Back in the day of the ancient Greeks, sides would chose a champions to fight for the honour of their state. The winner would not only carry the whole day and settle the dispute, then and there, but would also avert the deaths of many thousands of men.
Gone are the days you may feel, but maybe, just maybe, as these two bitter rivals show, there is a way to settle disputes once again!
Canada…. America… Place your bets, who’s going to win?
Founded in 1987, British video game developers the Bitmap Brothers are responsible for making some of the best and most fondly remembered games on Atari and Amiga ST, including titles such as Speedball, Speedball 2 and Z. They are generally considered to be one of the most influential developers of their generation. With the latter titles both recently being re released, Geek Pride managed to attend a Q & A session with the former CEO of the Bitmap Brothers, Mike Montgomery, at the recent Play Expo in Manchester, and learned everything from what made him become a developer in the first place, to what his future plans in the industry are.
“We’ve very recently brought Z to Android, and we are currently seeing how well that sells. In the future, we would be looking into releasing Steel Soldiers next, probably followed by Gods if there’s enough interest. There’s plenty we can look at, but it’s also important to find the right developers to work with, which can be tricky. It’s important to me to make sure the ports stay as close as possible to the original games”.
“I have been very much involved. Particularly with Speedball 2, I was personally involved at the Quality Assurance and Marketing stages; making sure that it stuck to the original format”.
“Kickstarter is a very interesting concept and it does work well, but it’s tricky, as people are getting more and more aware that Kickstarter isn’t a shop where you can buy an actual product, you are only buying an idea.”
“I was actually a manager at Woolworth’s, before I made the jump. When they first got a computer it was a huge change, everything was done manually until then, but I loved the idea of computers, so I bought some software and learnt how to program in my spare time. It soon became an obsession. Whenever I wasn’t at my day job, I was coding. Of course in those days very few people were interested in computers, so I had no idea how good I was. I decided to apply for a job, just to find out how good I was but to my surprise I actually got it. Very soon I was earning more money, and I quickly progressed to becoming a lead programmer with my own team. It’s a bit of a strange story.”
“The development process was much more fun back in the day. I think because it was different for us, as we had a fairly unique attitude to games. We made games that we wanted to play, and if we liked them, hopefully other people would, too. This is why we had such a unique writing style and graphical style. For the early games, we only had 3 artists on the team, so it was easier to put our personal touch into each game.
It did come with its problems, though. Publishers didn’t like us very much. We were always late, ha ha. We refused to release a game until we were happy with it; we didn’t release anything unfinished”.
“Steel Soldiers has to be my proudest title. I did a lot of work personally with that particular title, and I thought the AI was very good for it’s time. I would have to throw Speedball 2 in there as well, just because no journalist has ever beaten me on it!”
The 4th Cosplayer to travel through the mighty halls of Geek Pride for an interview, is Sina Voss (AKA Aigue-Marine). Another talent from Germany who has been cosplaying for 8 years now, has made over 50 costumes ( varying from Daenerys Targaryen to Bat girl) and like her counter part Svetlana, is super nice, extremely gifted and for the amount of time and effort she puts into her hobby, definitely underrated… not even 1000 likes on FB…. whats wrong with you people!? have you seen her Daenerys Targaryen outfit?!
Anyway, you can check her out at the following links (LIKE HER FACEBOOK!)and see what she had to say to us below!
http://www.facebook.com/CosplayAigueMarine
http://aigue-marine.deviantart.com
http://aigue-marine.tumblr.com
http://twitter.com/xAigueMarinex
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(Issues seeing this gallery, then refresh the page orrr just use google chrome ;oD )
The Gal behind the Cosplay
Tell Geek Pride a bit more about who Sina, aka Aigue – Marine is. What sort of food does she like? Does she have any pets? What’s her favourite movie? and what’s a good night out for her?
