“I only need eight bits to know that this is it,” a lovestruck Luigi croons to Princess Peach in this nerd-tastic ballad that instantly went viral on the social web upon hitting YouTube earlier Wednesday. The green-clad, mustachioed Luigi always seemed to be more a wingman to partner in-crime-Mario — who sported a more passionate red outfit — in the Super Mario Bros. video game franchise. But it seems Luigi was really just the shy, sensitive type and actually had dreams of his own all along. Read more: http://mashable.com/2012/08/22/lovestruck-luigi-pines-for-princess-peach-ballad/
When Irrational Games needed to create a distinctive look to promote the female lead in the video game BioShock Infinite, it looked to 3D scanning rather than traditional modeling software. The game’s leading lady, Elizabeth Comstock, is one of the most original and engaging digital characters in years, and her realistic appearance in a commercial for the game revealed how effectively the technology can convey facial features and emotions. Elizabeth’s in-game design came from a traditional combination of motion-capture for her body and 3D modeling for her face, but Irrational needed a face for Elizabeth in the promotional materials — billboards, print and online ads and even TV spots. As the game neared its release in March, Irrational knew that Elizabeth would have to grab the audience’s attention right away, and set about crafting a TV commercial for the game. Elizabeth’s expressive face and realistic features come by way of an Artec 3D scanner: a professional-grade product made by a startup company in Moscow. “Our scanners are a little different,” Anna Zevelyov, Artec 3D Scanning’s director of business development, told TechNewsDaily. “Actually, they’re a lot different!” Whereas most professional-grade 3D scanners rest on a tripod and require a person to move them around an object very slowly, Artec’s scanner is handheld and operates like a video camera. “You take it in your hand, you walk around the object, and you capture it at 16 [frames per second],” Zevelyov said. “It automatically aligns all the strains together to create a single object in 3D.” The Artec scanners’ size and rapidity make them a natural fit for capturing human subjects, Zevelyov said. “Humans can’t stand still very long,” she added. Irrational Games sought out Anna Moleva, a popular Russian cosplayer — someone who dresses up as characters from pop culture for conventions or photo shoots — to represent Elizabeth in the commercial. As a Russian scanning company, Artec was a natural fit. “This beautiful young Russian woman came by and she was posing,” Zevelyov explained. “We scanned her here and sent the scans to Los Angeles. They did all the postproduction on it; they made her come to life.” “We made her do a bunch of faces,” Zevelyov said. “Here she is angry, here she is sad, here she is laughing, here she is frowning … Once [artists] get these scans, they don’t have to imagine what she might look like, because they’ve never seen her.” Zevelyov estimates the whole scanning session took, at most, 20 minutes — a far cry from the eight-plus hours it can often take designers to create a face from scratch. Without 3D scanning, making a face for a video game character can be an arduous process, to say nothing of animating it or connecting it to a moveable body. “It takes [designers] about four hours to draw a face, and another four hours to draw the texture and color of the face, and the shape,” Zevelyov said. “Let’s say they want to digitize Brad Pitt,” she […]
The only thing more unmistakable than Mario’s theme song is his signature ensemble — at least, most of the time. The mustachioed plumber is much more than just his overalls. Over the years, Nintendo has provided Mario with a wide array of power-ups that not only amplify gameplay, but also costumed the character in some fun and unusual suits. Only time will tell what the future holds in terms of Mario’s wardrobe. Let’s hope there are even more hilarious garbs to add to his closet. Mario’s 10 Weirdest Power Up Suits 1. Boo Mario From Super Mario Galaxy, Boo Mario appears when Mario grabs a Boo Mushroom, which disguises him as a ghost. He can levitate, become invisible, pass through walls and even make other Boos fall in love with him. Image: Nintendo 2. Propeller Mario This power up from New Super Mario Bros. Wii makes Mario look like Inspector Gadget, but comes in handy during gameplay. Image: Nintendo 3. Boot Mario The Boot Suit from Super Mario Bros. III is a rare power up that got thrown out in later generations of the game. It’s probably not an efficient way of getting around, but it probably gave a lot of gamers some good laughs. Image: Nintendo 4. Flying