Weekend Wallpaper #3

Another wallpaper from Algarys... and another nice effort ! 

Gideon vs a Seeker while doing a spin.

This is the kind of thing that is getting me excited about the game.

Again, check the comments for details about this wallpaper from Algarys herself. Also remember to keep checking back as we keep posting more wallpapers from the series.

$1 Million Competition !

Remember when I posted a while back about the big push Majesco is doing for Psychonauts? I speculated it might mean big things for Advent Rising...

I was right... But only sort of, because this blows my expectations to the moon.

Majesco is running a competition for Advent Rising that is nothing short of amazing. I would go as far to say this is the biggest competition in the history of gaming outside of a console launch. (feel free to offer evidence to the contrary)

Paraphrasing the media release...
The Competition - the "Race to Save Humanity"
The contest commences June 9 and is limited to the first 500,000 copies of the game. These first 500,000 copies will be specially marked and will include a free, two-month subscription to Xbox Live. Then, once a week for six weeks, an "Easter egg" in the form of the letter 'A' will be downloaded via Xbox Live and hidden within a level of the game. Majesco will distribute clues as to which level the icon resides in and then the race is on to find it first.

Once the egg is found, gamers will be unlock a code and will then use the code and their Xbox Live gamer tag to log on to the competition website. The first person to do so is that week's winner. And you will want to be one of these winners...

The Prizes
There are '100s of prizes' on offer... we'll have to wait and see the exact break down but it includes :
* Six weeks of cash prizes totaling $10k, $20k, $30k, $40k, $50k, and
the Grand Prize of $1,000,000
* 12-month Xbox Live subscription cards from Microsoft
* SoBe refrigerator and a one-year supply of SoBe drinks
* SoBe guitars, golf bags, MP3 players, and more
* Advent Rising strategy guides from Brady Games
* Officially licensed Xbox controllers from Radica.

Wow. That all sounds amazing and should do really kickstart the hype machine like we've been wanting. It actually sounds like calling it a 1 million dollar comp is selling it short !

The bad news in all this is that it's only open to US and Canadian residents. (with a few exclusions) The rest of the world will have to make do with the game. We'll have to wait and see if the downloadable Easter Eggs will at least be available.

Good work Majesco... seems like you're really going all out to make Advent Rising a hit.

To check out a copy of the original media release go to Yahoo.

I'll update later, as I expect this to get A LOT of coverage from IGN, Gamespot etc.

Note : first heads up from subordinator over at the Majesco forums.

EDIT :
Gamespot Article
TeamXbox article

New Wallpaper of the Brothers Wyeth and IGN Powers Part 3

Another wallpaper this weekend ! It is from our French Connection - Algarys. Great stuff. Check the comments section for how Algarys made these great wallpapers. 

Click on this preview of this Wyeth brothers wallpaper to download the full size version.

Algarys has a series of 10 images to share so keep watching this space...

IGN - The Special Powers of Advent Rising, Pt. 3

Also up today is another IGN Powers article - Part 3. It's a little hidden this time down in the News section.
Today we get a look at Timeshift (a Speed boost power)

The primary function seems to be a standard speed boost power... the secondary power is a slowdown mode 'bubble'. Both are powers we've seen before in other games, but pairing them together seems to make sense.



Also revealed is the 'Talmage 50.08' rocket launcher. Sounds like it also has some form of seeking ability... based on 'sonic pathways - interesting. (A pic is also available)

We also get a decent write up on the 'Hurricane'. Described as a 'highly-armored behemoth military vehicle' it looks like it should be fun. Unfortunately there are no pics of it but I think it is observable in some of the gameplay trailers we have seen so far.

EDIT : subordinator has just pointed out in the comments section that the 'Hurricane' write up has been removed from the article... no idea why that would be the case...

New IGN Powers...

It's 6:00AM at a near deserted Singapore Airport so what else to do but update this sucker ?!

A new artcle up at IGN...

So what's in it ? A look at the 'Negate' power. I've heard it described before, but I haven't seen screenshots - good to see. Basically, you have the power to set up an energy shield directly in front of you. You can then use it to advance on the enemy and if there are any Seekers in the way, it sounds like they'll meet a nasty end. The secondary use of the power involves encircling yourself with the shield... sounds almost like an energy whirlwind with you in the centre... we'll see how that plays out.

