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LA museum's sci-fi car exhibit includes HoloLens tours
There's a chance you've seen a movie car or two if you've visited a convention, but the Petersen Automotive Museum's offering should be more... elaborate. It's opening a "Hollywood Dream Machines" exhibit that will showcase 40 vehicles from sci-fi games and movies. Some of them are practically expected, like the DeLorean from Back to the Future, Deckard's sedan from Blade Runner and a lightcycle from Tron: Legacy. Others, however, are harder-to-see items like the GM Ultralight from Demolition Man as well as Lexuses from Black Panther and Minority Report. And how many times are you going to see life-size recreations of a Warthog from Halo or a Sparrow from Destiny?
'Mad Max' the game lacks the charm and detail of 'Fury Road'
Like any Mad Max fan thrilled by the film Fury Road, I approached Avalanche Studios' new video game translation hoping to find echoes of the film's anarchic spirit. And while the full game may deliver -- we won't know until review time -- the current demo feels more like a mundane snapshot of Max's offscreen life in that post-apocalyptic world than an adrenaline shot from Fury Road. Mad Max, due out this fall for PlayStation 4, PC and Xbox One, just doesn't have the same level of enervating detail.
Broforce gets level editor, Mad Max and Kill Bill bros
Broforce received a free "tactical update" today, adding new missions and characters to the side-scrolling shooter. The two new bros in the game are Bro Max, a spoof on Max Rockatansky from Mad Max, and The Brode, a take on Uma Thurman's character The Bride from the Kill Bill series of films. The game's new campaign missions are set in Eastern Europe. The update also introduced Steam Workshop support for the game, allowing players to create their own levels and share them with the game's bro-mmunity. Broforce launched on Steam Early Access in April and was a source of fun for Joystiq Streams around that time. The game is still in beta, available for $14.99 through Steam and the Humble Store. Head past the break for a brotastic trailer that shows off the new items delivered through the game's update. [Image: Devolver Digital]
Barely Related: Doctor Who on Aug. 23, Japan's realistic robots
What a week. Let's all chill out, cool down and enjoy some nerdy news. Welcome to Barely Related, a conversational Friday column that presents the non-gaming news stories that we, the Joystiq staff, have been talking about over the past week. And no, we're not stopping our focus on industry and gaming news. Think of this as your casual weekly recap of interesting (and mostly geeky) news, presented just in time to fill your brain with things to discuss at all of those weekend shindigs. Grab a fresh drink, lean back in your armchair, and get ready to talk nerdy with us.
Mad Max delayed beyond 2014
How to open this? The Mad Max game, which, like your ex, only pops in your head because of the herpes you can never get rid of, has been delayed until 2015. No, no, way too harsh. The Mad Max game, which, like a razor-bladed boomerang tossed by feral post-apocalyptic Australian children only returns to hurt you, has been delayed until 2015. That's good, but needs to be toned down a bit. The Mad Max game, the one that isn't Just Cause 3, has been delayed until 2015. There we go.
Mad Max story is standalone because 'movie tie-in games tend to be bad'
Back at E3, Avalanche Studios said the story in its Mad Max game is "standalone," which seemed a bit strange given the existence of upcoming Mad Max film Fury Road. At Gamescom we asked senior game designer Emil Kraftling to clarify the relationship between game and movie, and why Avalanche Studios went with its own standalone story. "We aren't limited as such by the contents of the [new] movie," Kraftling told us. "But we are able to use whatever contents of the movie that ties well into the games." The game is Avalanche's own interpretation of Mad Max's manic, post-apocalyptic universe, and the studio wants to stay true to its core aspects. That said, the thought of doing a movie tie-in clearly didn't appeal to Kraftling. "It is a standalone experience," Kraftling reiterated. "From the get go that's how we wanted it, because movie tie-in games tend to be quite bad, and we really want to be wary of heading there. We wanted to create the game with a game experience as the primary focus, and we want core gamers to be able to enjoy this game. We want to enjoy the game ourselves. We want to make a game that we want to play."
Mad Max tears up a debut gameplay trailer
"We never got a hero. We got him ... the man they call Max." Besides that dramatic declaration, this Mad Max trailer also includes our first look at the gameplay. There's still a cinematic tang to this debut showing of Avalanche Studios' open-world adventure, but past the 1:10 mark it gets going with a fiery mix of vehicular destruction and old-fashioned fisticuffs. Some of the in-car combat is taken from the closed-doors demo we saw at E3, which showed just how brutal Max can be behind the wheel. Mad Max is scheduled to rip it up Oz-style on PS4, Xbox One, PC, PS3, and Xbox 360 sometime next year. %Gallery-193820%
Mad Max will speak like an Aussie, mate
Avalanche Studios is doing a U-turn to ensure Mad Max speaks the strewth. As we saw during the E3 demo of his upcoming game, Max spoke with an American twang, leading to fans calling for the road warrior's accent to be made Australian, as per the films. Yesterday, Avalanche Chief Creative Officer Christopher Sundberg announced a downunder return for Max's voice, tweeting, "Attn. fans who want Max to have an Aussie accent in #MadMaxGame : It shall be so. We admire your loyalty. You have been heard." What that means for Mad Max at large is unclear. As we noted in our E3 preview, Max's companion Chumbucket spoke with a hillbilly accent, suggesting the setting may not be Oz. As for what is fair dinkum, Avalanche's open-world is set to lay waste to PS3, Xbox 360, PS4, Xbox One, and PC sometime next year.
