Category: Announcements

Sandeep Parikh Invites World of Warcraft Players to Participate in His Newest Project

from Effinfunny:

Hey all, I’m going to be directing a video for Machinima.com and for it we’re polling the one place with 11 million people that no else is polling, Azeroth, the world within the popular online role playing game The World of Warcraft. So if you play and are old enough to vote, please take two minutes to respond to the following questions (you may just hit reply if you get this through email, otherwise email effinfunny@gmail.com with the subject “Azeroth Poll”)

1) What is your race/class/level/professions in the World of Warcraft (NOT in Real Life!)

2) Who are you planning on voting for in the 2008 presidential elections (Obama, McCain, Undecided)

3) What is the number one most important issue to you when choosing a presidential candidate?

4) Would you be interested in a phone interview with Effinfunny/Machinima.com so you can sound off on your thoughts anonymously about this election? If yes, please leave us your name and number.

That’s it! Thanks! If you’re not a WoWer then go watch episode 5 of Neil (we’re so close to 100K views I can taste it!)

— Sandeep Parikh

LucasArts and BioWare Reveal Star Wars: The Old Republic

from StarWars.com:

LucasArts and BioWare™, a division of Electronic Arts Inc. (NASDAQ: ERTS), today announced the development of Star Wars®: The Old Republic™, a story-driven massively multiplayer online PC game set in the timeframe of the Star Wars®: Knights of the Old Republic™ franchise. Star Wars: The Old Republic, being developed and published by BioWare and LucasArts, represents an innovative approach to interactive entertainment, featuring immersive storytelling, dynamic combat and intelligent companion characters.

In Star Wars: The Old Republic, players will explore an age thousands of years before the rise of Darth Vader when war between the Old Republic and the Sith Empire divides the galaxy. Players can choose to play as Jedi, Sith, or a variety of other classic Star Wars roles, defining their personal story and determining their path down the light or dark side of the Force. Along the way, players will befriend courageous companions who will fight at their side or possibly betray them, based on the players’ actions. Players can also choose to team up with friends to battle enemies and overcome incredible challenges using dynamic Star Wars combat.

“Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic is the most critically acclaimed Star Wars game in LucasArts history and a preeminent example of our company’s interactive storytelling heritage,” said Darrell Rodriguez, President of LucasArts. “For a long time, we’ve long wanted to return to the franchise in a grand way, and we felt that the best setting for it was an online world that would allow millions of people to participate in the experience together. We knew that the developer capable of working with us to deliver an engrossing story with a fully-realized online world was BioWare.”

“Traditionally, massively multiplayer online games have been about three basic gameplay pillars — combat, exploration and character progression,” said Dr. Ray Muzyka, Co-Founder and General Manager/CEO of BioWare and General Manager/Vice President of Electronic Arts Inc., “In Star Wars: The Old Republic, we’re fusing BioWare’s heritage of critically-acclaimed storytelling with the amazing pedigree of Lucasfilm and LucasArts, and adding a brand-new fourth pillar to the equation — story. At the same time, we will still deliver all the fun features and activities that fans have come to expect in a AAA massively multiplayer online game. To top it all off, Star Wars: The Old Republic is set in a very exciting, dynamic period in the Star Wars universe.”

Added Dr. Greg Zeschuk, Co-Founder and Vice President Development Operations, BioWare and Vice President, Electronic Arts Inc., “Star Wars: The Old Republic is set roughly 300 years after the events of Knights of the Old Republic, a timeframe that is completely unexplored in the lore. BioWare has been able to add to the Star Wars history in developing the game’s story and has created an overarching narrative that players can enjoy, regardless of their play style. Our goal is to offer players an emotionally rewarding experience that combines the traditional elements of MMO gameplay with innovations in story and character development.”

Additional details on Star Wars: The Old Republic features, gameplay and release date will be announced at a later time. For more information about Star Wars: The Old Republic and to sign up for future product updates, please visit StarWarsTheOldRepublic.com.

Asmodée Loses an Accent and Gets a Refreshing Change with a New Logo

from Asmodee Editions:

When does a logo change? When it no longers reflects the reality of its company. This was the case of the old Asmodée logo — with its old dragon scales inherited from the old RPG roots of Asmodée and its distinctively French accents, this logo no longer quite reflected this company has recently become:

Asmodee is now open to all sorts of games (from the light-hearted party gane to the strategy game, that’s without talking about licences, collectible card games and miniature games) and to players of all ages (the fabled 9 to 99), and is closer than ever to people with a presence at conventions throughout the year.

And mostly, Asmodee, through its branches across the world (Belgium, Germany, Spain, U.S.A.) is now planning and acting like a world leader when it comes to gaming. This is why we needed to no longer talk one language, but many of them — removing our “frenchy” accents to have a more universal “Asmodee” which can be read (and pronounced).

This is our new and improved logo, more fun and now with 100% more smiles, more open to the world, which is closer to what is Asmodee and what it wants you to discover.

Plush Zombie Eats ThinkGeek’s Brains

from ThinkGeek:

Fellow Prey of the Un-Dead,

We come to you today, in total fear for our lives and for the safety of the brains of our office canines. But mostly, we fear for the safety of the ThinkGeek logo. For some reason, our logo has attracted impossible legions of the Un-dead upon ThinkGeek HQ. Kind of like Wookie braids attracting Mandalorians — except with more mindless gnawing and less Jet Pack gymnastics. But we digress. Before it’s too late, please, Citizens of the Interwebs, purchase a ThinkGeek Plush Zombie today, taking it far away from our office. The future safety of the ThinkGeek logo (along with our office canine brains) depends on you and you alone…

Dismember-Me Plush Zombie — Cuddle-Up with the Un-Dead

What happens when you take old broken plush toys and bury them in the woods by the light of the full moon while whistling the theme song from Halloween? Unfortunately nothing… which is why the skillful design monkeys here at ThinkGeek were forced to come up with our own scary (but cute) zombie plush. The Dismember-Me Plush Zombie begs to be torn limb from limb. After all, he is a decaying re-animated corpse turned into irresistible cuddly plush. Rip off an arm… he doesn’t mind. Tear him in half… he’ll barely notice. Pull off his legs… ok now he’s getting a bit annoyed. Steal his brain… now you’ve really done it. Keep your teddy bears under close guard tonight because undead plush have come back from hell to walk the earth.

