Events

Ubisoft announces Spartacus Legends game based on original TV series

Gaming
News

Andrew Edney

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Jul 16, 2012

Ubisoft announces Spartacus Legends game based on original TV series

Ubisoft have announced the upcoming release of Spartacus Legends, a fighting game that will immerse users in the visceral world created by the popular Spartacus original series produced and distributed by Starz Entertainment. Spartacus Legends is a unique gaming experience based on popular characters from the international hit series.

Spartacus Legends comes early 2013. Gamers will experience primeval gladiator moments, from training inside the ludus to brutal battles in the arena, all while striving to become a legend.

Featuring thousands of ruthless weapon combinations and a robust skill system, Spartacus Legends delivers a variety of tools for gamers to customize their gladiators and dismember their foes. Gamers will be able to fight as Spartacus, Crixus or one of their own created gladiators as they battle with friends offline or in online multiplayer to join the ranks on the worldwide leaderboards.

Liam McIntyre has been very involved with the Spartacus Legends team. In addition to allowing his likeness and voice to be featured, Liam, a big gamer himself, played early builds of the game and provided his creative feedback throughout the development process.

Check out the trailer below:

The Spartacus franchise (Gods of the Arena, Blood and Sand and Vengeance) airs in more than 150 countries and has been translated into 15 languages. In the United States, viewership for the show has grown with each season and is one of the highest rated cable series, with more than six million viewers watching each episode.

In the upcoming final season, Spartacus: War of the Damned, sees the return of Liam McIntyre (Spartacus), Manu Bennett (Crixus), Dustin Clare (Gannicus), Dan Feuerriegel (Agron), Cynthia Addai-Robinson (Naevia) and Ellen Hollman (Saxa). They are joined by Todd Lasance in the role of Gaius Julius Caesar, along with Simon Merrells as Marcus Crassus. Spartacus is produced by Rob Tapert, Sam Raimi, Joshua Donen and Steven S. DeKnight.

NBC Buys Microsoft Share of MSNBC, Launches NBCNews.Com

Jim McCarthy

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Jul 16, 2012

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NBC announced that they have purchased Microsoft’s interest in MSNBC.Com and is relaunching the site as NBCNews.Com. Read on for details!

NBC has purchased Microsoft’s remaining interest in the website MSNBC.Com, and is re-launching the site as NBCNews.Com. This allows NBC to re-brand the news site in a manner consistent with its news gathering arm rather than their political commentary arm, and for Microsoft it allows them to negotiate with other news organizations for news coverage for its MSN.Com and Bing news apps. Here is the announcement from NBC:

REDMOND, Wash. — NBC News has acquired full control of msnbc.com and its digital network from Microsoft Corp. and is immediately rebranding the site as NBCNews.com.

Many details of the arrangement remain to be worked out, and financial terms weren’t disclosed.

But NBC News President Steve Capus said the site — one of the news industry’s earliest and most successful online operations — would become part of NBC News Digital, a new division led by Vivian Schiller, the former president and chief executive of National Public Radio. Schiller joined NBC News as chief digital officer last year.

“Some really talented journalists have passed through the doorway of msnbc.com and taken us to the point where we have something that is an outstanding set of properties, and we value them to such a degree that we decided that we wanted to own them outright,” she said.

In the short term, msnbc.com will reflect the homepage of NBCNews.com. Eventually, it will become the address of MSNBC TV, giving MSNBC TV its own dedicated address and ending an arrangement under which the news site shared the MSNBC name with an increasingly commentary-driven channel.

Charlie Tillinghast, the site’s president and publisher, said NBC News would benefit from “proper brand alignment between the TV properties and their Web counterparts — NBC News and NBCNews.com, MSNBC cable and msnbc.com and TODAY show and TODAY.com.”

“We’ve had great success combining TV, desktop, mobile and iTV (Internet TV) where the value is greater than the sum of the parts,” he said. “That requires both the brand alignment and product integration that is possible only with a wholly owned unit.”

For now, visitors should see little difference. “It’ll have a new name and a new URL, but everything else will be the same,” Tillinghast said.

Capus said that even though the name would change, the site’s focus on hard news and original reporting would stay the same. The site has won the highest awards in online journalism, including last year’s National Headliner Award for best television-affiliated website.

“There’s nothing wrong with what’s there,” he said. “There’s nothing that needs to be fixed.”

Instead, the new arrangement “plays to our strengths,” he said.

