Please be as good as this trailer makes it seem. Please be as good as this trailer makes it seem. Please be as good …
Latest trailer for MAN OF STEEL
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Trailer for THE HUNGER GAMES: CATCHING FIRE
I think this might have been my favorite of the books, when things look bleakest for Katniss and Peeta. Sutherland is great in this trailer as President Snow, and my god Jennifer Lawrence is just breathtakingly beautiful.
Enjoy.
Press release: Qbots computer game to debut at PAX East on Friday, March 22
That super-secret thing I told you I was working on? Here are the details.
For Immediate Release
Press Release
Qbots™ Adventure game to debut at PAX East
Procedurally generated sandbox game provides a rich environment for players to build, battle, share, and explore
Mechanicsburg, PA: Independent gaming company Qbots LLC will debut its first product, the robot adventure game Qbots, at booth 495 at PAX East in Boston on March 22, 2013.
“We couldn’t be more excited about this title,” says David Forbes, the president and founder of the company. “We feel we have a unique game that will be a huge hit with a wide range of gamers around the world.”
Qbots is a procedurally generated sandbox game, meaning the world is randomly created as players move through it. “The game is essentially infinite,” says Forbes. “We have plans to deliver three unique environments for players to explore: a ‘standard’ ground-based world; an undersea world; and an airless, low gravity moon.” Forbes does note that the game is in the early stages of development and that at launch just the standard environment will be available. The game has been in development since the summer of 2012.
Once players have chosen a particular Qbot avatar — there are three primary models, with a variety of armor customizations available for each — they can largely do whatever they want inside the world. “The tagline ‘build, battle, share, explore,’ is exactly what we hope to accomplish with this game,” says Forbes. Qbots will blend the complete freedom of sandbox gaming with the loot and character progression of the modern action RPG. There are a variety of ways to earn currency in the game, which can then be used to buy items from the Store tab in the Qbots’ user friendly Bin system. The player can purchase items such as enhanced armor that will improve game statistics, weaponry, tools, and building materials.
Immediately after players have outfitted their Qbot they have the ability to dig for materials that can be used to build fortifications, other structures, or craft special items. Players will also find themselves battling aggressive, malevolent Malbots. These vicious bots were once Qbots but were infected with a brain- and body-altering virus that has turned them into fierce enemies.
Players are able to share their adventure with friends using a cross-platform multiplayer mode (Windows, Mac, Linux). Players can explore these vast worlds together utilizing mysterious wormhole gates and portable teleporters in search of treasure and clues, or gather information that will help the Qbots solve the mystery of their absent creators, as well as the key to surviving the Malbot onslaught. Or not! Qbots offers players complete freedom to build, go on quests, or simply explore the world while accompanied by a group of friends.
“The game that will debut at PAX is an early iteration of the product,” says Forbes. This version is a playable development build which will demonstrate the core of what the team will continue to build upon. “Upon release later this spring, the game will be on sale for a pre-1.0 version price of $10.” Forbes says he expects the final price of the game to be $20. “Any players who purchase the $10 beta version will automatically receive all future updates of the game at no additional cost. We want to reward anyone who takes a chance with us and enters the Qbots universe early.
A free unrestricted version of the game will be available for a two day trial period before purchase is required to continue game play. The registration and authorization process have been custom built by Qbots LLC to make the process as seamless and easy to use as possible for purchasers.
“There are so many things you can do with the game, we haven’t thought of them all,” says Forbes. “Qbots is a game of creativity and growth. That’s what’s exciting for us. To get this in the hands of players and watch what they do with it.”
Under the hood, the game has been built using the most recent version of the Unity Pro gaming engine.
To download the game, view production artwork, watch game play videos, or learn more about Qbots, please visit the company website at www.qbots.net.
# # # # #
For more information, contact:
David Forbes
President/CEO, Qbots LLC
1232 Cross Creek Drive
Mechanicsburg, PA 17050
Phone 717.503.7228
dave@qbots.net
What I’ve been doing for the past year
I’m not quite ready just yet for a full reveal, but the long and short of it is that I started a video game company last spring and we’re about to have the public unveiling of our first game at PAX East in Boston at the end of this month. We’re in a mad scramble to get things locked down and stable as possible before then. In the coming weeks I’ll be trickling out more bits of information and then a full-on blowout of what the game is, the thinking behind it, who’s involved in making it, what you can expect it to evolve into … lots of fun stuff.
