The Matrix
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The Matrix as envisioned in Source Filmmaker
Dodge this – er, sorry, we meant watch this. Because it's one of the best scenes from The Matrix, remade in Valve's Source Filmmaker.
Nokia goes bullet time on snowboarders, the '90s wants its culture back (video)
Nokia's been an annual fixture at the Open Snowboarding Championships for a few years. While one gets sponsorship dollars, the other gleans a slice of snow sport cool. At this year's event, Nokia rigged up 18 Lumia 800s to capture the snowboarders' mid-air posturing, recording the video with a specially developed app. After a WiFi hook-up (and presumably a little bit of editing), the result was the montage you can see up top, made from around 100 different videos. But where's the iShred?
Massively Exclusive: Age of Wushu's launch trailer flips over the heads of the competition
Tomorrow, Snail Games USA will officially announce its newest title, Age of Wushu -- but we've got an exclusive sneak peek to share with you before that happens! Sporting heavy Chinese themes and aesthetics, Age of Wushu is designed to allow players to pull off mystical, physics-defying martial arts moves like those you would see in Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (or, really, any Kung Fu film). The official trailer for the title, which you can see after the jump, showcases Age of Wushu's beauty and grace... as well as its lethal underpinnings. Characters attack in slow-motion while performing seemingly impossible Matrix-like jumps through space. We'll be looking forward to seeing if the allure of fantastic martial arts will be enough to set Age of Wushu apart from the pack, but considering that the devs are promising that we can run up the sides of buildings, we suspect it might be one to check out no matter what. Plus, "wushu" is way fun to say.
Developer Float Hybrid mixes Academy Awards with motion-control innovation
John Gaeta, the Academy-Award-winning visual effects supervisor behind the Matrix trilogy, founded entertainment-development company Float Hybrid in 2009, and now he's ready to plug us in. Float is working on a series of Kinect- and mobile-controlled sandbox games, many of which can now be previewed on its YouTube channel. Float is experimenting with real-time, 3D video capture, Kinect-powered sound games and mobile-device-controlled console games. One title, Infiltrator, uses both -- one person on iPad and one on Kinect -- to play a versus round. Float's projects are in the pre-alpha stage, but their potential for innovation already looks intense. Intense. Whoa, did anyone else just get deja-vu? Oh, no...
The Daily Grind: Which MMO are you sorry you missed?
Time is always against us, a wise man once said, and truer words were never spoken regarding the MMORPG genre. The glut of titles released over the last few years means that fans have some hard choices to make, and when those choices are coupled with the inevitable game closures, it's rare that even folks with huge amounts of free time have time enough to play everything. And since we're speaking of time: If you spend enough of it reading and talking about our favorite genre, you'll inevitably come across a game that sounds right up your alley. If you're lucky, said game will still be available to you. If not, well, you might have the answer to this morning's Daily Grind question. Which MMO(s) are you sorry you missed? Every morning, the Massively bloggers probe the minds of their readers with deep, thought-provoking questions about that most serious of topics: massively online gaming. We crave your opinions, so grab your caffeinated beverage of choice and chime in on today's Daily Grind!
The Game Archaeologist jacks into The Matrix Online: Your memories
What can you trust when your memories are merely the by-product of intelligent machines tinkering with your brain? When you come right down to it, who's to say that our alleged recollections of The Matrix Online weren't just computer viruses uploaded into our cerebral cortexes -- and that the game never existed at all? Real or not, The Matrix Online is in no danger of being forgotten. Whether it's because of the meta setting, the too-hip-to-stay-on-cows fashion, or the interactive stories, MxO never fails to evoke passionate testimonies. After speaking with developer Ben Chamberlain last week, today we're going to turn the tables on the players themselves to see what they have to say. Was The Matrix Online really all that and a bag of computer chips? Was it merely a good-looking graphical chat room or something more? And how will it be remembered many years from now when we sit our grandchildren on our laps and tell them about how we took the blue pill? Or was it red... I can never remember!
The Game Archaeologist jacks into The Matrix Online: Jamming with Ben 'Rarebit' Chamberlain
When we started into The Matrix Online month last week on The Game Archaeologist, one of the comments caught my eye. Massively reader stealthrider wrote: Please, please do a tribute to Rarebit. MxO was his baby, and no one took its death worse than he. He did everything for that game, much of it single-handedly. Everything from playing the canon characters and co-writing the story to fixing hundreds of bugs and even creating a new zone from scratch. Not to mention developing and implementing the story missions, new items, the RP item vendors, and pretty much everything else in MxO's final couple of years. He even implemented and moderated a player-created minigame as part of the official story. He retired from game development in the months before MxO's shutdown. He was that dedicated to this game that he couldn't work on anything else afterward. He's a god among developers, and he is as sorely missed as the game itself. I think this sums up how many Matrix Online vets feel about Ben "Rarebit" Chamberlain. So instead of a mere tribute, we drove the MassivelyMobile over to Chamberlain's house (read: send a polite email request), and he graciously said he'd be glad to reminisce with us. So hit that jump to find out the last word on MxO from the dev who held it together!