“NBC News has the most diverse portfolio of offerings of any news organization in the country, period,” Capus said. “We were in a joint venture in the area with the biggest growth in the news and information space, and we would like to control our own future.”

The transition is expected to take about two years, during which time NBC will continue to provide news content to Microsoft’s MSN.Com and Bing ventures. MSNBC.Com will become aligned with the cable network’s content and NBCNews.Com will be the new web home to NBC News.

Read the NBC Story!

NOW TV powered by Sky available from tomorrow

Andrew Edney

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Jul 16, 2012

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NOW TV, the brand new internet TV service from Sky, is about to give millions more people an easy and commitment-free way to enjoy amazing movies, instantly. From tomorrow, NOW TV will open up more choice for consumers by making Sky Movies – followed later this year by Sky Sports – available across a wide range of internet-connected devices.

Building on the increasing popularity of watching TV over the internet, NOW TV will offer access to Sky Movies – the UK’s most popular subscription movies service – in a new way. It is easy, flexible and great value – with no contract, set-up costs or installation.

NOW TV gives you two ways to watch great movies.

For total flexibility, NOW TV customers can ‘pay & play’ for instant access to an extensive range of over 1,000 movies through Sky Store including the very latest ‘now on DVD’ releases and much-loved classics. From launch, ‘now on DVD’ titles will include recent releases such as We Bought a Zoo, The Woman in Black, The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel, This Means War and Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance. ‘Pay & play’ movies on NOW TV range from 99p for classic titles to £3.49 for the latest blockbusters.

For an all-you-can-watch experience, NOW TV also offers the monthly Sky Movies Pass with instant and unlimited access to the entire Sky Movies collection. At any time, customers with a Sky Movies Pass can choose from over 600 movies, including recent blockbusters and classics from major Hollywood studios such as Disney, Fox, Paramount, Sony, Warner Bros., and Universal. Each Friday, there are up to five new and exclusive Sky Movies premieres, at least 12 months before they are available on other online subscription services. In fact, Sky Movies offers customers access to around three-quarters of the year’s top 100 UK box office movies. At launch, the Sky Movies Pass comes with unlimited, instant access to titles such as X-Men: First Class, Bridesmaids, Green Lantern, Cowboys and Aliens and many more.

All NOW TV customers signing up for the Sky Movies Pass can enjoy a free 30-day trial. Following the end of the trial period, the Sky Movies Pass is available for just £15 a month.

Available to anyone in the UK with an internet connection, NOW TV will launch tomorrow on PC, Mac and selected Android smartphones; on iPhone, iPad within the next month, on Xbox later this summer and YouView when it launches. NOW TV will continue to develop for other platforms and devices, including Sony Playstation 3 and Roku streaming player, with further announcements to follow.

More great Sky content will also be added in the coming months, with Sky Sports due to launch on NOW TV before the end of the year. This will enable NOW TV customers to enjoy live action from the Barclays Premier League, UEFA Champions League, England Test cricket, Heineken Cup rugby, ATP tennis, the Masters from Augusta and much more. The introduction of Sky Sports will be followed on NOW TV by must-see shows from Sky 1, Sky Atlantic, Sky Arts and Sky Living, including home-grown drama, original comedy and US shows.

For more details on NOW TV, please visit: www.nowtv.com

Gears of War: Judgement coming 19th March 2013

Gaming
News

Andrew Edney

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Jul 16, 2012

0

Gears of War: Judgement coming 19th March 2013

It has been revealed today that the new Gears of War game, Judgement, will be released on 19th March 2013.

Before the rise of the Lambent, the sinking of Jacinto or the detonation of the Lightmass bomb, there was Emergence Day – when the Locust horde burst from the ground and set Sera on a path toward near annihilation. Launching 19 March, 2013 for £49.99, Gears of War: Judgment brings players back to the terrifying aftermath of E-Day, before the events of the Gears trilogy, for the most intense and challenging Gears game yet.

Developed exclusively for Xbox 360 by Epic Games and People Can Fly, Gears of War: Judgment delivers a riveting campaign featuring new characters, weapons and enemies, and new multiplayer experiences like OverRun, an all-new class-based mode that combines elements of the acclaimed Horde and Beast modes pioneered in previous “Gears” games.

At E3 last month I was lucky enough to spend some time with the developers and get a preview of what Judgement will look like, and I was very impressed.