I, Sina – also known as Aigue-Marine – am a 23-year-old cosplayer from Southern Germany. I like all sorts of food, because I love eating, cooking and baking. Really, I’m not picky at all. I don’t have any pets. My favourite movie is Woody Allen’s “Midnight in Paris”. A good night out should definitely include food, drinks and activities with friends. No matter if it is watching a movie, playing video games or going to a club – I always try to make the best out of everything!
Where do you think you get your creative spark from? Does it run in the family?
[quote]Oh, I’m very easy to inspire! I draw my inspiration out of almost everything: My surroundings, friends, music, movies, books, comics, photographs, fanwork, etc.There’s a certain musical streak which runs in the family – my dad’s a composer and my brother and I are passionate musicians – cosplay and sewing is my personal way to express my creativity though.[/quote]
You a PC, Xbox or PS3 Gal and what games do you play?
[quote]I have to admit that I hardly play games at all. My daily schedule is very tight and most games are rather time consuming… That’s why I only play karaoke and dance games once in a while.[/quote]
You study Advertising and market communication, can you tell me a bit more about that? Is this something you might do after Uni?
[quote]My studies include different subjects such as advertising, public relations, social studies, psychology, economics, informatics and design. After I graduate from university I will most likely start working in an advertising agency.[/quote]
It says “singer” on your Facebook page… do you sing? And if so what sort of stuff? Got any links?
[quote]It wouldn’t say “singer” if I didn’t sing, right? Yes, I do sing. I have been member of various choirs since I was 5; I took classical singing lessons for a couple of years as well. I sing basically everything – from classical pieces to pop music. I hardly every upload recordings though. I prefer live music. J[/quote]
What’s you’re endgame goal in life?
[quote]I don’t have an endgame goal in life. I always try to set smaller, achievable sub-goals. At the moment I’m focusing on graduating from university with good grades.[/quote]
Cosplay
You have been cosplaying for 8 years it says in your bio, what got you started, as in what made you get up one day and think; “I’m going to dress up as bat man and go out in public“?
[quote]Right at the beginning I didn’t pay attention to the “public” aspect at all. It all started with a friend of mine who accompanied me to a convention close by. Some weeks before the event was about to take place, she told me that she would dress up as her favourite character from a video game and that this certain kind of dressing up was called “cosplay”. I had always been interested in costumes so I decided to ask my grandmother for help. Together we made my first costume. I haven’t stopped ever since[/quote]
You’ve made 50 costumes!? Can you name then all though ;oD ?
[quote]Do you want me to? 😉 To be more precise I have made 66 costumes already, but I don’t think I could name all of them in one go. If had the possibility to make a proper list I’d succeed though, I guess. My most recent costumes are Korra from “The Legend of Korra”, Daenerys Targaryen from “Game of Thrones”, Wonder Girl from “Young Justice” and Leah from “Journey Into Mystery” – only to name a few.[/quote]
So how long would the average costume take you to make and what costume took you the longest?
[quote]
That really depends on the type of costume. If it’s an easy costume like a school uniform which consists of a pleated skirt and a top it usually takes me 2-3 days to finish it. If it’s a more complicated costume – like my Batgirl costume – it takes me 1 – 1 1/2 weeks to finish it.
The costume which took me the longest was definitely my Daenerys Targaryen costume from Game of Thrones. Preparing the stencil for the belt and the shoulder pieces and cutting them out of plastic took me almost two weeks.
[/quote]
Are there any characters out there you would love to be but just don’t think you could make the costume for?
[quote]Yes, there are. I would love to make Padmé Amidala’s picnic gown from Star Wars Episode 2 and an outfit of Augusta Vradica from Trinity Blood, but I still lack the skill to make these costumes. I’d also like to cosplay Princess Jasmine from Disney’s Aladdin, Starfire or Artemis from DC’s Teen Titans/Young Justice, but I’m not too confident to expose my midriff.[/quote]
What Cons do you go to and what do you think is the best one? Ever been to any outside of Germany?