The Perfect Ten: MMO cataclysms
Today sees the launch of World of Warcraft: Cataclysm, which represents a destructive "reboot" button on the world of Azeroth. The old has been made new by virtue of fiery explosions that have rent the very earth in twain, and WoW gamers will have to find their footing all over again. As you might imagine, it's made one big-ass mess, which is compounded by the fact that there are no janitor classes in the game to sweep it up (the next hero class, perhaps?). However, the notion of an in-game cataclysm is hardly the sole domain of Activision-Blizzard; on the contrary, large-scale apocalypses pop up all the time in MMOs. After all, nothing grabs the attention like the end of the world (but hey, you still feel fine)! In a list that in no way is meant to capitalize on any expansions that may or may not be on the market, we're going to strap on our Kevlar suits, slather our arms with 1000 SPF sunblock, and take a brief tour of 10 worlds that have dated cataclysms -- and lived to tell the tale.
11 days of in-game events for EverQuest's 11th birthday
11 years ago, when Bill Clinton was still the U.S. President, The Matrix wowed moviegoers with bullet-time, dial-up Internet was the norm, and 3D online gaming was just in its infancy, bouncing baby EverQuest stepped into the world. It's amazing to see that this game is not only still around, but expanding constantly -- a fact that should encourage fans of this or any MMORPG. In honor of one of the longest-running 3D MMOs, SOE has announced 11 days of special in-game events for EverQuest. Players are challenged to find a special gift for a wizard master, to rescue poor Miggles Mistflinger from a sad fate, party with the Community Team on St. Patty's Day, and take on mechanical nasties in a special raid. For Marketplace shoppers, SOE is offering a 25-50% discount on 11 items. Finally, they've invited everyone to join the EverQuest team for an exclusive USTREAM event on March 17, 2010 at 1:00pm PST. Oh, and did we mention you can pick the game up on Steam for $2.50, and that it includes all 15 expansion packs? Even those who aren't EQ players have a chance to help celebrate. Fans of EverQuest can also mosey over to the Facebook fan page for the game, where SOE has posted a large gallery of screenshots to celebrate 11 years of fantasy gaming.
Twice the bullets in CoH's dual pistols powerset video
The newest Powerset heading to City of Heroes is coming from the Going Rogue expansion, and we've got a video showcasing it. Everyone loves shooting stuff in videogames, so we're pretty sure everyone will enjoy rolling a Hero, Villain, or Praetorian and busting out some crazy gun moves. Actually, the way this Dual Pistols video is cut, you can tell someone is a fan of the Matrix and Equilibrium films. Plus, we're pretty sure the last power shown is basically full-on Gun Kata. Yeah, you'll probably want to check out the video for yourself. Find it after the break, as usual.
The Daily Grind: When MMOs die
It's a sad thing when an MMO gets switched off and all our hard played toons go to the great virtual world in the sky. This week it was the turn of The Matrix Online. It's rare for the better known MMOs, like Tabula Rasa, to go out with a bang. For most games, their death throes are just a whimper as they fade into obscurity. Big or small, when a game closes it's doors, it's an event which will being a tear to some players, even if most might have already gone to pastures new.How do you cope when an MMO, specifically your MMO, dies? Imagine for a second, you've invested thousands of hours in characters, amassed a fortune in gold -- or whatever currency is hip right now -- and conquered the world literally. Personally, I firmly believe MMOs are not just about the world you exist in but also the people you play with. So, if you played The Matrix Online or Tabula Rasa, did you and your guild pick another game to try? Has game death prompted you to meet up in real life? Did you quit the moment the announcement of plug pulling came down from on high or were you there when the skies lightened and the end came? Tell us in the usual way by dropping your thoughts in the box below.
The Matrix Online's final moments documented
Friday was the last day for SOE's The Matrix Online. We've been following the collapse of this older MMO for a few months now and, thankfully, our brothers and sisters in the resistance over at Massively were there to experience and document the end. There was some merrymaking, lightning and even a bit of ... eyes dripping blood? Check out Massively's gallery below for all of the endgame ceremonies.%Gallery-69217%
Reminder: The Matrix Online shuts down this week
We've been locked in this hellish war against the machines for years now, but word has just come in from Morpheus that Neo is close to striking up a deal with those metallic monstrosities. Neo has been trying to negotiate a treaty for some time now and, if what we're hearing is true, the machines will finally shut down the Matrix on July 31 and let our brothers and sisters go. Now, we didn't get everything we wanted (mostly our robotic slaves returned), but, in the end, it'll be for everyone's benefit. We can finally get back to those ridiculous dance parties we all love so much![Via Massively]
The Matrix Online pulls a Cypher, pulls the plug
All of you would-be Neos out there, know that you have limited time to tackle the remaining Agents of The Matrix Online. The game will be shutting down come July 31, 2009, says online community lead Daniel "Walrus" Myers. As sad as it is for the game to die a very silent, quick death, there's actually a lot to celebrate here. The game released way back in 2005, and has undoubtedly been a large part of peoples' lives since then. Over the span of four years, countless Agents have fallen and the human resistance steadily grew. And as a thank you for all of the support, SOE will be coordinating an end-of-world event, though the details of what it will entail were not presented by Myers.