Find more What’s New items at ThinkGeek!

Director Brian Kalin O’Connell, writer Steve Melching discuss all-new Star Wars: The Clone Wars episode this Friday, October 10 on Cartoon Network

from StarWars.com:

Anakin Skywalker leads a small band of Y-wing bombers through a dangerous nebula in "Shadow of Malevolence"
Anakin Skywalker leads a small band of Y-wing bombers through a dangerous nebula in "Shadow of Malevolence"

Star Wars: The Clone Wars puts a new shine on a very recognizable part of Star Wars lore as the Y-wing bombers make their debut in “Shadow of Malevolence,” an all-new episode of the hit animated series premiering at 9:00 PM, Friday, October 10, on Cartoon Network.

In the second of a three-episode arc, “Destroy Malevolence” finds Anakin Skywalker, his Padawan Ahsoka Tano and Jedi Master Plo Koon utilizing long-range Y-wing bombers to lead a bold strike on General Grievous’ warship, the Malevolence, and its destructive ion cannon.

The Y-wing bombers were first seen among the Rebel Alliance’s primary starfighters in 1977’s Star Wars: Episode IV A New Hope. “Shadow of Malevolence” director Brian Kalin O’Connell, writer Steve Melching and supervising director Dave Filoni were inspired by the concept of showing the Y-wings “fresh off the showroom floor.”

“We like to find ways to draw connections between The Clone Wars and the original trilogy,” Melching says. “In the original Star Wars, the X-wings and the Y-wings have truly been through the wars, and they’ve had the crap beaten out of them. We thought it would be fun to imagine that they were originally manufactured during the Clone Wars — so for us, they came off the assembly line and into battle.”

O’Connell says the artists behind The Clone Wars were excited about “introducing” the Y-wings — and putting the series’ lead characters into a full-fledged space battle for the first time.

“Guys like (design/concept artists) Russell Chong and Killian Plunkett, along with Dave (Filoni) come from a classic Star Wars background, so they understand that Ralph McQuarrie feel of the 1970s, and they do it right,” O’Connell says. “We don’t want to change the lore, we want to add to it. By introducing the Y-wings, we get to add a new dimension, a little history.” Some people, he realizes, might think that it’s “just a vehicle.” Nevertheless, O’Connell says, “We know it’s a huge deal for the fans. We don’t let it distract from the story, but we still get to add the geek shot — and when we do, we try to do it justice.”

Star Wars: The Clone Wars airs at 9:00 PM, Fridays on Cartoon Network. George Lucas is the series’ creator and serves as executive producer, and Catherine Winder is producer.

The Guild at Blizzcon

from The Guild:

The whole cast of The Guild will be attending Blizzcon Friday and Saturday! There will be a Guild panel from 1:30-2:30 PM on Saturday where we will preview Season 2 as well as answer questions about Season 1 and anything else the audience would like to hear!

Also, thanks to the kindness of Blizzard, we will have a booth set up where we will be selling DVDs and an Official Cast Photo, debuting at the con! All 6 main cast members will be hanging out, but will be specifically signing DVDs and Photos at the following times in the booth:
Friday 11 AM-1 PM
Saturday 3-5 PM

Please stop by and say hi, or catch us around Blizzcon!

The Legend of Neil on Twitter

from The Legend of Neil:

Hey all, we’re trying to be everywhere that you are, and you can now follow this feed [for The Legend of Neil] on Twitter if you like. Just click here to get to our Twitter page! Also click to follow Sandeep’s Twitter or Felicia’s Twitter. Happy tweeting!

[Web series The Guild and Gorgeous Tiny Chicken Machine Show also have feeds on Twitter.]

Gorgeous Tiny Chicken Machine Show, Episode 15: Retarded Policeman’s Ponce

Ponce from Retarded Policeman joins the fun at GTCMS. No time for fun time now. Unicow has an eating disorder? Carrot is battered? Even cancer has invaded the fun time of GTCMS. Can Kiko find the secret to bringing fun time back?

Evil League of Evil Seeking New Evil

The Evil League of Evil from Dr. Horrible’s Sing-Along Blog has posted an invitation on its revamped website:

Seeking New Evil

The rumblings you’ve been hearing in the criminal underground since July indeed are true: At long last, we are seeking new applicants to the League.1

Aspirants to new heights of Evil should submit a video application that meets the terms below.

  • It should be no more than three minutes in length.
  • There should be little to no swearing.2
  • Dialogue, logos, and music must be original.3
  • Songs are not required (singing is a bonus).
  • You must be evil — it’s a plus to have a name.
  • Your video application should be posted to YouTube or Vimeo.
  • Email us a link to the video, with your contact information.4
  • October 11 is the last day to submit.

The best applicants, as determined by the League or its designated agents, will be included on a special DVD commemorating our most recent member.

Evil Enough? Click Here

Make the bad horse gleeful, or he’ll make you his mare.

  1. Henchmen need not apply. Please contact your union.
  2. Evil can be something of a family affair.
  3. We’re evil, not stupid.
  4. Finalists may be contacted by the League or its agents.

Yes, this is the real site.