Also there is a very short profile on the 'Rockwell-Young XJ9'. Sounds like a standard assault rifle/grenade launcher combo... a pic of it at IGN !

Apologies for any typos caused by sleep deprivation...

Inter-continental Screenshot

I'm making the big trek from Copenhagen, Denmark to Melbourne, Australia tomorrow, so there won't be much in the way of updates even if there is 'gone gold' news, a bunch of new interviews and a 10-page hands-on article. This screenshot will have to do... and not a bad one I reckon...

Some explosions, glass shattering, guns going off, cool graphical effects with the water - looks good to me !

More to come in a few days...

Wallpaper Weekend !

Something a bit different for the weekend. Some wallpapers featuring a stylized Gideon showing off some of his special powers. You might recognise the image from the sidebar – it is originally from a special feature for GamePro magazine. The image is contained in the fansite pack – I’ve just tweaked it to fit as a wallpaper and added the logo.

Enjoy !

It comes in a few different flavours, but my favourite is this one…

Gideon to the left – Logo
Gideon to the right – No Logo
Gideon to the left – No Logo

Do you have any cool Advent Rising wallpapers out there (not already on the official sites) ? Send them in and I'll post them up !

New Gamespot video interview

The official site is listing this so I'll briefly mention it.

Gamespot has a new video interview up with Donald Mustard. (No Geremy to be found in the new interview)
Gamespot media page
There seems to be some new footage on offer, but not much 'new' news from Donald. (Comments about flipping around in the air shooting enemies with one hand and using the wield power to throw others off a ledge sounds special though)
I'm currently sitting on a horrible dial-up account so I'm not that well placed to comment on the postage stamp sized video, but later next week be sure to check back for a round up of all the latest videos floating around.

Some classic DM quotes though :

"We want players to feel like they have become a super hero."

"Everything [weapons and powers] is laid out for you to create your own symphony of death !"

More stuff to come before the weekend...

Preview primer and a screenshot

Let's go first to the screenshot !

This looks to be from near the start of the game based on what we know so far, where the Seekers attack the space station Gideon is on. (see the Comic website to get up to speed) Gideon is supporting a friend while taking care of a Seeker. I don't think its much of a spoiler to speculate this friend seems to be brother Ethan.

I’m posting the links to the latest round of previews out on the game that will give you some idea of what to expect out of the game if you are yet to read much about it. Most of them cover off on similar things, but you do get the impressions of four different individuals.

It looks like Donald Mustard went on tour with a build of the game and visited most of the big media outlets. The results are below…

TeamXbox Preview
The best one I’ve seen out there so far. “Legba” seems to be like the concept and likes what he sees in the preview build.
http://previews.teamxbox.com/xbox/966/Advent-Rising/p1/

Gamespy Preview
http://xbox.gamespy.com/xbox/advent-rising/583910p1.html
I like Gamespy a lot. They seem to me to speak like true gamers rather than getting blown away by hype or trying to be over serious. This article is a positive look at how they viewed the latest build.

IGN Preview
http://xbox.ign.com/articles/598/598806p1.html
Not the best article I’ve seen up on old IGN but it quickly covers off the basics. Perhaps an older preview build is being used for the media at the moment based on the framerate comments ?

Gamespot Preview
http://www.gamespot.com/xbox/action/adventrising/preview_6116665.html
Another positive look at the game. It mentions that the game is locked in for a May 3 release… I’m still assuming May 31 though.

TeamXbox mentions ‘pre-alpha’ preview builds … interesting that they would have a pre-alpha so close to release date… but good to hear because in theory the final product should be much more impressive than what the media have seen to date.

First review, big spenders and a screenshot

A range of things to talk about today.

The first review is apparently in ! As reported on the official website, 'Stuff' magazine has given AR a 3 out of 4. To be honest a 75% score as a first impression had me dissapointed... but you have to consider that this is not a specialist gaming publication and these types of outlets can often 'follow the hype' with their scores. With the hype machine yet to really fire up, this could be more a score based on first impressions. With the game not yet 'gold', and the lead time on magazine publications often a number of weeks, it may have been a non-final build that was reviewed. Additionally, we have to consider the quote that actually went with the score :

"This sci-fi epic's incredible graphics and design combine with fast-paced fighting and shooting action to deliver a space ball of a good time."

