We're watching you!
We here at WoW.com are on a Daily Quest to bring you interesting, informative and entertaining WoW-related links from around the blogosphere. Tree of Life has a great post looking at Norse influences for Northrend. Highly recommend that folks take a moment and read it. In BlizzCon Blitz over at Mystic Chicanery lessons learned at BlizzCon are examined. Serennia at the World of Ming looks at The WoW "Stigma." Our sister site Massively is looking for more bloggers! WoW.com is also looking for a Warlock Columnist. NCsoft contends the new MMO Aion will be second only to WoW in the US. Click here to submit a link to TDQ
Norse themed expansion coming to Wizard 101
Summer is a time for expansions in Wizard101 as the game will be seeing the addition of Grizzleheim, a Norse themed area adding all sorts of new content. The biggest feature being added is probably the crafting, followed by a bazaar. However, players will also get the chance to meet three new tribal races: Viking Bears, Wolves, and Ravens.Yeah, you heard us, bears that are also vikings.KingsIsle Entertainment has also said they're adding plenty of new social feautres, although didn't elaborate much beyond that. So if you like snow, mountains, plenty of fir trees and vikings, we're sure you'll be happy exploring Grizzleheim -- which you can do right now on the game's test server! Thought you'd have to wait to check it out, didn't you? Well, as it turns out, you won't.
Dyack: Too Human campaign will take "around fifteen hours"
If there was a magic ratio between the amount of time that a game is in development and the length of the final product, many of us would assume that the first installment in Silicon Knight's Norse-inspired trilogy, Too Human, would take roughly ten months to complete. However, Silicon founder Denis Dyack has expressed his concerns with lengthy games in the past, so it should come as no surprise that in a recent interview with gaming site Kikizo, Dyack explained that your first playthrough of his upcoming action/RPG hybrid should take "around fifteen hours".Dyack goes on to explain that in order to hit level fifty (the game's level cap) might take between fifty and eighty hours, and searching for the game's "epic loot" will tack even more time to the title. If the length of Silicon's quickly approaching title doesn't interest you, perhaps Dyack's mad vision of a one-console future, discussed in the same interview, might catch your attention -- if only to make you furiously wonder what a console civil war would look like.
Lara Croft to visit the Norse underworld this November
With Tomb Raider: Underworld set to be among the quartet of titles to be shown by Eidos during next month's E3, the publisher has launched the game's official website, simultaneously slapping a November release date on Lara Croft's latest trip underground for Xbox 360, PS3, Wii, DS, PS2 and PC. In addition to offering a narrowed release window, Eidos also shed a few details on the busty heroine's "exploration-based" escapade, revealing in a statement that the game will see Ms. Croft seeking "the secrets of the Norse underworld and a forgotten power." This immediatly makes us think that she'll be hunting down Thor's hammer, because really, who needs guns when you're packing Mjolnir?
Bringing magic and steel back to Warcraft
Alerinne starts an interesting conversation over on the forums about bringing WoW back into "Medieval Fantasy" -- swords and sorcery instead of alien Draenei and spaceships. Normally, the conversation about MMO genre runs along the lines of too much fantasy, but many players, it seems, would rather be running around with axes and fireballs rather than lasers and robots, especially in a world that is so akin to traditional fantasy (Orcs, Elves, and so on).To be fair, World of Warcraft has always had its own charms -- Dwarves have always been able to fire guns, something that's not usually in traditional fantasy, and even Goblins with their zeppelins (and Gnomes with their engineering) have always added a little extra flavor to the game that goes beyond purist fantasy. But it's true -- zones like Netherstorm and even Auchindoun go a little overboard for real fantasy fans.So hopefully, as we hear in the thread, we'll see a little more traditional fantasy setting in Wrath of the Lich King. So far, lots of things we've seen there have had a bit of a Norse trend to them, from the Frozen Tundra to the Vykrul race found in the early zones. But there's more to this expansion that we haven't seen -- Icecrown Citadel is an old-fashioned ice fortress, according to the lore, and with the movement of Dalaran and the rumors of dragons up there, we definitely have a possibility of a return to the magic and steel that made this series so popular in the first place.