Fans can get ahead of the game and learn the essentials of OverRun’s thrilling new class-based competitive gameplay through the OverRun tutorial video released today. Narrated by Damon Baird, players will see the required skills they need to defend as a COG or attack as a Locust and engage in adrenaline-pumping skirmishes unlike anything Gears fans have experienced before.

Following the debut of OverRun at E3 2012 on the “Rooftops” map, today the all-new “Island” map was revealed. Island takes place on an archipelago of islands off the coast of Halvo Bay, which serves as a supply and re-fuelling depot that feeds the larger military machine along the coast. The individual islands are connected by a series of bridges and tunnels, forming a network of unknown size and security. This is restricted territory, and civilians are not permitted on, or even near, any of the islands.

Written by Tom Bissell (journalist and author of “Extra Lives”) and Rob Auten, Gears of War: Judgment follows Kilo Squad, led by fan-favourite characters Damon Baird and Augustus “The Cole Train” Cole, as they defy orders and attempt to rescue the city of Halvo Bay from destruction at the hands of the Locust onslaught.

The Gears of War series is one of the most popular franchises in Xbox history, having sold more than 18 million games worldwide, and spawning New York Times-bestselling novels, toys, collectibles, graphic novels, and more. To learn more about Gears of War: Judgment and the Gears of War franchise, please visit: http://gearsofwar.xbox.com

Xbox 360 Limited Edition Halo 4 Console Bundle and Accessories Revealed

Andrew Edney

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Jul 16, 2012

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Xbox 360 Limited Edition Halo 4 Console Bundle and Accessories Revealed

This weekend at Comic-Con, Microsoft revealed a limited edition Halo 4 Xbox 360 console bundle – and all I know is that I want one!

The Xbox 360 Limited Edition Halo 4 console bundle is available for pre-order now and will arrive in stores with the launch of Halo 4 on 6 Nov, 2012. This must-have bundle contains an exclusive, custom-designed console and two exclusive controllers inspired by the game, a standard edition copy of Halo 4, a wired headset, a massive 320GB hard drive, built-in Wi-Fi, and Xbox LIVE tokens for exclusive Halo 4 in-game and avatar marketplace downloadable content. The “ring of light” on the console, as well as the Xbox Guide button of the controller will showcase a glowing blue colour to match the overall Halo 4 colour scheme.

As the definitive console bundle of 2012, the limited edition console bundle offers an incredible value for fans who want to enjoy the immersive world of “Halo 4.” The Xbox 360 Limited Edition Halo 4 bundle is available through your favourite retailer while supplies last, priced at £269.99.

In addition to the limited edition console bundle, Microsoft and 343 Industries are releasing a standalone Xbox 360 Halo 4 Limited Edition Wireless Controller. The graphics on this controller will feature the United Nations Space Command (UNSC) emblem on a dark grey translucent body, and will include an Avatar T-shirt as exclusive downloadable content. The “Halo 4” Limited Edition Wireless controller will also feature the Halo 4 glowing blue Xbox Guide button. This product will be available by 6 Nov, 2012 and is priced at £39.99.

Do you want to order more than one Raspberry Pi? Well now you can!

Andrew Edney

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Jul 16, 2012

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Do you want to order more than one Raspberry Pi? Well now you can!

This weekend saw the Cambridge Raspberry Jam event and one of the things I was told, that is now public, is that you can order as many Pi’s as you like from today!

This is what Liz just posted on the Raspberry Pi blog:

Up until now, we’ve had to restrict purchases of the Raspberry Pi to one per customer because the demand has been (and continues to be) so high. Both of our manufacturing partners have been working at building capacity so you we can lift that limit – right now, 4000 Raspberry Pis are being made every day. As of this morning, you’ll be able to buy as many Raspberry Pis as you want from both RS Components and element14/Premier Farnell. (See below for ordering instructions.)

This is of special importance to those of you who are using the Raspberry Pi in your businesses, and to people looking to buy classroom sets for schools and universities. And if you’ve been waiting for the Raspberry Pi to be in general delivery before you order, now’s the time to get your order in; it helps us to plan the supply chain efficiently if we have a bit of visibility of what’s just down the road.

Jo from RS says:

We’re delighted to announce that as of 08.30am BST on 16th July, RS and Allied are now taking general orders for Raspberry Pi. Orders can be placed by visiting http://pi.rsdelivers.com.

