aliens
Latest
The Professor: Victorian heat sinks, new spacecraft, alien-language translators
The Professor rounds up a handful of interesting and informative gadget-related science stories from the week and presents them in an easily digestible liquid form. Having trouble keeping your fingers, thumbs, or eyeballs on the pulse of modern science? Do you find yourself in the throes of panic due to misunderstandings in molecular goings-on? Did the latest aircar, split atom, or robotic insectoid go buzzing over your head before you had time to ready a response? Don't worry friends, The Professor is here to help. Though not an actual scientist, professor, or even a college graduate, he can help guide you through the cascading, complicated, and spasmodic visionary vistas of human invention and achievement as smoothly as a hot knife descending into softened butter.
The Daily Grind: Do MMOs underrepresent ethnicity?
Part of the fun of fantasy and science fiction MMOs is playing a race substantially different than your own, whether it be orcs or aliens. But when you feel like playing close to your own type, and aren't Caucasian, do you feel underrepresented?Games like Age of Conan and APB offer some pretty sophisticated character creation tools that allow more accurate rendering of facial morphologies -- epicanthal folds vs. no folds; lip thickness; cheekbone sharpness and angle, etc. Most of the rest simply allow you to change skin color, yet leave the actual skull structure of your characters alone. This is not a deal-breaker by any means, but does it ever bother you?
Aliens: Colonial Marines details, screens hatch
The UK arms of the Official Xbox and PlayStation magazines dropped fresh details and screens on Gearbox's upcoming first-person shooter, Aliens: Colonial Marines. Set three years after the events in the 1986 sci-fi action classic Aliens, Colonial Marines sets the stage for a rescue group in search of the team sent to investigate a human colony on LV-426 that had broken off communication.Details on the game have been scarce but GamesRadar detailed a few choice tidbits. The game will feature a mixture of claustrophobic indoor and outdoor environments where basic missions have been scrapped in favor of objective gameplay. The example given is something you can see in the image above. In certain predetermined areas of the game you will be forced to "Make a Stand" and survive an onslaught of enemy bugs.The four-player co-op we previously reported has been confirmed as drop-in and drop-out with system link, split-screen and online support. Also confirmed is that the enemies will have acid blood which will both harm players if they get too close as well change the environment in subtle ways. Lastly, the game will feature quick-time events that OPM thinks will take some getting used to. Well at least most of it sounds awesome.
Aliens: Colonial Marines will release in late 08
Wow, how did this one slip us by? Gearbox are currently developing Aliens: Colonial Marines, a squad-based first-person shooter set in the Alien universe. With a story penned by sci-fi writers Bradley Thompson and David Weddle (Battlestar Galactica and Star Trek: Deep Space Nine), four-player co-op play and nary a mention of the word "Predator", this game is heading straight for our "To Watch" list. The press release states that the game will take "retain the atmospheric look and feel of the original films while leveraging next-generation technology to create an entirely new interactive Aliens experience" and will be out at the end of this year. Between now and then further multiplayer modes for the game will be announced. We predict some sort of Humans vs Aliens deathmatch in cramped, claustrophobic space ships - and, if not, why not!