[quote]I try to visit as many conventions in Germany as possible. I think that Connichi in Kassel and Dokomi in Duesseldorf are the best Germany conventions, but that’s just me. I have already visited conventions in Denmark (J-Pop Con and Genki Con) and in the UK (Kapow! Comic Convention) which I really enjoyed. I’ll also be at MCM Expo in London in October. I’d also love to attend a convention in the US one day![/quote]
General Geek stuff
What does Geek Pride (not the awesome website and FB page but the way of life) mean to you?
[quote]To me it means being proud of the ability to be very passionate about comics, movies, books, music and all the other things I like and being proud of the amazing fanwork the community of fans/geeks produces. To me as a cosplayer it also means to be proud of being able to slip into the role of iconic characters from my favourite series![/quote]
Star Wars or Lord of the Rings?
[quote]… how am I supposed to answer THIS question? That’s downright impossible! I love both Star Wars and Lord of the Rings to bits.[/quote]
You have been given one super power, what would it be and what would you do with it?
[quote]I think I’d like to have powers similar to the Avatar’s – like bending water, earth, fire and air! That would be pretty cool![/quote]
Anything else you would like to say?
[quote]First of all: Thanks a lot for this interview! I’m really happy I got chosen and I hope I could give you a small but nice insight into my life as a cosplayer, university student and geek! ;)[/quote]
Grand Theft Auto V will be released Spring 2013, according to Take Two Interactive today. The latest game in the hugely successful and long running series will be released on PS3 and Xbox 360, and will be available for pre-order from 5th of November. Interestingly, there was no mention of a PC release in the publisher’s press release, even though Rockstar is not known for neglecting its PC fanbase. GTA V will return to the state of Los Santos and “the surrounding area”, not visited since 2004 in Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas.
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“Grand Theft Auto V delivers a world of unprecedented scale and detail bursting with life, from mountaintops to the depths of the ocean…and builds on everything we’ve learned about open world game design. We can’t wait to share it with fans”
Sam Houser, Founder of Rockstar Games
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An employee at a GAME store in the UK inadvertently revealed the information on Twitter earlier today, around the same time as a Polish website also got wind of the information. Following this, it was made official by the game’s publisher, Take Two.
It is likely the game will be released in May, as the last 3 Rockstar titles, Red Dead Redemption, L.A. Noire and Max Payne 3 have all been released in May.
The game’s latest trailer can be found here.
Borderlands 2 is a game that a lot of people have been raving about since its long awaited release last month. But it seems (according to the BBC) that due to modders using hacked Xboxes, some players may start raving about something else all together…. before ejecting it from their Xbox and throwing it out the window!
If there is one thing that will send a gamer round the twist with anger, It’s perma death; especially on a characters you have spent so much time crafting and building up!
You can read what the BBC had to say below or see the full story here
The bug only strikes those playing the game via Microsoft’s Xbox 360 console.
It revolves around a hidden feature that can only be activated by those that have modified their console.
Gamers who play alongside people who have modded their console “contract” the bug which deletes their character if they die during play.
The hidden option within the game, known as “badass” or “hardcore”, is turned off by default but can be enabled by those that have modified or hacked their console. “Modding” involves altering the hardware or software in a console so it can run pirated games, development code or other non-official programs.
Power play
Modded consoles can enable the “badass mode” on Borderlands 2 which lets their characters gather special weapons and armour and become much more powerful than those created in “normal” mode.
When a player with an unmodded console joins a Borderlands 2 multiplayer game in which there is a character running in badass mode it too gets kicked into that mode.
“Hence the ‘virus’ explanation – as with a cold or the flu in real life you can spread it to other people before noticing the symptoms, and without any evil intent, and they in turn can spread it on to others,” explained one gamer on the forums of Borderlands 2 maker Gearbox.
One consequence of the badass mode is that when characters die during gameplay they suffer permanent deletion rather than respawning.
Gearbox warned about the problem on 22 October saying some gamers were using it to “maliciously disrupt the experience and sabotage characters of legitimate Borderlands 2 players”.