Squirrel Mario Any time you give Mario a tail, expect something amazing to happen. When the plumber grabs a Super Acorn in New Super Mario Bros. U. he transforms into a puffy flying squirrel. Image: Nintendo 5. Statue Mario Statue Mario may be immobile in this power up, but he’s invincible to enemies. Your argument is invalid, he is a rock. Image: Nintendo 6. Frog Mario Turning Mario into a frog in Super Mario Bros. III allowed him to jump higher and swim underwater. Luckily he didn’t need a kiss from Princess Peach to transform back into himself again. Image: Nintendo 7. Penguin Mario Penguin Mario in New Super Mario Bros. Wii can throw ice balls at his enemies and freeze them. He’s also too adorable for words. Image: Nintendo 8. Tanooki Mario The Tanooki Suit, besides looking like a child’s onesie, was actually extremely useful in Super Mario Bros. III. In the game, you can transform Mario into a rock and drop him on your enemy. Image: Nintendo 9. Bee Mario Bee Mario appears in Super Mario Galaxy. That adorable little stinger is just for show, though. Like all bees, if Mario had used it, he would have died an agonizing death. He’s better off just buzzing around space without stinging anyone. Image: Nintendo 10. Cloud Mario Cloud Mario in Super Mario Galaxy 2 controls the weather by creating clouds that he can use as platforms. The Cloud Flower in the game transform his overalls and hat into something resembling a fully, whipped topping. Image: Nintendo 11. Rainbow Mario Do not adjust your screen. The super special Rainbow Mario in Super Mario Galaxy and Super Mario Galaxy 2 will make you feel like you might have just consumed some special […]
Irrational Games, the developer behind the ‘BioShock’ franchise, has announced the company will shut down.Image: Irrational Games In an abrupt announcement, Irrational Games has decided to permanently close after 17 years. The video-game studio, whose most-popular gaming franchise is first-person shooter BioShock, revealed the news in a letter on the company’s website. “I am winding down Irrational Games as you know it,” Ken Levine, co-founder of the Boston studio, wrote Tuesday. “I’ll be starting a smaller, more entrepreneurial endeavor at Take-Two. That is going to mean parting ways with all but about fifteen members of the Irrational team. There’s no great way to lay people off, and our first concern is to make sure that the people who are leaving have as much support as we can give them during this transition.” Irrational Games’ final project before shuttering will be Burial at Sea Episode 2, the final BioShock Infinite DLC (downloadable content) update that comes out on March 25. Tuesday’s announcement shocked many gamers, as Levine’s letter offered a vague explanation for why Irrational Games will shut down. “Irrational Games” quickly became a worldwide trending topic on Twitter. Sad to hear that Irrational Games is shutting down. Bioshock and Bioshock Infinite were monumental games that will live with us forever. — Zack Scott (@ZackScott) February 18, 2014 More people are upset about Flappy Bird being taken down than Irrational Games closing or Marvelous going bankrupt. I hate today’s industry — Pinhead Larry (@SgtMettool) February 18, 2014 We’re sorry to hear about the winding down of Irrational Games & send our best to our friends & colleagues. We’re all big fans. Sad news. — Volition (@DSVolition) February 18, 2014 Here is Levine’s full letter: When Jon Chey, Rob Fermier and I founded Irrational Games seventeen years ago, our mission was to make visually unique worlds and populate them with singular characters. We built Rapture and Columbia, the Von Braun and The Rickenbacker, the Freedom Fortress and some of the nastiest basements a SWAT team ever set foot into. We created Booker and Elizabeth, the Big Daddy and the Little Sister, MidWives and ManBot. In that time, Irrational has grown larger and more successful than we could have conceived when we began our three-person studio in a living room in Cambridge, MA. It’s been the defining project of my professional life. Now Irrational Games is about to roll out the last DLC for BioShock Infinite and people are understandably asking: What’s next? Seventeen years is a long time to do any job, even the best one. And working with the incredible team at Irrational Games is indeed the best job I’ve ever had. While I’m deeply proud of what we’ve accomplished together, my passion has turned to making a different kind of game than we’ve done before. To meet the challenge ahead, I need to refocus my energy on a smaller team with a flatter structure and a more direct relationship with gamers. In many ways, it will be a return to […]
