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Wes Anderson's 'Isle of Dogs' VR mock-doc is live on Pixel phones
Big-budget VR tie-ins are nothing new. Dunkirk got its own version from Intel, Blade Runner 2049 has one that debuted at Comic-Con and even Spider-Man got his own virtual reality "experience" when the reboot launched last year. Wes Anderson's Isle of Dogs premieres next month in the US, but you can experience the film's VR tie-in now via Google Spotlight Stories app and your Pixel phone. The faux-documentary will go live for everyone else via YouTube (VR, 360 and 2D) March 2.
Meet Jon Hamm's latest character in AR before the movie debuts
Jon Hamm and Lois Smith take on the future of personal assistants in Marjorie Prime, a movie set to release on August 18th. Co-starring Tim Robbins and Geena Davis, the film explores Marjorie's failing memory of her late husband, Walter, with a digitally recreated 40-year old version of him. Now you, too, can meet Walter as a hologram before the movie debuts via iOS or Android and developer 8i's Holo app.
Game of Thrones Ascent ties updates to Season 3
Watch out, Defiance: You're not the only transmedia synergy wiz-kid on the block! Game of Thrones Ascent announced that it's started to release weekly updates that will tie into the previous night's broadcasted TV episode. As the first episode of Game of Thrones' third season premiered last night, the first episode of Ascent's new content went live today. It's titled Episode 1: Valar Dohaeris and adds "dozens" of new quests, multiplayer alliance challenges, a power leaderboard, and a siege workshop. Developer Disruptor Beam released some stats for the title (which is still in beta!). The studio says that 43% of the players so far have pledged allegiance to the Starks, 25% to the Targaryens, and 15% to the Lannisters. More players choose to fight (35%) than any other action, and the Neck is the most popular destination in the game world (16%). [Source: Disruptor Beam press release]
Feel the Force: Angry Birds Star Wars coming November 8th to iOS, Android, WP, Kindle Fire and computers
Rovio teased a certain film-inspired Angry Birds picture a long, long last week, and as expected, it's another new game -- Angry Birds Star Wars. Our furious feathered friends are assuming the likenesses of characters from the epic saga, with the trusty Red Bird taking on Luke Skywalker's role. It wouldn't be the Rebel Alliance without a dark side to fight, which is where the Pigs fit into the storyline; even the music and levels for gravity-based play will hark back to the film franchise. In addition to the software, details of related merchandise have also been uncovered, including table games, toys and costumes. The game is out on November 8th for iOS, Android, Windows Phone, Kindle Fire and computers, and if it follows the original storyline, we wonder how Red Bird's going to feel about his porcine family history.
Rovio hints at Angry Birds tie-in with Star Wars on October 8th, Red Bird Five standing by
The green pigs have had their moment in the sun: it's time for the Angry Birds to come back. Rovio Mobile has posted a teaser of a collaboration between its frustrated avians and Star Wars that will get a grand reveal on October 8th at Toys R Us' Times Square location in New York City. No clear giveaways exist as to what's coming, although Rovio is promising animations, comics and other material in the weeks ahead -- we imagine it means more than a toy line, as unique as that can be. But does it mean an Angry Birds Space add-on that goes well beyond the Martian landscape, an entirely new game or something else altogether? We've asked the company for more details and will let you know if we're given more information. In the meantime, get ready for what's likely to be a geek culture explosion. [Thanks, Jaakko]
Invizimals gets 'enhanced reality' cartoon show, unlocks Vita content
Sony Europe yesterday announced an Invizimals animated show, and with that announcement hinted at a new PlayStation Vita entry in the series. The TV show, World Screen reports, is set to feature "enhanced reality" mechanics that let viewers unlock content on the Vita.That content could be from a new Invizimals game, or it could be a companion app, a monster running around the screen, or coupons for an Invizimals-themed meal deal for kids. Or it could be all of the above, which would be neat.The last game from Novorama, the team behind the Invizimals PSP games, was 2011's Reality Fighters on the Vita. The Sony-exclusive studio's next game remains unknown, with Novarama CEO David Sánchez telling Gamereactor in June, "Invizimals on PS Vita has not been announced and is not real – yet."The TV show's interactivity with Vita may be nothing to do with any game, but Invizimals, as an augmented reality series, seems a perfect fit for the console. For now, the Invizimals cartoon awaits its pilot and 26 subsequent episodes. Meanwhile, here in the US we're still waiting on a release for the third Invizimals game, Lost Tribes. Although a year's wait is per usual.We've reached out to Novarama for comment on the Vita content.
Rovio takes Angry Birds Space for a spin with NASA's Curiosity Mars Rover, teases Red Planet for fall (video)
It was almost as inevitable as gravity, really. Rovio has teamed up with NASA to offer a special, Curiosity-themed episode inside Angry Birds Space. The trek has the avians scouring 20 levels of the Martian landscape with a few bonuses thrown in for good measure. Just like your favorite childhood breakfast cereal, there's even a token healthy ingredient -- in this case, a chance for gamers to learn about Curiosity's exploration whenever they're not busy smashing pigs. Android and iOS users can dip into the new chapter right after they update, but that's not even the full extent of Rovio's plans. If the environs of Gale Crater are too limiting, you'll be glad to hear that the game developer is teasing a full-scale Red Planet variant for the fall.