GDC08: Aliens - Colonial Marines hits late 08, 4-player co-op
An early morning press release from SEGA has revelaed that Aliens: Colonial Marines will be hitting the Xbox 360, PS3 and PC in late 2008. The announcement dismisses an earlier report from Game Informer magazine that put the game in a 2009 release window. In the upcoming first-person shooter, players are part of a United States Colonial Marine squad and do battle with classic Alien enemies from the film franchise that began in 1979. In what is quickly becoming out favorite trend for FPS games, SEGA revealed the game will include a campaign in both single-player and 4-player co-op flavors. Actually our favorite trend in gaming are those cute mini-game complilations. Yeah, let's please have more of those.[via Joystiq]
Aliens: Colonial Marines in late 2008, 4-player co-op
Sega has bumped up the Aliens: Colonial Marines street date to "late 2008," just a week after Game Informer revealed the game name and cited a vague 2009 release. The publisher also provided details of the title's plot, an original, penned by Bradley Thompson and David Weddle. As part of a United States Colonial Marine squad you and up to three additional friends will face a Nazi an Alien assault (yes, like we said, "original"). In co-op mode, players will have distinct roles to play in the completion of each mission -- we call flamethrower duty! The game also will include additional multiplayer modes not yet announced.With Gearbox at the helm, expect an authentic recreation of the films' fictional world from pulse rifles to the now abandoned Sulaco spacecraft. Aliens: Colonial Marines is in development for Xbox 360, PlayStation 3 and PC.[Via press release]
Video proof of the renegade satellite's destruction
Sure, it's one thing to hear about that satellite getting blown to bits, but there's nothing like cold, hard video evidence to really cement our belief in the Navy's extreme skill at hitting fast moving objects in space with huge missiles. Yes -- the video is grainy and hard to make out, but if you can't tell how bad we blew that thing out of the sky... well maybe you're not looking hard enough. See it all go down (literally) after the break.[Thanks to everyone who sent this in]
Alien or zombie threat averted: the spy satellite has been destroyed... probably
Just like the Navy told us, they shot that nasty satellite out of the sky with the kind of laser-like precision they've been claiming they're capable of for years. At right around 10:30 this evening, expensive missiles were fired from the deck of the USS Lake Erie, traveling into space at an excess of 5,000mph, which then slammed into the Alien / zombie-juice / Russian controlled satellite (which itself was traveling at 17,000mph). Right now details are still sketchy on just how much damage was done to the object, but word on the street (aka, from the Navy) is that just about any hit to the satellite would put it out of our misery, due to the speed and trajectory at which it's traveling. The story is still developing, so if any of the zombie spore does manage to reach Earth and spark an undead holocaust, we'll be the first to let you know.
Aliens: Colonial Marines, FPS, coming in 2009
So it seems that the long-announced, but not-much-discussed Aliens game, brought to us by Gearbox and Sega, has finally been revealed. As strange as it is to see a revival of the Aliens IP, the brand still does command plenty of loyalty and the idea of bringing it to the most played genre around isn't that out there. The game is unveiled in this month's issue of Game Informer and is formally titled Aliens: Colonial Marines. The title is an obscure reference to a scene from the second movie in which Ripley meets United States Colonial Marines. Evidently the colonies will be the focus of the game, as no details have been released regarding the game's story or canonical connection to the films. We do however know that the game will be squad based is due out after the end of the year.[Via Joystiq]
'Aliens: Colonial Marines' is title of Gearbox, Sega FPS
Not much more than a name to go with previous confirmation that Brothers in Arms creator Gearbox is developing an Alien FPS for Sega, as Game Informer announces "Aliens: Colonial Marines" as the cover story in it's new issue. The brief teaser copy confirms that the game will be squad-based, ostensibly following some of the development cues from Gearbox's previous projects. The title alludes to the second film, Aliens, and perhaps specifically to the 'United States Colonial Marines' who accompany Ripley when she returns to LV-426. It's unclear what, if any connection the game will have to that film or others within the series.Sega's Alien license currently covers Colonial Marines and an Obsidian RPG. Aliens: Colonial Marines is slated for a 2009 release on PC and consoles.
