Tabletop Goes Indie

Photo courtesy of Geek & Sundry

If you're a fan of tabletop games like Settlers of Catan, Risk, and Lords of Waterdeep, then you probably already know about Wil Wheaton's collaboration with Felicia Day and Geek & Sundry over on youtube. If you don't already know about this, then you might just be the luckiest person in the whole wide world, because you can watch two full seasons of Tabletop and not know how many times Wil loses. Spoiler/Hint: It's a LOT. But, the main point is he and his fellow gamers have a blast even when they lose because of the social aspect of tabletop games.

In the past, Tabletop has been bankrolled by Google, but now they want to produce the show indepedently. Let the conspiracy theories and/or rejoicing begin! However, what this means is that the show needs to be fully funded to produce another season and maintain the quality that will satisfy Wil and his cohorts. So, off to indiegogo, it is!

Marvel Entertainment is Set to Make History At SXSW Interactive in March 2014

If you're heading to Austin, Texas for the South By Southwest Interactive Festival (SXSW), we have the details on two can’t miss panels from Marvel Entertainment. The panels will give fans the future of digital entertainment featuring all the world’s most renowned Super Heroes-Avengers, X-Men, Spider-Man, and Guardians of the Galaxy.

The event is free and open to the public, so everyone can be on hand to see Marvel’s newest game-changing innovations featuring all your favorite Super Heroes from comic books, television, gaming and more.

Dan Buckley, President, TV, Publishing and Brand Management, Marvel Entertainment expresses,  “We’re excited to return to SXSW for a third year and unveil our exciting plans for the future of digital publishing, gaming and more. This is our biggest SXSW yet—with more panels, more news and more exclusives than we’ve ever brought to the show before!”

Play Dead With AMC's 'The Walking Dead' Slot Game

A new slot game from Aristocrat is being unleashed on casinos across North America and based on the video, it looks pretty infectious. Based on the AMC series, "The Walking Dead," The Walking Dead Slot Game "is invading casinos from coast to coast across North America from San Manuel Indian Bingo & Casino in Highland, Calif., to the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino in Hollywood, Florida to Borgata Hotel Casino & Spa in Atlantic City, N.J., and countless casinos in between."

Enter the post-apocalyptic world and take a chance at winning up to $500k. From Theresa Beyer, AMC’s Vice President of Promotions and Activation, “The Walking Dead Slot Game is the perfect marriage between TV’s leading drama and the gaming industry’s leading developer. The show keeps viewers on the edge of their seats, and Aristocrat now delivers that same experience for gaming fans.”

Telltale Making a 'Game of Thrones' Game Series for 2014

The Spike VGX was held on Saturday, December 7, and obviously yielded some cool gaming news. The event is touted as, "VGX, the next generation of Video Game Awards, is an all-day gaming experience, and a true binging dream for gamers." If you missed it, want more details or want to watch the video clips for world premieres, click on the link and head on over.

One of the (many) big reveals of the event was that the studio behind "The Walking Dead" video game series, Telltale Games, has announced that they're making a "Game of Thrones" series. The game is based on the HBO show and will be similar to their other series games.

According to a piece over at Kotaku, "Telltale says it'll be similar to their previous series, and there will be big battles—'You'll be swinging a sword now and then.'—but not the type of heavy action scenes you'd see in other video games. It is still Telltale."

The game is still in development but we'll keep you posted on when it will be available.

-Larissa Mrykalo

Game of Thrones

'Super Mario Bros.' Gets Darker in Four New Short Films

Screen Shot of "Lou" from "The Addict"

Nintendo’s Super Mario Bros. just got darker thanks to Evan Daugherty (“Divergent”). According to The Hollywood Reporter, “The Four Players” are a series of four shorts written and directed by Daugherty and feature “a grounded, dark and grittier” reimagination of the characters, including, Mario, Luigi, Princess Peach and Toad.

They mention that in one of the short films, “For example, 'The Addict' shows a skinny, mustachioed 'Lou' speaking at a Narcotics Anonymous-type meeting, growing mysterious flowers in a basement lab and receiving a text from "Bro" that reads: ‘SHE NEEDS US.’”

The films are being released on Maker’s gaming and geektastic YouTube channel, Polaris, and the first two films, “The Fixer,” which features Mario and “The Addict” are now available for viewing. You can head over to the channel tomorrow for the final two films, “The Star,” which centers around Princess Peach, and Toad-inspired, “The Soldier.”

'Donkey-Me' Game Puts Your Favorite Movie Characters Back in Hero Mode

I can’t and don’t want to reveal how many hours and quarters I’ve spent in my youth playing Donkey Kong, but I can promise you, if I could choose a hero from one of my favorite films, it would be infinitely more. Imagine being able to choose Ellen Ripley from “Alien” or Luke Skywalker, or "Conan the Barbarian," or, my personal fav, Indiana Jones, instead of Mario. Oh and put them in their movie’s setting too. Well, an independent video game developer by the name of Bruno R. Marcos has made this a reality.

Marcos developed a game called “Donkey*Me” and by the looks of the promo video (see below), it’s a nostalgic, 8-bit-loving gamer’s dream! You get to choose the hero from films that range from “Star Wars” to “Raiders of the Lost Ark” to “Big Trouble in Little China.”

The full game is available for free download in Windows, Linux and Mac so check out Bruno's web site for further details. I downloaded it on my Mac via Dropbox. Who would you choose to rescue the Princess?



-Larissa Mrykalo