This means that customers worldwide can now order multiple quantities of the Raspberry Pi Model B board, along with the associated accessories, including SD cards pre-loaded with the latest Raspberry Pi operating system and Raspberry Pi cases for safer storage. Customers will be provided with a forecast future delivery date when placing their order, and these orders will be fulfilled after all orders placed before 16th July have been shipped.

We’ve opened up the RS and Allied websites so that businesses, engineering professionals and educational institutions can now place their Raspberry Pi order through our usual business-to-business channels. Anyone who wants to buy the Raspberry Pi for personal use will be directed to the Pi Store to make their purchase.

While existing orders for Raspberry Pi will continue to be fulfilled through the next few months, the ramp-up of production has enabled us to lift the restrictions on the number of units per customer. Orders can now be placed for unlimited quantities of Raspberry Pi board and accessories without the need to register or to receive an invitation to order. We’re currently forecasting that these orders will start reaching customers by the end of September.

The Raspberry Pi boards from RS and Allied are priced at £21.60, plus tax, shipping charges and import duty as applicable.

Jenny from Farnell says:

element14 are pleased to announce that we will now be taking volume orders for Raspberry Pi Model B, on an expected delivery lead-time of 4-6 weeks, as our order backlog improves and our production capacity continues to increase.

Anyone wishing to purchase 10 or more Raspberry Pi’s should email rpiquotes@element14.com for the very latest delivery information.

These orders will be serviced and delivered in the date order that they’re taken, and will not impact any deliveries already committed to other customers.

Now form an orderly line!

So, go get yours now!

Check out what happened at the Q&A session with the Raspberry Pi Foundation

Tom Clancy’s Ghost Recon: Future Soldier Arctic Strike DLC map pack available tomorrow

Gaming
News

Andrew Edney

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Jul 16, 2012

0

Tom Clancy’s Ghost Recon: Future Soldier Arctic Strike DLC map pack available tomorrow

The first Tom Clancy’s Ghost Recon: Future Soldier DLC package, the Arctic Strike Map Pack, will be available tomorrow for the Xbox 360 and Sony PlayStation 3.

From the streets of Moscow to the far reaches of the Arctic, this all-new downloadable content pack extends your Ghost Recon Future Soldier experience with new multiplayer maps, a new multiplayer mode, a new Guerrilla Mode co-op map, and six additional weapons to give you the supreme edge over your enemies.

Content includes:

3 MP Maps
1 new MP Mode “Stockade”
1 Guerilla Co-op Map
6 Weapons:
- Rifleman: F2000 and CZS805
- Scout: Type 05 JS and BT MP9
- Engineer: OCP-11 and Mk17
Achievements
Level cap increase of +10

Arctic Strike will be available for purchase for 800 Microsoft points on Xbox Live or £7.99 on the PlayStation Network.

For more news and information, please visit the game’s official website at http://ghost-recon.ubi.com/gr-portal/en-GB/home/index.aspx

Bing Search Engine gets a facelift

Andrew Edney

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Jul 16, 2012

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Bing are rolling out a series of changes to its search engine to make things easier for you to use it.

The first thing you will notice is a new slicker, cleaner design starting with the homepage, which allows for a much larger homepage image (as shown above).

In addition the results themselves are cleaner. Removing the information on the left of the page and minimising the header raises the level of consistency and predictability while making it easier for you to scan the page and quickly find the information you want. Increasing the space between lines improves readability and optimises the page for touch devices (as shown below).

Do you use Bing? If so tell us what you think by leaving a comment below.

Activision announces On Her Majesty’s Secret Service mission part of new 007 Legends game

Gaming
News

Andrew Edney

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Jul 16, 2012

0

Activision announces On Her Majesty’s Secret Service mission part of new 007 Legends game

On Her Majesty’s Secret Service is the second of the five classic Bond film inspired missions revealed in the recently announced 007 Legends video game. The sixth mission will be SkyFall.

True love is hard to find but James Bond has finally found his equal in the beautiful Tracy di Vicenzo, the daughter of European crime syndicate head Marc-Ange Draco – Bond’s key contact for tracking down criminal mastermind Ernst Stavro Blofeld. After wooing Tracy and their ensuing whirlwind romance, they jet set off to the Swiss Alps as Bond pursues Blofeld. It’s here, in a picturesque Alpine setting, that gamers encounter an avalanche of action. Blofeld is aware of Bond’s undercover ruse and kidnaps Tracy, luring Bond into a rescue mission involving a fast-paced downhill ski chase and a confrontation in a high-flying cable car, which also uncovers Blofeld’s master plan to release a deadly virus in five of the world’s largest cities. With the help of Tracy’s father, players must infiltrate Blofeld’s private research facility in the Swiss Alps, thwart the release of the virus and save Tracy before it’s too late.