TR's hybrid high jinks prove hollow on the whole
When the Destination Games crew announced that they would be putting alien hybrids into Tabula Rasa's patch 1.4, I think it took a lot of people by surprise. Since the game launched in early November, the devs have shown a reluctance to acknowledge many of the complaints players have had with the game. One of the more persistent complaints was that there was a lack of depth in the character creation and customization options. Most character models are indistinguishable from each other to begin with, and there is no variety within a specific armor set of a certain level. My level 50 graviton is going to look just like your level 50 graviton, which lends an air of homogeneity to the whole affair. So it really came as a surprise when all of a sudden, they fulfilled part of our wish and gave us the option of making clones with hybrid DNA – taking on the physical features and stats of one of Tabula Rasa's three most prominent alien races. After having given my new Forean clone a good deal of play time, I've found myself dissatisfied. It's pretty cool being green (and getting the huge bonus to Mind!), but there are so many different things I wish they had done. %Gallery-9822%
24 hours of Tabula Rasa: Hour 16
I can barely remember my short time in the Tabula Rasa beta, but I do remember something about aliens giving you super powers, and being a little unhappy about the fact that even though I had a gun and I was shooting at aliens, I wasn't able to headshot them.Anyway, it's now 11pm, and time for another one of our TR launch contests. This hour, we've got a hat and two posters to give away, so to enter, just be 18 and in the US (official rules) and put a comment on this post telling us the feature of Tabula Rasa you're most looking forward to. Aliens giving you super powers might be in there, although no headshots probably won't be. Of course, your answer doesn't actually matter (this is a random contest, and we'll randomly choose three winners from all the comments), but if you want to pretend like it does, we won't be bothered. Go hog wild.This contest shuts off at midnight, so hurry up and get those comments down. And if you miss the deadline, you've got even more chances to play-- our next contest starts when November 3rd, 2007 does (that's in about an hour, in case you don't have a clock handy).And by the way, did we mention that our iPod contest is actually accepting comments for the whole 24 hours of these mini contests? We didn't? Oh. Well there you go.
R-Type gets an Alien look
Better call Ridley Ripley. It looks like the upcoming PSP-exclusive tactical game, R-Type Tactics is getting some mean creatures, eerily reminiscent of Tony Ridley Scott and James Cameron's Aliens. New screenshots of the game highlight some monstrosities, such as one creature that looks very much like a Metroid. Other looks at the gameplay make it evident: this isn't your father's R-Type. We're still cautious about the new direction Irem is taking the franchise, but we can't wait to find out more.[Via PSPHyper]
Breakfast Topic: Is WoW science fiction?
Yesterday we talked about similarities between World of Warcraft and other fantasy franchises. Commenting on that post, Baluki noted that "Warcraft is also somewhat unique in mixing some sci-fi elements into its fantasy universe." But not everyone thinks that's a good thing: back around the time that Burning Crusade previews were coming out, the draenei and the naaru caused quite a bit of stir among lore fans who felt that "space pallies" and "interdimensional ships" like Tempest Keep were going too far.One poster to the forums linked to this screenshot and said, "When did this turn into a friggin space game... Draenei, Exodar... hell this battleground feels more like UT Facing Worlds map than an RPG..." Drysc replied: "I believe you may be creating your own idea of what Warcraft is and has been, while it's been anything but a traditional medieval fantasy setting. The lore and history is full of interstellar travel and themes one may consider 'sci-fi'. There are warp gates that link various worlds together, planets blowing up, space traveling demons who enslave entire planets, inter dimensional ships, time travel, etc. "You say '[this] feels more like UT Facing Worlds map than an RPG... ', when RPG simply stands for Roleplaying Game. Warcraft has and always will be beyond a singular tolkienesque world, and I think those who know and understand the lore and history are more apt to recognize and accept how the story is progressing as 'clearly Warcraft'."What do you think? Are the "sci-fi" elements minimal enough that WoW still doesn't count as "science fiction" or even "science fantasy?" Or do World of Warcraft and The Burning Crusade launch the lore off the Tolkienenque fantasy homeworld and into the anomalous nebulae of Stargate, Alien, or even Transformers? Personally, I think WoW gets the balance right -- I'm happy to see some creative mixing of different themes that breaks the traditional fantasy molds. I'd like to see more sci-fi elements in future expansions too, though I doubt that's likely. WTB more WoW Lightsabers!
Former Ubisoft VP helping develop Fox gaming brand
Adam Kline, former VP of business development at Ubisoft, is now the VP of new-media enterprises at 20th Century Fox. His new title is just a fancy way of saying he'll oversee video game projects and develop ways to make cash through e-commerce. He will oversee things like The Simpsons Game over at EA along with the Alien games over at Sega -- and probably a bunch of other Fox related titles we'll see in the near future.So, with Kline's existence having previously been in the gaming space over at Ubisoft, we can hope he won't be the typical suit who'll keep the chain of bad video games based on movies going. We hope Kline just keeps a tight leash on the Alien games being developed by Sega. We need more quality Alien games like Alien vs. Predator and less ... well, almost everything else.
