Bioware has an incredible presence across the street from the San Diego Comic-Con. Thanks to a lot of hard work, the Hilton was professionally transformed into “The Bioware Base”. On top of demos, signings, costume contests and art shows, Saturday evening Bioware also played host to a special “Mass Effect March” followed by a top-secret game announcement. When I found all of this out, I think I had a nerd fit (there may have been literal twitching). I mean, how often do you get to stomp around San Diego with hundreds of like-minded Mass Effect fans armed with an inflatable omni-blade? The march took place in the gas-lamp district and led to the announcement of a special Facebook contest that will finally give us an “official” female Commander Shepard. If you haven’t gotten the chance to vote, head on over to Facebook and engage in nerd-democracy. Last we checked the blond-shep was stomping the competition (sparking some controversy).
While wandering the streets and “marching against the Reapers” we happened to run into the folks participating in 2011 Comic-Con zombie walk. What happens when a few hundred zombies smash into a few hundred Spectres? Mass confusion and plenty of omni-blade stabbings. I have to say that there was something incredibly gratifying about shanking a fake-zombie in the chops with my fake omni-blade. Check out the video below.
After selling 13 million units world wide, you didn’t really think the Gears of War franchise was over right? While the fine folks at EPIC Games are have shifted focus to other endeavors (see Fort Night), they’ve handed over their precious (and lucrative) franchise to their friends at People Can Fly, the sadists behind last year’s Bulletstorm. With the world of Sera saved and all that, where does the Gears franchise head next? Simple, THE PAST!
Alternate working title, “Inside the Ackbar Studio,” Tim Rose and Mike Quinn talk about their experiences as puppet masters, working with Jim Henson and The Muppets, Star Wars, and how Rose was fired off ROTJ by Harrison Ford… sort of.