A TV commercial for Dance Central 3 on Xbox Kinect took advantage of current events, roping in Usher to play a moderator for a fictitious — yet groovy — political debate. Stumped for words during a rebuttal, one candidate expresses his opinion via some surprising dance moves. Dance Central 3 came out Tuesday, the same day as the second presidential debate. BONUS: Classic Twister Game Moves Into Digital Age With Britney Spears Hasbro recently ditched the classic Twister mat for its latest version of the game — Twister Dance. Britney Spears recorded a full Twister remix music video of her song “Till the World Ends” to help promote the game. Read more: http://mashable.com/2012/10/17/dance-central-3-usher-debate-ad/
Are you a fearless digital warrior? Can you contribute real-time teamwork? Exhibit creative thinking under fire? More importantly, are you good at Diablo 3? If you are and if you’re a programmer who’s interested in working for an Israeli ad agency, then you might want to check in on Wednesdays at 8 p.m. Israeli time this month to square off with Yossi Lubaton, CEO of BBR Saatchi, a.k.a. “Yossilubaton#2572.” If you fare well against the level 60 Barbarian, he will invite you into his office for a job interview and will give you Warmonger, the legendary sword, one million gold coins “and maybe manager’s insurance.” Lubaton’s strategy makes sense: Likely candidates will be on D3 anyway. But it’s also pretty savvy marketing by the agency. Either way, it’s a nice change of pace from the usual, “Where do you see yourself in five years?” style of traditional interviews. What do you think? What’s the oddest job interview you’ve ever been on? Let us know in the comments. [Via Creativity Online ] Read more: http://mashable.com/2012/07/03/diablo-3-job-interview/
Candy Crush addicts, consider this an intervention. If your Candy Crush Saga addiction has led you to some dark places in life (perhaps depleting your bank account for extra lives), you may find that this honest trailer by YouTube channel Smosh Games rings true. Nope? Not you? Well, maybe you’ll find at least some entertainment in this video’s Kardashian references; it calls Candy Crush “the Kardashian of video games.” Yikes. Colors. Music. Soothing sound effects. The honest trailer is here to boil your Candy Crush obsession down to its fundamental parts and make you feel like a doofus for finding enjoyment in it. BONUS: 7 Mobile Trivia Games to Challenge Your Brain Mobile Trivia Games 1. QuizUp QuizUp is the new kid on the block for mobile trivia, but that freshness also comes with some perks. The app has a lovely, colorful interface. QuizUp also lets you match wits on any topic with your in-game friends or with strangers, so you can compete to top the leaderboards in your area of expertise. The team is actively adding new material, including timely information in both the current events and pop culture categories. Price: Free on iOS and Android Image: Plain Vanilla 2. Sporcle It was an online phenomenon first, and now you can take the Sporcle quizzes anywhere. The trivia categories go beyond the typical subjects to test your knowledge of more unusual pockets of trivia. Do you know which nations have the highest cost of living this year? How good are you on celebrities’ ages or popular baby names? The apps don’t have all the content from the web version, but there’s still a serious number of quizzes to keep you entertained. Price: $2.99 for iOS, $1.99 for Android Image: Sporcle 3. MovieCat and MovieCat 2 How do you make a standard movie trivia game even better? Present all the questions with adorable cartoon cats. MovieCat tests your cinema savvy in a range of ways, from the classic to the contemporary. Anything in the movie realm is fair game — including posters, costumes and award winners — and the faster you answer, the more points you’ll get. The sequel has all new questions and Cat Scenes, but for now it’s only available on iOS. Price: $1.99 on Android and iPhone, $2.99 on iPad Image: OtherWise Games 4. Jeopardy! The popular game show has long been the standard for TV trivia, and now you can get the experience on your mobile devices. The setup is a little different, with clues given as multiple choice questions rather than the iconic “Answer in the form of a question.” Despite that, you’re still getting an authentic Jeopardy! experience since the clues were collected from the show’s writers. You have the chance to win solo or compete with friends in the Pass and Play mode. Price: $1.99 on iOS and Android Image: Sony Pictures Television 5. Trivial Pursuit This one’s a classic of the board game universe, but it’s just as fun in the mobile […]
