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Chrome extension makes quick clips from Twitch broadcasts
In the words of Harlan Ellison, "Pay the writer." Or, in this case, attribute and pay the streamer. Plays.tv is launching a a Chrome app that enables Twitch casters to recieve full attribution for clips that fans make from watching their broadcast sessions. It's a solution to a problem many streamers face: They're spending five or more hours streaming per day and afterward, should they do something pretty crazy in-game, if they want to make a shareable clip of it that means more time spent editing and sitting in front of his or her computer. It's a vicious, time-consuming cycle when some Twitch partners are already spending seven days per week on camera and in front of their gaming rigs.
'The Division' goes cinematic in live-action story clips
For an awfully long time, the only news we'd heard out of Ubisoft regarding the ultra-ambitious online shooter/role-playing game hybrid Tom Clancy's: The Division were release date delays. But now, a few months out from launch, the hype machine is in full force for a game that's looking quite a bit different than its debut at E3 2013. In an effort to fill in some of the game's backstory about a currency-based pandemic that strikes on Black Black Friday and brings society as we know it to a halt, the gaming powerhouse has teamed with noted YouTubers Devinsupertramp and RocketJump, and online production house Corridor Digital for a quartet of different stories set in the "mid-crisis" universe.
Facebook app shows every team's playbook for Madden 25
With the first week of the preseason in full swing and regular season NFL games on the way, players that are eager for Madden 25 might want to do a little game-planning in advance. Prima Games put together a nice tool for armchair QBs in the form of a free, simple Facebook app that shows every team's offensive and defensive playbooks in the game. The app breaks down plays by formation, so it's easy to find your favorite gun snugs routes without sifting through strong I-formation plays. I like the look of Seattle's mix of plays in the pistol formation, which will go well with the running game improvements and combo moves in the game. Madden 25 will launch on August 27 for Xbox 360 and PS3, and will head to next-gen systems at a later date. The game's demo, which features a Super Bowl rematch between the Ravens and the 49ers, will be available next Tuesday, August 13.
Robots perform in 'A Midsummer Night's Dream,' said to outdo the cast of New Moon
Shakespeare's plays have a long, long history of being modded to fit the times. We've seen Macbeths do the running man, and Cordelias dressed like Susie Sioux -- and we've also seen Forbidden Planet, so we know that Robby was just a tinned up Ariel. So robots in Shakespeare? Sure, we've seen that before, but what haven't we seen intertwined into bad theatre? Well, Texas A&M's just staged A Midsummer Night's Dream to include robotic cast members. Working with Professor Robin Murphy, who heads up the Center for Robot-Assisted Search and Rescue, director Amy Hopper hacked the script a bit to include an air robot -- which is about the size of a pizza, and has been used in military operations -- playing a fairy, and six small radio controlled helicopters. The robotics team used the opportunity to observe how cast and audience members reacted to the robots, and we're pretty sure the audience warmed to them far more quickly than they would to Christian Bale or Sean Penn.
Robots star in Swiss play about a nerd
We're not the biggest theatre-goers around here (though we've been known to take in the odd Phantom of the Opera performance), but this is one play we would jump at the chance to see. Called -- quite fittingly -- Robots, the musical stars three autonomous robots developed by Bluebotics, a company which specializes in service bots. The story revolves around a lonely human man who lives in isolation with just his robots, and what happens when a woman threatens to visit him in the not too distant future. Yeah, like we haven't heard this one a million times. The play opens on May 1st at the Barnabe Theatre in Servion, Switzerland, and will run until May 17th.
Cinemassively: SL Shakespeare Company
Since the beginning of August, Ina Centaur and crew, in collaboration with SLiterary, have been plotting a reproduction of Hamlet in the virtual world of Second Life. According to their production blog, they researched everything about the characters to recreate them, down to the skin and clothing. In addition to explanations of wardrobe, animation, and tech, they also feature ways you can sponsor their shows, which take place at the SLiterary Globe Theater.Ina prepared a storyboard Machinima of Act 1, Scene 1 as an example of how the show will be. The SL Shakespeare Company will be hosting a screening, followed by a question and answer session with the Hamlet directors and cast, on Sunday, November 25th, at 4pm PST. There will be an encore presentation on Saturday, December 1st, at 11am PST.
