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'Fast & Furious Crossroads' game promises heists and bro-hugs in May
The Fast & Furious franchise is about to roar onto PC, PS4 and Xbox One. Bandai Namco and Project Cars developer Slightly Mad Studios are working on Fast & Furious Crossroads, which will drop this May. That's the same month the next installment in the massive movie franchise, Fast & Furious 9, hits theaters.
Vin Diesel confirms his presence on the list of WoW-playing actors
It seems that WoW is more popular among actors than one might imagine, as well-known actor and director Vin Diesel posted a video of himself and a friend gallivanting around pre-Cataclysm Tanaris. While it's not confirmed in the Facebook post itself, many are not unfairly assuming that the two characters are Vin himself, and the late Paul Walker. We'd heard in the past about Vin Diesel being among the list of actors and general high-profile people who play, but this does rather seem like it might confirm our suspicions. It makes sense, if you think about it, that actors might enjoy immersing themselves in a virtual world, where, to some extent at least, they're playing a role. Reading the most recent 15 Minutes of Fame, with actor Jake Stormoen, the discussion of escapism and a world to hang out in on long shoots in strange places, it makes even more sense. Every time a high-profile person tells the world about their love of WoW, it gets a little less stigmatized, a little more accepted. It's good news.
Vin Diesel describes upcoming Chronicles of Riddick game as being an MMO
If you can't get enough of media wherein Vin Diesel is a man who can see in the dark... well, he's got a movie out in theaters now. You should probably go and see that. But maybe you don't care about the films, preferring the games that sit alongside the series that have been the subject of critical praise. According to Diesel, another one is coming and it's going to be an MMO. Exactly what Diesel means by that is up for interpretation; what he cites is simply a top-level concept, which could mean anything from an online component to a fully featured shared space. He describes it as focusing on the mercenary trade in the fictional universe and allowing players a chance to interact with a larger scope of the game world. Apparently he's been talking up this aspect of the game since July, but somehow the rest of us were still in the dark.
Audi's A3 e-tron gearing up for 2013, should hit 90 miles per charge
You may live your life a quarter-mile at a time, but let's face it -- you still care about the environment. To that end, you've patiently awaited Audi's hybrid Spyder, even with the company playing coy about electric vehicles in general. Its latest tease is a far cry from the aforesaid ghost, but the A3 e-tron -- an entry-level Sportback begging to be modified -- is certainly sexy in its own right. Not exactly Fast and Furious material, given that it needs 11 seconds to reach 60mph and tops out at 90mph, but still -- a pair of lithium-ion batteries should give it 90-mile range per nine-hour charge. We'd take the Roadster S' 165-mile ride if given the choice, but we'll confess to confessing as much prior to consulting our practical side. No hard word on availability or pricing -- the company likely wants it on the streets by 2013, but don't go changing your name to Vin Battery just yet. Or Vin Anything, for that matter.
The Light and How to Swing It: Beating the GCD
Every Sunday, Chase Christian of The Light and How to Swing It invites you to discuss the finer side of the paladin class: the holy specialization. This week, we examine how do deal with our biggest limiting factor: the GCD. Playing a holy paladin is a lot like participating in illegal street racing. We drive as fast as possible, have no respect for law or our fellow man, and we live our lives a quarter mile at a time. Well, at least the last part is true. We play our class one second at a time, with only a moment's time to process our raid's status before making our next move. We play in a GCD-capped environment: limited by the game's own internal pacing instead of our mana. It's because we're already capable of casting as fast as possible that our multi-target healing suffers. Most other healers can increase their number of spells cast per second to boost their healing output, whereas we're limited by the fact that we can really only heal one person per second. There are some tricks we can use to beating this GCD limit, and therefore raise our output over simply mashing Holy Light for five minutes a time. Knowing how to work efficiently in these short, one-second windows will ensure you're healing every last bit possible.
Tigon's Ian Stevens: For Hollywood, 'making video games has been the same thing as making action figures'
Running Tigon Studios is a bit of a strange job to have. Ian Stevens, the man in charge, is responsible for not just organizing development talent to make games like this year's Chronicles of Riddick: Assault on Dark Athena, but also working with Hollywood. And, unsurprisingly, he says it's a bit of an uphill battle, telling GamesIndustry.biz, "It's really hard to take something that's native to a certain medium and just draw a line, which is what people are usually trying to do [with games based on movies.]" He equates the attention Hollywood has been giving to game versions of its films with "action figures, pictures on cereal boxes, and [themed] pajamas," saying it's just part of the "licensing and merchandising" of a property, rather than creating something unique and well-crafted from the start. Furthermore, Stevens says that the development studios who are working with nothing (think Ben 10) and making something -- anything -- out of it, are the real talent in the industry. "If you gave that team in Newcastle [Midway Newcastle] - through all that they've struggled with, technology, corporate business, all these different things - the kind of opportunity that someone like Valve has," he says, leaving us to postulate on the ending there. We'll let you guys fill that in all by yourselves.