Aliens FPS details emerge, play as a Marine
GameSpot recently got the chance to sit down with Randy Pitchford, founder of Gearbox, at the Ubidays 2007 event held last week in Paris. Among other topics, Pitchford revealed a few details regarding the upcoming Aliens FPS title being developed by Gearbox and published by SEGA. While he revealed no specific details about the gameplay, he did note that players would take on the role of a Colonial Marine, similar to the characters in the film. According to Pitchford, "Our game's about becoming a Colonial Marine, and looking at it from the Colonial Marines' perspective." We imagine that this is music to the ears of Aliens fans everywhere. Pitchford also revealed that Gearbox has a limited collaborative relationship with Obsidian, who is handling development of the Aliens RPG.In other news, Gearbox is also in the beginning stages of developing a game based on Heat, the iconic 1995 crime film. Aliens and Heat, strange bedfellows indeed.
SETI@home claims its first major discovery: a stolen laptop
Although this case doesn't represent the first time a thief has been tracked down by the very item he / she swiped, it does mark the first time in the history of SETI@home that the number crunching actually discovered something substantial. In another tale of good things happening to diligent people, a Minnesota husband installed the Berkeley-created software onto his wife's laptop to run whilst sitting unused, but he probably never imagined that having it check in with the California-based servers every so often would help him track down a crook. The lappie, which just so happened to house numerous crucial documents from his wife's writing collection, was jacked from their possession on New Year's Day, but as any determined and intelligent being would do, James Melin monitored the SETI@home database until the missing machine logged back into the UC mainframe, where a subpoena was then used to unearth the physical location of the stolen property. As of now, no arrests have been made, and while no pertinent documents were deleted or tampered with, Mrs. Melin noted that the perpetrator (or the eventual underground buyer's) taste in music was among the worst she's ever heard of judging by the foreign tracks that were gifted to her when the laptop returned. But what we really have here is just another good reason to join Engadget's Folding@home team![Via Slashdot]
Gearbox to develop Sega's Alien FPS
Sega has revealed that Brothers in Arms creator Gearbox will develop its Alien FPS. The announcement comes padded with a lil' promise, as Sega has declared the shooter "will retain the atmospheric look and feel of the original films" -- we'll interpret this line to be a reference to Alien and Aliens, not the additional sequels (and certainly not AVP).With the game not scheduled for release until 2009, neither Sega or Gearbox is saying much else. Should we assume, given Gearbox's history, that this Alien FPS will be squad-based, with a touch of strategy?See also:Alien games to burst out of Sega's chestObsidian to helm Aliens RPG for Sega
Obsidian to helm Aliens RPG for Sega
Sega is bleeding acid, slowly, with each drop another hint of where it will take its new Aliens license. The first major announcement is of an Aliens RPG, currently under development by Obsidian Entertainment (Neverwinter Nights 2, KOTOR 2).Although officially unveiled today, the Aliens RPG is likely the mysterious project announced in March by Sega and Obsidian, which has been in development under the name Project Georgia. The game is scheduled to be released for PC and next- new-gen consoles. We're hoping to see fleshed-out Aliens lore and, much in the way Oblivion handles vampirism, the "chance" to become a Xenomorph.IGN notes that Sega will announce the developer for its Aliens First-Person Shooter on Friday. If Sega aims to milk the franchise for all its worth, we're hoping to also see real-time strategy games, MMOs, kart racers, text-based adventures, and party games forthcoming.[Via Xbox 360 Fanboy]
Obsidian named as Aliens RPG dev
It was announced earlier this week that SEGA had acquired the rights to develop several games in the Aliens franchise. IGN reports that the Obsidian -- developers of Neverwinter Nights II -- has been chosen to develop an Aliens RPG(!). Okay, let's just put this out there. If you like it you can keep it, if you don't then just send it right back: we want an Aliens RPG. The creatures in the Aliens movies have always been frightening sure, but any depth behind them -- if there is any -- has been left completely unexplored. We're just going to hope out loud that Obsidian will expand the alien culture and not just give us some slobbering beasts to kill. Give us KOTOR set in the Aliens universe, and our chests will burst with orgasmic delight.Of course, we all know what the Game Over screen will be like.