Looks like it’s game over for Jerry Lambert, the guy who played Sony PlayStation executive Kevin Butler in that brand’s ads over the past few years. Sony is suing Lambert, Bridgestone and production company Wildcat Creek over a misappropriation of the Butler character. Though the lawsuit is vague about the reasoning, a Sony rep told Kotaku that the suit was related to an ad for Bridgestone Tires that featured Lambert playing a Wii. Lambert’s presence in the ad was edited out after Sony filed the suit on Sept. 11. In the ad, which is shown above, Lambert plays a Bridgestone scientist who is “testing” the Wii for a promotion. Lambert had played Butler since 2009. His character was an executive at Sony who wryly responded to various “Dear PlayStation” letters. In the first ad, for instance, Butler batted away a rumor about PlayStation pricing by responding, “You can’t believe everything you read on the Internet. That’s how World War I got started.” To relive the campaign’s total eight and a half minutes of ads, see the video below. Read more: http://mashable.com/2012/10/09/sony-commercial-actor-sued-wii/
The next generation of Pokémon games bring the franchise into a brave, new world: one that enters the third dimension for the first time. When Pokémon X and Y come out around the world on Oct. 12, it will push the franchise forward with help from Nintendo’s powerful 3DS handheld. Pokémon X and Y are the first games in the seven-generation franchise to immerse players in a 3D world; previous titles relied on two-dimensional sprites for worlds, characters and Pokémon. This leap forward for the series and the more powerful 3DS handheld have inspired lots of changes in the new games. To learn more about how Pokémon X and Y took shape during development, Mashable sat down with Junichi Masuda, the director for X/Y. He’s been involved with studio GameFreak since its launch in the mid-90s, first composing music for Pokémon titles, then moving on to direct games. Mashable: What did it take to translate the sprites and two-dimensional art into that 3D world? Masuda: When we first decided to develop on the Nintendo 3DS, we looked at its much-improved rendering power. We always knew we wanted to bring Pokémon into 3D, but we didn’t want to bring it in a traditional realistic sense. We wanted to convey the soft feel of the 2D in previous games. After doing some experimentation, we made that determination that we could get that same feel across in 3D and just went for it. Now that there are hundreds of them available, how much work was it to turn the Pokémon sprites into full 3D characters? Masuda (with input from graphic designer Hironobu Yoshida): It was quite difficult to translate the 2D models, especially with that characteristic style we have in the GameFreak games. That characteristic style was hard to translate. The 2D sprites appear just as you draw them in previous games. That allowed us to make a lot of adjustments to the models even late into the development period. But because of the 3D, we had to have the settings and animations finalized well in advance of previous titles. Also, now that we’re working in 3D, we had to make the settings of each character much more detailed than before. For example, we had to really think about the thickness of something — what a Pokémon’s tail looks like on the inside — in order to create these 3D models. The 2D images have these different thicker lines and thin lines that accentuate different pieces of each character, and getting that translated into 3D was very difficult and took quite a bit of time. How do you design new Pokémon for each game? Masuda: Each time, we have different settings for each game’s regions, and those are based on real-world regions. Getting inspiration for what kind of creatures live in those regions and coming up with ideas for new Pokémon is one of the things we do as graphic designers. We’re also challenging ourselves to come up with things we haven’t done […]
“Minecraft is a platform as much as it is a game,” writes Seth Porges in his recent story on Mashable about TeamCrafted, a supergroup of YouTube stars who have made names for themselves simply by playing the game. That platform has turned these guys into Internet celebrities with hundreds of thousands of Twitter followers and millions of YouTube subscribers. And as TeamCrafted grows, so too do the business opportunities. Today at 4 p.m. ET, Mashable will be joined by TeamCrafted members Jerome, Ryan and group manager Matt Michelsen in a live Hangout on Air to talk all things Minecraft, becoming YouTube stars and what the future holds for the group. Do you have questions for TeamCrafted? Share them in the comments below or tweet them using the hashtag #TeamCraftedChat. Read more: http://mashable.com/2014/03/07/minecraft-youtube-teamcrafted-hangout/