Wheelman movie incoming: Vin to star, John Singleton to direct
A man like John Singleton needs no introduction, especially around the leaky decks of the Joystiq oil tanker. Every week, we usually enjoy a movie to break up the monotony of teh blawging. Almost always, that movie is Baby Boy. Now, the directorial genius of Mr. Singleton is being applied to a film version of Vin Diesel's gaming, uh ... triumph, Wheelman. And not only that, but Vin Diesel will also star, Variety reports.The film -- titled simply The Wheelman -- currently has a script and is being put into production by Paramount. The movie will focus on "an expert driver (Diesel) who comes out of retirement to protect a woman from his past." This will be a nice opportunity for Diesel and Singleton to work together, considering Singleton directed 2 Fast 2 Furious, the movie sequel that Diesel opted out of.[Via BD]
Riddick: Dark Athena debuts at #2 in UK charts, only new game to make top 40
Who would have thought The Chronicles of Riddick: Assault on Dark Athena would be so successful? In the UK, the Vin Diesel-starring, sci-fi adventure came into the charts at the number two spot, being the only debut entry for the week to make it into the top 40 (obliterating other debut titles like Rock Revolution and Dynasty Warriors: Gundam 2).So, what was the only game keeping Vin Diesel from full-out domination? It's Wii Fit, which still reigns supreme in the Isles. Sorry Vinny, you can't dethrone Wii Fit -- not even with those weird glowing eyes of yours. But hey, fans still love you; they're keeping Wheelman afloat at #22.
Joystiq interview: Ian Stevens, Tigon Studios' head of game production
Ian Stevens has a lot on his plate. Between launching two games this month in Chronicles of Riddick: Assault on Dark Athena and Wheelman and working on Vin Diesel's dream game (not to mention two games still in the concept stage named Melkor and Perrone), we think this gentleman could really use a vacation. Busy as he is, he was nice enough to take time out of his schedule last week to speak with us about a few things. Number one on the agenda: What is it exactly that Tigon Studios does? If Starbreeze developed Riddick and Midway Newcastle developed Wheelman, where does Tigon fit into this mess? His answer just might shock you! [Disclaimer: Ian Steven's answer will likely not actually shock you, but you may find it interesting. So there's that.]%Gallery-38368%
Metareview - Chronicles of Riddick: Assault on Dark Athena
It's a strange concept, but Chronicles of Riddick: Assault on Dark Athena might be 2009's answer (in value) to The Orange Box. Riddick's return essentially includes three games for the price of one, with Butcher Bay, Assault on Dark Athena and new multiplayer features rounding out the retail package. Sure, the quality bar may not be as high as Valve's five-game release, but value is important. Here's the word around the industry campfire about Riddick's HD outing (a second opinion since you've already read our review, right?): GamePro (90/100): "But when you step back and consider the entire package, you start to appreciate Dark Athena for what it truly is. Instead, look at Dark Athena as a flawed yet enjoyable way to extend the thrill ride that is Escape from Butcher Bay." GameTrailers (84/100): "The Escape may handily trump the Assault, but neophyte Riddicks have a unique experience to work through. Though vets who return may begrudge Athena, it's doubtful they won't finish. It's an abridged effort, and more of a dreaded point-five than a true sequel, but with both missions it still reigns as the best first-person, melee, stealth, parkour game featuring Vin Diesel." 1UP (B-): "As a product, this package is recommendable to anyone who hasn't experienced the first game, or wishes to add it back to their current library. It also includes a surprisingly fun multiplayer suite, with the Riddick vs. Everyone Else mode "Pitch Black" as the main attraction. But as single-player games, the unsatisfying Dark Athena should be played as a curiosity and then put back where it belongs: in Butcher Bay's shadow." Worthplaying (75/100): "Chronicles of Riddick: Assault on Dark Athena is half excellent game, half mediocre game. Unfortunately, the excellent half is the same game that was released years ago, just with a small new segment taken from the PC port." Source - Metacritic: Chronicles of Riddick: Assault on Dark Athena (X360)Source - Metacritic: Chronicles of Riddick: Assault on Dark Athena (PS3)%Gallery-38368%
Tuesday Morning Post: Vin Diesel is better edition
So here we are. 5 AM Pacific is almost upon us, then we'll have downtime until 11 AM Pacific (Unless they extend it again). That means it's closing time. One last call for exp, so finish your grinding or quest, and whatnot. As usual, I'm going to suggest that you fill that WoW-less void in your life with some browsing of WoW Insider. But first, I have something to get off my chest. It's something I have felt needs saying for a long time, and I'm now I'm going to say it, so listen up: Vin Diesel could beat Chuck Norris any day.I've been saying it for years, seriously. Vin Diesel is so much better than Chuck Norris. Whoever first replaced Chuck Norris with Vin Diesel in all those Barrens Chat jokes, you and I need to have some words, I swear. And now I have even more evidence that Vin Diesel is the true master of badassedness: He actually plays WoW.But anyway, back on topic. That wasn't the biggest piece of news this week, as weird as it may seen. We just got solid confirmation of a new Battleground, not to mention the new gamer fuel and a bunch of UI and Addon news that everyone's still buzzing about. Since we're all stuck not playing WoW for a bit, why not check all that out now? As always, I have a list of the best and hottest news under the cut.