PlayFirst to release Hotel Transylvania Dash for iPhone and iPad
PlayFirst has announced a collaboration with Sony that will result in a new version of its popular Hotel Dash iOS title called "Hotel Transylvania Dash," for a tie-in with the upcoming movie of the same name. The game will feature Hotel Dash's gameplay, along with new images and new assets directly from the Hotel Transylvania movie. This is the latest in a series of partnerships between major movie studios and iOS developers. Doodle Jump was the first big title to reveal a movie tie-in, and since then, other brands have teamed up with (mostly animated) movies, including Angry Birds Rio, and the recent Temple Run Brave. It's usually a smart move for both companies, bringing attention to the movie through the games, and bringing more players to the games through the movie's marketing department. With the success of this plan so far, we can probably expect to see more of this type of collaboration in the future. Hotel Transylvania Dash should be out soon.
Avengers Blu Ray release getting companion iOS app
The Avengers, after rocking movie theaters around the country, is headed to a Blu Ray release. Marvel Studios is trying something interesting with the presentation: The company will be releasing an iOS app designed to be used along with the movie itself. The Avengers Initiative: A Marvel Second Screen App will feature new information on the movie, its characters and production crew, and even interactive comics and other video content designed to work with the film itself. The app will be updated with new content every other week at first, and then weekly leading up to the release itself. "Second screen" viewing is a growing trend in mobile tablets. It doesn't sound like this app will specifically interact with the movie while you're watching it, but it's definitely meant to be used while watching, and there are technologies around and on the way to make that type of multiple-interaction viewing happen. The Avengers broke all kinds of records at the box office, and that makes it an ideal candidate to tie in to a relatively new tech trend like this. The Blu Ray disc should be out on September 25, with the app coming sometime this month.
Marvel Heroes whips up Avengers movie costumes
If you haven't seen this summer's Avengers movie, you totally should, and if you have, then you might be interested to hear that the upcoming Marvel Heroes is embracing the blockbuster's wardrobe. The superhero MMO will be including the film versions of Thor's, Iron Man's, Black Widow's, Hawkeye's, Hulk's, and Captain America's costumes. The game's devs assured players that the costumes won't just be for eye candy alone but "will also tie in key game systems in fun and unique ways." Marvel Heroes will offer many costume variants based on both the comics and the films, although the devs say that covering all of them might be a task that only a true superhero could accomplish. "Some of those experimental looks didn't exactly stand the test of time," the announcement explains.
If The Avengers ever has a video game tie-in, we hope it's not like this
We're warring with ourselves over the lack of a movie tie-in game for The Avengers, much like Tony Stark and Steve Rogers fight with each other in the beginning of the Avengers initiative, each representing opposing yet valid spectrums of morality, society and technology. And that's the problem – The Avengers movie is so good that we can relate everything in our daily lives back to the most faint of plot points and imagined superhero thought processes. It's also the reason we're disappointed that there's no Avengers video game.But movie games are always terrible, right? It probably would have been rushed, stilted and dumbed-down for a (much) wider audience.Actually, Steve, it probably would have been fantastic, as this pre-alpha footage from a canceled THQ game demonstrates.Well, Tony, that could merely be programmers editing the computer-generated graphics with software and codes to make the game appear better than it actually is.Steve, stop quoting Bruce. You sound like a man who's been frozen for 70 years. Oh wait.Shut up. At least the humorous video at the top of this page isn't real.For once, Cap, we agree on something. And there's always this potential Ubisoft title, Avengers: Battle for Earth. But it's not called Avengers: Iron Man is Obviously the Best, so I'm ignoring that one too. Cheers....Cheers.
DC Universe Online lets you prove how legendary you are
The fact of the matter is that in our minds, all of our characters are legendary. That's kind of the goal of MMOs. But DC Universe Online wants to give you a chance to mark your character as something special, even above and beyond that -- and true to form, the development team is kicking off a contest, asking players to show off their character to be featured in a future issue of DC Universe Online Legends, the game's tie-in comic book. Submissions require a shot of the character's front and back, a 50-word description of what makes the character legendary, and of course your account name. The deadline for submissions is October 4th, but you can feel free to submit as many of your characters as you like. So what are you waiting for? Not only will your character be legendary in your own mind, but you'll be able to point to him or her in the comic to show everyone else.
Angry Birds Rio out now on iPhone, iPad, Mac
The movie tie-in game for Angry Birds, called Angry Birds Rio, is now available on the iOS App Store for 99 cents on iPhone and $2.99 on the iPad; it's $4.99 on the Mac App Store. The game features 60 new levels of the popular bird-throwing game and stars two characters from the upcoming movie Rio. It features full Game Center integration with all new achievements and boasts "a spectacular boss fight" of some kind. In short, if you like Angry Birds, you'll enjoy this one as well. The game unfortunately does contain those ads that had some feathers ruffled in the original version, but the ratings on iTunes haven't suffered very much. And the description on the iOS store does promise updates "throughout 2011," so there's more content to come. In case you don't want to spend the buck just yet, there are also free versions for both platforms that have six levels to check out. But it's Angry Birds -- while it looks from the screenshot like you're busting birds out of cages rather than attacking pigs, the catapult physics gameplay is still the main focus.