So for now this is just a tease, but the wait for tons of details will soon be over. Promise!
EVERWHEN now available for the Kobo reader
For those of you using the Kobo e-reader (which is apparently pretty popular outside the US), Everwhen is now available. Search for it in the Kobo e-store, or use the link below.
Find the Kobo ebook here!
“Everyone is mine to torment.” New trailer for GAME OF THRONES
We see the Unsullied! God, they are one of the most heartbreaking creations I’ve ever read. (And no, if you haven’t read the books I’m not going to spoil it for you.)
The trailer for season three is below. I cannot wait. Enjoy!
New TRANCE red band trailer
This looks very intriguing. The last shot in the trailer is … well, just watch and judge for yourself. Reminds me of Cronenberg during his heyday.
Inside Highclere Castle, The Set And Real-Life Muse For Downton Abbey
Pinnacles jutting into the sky, Highclere Castle is a place millions of Americans are familiar with — even if they haven’t heard the name before. The sprawling British estate is where Downton Abbey is shot, the wildly popular PBS series that depicts daily life in a British mansion during the early 20th century. But Highclere isn’t just a backdrop, it’s a real-life muse for the series, one of the last operational ‘great houses’ still occupied by lord and lady and accompanying staff.
“It’s possibly the most important Victorian House still lived in in England today,” says Lady Fiona, the charming 8th Countess of Carnarvon (and real-life equivalent of Downton’s Lady Cora Crawley). With her husband, the 8th Earl of Carnarvon George Herbert, the couple call Highclere home, employing a roster of domestic staff, hosting royal guests (as well as commoners) and gleaning income from the surrounding farmland.
Located in England’s southern county of Hampshire, Highclere Castle is the seat of the Earl of Carnarvon, owned by the Herbert family since 1679. The property’s history goes back 1,300 years, when it was owned by the Bishops ofWinchester (hence the term ‘abbey’). Since the 17th century, the great house has gone through several architectural incarnations: it was renovated in Elizabethan style, converted to a classical Georgian home, and then underwent an extensive expansion in the 19th century under the direction of Charles Barry, a Renaissance revival architect who added the soaring tower and bath stone exteriors that grace the castle today. The accompanying gardens were sculpted by Lancelot ‘Capability’ Brown, an 18th century landscape architect who designed more than 170 gardens including those of the royal palace.
I just started watching the show (late to the party, I know), but I already adore it. Incredibly well done in every regard. Definitely worth your time, and like most British series, the seasons are short, seven to ten episodes, which I much prefer to the 22-24 episodes we get on American network television.
Read the rest at forbes.com.
UPSTREAM COLOR full trailer is gorgeous, ethereal, intriguing, mysterious
And it gives away nothing about the story. There are more gorgeous shots in these two minutes than there are in two hours of most movies. I cannot wait to see this. I worry that it will make me feel as stupid as Carruth’s first film, Primer, did, but that’s a risk I’m willing to take.
Here’s the synopsis of the film, which gives away no more than the trailer.
A man and woman are drawn together, entangled in the life cycle of an ageless organism. Identity becomes an illusion as they struggle to assemble the loose fragments of wrecked lives.
IBM removed the Urban Dictionary from Watson’s memory after it got too sassy
Why, O why, would IBM want to do such a thing?
Like a parent washing out their child’s mouth with soap, IBM was forced to cleanse its supercomputer Watson’s memory after it learned a thing or two from the Urban Dictionary.According to CNN, the Jeopardy champion began memorizing entries from the slang-filled site when the supercomputer was in development years ago, but sadly, Watson was unable to separate polite and proper language from the crude phrases found in the Urban Dictionary. So while terms like “LOL” and “cool story, bro” likely caused no issues for IBM research scientist Eric Brown, Watson’s vocabulary also extended into the vulgar, with Brown recalling a time when the computer responded to a query by saying “bullshit.” Ultimately, the entries were removed from Watson’s memory, but we can’t help but think about how entertaining its interactions with Alex Trebek would have been had they been left untouched.
Read the rest at theverge.com. A few of the comments are pure gold.