Vin Diesel plays WoW. Probably.
var digg_url = 'http://digg.com/pc_games/Vin_Diesel_in_awe_about_Wrath_of_the_Lich_King'; Reader Nick tipped us to this one -- Fast and Furious actor Vin Diesel had a guest appearance on Friday Night with Jonathan Ross, where he alludes to playing World of Warcraft. While he plays coy about any details about the character(s) he plays, an interesting part comes when popular British host Ross reveals that his wife plays a green, Spectral Tiger-riding Level 80 character. Diesel gets up to shake Ross' hand at the mention of this, and proceeds to some helium-induced hilarity.It shouldn't be a huge surprise that Diesel actually plays that game, considering that he's known to be a hardcore gamer and even wrote the foreword to the D&D 30th Anniversary retrospective coffee table book. In fact, he leads the discussion from D&D to World of Warcraft by saying that games nowadays are MMOs. This should corroborate what baseball player Curt Schilling has mentioned in a past interview about Diesel playing WoW. It would've been interesting to learn his class and faction (rumors say his character's name is Dish), but I guess players will just have to find that out another day. Maybe if he talks over vent, his Iron Giant voice should give him away...
Thanks to Vin Diesel, Dark Athena has multiplayer
At least that's what Mr. Diesel, owner of Chronicles of Riddick: Assault on Dark Athena co-developer Tigon Studios, told G4TV's X-Play this week. When asked if his studio's upcoming remake of 2004's Chronicles of Riddick: Escape from Butcher Bay will feature online multiplayer, he had this to say: "Big props to the whole team working on this because we were well into production in the game and I begged for some multiplayer component on this and everyone rose to the occasion and created something really compelling."And we must say, between the recently released Riddick demo on Xbox Live and Diesel's starring role in Wheelman, the actor turned development studio owner has been making quite a name for himself in the video game industry. Now all we need is a Vin Diesel/50 Cent mashup full of ulaks and exploding ramps. We can dream, can't we?%Gallery-38368%
The Daily Grind: Star-studded studios
Maybe it's just us, but it seems more and more that it's cool for Hollywood, sports, and music stars to openly admit their love of gaming. 10 years ago? Not too many people talking about it. Now? It's everywhere. To add to this, we now have gaming companies started by the rich and famous. There's 38 Studios, owned by Curt Schilling, who has gathered Todd McFarlane and R. A. Salvatore and a hugely talented team to help build Copernicus, the code-name for their very-under-wraps MMO. Added to that, we have the news yesterday that Vin Diesel's company, Tigon Studios is saying that their previously-claimed RTS will actually be an MMO entry. (Or perhaps a true MMORTS as those are fairly rare.) It's definitely interesting to see.This morning we thought we'd ask you a fairly simple question about these two - will their star status, or star lineup, make you more interested in trying their respective games out when they hit the shelves? Does star status matter to you at all? Does it make you less interested in trying them out? Or do you just not care one way or the other about who makes a game, and will only really bother trying it if people you trust say it's fun/it has a free trial/etc?
Vin Diesel's Tigon Studios developing ancient world MMO: Barca B.C.