Mad Max not Barlog's rumored project, says Avalanche CEO
Though Mad Max has been a project spanning several years, going through several iterations in that time, Avalanche Studios CEO Christofer Sundberg claims it's not the game that was rumored in 2008. God of War 2 lead Cory Barlog had reportedly gone to Avalanche Studios in 2010 to work on a Mad Max game, tied to a new movie. "I don't know what [Barlog] worked on before he started working with us," Sundberg told Polygon, "but when we worked together he wasn't on Mad Max." Sundberg said the team has been in production on this Mad Max game for around 18 months, though it's been at Avalanche in some capacity for years now. "The game has gone through a series of iterations. We've been working for it for a couple years." Mad Max is due in 2014, for PS4, PS3, Xbox One and Xbox 360. We saw the open-world action game game at E3 and caught up with our old hillbilly pal, Chumbucket.
Mad Max gets behind the wheel of Avalanche's open-world wasteland
Considering how many games trace their dystopian wasteland roots to it, it's interesting to see the E3 hands-off demo of the new Mad Max hone in something with plenty of room for exploration: vehicular combat. Just Cause dev Avalanche Studios promises 50 "authentic" Mad Max vehicles for players to enjoy in the third-person open-world game, as well as the ability to customize your own wrecking ball on wheels. After seeing Max traverse the sand dunes, with pleasingly crisp dust clouds sweeping past his big old boots, the demo soon finds the road warrior behind the wheel of a creaking black sedan. Its back roof is ripped off, turning it into a makeshift pick-up truck. Couched in the back is Max's crazy hillbilly companion Chumbucket, who's spouting off nonsense as he clutches onto a harpoon gun, and ducking for cover from the unfriendly armored cars beginning to surround the pair. Max pulls out a one-handed shotgun to take out a nearby driver in slow-mo, before Chumbucket fires his harpoon to rip the tire off the next vehicle, sending it sprawling into another for a satisfying double whammy. Frank Rooke, the game's creative director, says the harpoon gun can be used to pull off tires, armor and even other drivers - yoink! %Gallery-191235%
Mad Max announced for PlayStation 4 from Avalanche Studios [Updates: Trailer, due in 2014]
Sony announced that Just Cause series developer Avalanche Studios is working on the PlayStation 4 game Mad Max, based on the cult classic post-apocalyptic film series. A release date was not announced. Update: Mad Max is due out in 2014 for PS4, PS3, Xbox One and Xbox 360.
MMO Blender: Beyond Shawn's Thunderdome
If there's one thing I've noticed about these MMO Blender articles, it's that the Massively staff members seem to really like their sandboxes. Maybe it's not even so much a staff preference as it is a statement about where we all are as MMO players. Themeparks have been done and have been perfected, but many of us want to stretch the limitations of a truly persistent and open online world. At least that's what I'd like to think. It's an ideal situation I can dream about, but do we all really want a truly open world with limitless possibilities? What would we do with so few rules? My perfect MMO has what I'd consider to be the best of all worlds. The trick is, of course, getting it all to work in one game.
RIPE NCC handing out its last block of IPv4 addresses, tries to fend off internet survivalism
In a world where IPv6 lives and IPv4 addresses are scarce, network providers must fight for survival... or at least, claim their IP blocks quickly. The RIPE NCC, the regional internet registry for Asia, Europe and the Middle East, warns that it's down to assigning its last set of 16.8 million IPv4 addresses as of this weekend. That sounds like a lot, but we'd do well to remember that the registry churned through about 5.2 million addresses in just the past two weeks. What's left won't be around for long, folks. To cut back on the number of Mad Max-style battles for dwindling resources, RIPE NCC is rationing out IPv4 for local registries in 1,024-address chunks -- and only to those who both have IPv6 assignments as well as proof of a need for IPv4. With just a bit more than half of the RIPE NCC's customers currently on IPv6, that could still trigger a shortfall among networks that haven't prepared for the internet protocol apocalypse. We'd advise that companies stock up on IPv6 supplies before launching the raiding parties.
God of War 2 director Cory Barlog joins Crystal Dynamics
Cory Barlog, who served as writer and director for God of War 2, as well as "story creator" for Ghost of Sparta and creative director for Chains of Olympus, has joined Crystal Dynamics to work on its forthcoming Tomb Raider reboot and "a yet to be announced new title."Its unclear what this transition may mean for Barlog's Mad Max project, which was reportedly in production at Avalanche Studios. "I can't comment on our project, but all I can say is that the projects we've been working on for the last two years and the one we recently started up in NY are sailing along like never before," said Avalanche Studios founder Christofer Sundberg in a statement to Eurogamer.This either means that Mad Max is continuing without Barlog at Avalanche Studios, or that it was never there to begin with. Either way, we're looking forward to seeing what kind of vengeful, face-painting influence Barlog has on Lara Croft's future, and whether his presence at Crystal Dynamics could finally lead to Gex of War.