Sounds a bit better !
The 'proper' reviews should be in soon though - keep stopping by here for the latest ! (If anyone has read the whole 'Stuff' review, chime in with your thoughts)

Secondly, of interest is the news that Majesco will be spending big on the Psychonaughts marketing campaign. Why does this matter for Advent Rising ? Majesco is currently trying to position itself as a front-running publisher of AAA titles - Psychonaughts, BloodRayne and Advent Rising are the center pieces of this plan in the short/medium term. I expect AR to be also getting a big launch push. We've already seen the start of this with the sweepstakes and Comic tie in, and I have read rumours of a trailer for the game being attached to Revenge of the Sith ! This would seem to be a perfect match and a bold move by Majesco... we'll see what happens shortly anyway.

Finally I thought I would post a screenshot from the fansite pack for you to check out.

What do we see here ? Looks to me to be a couple of Special Ops troops taking on some Seekers with some kind of energy weapon. Any thoughts any one ? It's definitely an in game engine shot but doesn't look to be from actual play.

Look out for more screenshots coming soon.

IGN Feature : Powers

New article up at IGN ! It's described as a focus on the Special Powers - and the first of a series.

First up is 'Wield', which is supported by some descriptive pics and movies ! It's basically teleknesis... or if you are Star Wars inclined... a Force pull, push, throw move !

The surprise is that the article adds a little more than what was in the title and also features a look at one weapon and one vehicle ! Detailed are the 'Faust-C-41' - the standard issue pistol (pic also up of the Faust) and the 'Scythe (ATV with mounted hangun)' all terrain vehicle. (this is what we are seeing in the pic above ?)

Hopefully we might also see dedicated weapon and vehicle features popping up in the future. Go check it out by clicking on the image above !

Advent Comic and Sweepstakes site updated

The Advent Rising comic and Sweepstakes website has been updated. It launched a little while back, with a Comic download and interview with Donald Mustard (lead designer at GlyphX and main driving force behind the game).
The site now features a new flash intro movie, not as nice as the one on the official game site, but with some music from the current trailer, a new interview with Mr Mustard, some screenshots and some new Wallpapers.

Go check it out !

Bonus pack for Xbox gamers

I’ve just noticed something else to get excited about. It looks like Majesco and GlyphX will be following the newish trend of releasing ‘Special Edition’ versions of new releases. We’ve seen it with Halo 2, Doom 3, Jade Empire and will soon be seeing it with Advent Rising. Pretty good company to be in.

At this stage all we know about the bonus content is as follows from EBgames.com :
“Bonus DVD includes: Advent Rising trailers, interviews, behind-the-scenes footage, soundtrack samples and exclusive artwork.”

It seems to be limited edition only, and your best bet would be to pre-order. Gamestop.com is also listing the ‘Bonus’ but Amazon is only listing the regular edition. Also no word on availability for European/UK/Aus NZ gamers. I’ll see what I can find out !

It doesn’t appear to be available for PC gamers, so it looks like they will have to make do with the cheaper purchase price. (RRP USD$29.99 compared with $49.99)

The other big thing to note about the listing is the release date of May 31 2005. A UK release date I could find was June 3, 2005. (I would assume the rest of Europe and Australia/NZ would be around this date as well) More details as I find them.

EDIT ! Schwarzwald at the Majesco forums has pointed out that Gamestop.com have now updated their listing. Their bonus is different to the EBgames one and is a console sticker for your Xbox.

Personally I would go for the DVD... but some might find the sticker cool.

Q : Which would you prefer ? Sticker or DVD ?

Advent Blog Rises !

Hi all ! Apologies for the cheezey post title. ;)

This is my blog dedicated to the upcoming game for Xbox and PC - Advent Rising.

Why would I bother setting up a blog for this game ? I'll let you in on a secret - this game is going to be BIG.

This game is going to be a classic (I hope) as it promises to deliver a truly epic story that will completely immerse the player through its gameplay. The futuristic premise looks a winner to me, and the look of some of the wide open environments is amazing.

The best example I can find to give you an idea of what I’m getting excited about is the trailer that has been around for a while. You can download it from the official site in Small, Medium and Large formats.

Through the coming weeks I’ll be posting from Copenhagen, Denmark on why I think this game will stand out from the crowd and could really deliver on its potential. There’s more to this game than nice artwork and trailers!