Previously featured Flash game-like thing Every Day The Same Dream, a delightfully depressing drudgery simulator, spawns a fan-made film with a slightly different perspective. If you haven't already played Molleindustria's game, do so, then bum yourself out further by watching.
Every Day The Same Dream [Vimeo via BoingBoing]
Three Russians, a Frenchman, an Italian-Columbian, and a Chinese walk into a fake spaceship, and don't walk out again for 520 days. Stop me if you've heard this one.
Starting today, a crew of six pseudo spacemen will be spending a year-and-a-half inside the Mars 500, a mock spacecraft, in order to help the Moscow-based Institute for Medical and Biological Problems and the European Space Agency simulate a manned trip to Mars.
See, getting men to Mars isn't the main problem. Getting men to Mars without them killing each other, as scientifically documented in movies like Danny Boyle's Sunshine - that's the problem.
People aren't meant to spend so much time together in enclosed spaces. Within hours tensions start to rise, tempers flare, and soon enough dad is threatening to turn this car around and go back home.
A manned trip to Mars would be much more inconvenient. There'd be no stopping to stretch your legs, no pit stops at Denny's, and no relaxing evenings at the Motel 6, watching the scrambled porn channel after making sure the kids were asleep in the next room.
No, a manned trip to Mars sounds like my idea of hell, so I'm glad that it's a team of multinational volunteers that will be sealing themselves inside a 20,000 cubic foot windowless capsule to simulate the 520 day trip to and from Mars.
"When everybody interacts with the same people in the same space, habits and behavior become apparent very quickly. These habits may irritate and cause indignation - and even fits of aggression," said Mikhail Baryshev, a psychotherapist who is connected to the program.
The six men will spend their 520 days performing various experiments, eating canned food, and desperately trying to stave off space madness. To make things worse, they'll only be able to shower once every 10 days, which is half of what I believe the normal number of showers should be.
Still, they'll have video games!
The ESA (European Space Agency)said the crew will also regularly play video games as part of the agency's project to develop personalized software to interact with crews on future space missions.
The ESA (Entertainment Software Association) would approve.
Still, will games be enough to keep these six men from each other's throats?
In 1999 an experiment much like this one failed, after a Canadian woman complained a Russian team captain had kissed her, and two crewmembers splattered blood all over the walls during a fistfight.
Russian officials blamed the incident on cultural gaps and stress.
Three Russians, a Frenchman, an Italian-Columbian, and a Chinese walk into a fake spaceship...oh wait, I already said that.
On behalf of everyone here at Kotaku, I wish these brave non-explorers well, and hope their time not in space teaches us a great deal about how to endure a long space flight until Sam Neill shows up.
Russia launching 520-day Mars mission simulation [Yahoo! News]
E3 is soon — less than two weeks! This was last year's... PlayStation U.S. boss Jack Tretton at the Sony press conference. Gran Turismo 5? It's probably coming too... someday. [PIC: Kevork Djansezian/Getty Images]
Visceral Games' sci-fi horror experience Dead Space Extraction appears (again) to be making the leap from critically successful, commercially disappointing Wii game to high-definition do-over, thanks to EA Montreal.
Dead Space Extraction was outed as a PlayStation Network and Xbox Live Arcade candidate earlier this year, when we reported on publisher EA's interest in bringing the game to a more welcoming audience. The "full HD" game was listed as a possible incentive for Dead Space 2 purchasers that could carry a $15 USD price tag.
Now it appears a lot more likely, as an Electronic Arts rendering engineer lists the following game experience, via NeoGAF, currently in the works at EA Montreal.
Dead Space Extraction XBLA/PSN port (Feb 2010 – Now):
- Currently porting the popular Wii title based on EuroCom's EngineX to XBLA and PSN.
Dead Space Extraction for PSN and XBLA feels like the right move, a way for fans of the original to experience the Wii-only title on the platforms they prefer. As a pre-order or original purchase incentive, it—and that other rumored Dead Space game, Planet Cracker—would fit in nicely with EA's Project Ten Dollar scheme. And as potential PlayStation Move or Project Natal games, Extraction might just be crazy enough to work.
Plus, the more Dead Space the better, we say.