Blu-ray releases for the week of March 29, 2009
The Matrix is ten years old tomorrow -- and Warner Home Video is celebrating this "classic" (it officially qualifies now, ya know) with a special 10th Anniversary Edition Blu-ray release. Best of all: You don't have to shell out extra for the sequels that ruined it all. (Sometimes we wish the world really was perpetually stuck in 1999 -- sometimes ... ) Continue past the break for the complete list of this week's Blu-ray video releases.
Player Consequences: Movie Magic and MMOs
Video games have quickly grown into one of the most popular forms of entertainment in this day in age. Almost everyone under eighteen plays them and developers are getting better at making games that appeal to older generations. Still, there are other forms of media that enjoy more mainstream awareness. Movies in particular control a large portion of the entertainment industry and produce billions of dollars in revenue every year. Part of this profitability can be attributed to Hollywood's savvy at marketing products related to movies. A summer blockbuster probably makes almost as much from licensing and merchandising as from ticket sales. The funny thing is that within the last ten years a large part of that licensing revenue has started to come from video games.Let's dig into how that applies to MMOs. There has been discussion of a World of Warcraft movie for some time ... what about the rest of them? Read on to explore the connection between Hollywood and Norrath.
The Ultimate Matrix Collection on Blu-ray review roundup
We know you've got 14 alarms set to remind you, but The Ultimate Matrix Collection on Blu-ray will be all over store shelves tomorrow. If you're still unsure if the massive 10-disc set is worth the investment (or re-investment), a few long-winded reviews have already hit the 'net to help you decide. Put simply, the collection was deemed "a visual and aural extravaganza," and according to one reviewer, Blu-ray fanatics shouldn't hesitate to "consider the upgrade to this best-yet high-def edition." Of course, critics at IGN seemed less enthusiastic about just how worthwhile the upgrade was, noting that it's probably not worth it (from SD) unless you just cannot live without the superior audio and video transfers. We'll leave the final decision up to you, but one thing's for sure -- if you've got the cash to spare, you won't be disappointed.Read - DVD Talk reviewRead - Big Picture Big Sound reviewRead - IGN review
Buy Samsung's BD-P1500, get The Matrix Collection on Blu-ray for free
Samsung's BD-P1500 didn't stay situated at $200 for long before selling out (or being removed) at RadioShack, but on the eve of one of the most anticipated Blu-ray releases in the history of the format, along comes yet another deal that could be just the one you were waiting for. If you've been holding off on buying a BD deck until The Ultimate Matrix Collection landed, have a look at this. A number of retailers (Amazon, Best Buy and Circuit City, most notably) are now offering the Profile 1.1 Profile 2.0 player with a completely free copy of the 10-disc box set. Of course, the price of the player varies depending on your e-tailer of choice, but considering that the MSRP on the film set alone is $129.95, you can probably see the value here. Dig in below, if you're so inclined.[Thanks, Jason]Read - AmazonRead - Best BuyRead - Circuit City
Universal exec sez Wanted:Blu-ray as The Matrix:DVD
Former HD DVD supporter turned Blu-ray fan Craig Kornblau of Universal has jumped wholeheartedly onto the dark side - he couldn't even wait for the new movie Wanted to hit theaters before exclaiming that "What The Matrix did for DVD, this could do for Blu-ray". Assuming he's talking more about an impressive package of never before-seen special features plus a loving audio/video transfer of a groundbreaking action movie and less about U-control zooms on Angelina Jolie's tattoos over a cheesy PG-13 snoozefest, there's a chance that could happen. Please pardon our skepticism, we seem to have spilled it all over this area.
The Matrix gets new weapons, story missions, enemies
SOE deployed Update 60 on The Matrix Online's servers this week. The update doesn't just fix bugs. It also marks the beginning of Episode 10.2 of the story, introduces some new enemies in Datamine, and adds a reward for players who complete live critical missions.If you're looking to earn the new reward items (a consumable of some sort), said missions are scheduled every Thursday up through the 12th of June; the first of those occurred yesterday, but a recap has been published. The update also introduces a whopping 342 new level 50 weapon variants, some of which will drop during the high level critical missions.We're glad to see that MxO is still ticking despite the announced departure of Paul Chadwick, the esteemed comic book writer who had worked on the story until recently.