Rumor: Team Bondi to be acquired by Mad Max studio, KMM
Mad Max's George Miller is playing host to the artists behind L.A. Noire, Team Bondi, as the developer faces a tortured reputation, burned bridges with Rockstar and is in need of fresh studio support, according to sources at Kotaku. Team Bondi bossman Brendan McNamara has been spotted touring Miller's KMM Studio in Sydney, including a stop at Dr. D, the animation shop currently finishing Happy Feet 2, one person said. A few former Team Bondi employees -- the same ones who reported terrible work conditions under McNamara -- work at Dr. D and found it unsettling that McNamara was touring the offices, the source said. Apparently Miller is a fan of Team Bondi's work and is sympathetic to McNamara's reputation as a strict taskmaster, according to one employee at Dr. D: "The word is going 'round that Team Bondi is being folded into KMM studios; Team Bondi is pretty much doomed after the scandal and can't find any new supporters, so by doing this they can hide their name."
Report: Mad Max game at Avalanche Studios
God of War 2 director Cory Barlog is likely working on the Mad Max game (a supposed tie-in with the 2012 movie sequel) at Just Cause developer Avalanche Studios. Eurogamer reports Avalanche Studios' founder Christofer Sundberg told the site, "I can't comment on the projects we are working on, but Cory is working here with us in Stockholm." We've known Barlog had been working on a Mad Max game since 2008, with production reportedly still going on last year -- we just never knew exactly where he was making the game. The studio's Avalanche Engine would actually be fantastic for driving an enormous, lush Mad Max game -- well, if "lush" existed in the Mad Max vocabulary. The engine certainly proved its graphical power in Just Cause 2. Now, if Barlog could only help deliver a cohesive concept, instead of just an empty sandbox, that could be a truly beautiful thing.
AORA builds sci-fi-looking solar/hybrid plant in the Israeli desert
A company called AORA has developed a hybrid solar power plant in the Israeli desert. Comprised of a number of 100kWe base units, the operation is modular (additional units can be added) and it should be complete sometime in the next ten days. When operational, thirty mirrors will track the sun and direct its rays up to the 98.4 foot tall "flower," where the concentrated sunlight heats compressed air, which in turn drives an electric turbine. When the sun has set for the day (or if it's cloudy) the turbine can be run off of biodiesel, natural gas, or fossil fuels, allowing the plant to operate twenty-four hours. The only downside we can see is that the huge tower is sure to attract psychopaths like Lord Humungus and Wez -- so you'll want some weapons. More pics after the break.[Via Inhabitat]
Fallen Earth rated M for Mature by ESRB
Fallen Earth is the upcoming post-apocalyptic massively multiplayer online game where players will soon be carving out a living in a world ravaged by viral and nuclear armageddon. Not that we really thought a game where fending off packs of mutated anarchist bikers out in the wasteland Mad Max-style was really going to be "family-oriented entertainment", but Fallen Earth LLC has now made it official. Circatrix from the Fallen Earth team writes, "Thought you all should be the first to know that we've received our rating from the ESRB board and we're classified as an M (Mature). You'll start to see this in our ads and videos moving forward." We're glad to hear that they're not toning down the game's themes simply to reach a younger audience, and Massively will be keeping an eye on Fallen Earth as it gets closer to launch.
Mad Max game adaptation still 'a couple of years' away
If you've long harbored dreams of motoring monstrous automobiles down long stretches of highway in post-apocalyptic Australia, they probably won't be coming to fruition any time soon. Mad Max director George Miller, in an interview with MTV Multiplayer, confirmed that while preliminary work on a video game adaptation of his Gibson-infused vehicular thriller has begun, the finished title is still "a couple of years away." Miller, a self-professed unskilled gamer, says he sees real potential in making such an adaptation, and in the gaming medium as a whole. He sees the Mad Max game, which he's working on in collaboration with God of War II director Cory Barlog, as "an opportunity to make a novel," noting the evolution of storytelling in games in recent years. We appreciate rich stories in games as much as the next guy, but we hope Miller realizes he also has the "opportunity" to make a badass action game as well.
Work on Mad Max continues, game still a ways off
It's been seven long months since we last heard an update on Cory Barlog's video game adaptation of Mad Max. Now Barlog, best known for his work on a little thing we like to call God of War II, has posted an update on the project to his blog, though whether or not he had to saw through his own foot to get to the keyboard remains something of a mystery. Barlog's work on the game's story with Mad Max film producer, George Miller, appears nearly done, the pair having "put the final touches on the Mad Max story and game design structure and mechanics." However, Barlog adds that they're "working with some publishers to get a deal locked down so we can start making this bad boy," so don't go expecting to hunt gangs across the dystopian Australian highways anytime soon.