Since then the problem has become much more widespread with many posting complaints to the forum thread about long-running characters being deleted.
Gearbox said it had prepared a fix that closed the loophole being exploited but it would take time for this to be fed out to consoles.
In the meantime, Gearbox said, users players should only play with people they trust and avoid public games. To avoid characters being deleted, it said, players should use the “save and quit” option during play so they can reload that avatar later on.
No advice has been given about how to resurrect characters that have been lost as a result of the “badass” bug.
According to ABC news (who disney also own), Disney is to buy Lucasfilm for a mind blowing $4 Billion! If that isn’t enough there are rumours of a Star Wars 7 in 2015. Now I know the thought of this will make many people want to ***FACEPALM*** but I’m actually intrigued, and the little boy inside me is actually rather excited!
I’ll get my coat.
You can read the statement below or find it on the ABC website ooorrrrr (update) you can hear it from the GLs mouth!
“Lucasfilm reflects the extraordinary passion, vision, and storytelling of its founder, George Lucas,” said Robert A. Iger, chairman and CEO of The Walt Disney Company. “This transaction combines a world-class portfolio of content including ‘Star Wars,’ one of the greatest family entertainment franchises of all time, with Disney’s unique and unparalleled creativity across multiple platforms, businesses, and markets to generate sustained growth and drive significant long-term value.”
Disney is the owner of ABC News and this website. Its last big purchases included a $4 billion deal for comics giant Marvel in 2009 and a $7.4 billion deal for animated movie studio Pixar in 2006.
“For the past 35 years, one of my greatest pleasures has been to see ‘Star Wars’ passed from one generation to the next,” said Lucas. “It’s now time for me to pass ‘Star Wars’ on to a new generation of filmmakers. I’ve always believed that ‘Star Wars’ could live beyond me, and I thought it was important to set up the transition during my lifetime. I’m confident that with Lucasfilm under the leadership of Kathleen Kennedy, and having a new home within the Disney organization, ‘Star Wars’ will certainly live on and flourish for many generations to come. Disney’s reach and experience give Lucasfilm the opportunity to blaze new trails in film, television, interactive media, theme parks, live entertainment, and consumer products.”
Lucasfilm includes its popular ‘Star Wars’ franchise and its operating businesses in live action film production, consumer products, animation, visual effects, and audio post production. ”Disney will also acquire the substantial portfolio of cutting-edge entertainment technologies that have kept audiences enthralled for many years. Lucasfilm, headquartered in San Francisco, operates under the names Lucasfilm Ltd., LucasArts, Industrial Light & Magic, and Skywalker Sound, and the present intent is for Lucasfilm employees to remain in their current locations,” Disney said in a statement.
“Kathleen Kennedy, current co-chairman of Lucasfilm, will become president of Lucasfilm, reporting to Walt Disney Studios Chairman Alan Horn. Additionally she will serve as the brand manager for ‘Star Wars,’ working directly with Disney’s global lines of business to build, further integrate, and maximize the value of this global franchise. Ms. Kennedy will serve as executive producer on new ‘Star Wars’ feature films, with George Lucas serving as creative consultant. ‘Star Wars Episode 7′ is targeted for release in 2015, with more feature films expected to continue the Star Wars saga and grow the franchise well into the future,” according to the statement.
“The acquisition combines two highly compatible family entertainment brands, and strengthens the long-standing beneficial relationship between them that already includes successful integration of ‘Star Wars’ content into Disney theme parks in Anaheim, Orlando, Paris and Tokyo.