J. Robert King talks about the second Guild Wars 2 novel, Edge of Destiny
As ArenaNet has been unveiling more and more racial lore about Guild Wars 2, there have been plenty of other sources for the upcoming game's backstory. Chief among those sources are the novels that have been mapping out the two centuries between the original Guild Wars and the sequel. Edge of Destiny is the second novel, written by J. Robert King, and it continues the story of the awakening Elder Dragons that shake the face of Tyria. We know that we've got more than a few regular readers interested in Guild Wars 2, and so we jumped at the opportunity to ask Mr. King a few questions about the storycrafting that went into writing Edge of Destiny. Click on past the break for more details on crafting the story and lore of Tyria's struggles and on how he worked in characters that are both iconic of the playable races while keeping them distinct and memorable.
Doodle Jump makes deal with Universal, gets movie tie-in
Here's an interesting story out of Macworld this week. Doodle Jump, recently featured as the Top Paid App of all time, is going to Hollywood, but not quite in the way you might think. Rather than a Doodle Jump movie, the movies are instead coming to Doodle Jump, as Universal has announced a deal to put the main character of its upcoming film, Hop, in the popular iOS game as a promotional download. The movie comes out April 1, but in February, Doodle Jump will get an Easter-related level, with the official Universal character in the app as a bonus. Sure, it's probably not the most exciting iOS tie-in -- the film was directed by the same guy who did the recent Alvin and the Chimpmunks movies, and unless you brought kids, it wasn't much to write home about (and even then, we hear it wasn't all that great). But still, this is an iOS title that's making a major deal with a Hollywood studio -- very impressive for the folks over at Lima Sky, and it's probably an indication that we'll see more collaboration between indie iOS developers and other forms of entertainment in the future.
Xbox 360 gets a limited edition orange Tron controller, because wired gamers need love too
In most circumstances, we'd argue a self-illuminating controller crisscrossed by bright bands of orange is a couple of notches over the top, but when it's Tron you're talking about, it all makes sense. This latest peripheral for the 360 is up for pre-order now at $39.99 and comes prepackaged with the smugness of knowing that each one sold will be part of a very limited 250-unit production run. It's officially licensed by Microsoft and arriving at snowy doorsteps some time later this month. A less exclusive blue brother should be joining it soon as well, in case the current hue's not quite to your liking.
Razer Tron Mouse leaves light trails in our hearts (video)
We don't really expect that the actual Tron movie will be any good, but boy, its officially endorsed accessories aren't looking half bad. The $100 laser mouse from Razer has snuck out for a quick pre-release video demo where we get to see it tracking gloriously on an accompanying "precision" mousepad. There's hardly much to be learnt about the mouse's ergonomics or 5600dpi accuracy, but it does glow with that mighty inviting shade of blue (cyan?) and the mousepad reacts to the laser's illumination by leaving dreamy light trails after your movements. It's cyber-poetry in motion, available after the break.
Samsung Galaxy S Femme bundles sexism in with your smartphone purchase
You know what really bugs us about this Samsung Galaxy S Femme handset? No, it's not that it once again trudges out the tired cliché that women must love pink -- it's that it presumes gents can't appreciate the benefits of Aveda's Damage Remedy and Hand Relief creams. We totally can! And we'd love to spend some quality time with the Aveda advisor app, which comes bundled on a 4GB MicroSD card, letting it identify for us the particular products we need to buy to keep our skin and hair looking their best. But, according to the packaging, this 4-inch, Gorilla Glass-bearing smartphone isn't for us. Sigh.
Twilight-customized LG GD510 set to Eclipse all other phones in France
Think Apple and Android fans are hardcore? Those guys are mere lightweights compared to Twilight fanatics, who'll soon have a phone to call their own too. Coming with eight tie-in wallpapers and that embellished back cover, this version of the GD510 -- a thoroughly unexciting featurephone with ambitions above its 3-inch, resistive touchscreen station -- has just become available over in France, for free on contracts with Orange or in exchange for €199 ($238). As a bonus temptation, LG is also throwing in a free copy of Twilight: New Moon, though we doubt anyone buying this phone will have seen that movie less than a dozen times.
Samsung announces Adidas-branded N150 Plus netbook
The big technology news out of the World Cup this year may be 3D broadcasts, but any sporting event of this size wouldn't be complete without some product tie-ins, and it looks like Samsung has now come through on that front with a little help from Adidas. They've announced this new Samsung N150 Plus Adidas Special Edition netbook, which is apparently identical to Samsung's regular N150 netbook, with the exception of an Adidas design on the lid, and the addition of a Bluetooth 3.0 module -- not to mention a matching mouse and "gift pouch." No word on pricing or availability just yet, but we have a sneaking suspicion it will be limited to places that play "football" instead of "soccer."