Have you ever hoped to play a massively multiplayer online game set in the ancient world? What about playing a Carthaginian soldier fighting the Romans in the Punic Wars, circa 200 B.C.? Action film star Vin Diesel certainly has, it's his dream game. In fact, he's so taken with the idea that his game company Tigon Studios is developing the Punic Wars MMO, titled Barca B.C., which he announced in an interview with Destructoid's Brad Nicholson.Diesel didn't give many details about the upcoming title, and it's still in an early stage of development. Destructoid reports that Tigon Studios has been working on Barca B.C. for roughly three years, and it could take up to another four years before release, according to Diesel. [Via Kotaku]
Vin Diesel reveals his dream game, Barca BC
Like all red-blooded Americans, we love Vin Diesel games like Wheelman, which stars the big guy as a lead character who's half-car, half-man, but all hero. (We think that's what it's about, we haven't been following that closely.) We know that Vin wants bigger things though, and he's finally talking about them. Or, more specifically, it.The Dies (as he insists we call him) told Destructoid he has been working for three years on Barca BC, a "massively multiplayer online game where you create an avatar that lives in the reality of Hannibal Barca, the Punic Wars and life in 200 B.C." Yes, it sounds awesome (especially if all the avatars are Vin Diesel with different haircuts, clothing, genders, etc.) but Vin says it's still a few years out. Oh, the future, will you never get here?
Riddick's Assault on Dark Athena demo up on XBLM, full of 'ulaks'
Gravelly-voiced space crook news now, with a demo version of The Chronicles of Riddick: Assault on Dark Athena arriving on the Xbox Live Marketplace. In addition to piloting Vin Diesel through the presumably dark corridors of the titular Athena, you'll be able to pilot a "drone" through one of the demo's segments. We're not really sure how different those two really are, but the latter makes for an interesting bullet point in the press release.Those uninterested in bullets can also take a stab at wielding Riddick's "razor-sharp ulaks," though we'll remind you that bringing an ulak to a disintegrator fight is always a bad idea. Look for the demo on PSN later this March, and the full game on Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 on April 7th (April 24th if you live in Europe).%Gallery-46677%
Pontiac G8 still in Wheelman despite brand's dire outlook
MTV Multiplayer has pointed out that, although GM's Pontiac line is slowly bleeding out as a casualty of the US economic downturn, Midway's Ubisoft's upcoming Vin Diesel vehicle, Wheelman, will still feature one of its rides: the Pontiac G8. Oh, and there's also a Saturn -- well, the Opel Astra -- in it, evidently. Saturn is no more. (Though last we checked the planet was still there.)At this point, you're probably asking yourself, "Where's the news?" Funny you should ask. It's doubtful that Wheelman will be the last game to feature a Pontiac. Heck, there are all shapes and sizes of racing sims coming out in the next few months, some or all of which will probably feature the GM-owned brand. And lest we forget Transformers: Rise of the Fallen: The Game. (Autobots only wear GM.) It would have been more newsworthy -- not to mention quite cruel -- if Ubisoft announced it was yanking both cars from the game and keeping whatever money Midway was paid to advertise include them.
New Riddick: Dark Athena trailer previews plot
Vin Diesel vehicles don't really need much of a plot to be brilliant or successful (see: xXx) -- regardless of this fact, it seems the upcoming follow-up to one of the most surprisingly well put together licensed games ever, Chronicles of Riddick: Assault on Dark Athena, has a story we're itching to dive into. A recent trailer teases some of the plot points we'll be uncovering when the game drops April 7. Here's what we picked up during our first pass through the trailer (embedded after the jump) -- throughout Dark Athena, Mr. Diesel will be "hunting" some "zombies" on a derelict space station, facing off against a feisty villainess, and stabbing anything that hoves into his field of vision. Yep, that sounds about right.See: Chronicles of Riddick: AoDA HD Trailer Download Gallery: The Chronicles of Riddick: Assault On Dark Athena
Ubisoft officially publishing Wheelman
And it's officially official, folks: Ubisoft is publishing the previously Midway-held title, Wheelman. Ubisoft's Jaime Borasi confirmed to us this morning, "Yes, the deal with Midway has been finalized and we'll be shipping to retail on March 24th." In case you had forgotten, Wheelman is the third-person shooter/action-driving game coming to Xbox 360/PS3/PC starring everyone's favorite street racer, Vin Diesel.The deal comes in the wake of Midway's recent filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy (that's the protection kind, not the liquidation kind) and a slew of rumors surrounding the sale of Midway by majority stockholder Sumner Redstone to mystery man Mark Thomas. Will Midway continue selling off its intellectual properties to stay afloat? Will that next Mortal Kombat game already in production soldier on? It remains to be seen. We've put in word to Midway for comment.UPDATE: Ubisoft and Midway are calling the publishing deal a "strategic relationship", saying, "Ubisoft will handle sales, marketing, and distribution of the title in North America, South America, Australia, New Zealand, France, Germany, Austria, Ireland and the United Kingdom. Midway will continue to direct the development of the title and retains all future rights to the franchise and will sell the title in all other European territories." Looks like Midway's not out of the loop on Wheelman after all.