“Driven by a tremendously talented creative team, Lucasfilm’s legendary Star Wars franchise has flourished for more than 35 years, and offers a virtually limitless universe of characters and stories to drive continued feature film releases and franchise growth over the long term. ‘Star Wars’ resonates with consumers around the world and creates extensive opportunities for Disney to deliver the content across its diverse portfolio of businesses including movies, television, consumer products, games and theme parks. ‘Star Wars’ feature films have earned a total of $4.4 billion in global box to date, and continued global demand has made ‘Star Wars’ one of the world’s top product brands, and Lucasfilm a leading product licensor in the United States in 2011. The franchise provides a sustainable source of high quality, branded content with global appeal and is well suited for new business models including digital platforms, putting the acquisition in strong alignment with Disney’s strategic priorities for continued long-term growth.
“The Lucasfilm acquisition follows Disney’s very successful acquisitions of Pixar and Marvel, which demonstrated the company’s unique ability to fully develop and expand the financial potential of high quality creative content with compelling characters and storytelling through the application of innovative technology and multiplatform distribution on a truly global basis to create maximum value. Adding Lucasfilm to Disney’s portfolio of world class brands significantly enhances the company’s ability to serve consumers with a broad variety of the world’s highest-quality content and to create additional long-term value for our shareholders.
“The Boards of Directors of Disney and Lucasfilm have approved the transaction, which is subject to clearance under the Hart-Scott-Rodino Antitrust Improvements Act, certain non-United States merger control regulations, and other customary closing conditions. The agreement has been approved by the sole shareholder of Lucasfilm.”
More good friends of ours, with a facebook and website dedicated to the aesthetic beauty of awesome cosplay girls.
Check them out below!
Facebook:http://www.facebook.com/SCGUK
Twitter: @sexycosplaygirl
Website: http://www.sexycosplaygirls.com/
With the wide spread use and ease of access of the internet’s social networks; geeks, nerds and cosplayers finally found a platform to voice themselves and confer. However, these words are still but whispers falling upon ears filled with commercial wax. Sexy Cosplay Girls (SCG) is aiming to replace the stigma associated with cosplay and its community, with a new essence of respect amongst social groups. Cosplayers and the people behind it will finally be recognised for the titles, artists and innovators which they’ve so rightfully sewed for.SCG are a group from the cosplay and photography industries which have banded together to stoke the proverbial flame that cosplay has been crying for. We take your favourite characters from manga to gaming bringing them to life in a sexy, themed photoshoot done with direction, vision and accuracy from our team of skilled photographers for your endearment.So upon reading our about section, we leave you with this message. WAKE UP! Geeks are sexy too.
The Third of our talented Cosplayers in this series, is called Katy, is from the Sates and has been playing the Cos for about 2 years now. With a wide variety of costumes, this relative newcomer to the “scene” is definitely cutting a name for herself and can only go from strength to strength in the future; we look forward to seeing what she has in store for us next!
You can check out all her pages below annnndd see what she had to say to us about life, Geekdom and cosplay… enjoy!
http://www.facebook.com/katybear1031
http://www.katybear.com
http://www.youtube.com/user/katybear25?f…
http://itskatybearbitches.tumblr.com/
http://katybear25.deviantart.com/
http://www.cosplay.com/member/258416/
http://worldcosplay.net/member/Katybear/
http://www.redskyeworld.com/model-katybear#.UDAf4almTYg
(have issues with the gallery, refresh your page or just use google chrome ;oD )
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The Girl behind the Cosplay
Your bio says you love Anime and video Games, I guess we will start there then; what are your top 5 Anime and Video Games? (and Why)
1. Witchblade, I absolutely adore this anime.
2. Pokemon is one of my favorite games, I’m currently playing Black 2.
3.Girls Bravo is another anime I really love and is also one if my first animes.
4. Fable, I really enjoy all the games.
5. Dragon Ball and Dragon Ball Z.
You a PC, Xbox, Wii or PS3 sort of Gal?
I started out as a Nintendo girl, I had an SNES for my first system. Now I probably play more X Box though. I do love me some World of Warcraft too ! It’s hard to choose!
What got you into Anime? You from a family of geeks?
I first started watching DBZ and it spiraled out if control from there! (Kidding!) I do come from a family of nerds, my mom and dad introduced me to Star Wars at a very young age. My mom even owns (and can play) an ocarina.