A first-of-its-kind Bond video game, 007 Legends features an original, overarching storyline featuring five classic Bond films offering the most diverse Bond gaming experience yet! A sixth mission based on this year’s highly-anticipated film – SKYFALL – which will be available post launch as free downloadable content.

As with the feature films, 007 Legends equips players with state-of-the-art spy gadgets, an arsenal of weapons, including Bond’s signature Walther PPK, and sleek vehicles as they jet off to exotic locations. Use Bond’s quick wits, class and style to take down notorious villains and their brutal henchmen, perform impressive stunts and of course… gorgeous Bond women.

The first mission, Moonraker, was announced back in May.

Fans can check out the On Her Majesty’s Secret Service gameplay trailer at www.007legends.com/social_media. For more information about 007 Legends, visit the game’s official Web site – www.007Legends.com – and Facebook page – www.facebook.com/007LegendsGame.

Planned to launch on 19^th October, 2012, 007 Legends is being developed by Eurocom, under license from EON Productions Ltd. and Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios, Inc. (MGM) for the Xbox 360, PlayStation³ and download on Windows PC.

Amazon Introduces GameCircle for Kindle Fire and Opens Up APIs for Game Developers

Andrew Edney

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Jul 15, 2012

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Amazon Introduces GameCircle for Kindle Fire and Opens Up APIs for Game Developers

Amazon.com has introduced GameCircle, an all-new gaming experience for Kindle Fire, and released a series of APIs for developers to add this new experience to their games.

GameCircle offers gaming customers a series of features such as achievements, leaderboards, and sync that make gaming even more fun, convenient and social on Kindle Fire. The newly-released GameCircle APIs will help game developers quickly and easily integrate their games with GameCircle, allowing them to grow their business by reaching new customers and keeping them engaged.

Achievements

Achievements allow players to track all earned trophies, treasures, badges, awards and more while they’re playing games on their Kindle Fire. Players won’t have to leave a game to receive messages, get updates or track accolades. They can also pause a game, view an achievements summary, determine what badges are still needed or desired, and then return to gameplay.

Leaderboards

Leaderboards provide an in-game view of score comparison information and percentile ranking, allowing players to quickly and easily check standings against other players without ever leaving the game.

Sync

Sync automatically saves players’ in-game progress to the cloud and allows them to pick up exactly where they left off when restoring a deleted game or switching between their devices. Players will no longer have to worry about losing game progress, scores or achievements between Kindle Fire devices, as all data is securely stored for free in the cloud.

“We have received extremely positive feedback from developers on our recently launched In-App Purchasing API with its easy 1-Click purchasing, and now we’re excited to add yet another reason to be a game developer for Kindle Fire,” said Paul Ryder, Vice President of Apps and Games at Amazon. “The new GameCircle APIs mean that developers don’t have to worry about building leaderboards, achievements or sync in their games – they can focus on the elements of their games that are truly unique while building an immersive, more entertaining experience on Kindle Fire. This will quickly help developers grow their business by reaching more customers and keeping them engaged.”

“We are thrilled to be part of Amazon’s GameCircle with Temple Run,” said Keith Shepherd, Co-founder of Imangi Studios. “The new service is a great way to keep our fans engaged by offering them more opportunities to play the game, and an intuitive platform to connect with new players.”

“We’re excited about Amazon’s GameCircle because it brings a new level of engagement for our most popular Android titles such as Doodle Jump and Collapse!,” said Ken Murphy, VP of GameHouse Studios. “The ability to compete for high scores and achievements through the Amazon network means even more fun for GameHouse players.”

“GameCircle is a wonderful addition to Triple Town,” said David J. Edery, CEO of Spry Fox. “It guarantees that Kindle Fire users will not lose their active game or their hard-earned coins if they replace their Kindle Fire, or if they must uninstall and reinstall Triple Town for whatever reason. It also enables multiple-device owners to transfer their game from one Kindle Fire device to another—something we think gamers will love.”

For more information on GameCircle and for access to the achievements, leaderboard and sync APIs, visit http://amazon.com/gamecircle.