I saw in one of your vids you have a cat.. animal lover then? Any other pets?
I am definitely an animal lover! I am a strong believer in animal rights. I currently have 2 cats ( Kratos and Battlecat). I want to rescue a retired racing greyhound someday, they are extremely mistreated and are very sweet animals.
What’s the Day Job, or do you study at uni / college?
I work as a Pharmacy Technician but I would live to go back to school someday.
Any life goals or are you happy where you are?
Same answer as above! Want to go back to school, I love learning new things. I want to own a house of my own someday
Cosplay
How long have you been Cosplaying for and what got you started?
My first cosplay was Cammy from Street Fighter debuted at Con Nichiwa 2010.
I’m guessing you make your costumes yourself? If so how long does a costume usually take you to make and what was the hardest one to do so far?
It takes me anywhere from one day to two weeks. The hardest one I have made so far is my genderbend Smoke cosplay from Mortal Kombat 9.
Are there any characters out there that you would love to be but just don’t think you could pull it off?
Hm. Probably a Witchblde cosplay, I’m not as “well endowed” as she is… lol
You have two awards on your bio “I=V/R Gamer Girl Winner and Women of Comic Book Cosplay fan sign Winner; what are they all about?
The first one is kind of a joke. It’s not the company’s real name but basically what happened is I worked my ass off to get people to vote for me every day for 2 months and “I won” only to find out I didnt get the prize money or the trip to Gen Con that they promised. It was a bummer (they they also had the nerve to ask me to spend my own money to get to Gen Con to be their boothe girl anyway!). The Women of Comic Book Cosplay fan sign was a competition I won with a grand prize of awesome comic swag!
Any other awards out there that you really covet?
I just made it into the finals of a HUGH contest but I can’t disclose any more info than that for now! Stay tuned to my page for more details!
What Cons do you go to and what’s the best one in your opinion (and why)
I have only been to cons in Arizona and New Mexico. I like Saboten Con the best so far, but I am going to Anime Expo next year and am sooo excited!
General Geek stuff
What does Geek Pride (not the awesome website and FB page but the way of life) mean to you?
I think geek pride is owning who you are and being proud of who you are!
Starwars or Lord of the Rings?
Star Wars all the way!
You have been given one super power, what would it be and what would you do with it?
Healing factor, I’d be immortal. I would use it to fight crime and wouldn’t be afraid because I couldn’t die.
Anything else you would like to say?
I would like to thank everyone that has supported me from the bottom of my heart. I would not be where I am without you guys!
Next episode of the Gameovercast is up and at them… woot, though I feel I must punish them for not reading out my email …sob, though they did mention my name… **puts down sniper rifle and lipstick**
synopsis below:
[quote]Episode 116 of the GameOverCast is up and at them!
This week the podcast is joined by a long time listener, and a returning veteran (don’t assume that means he knows what he is doing, blame the shoddy audio quality on him).
Games the gyus cover this week: Walking Dead episode 4, Dishonoured, Mass effect 3, Halo 4 and mucho more!
Imminent releases has us wet for Need for Speed most wanted, and of course HALO 4!!!!
We have news, such as gaming heart rate monitors being used to help kids calm themselves, and other such things.
The show closes on us doing our best Japanese lisp email reading……
Enjoy![/quote]
Another great episode, as always. Please be aware they do use the odd cus word, so if you are easily offended; dont listen, and if you do, dont complain to me.. i warned you ;oD
You can listen to 116 here (click the image… orrrrrr you can subscribe on itunes
Episode 4 is up and ready to rock, and the game is only a week and a half away.. jooooyyyyyy!
Geek Pride are a website dedicated to all things geek. Providing you with News, Reviews, Blogs, Podcasts, Gaming, and much more. At Geek Pride we are proud of who we are and you should be to. Don't Hide it, Wear it!
Contact us: [email protected]
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