Remember that NPD study that defined extreme gamers as people who average 48.5 hours of play time a week? G4's Patrick Klepek got two of these gamers to explain themselves.
One of them is 22-year-old Chelsie Chatelain, who explains how she manages to play games so much:
"I just have A LOT of free time," she said. "Going to college, unemployed. And rather [than] go and spend a bunch of money I would rather just buy a game and chill at my house. Been playing games since i was like 2, so pretty much addicted, lol. Started with a NES, havent stopped since."
This sound like you? Or someone you used to be?
Read the full piece for more about these two gamers, or explain your own 48-hour habit right here.
Two "Extreme Gamers" Who Happily Admit Playing 48.5 Hours Per Week [G4's The Feed] [PIC]
The promised free co-op-centric downloadable content for Red Dead Redemption will be available on June 22, according to Rockstar. Expect six co-op missions for 2-4 players, including an explosive shootout with the Walton gang.
Grace's Diary has players work their way through an interactive story, working to discover what happened to Grace and, perhaps, learning the danger signs of Teen Dating Violence.
The game, designed by Hima in Bangkok, Thailand, was named the winner of this year's Life. Love. Game Design contest, taking home a $2,500 prize.
As games continue to evolve it's just as important for them to show their ability to educate as it is for them to enlighten, entertain and touch an audience.
This is the third year I've been a judge for the video game contest, and this year's entries were by far the best.
Others include A Decision of Paramount Importance, Jellia's Friends and Knowledge can be your bulletproof vest, with the developers based in Massachusetts, Chicago and Seneffe, Belgium.
The other judges for this year's contest were Leigh Alexander (News Editor, Gamasutra), Dr. Ian Bogost (Co-Founder, Persuasive Games), Simon Carless (Chairman, Independent Games Festival) and Dr. Elizabeth Richeson, Ph.D., M.S. PsyPharm (Advisory Board Director, Jennifer Ann's Group).
Teen Dating Violence impacts a surprising number of people each year. Take the time to check out the game winners, and maybe pass them around to your friends.
Life. Love. [JenniferAnn.Org]
It was a super week for Super Mario in Japan, with Super Mario Galaxy 2 seeing super sales. The sequel to Super Mario Galaxy out-supered its nearest competitor, Super Robot Taisen OG Saga: Masou Kishin - The Lord of Elemental.
The latest figures from Japanese sales tracker Media Create put Super Mario Galaxy 2 at 340,000 copies sold in its first on the market. Not too shabby! A better first week than the original Super Mario Galaxy, but not quite New Super Mario Bros. Wii numbers. It was a week filled with new debuts, like Cave's new Death Smiles IIX, Alan Wake and a slew of Japanese games that appeal strictly to Japanese tastes.
Last week's champ, Lost Planet 2, managed to stay in the top ten, as did Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker, which could be a million-seller in Japan, given a few more months.
For the top thirty bestselling games in Japan for the week of May 24 to 30, read on, super readers.
01. Super Mario Galaxy 2 (Wii) - 340,000 / NEW
02. Super Robot Taisen OG Saga: Masou Kishin - The Lord of Elemental (DS) - 81,000 / NEW
03. Soccer Tsuku DS: World Challenge 2010 (DS) - 50,000 / NEW
04. Medarot DS: Kabuto / Kuwagata (DS) - 50,000 / NEW
05. Dragon Quest Monsters Joker 2 (DS) - 34,000 / 1,099,000
06. Lost Planet 2 (PS3) - 34,000 / 118,000
07. Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker (PSP) - 25,000 / 698,000
08. World Soccer Winning Eleven 2010: Aoki Samurai no Chousen (PS3) - 22,000 / 79,000
09. New Super Mario Bros. Wii (Wii) - 16,000 / 3,860,000
10. Death Smiles IIX (Xbox 360) - 16,000 / NEW
11. Alan Wake (Xbox 360)
12. Tomodachi Collection (DS)
13. World Soccer Winning Eleven 2010: Aoki Samurai no Chousen (PSP)
14. Wii Fit Plus (Wii)
15. Mario Kart Wii (Wii)
16. World Soccer Winning Eleven 2010: Aoki Samurai no Chousen (PS2)
17. Blaze Union: Story to Reach the Future (PSP)
18. Monster Hunter Portable 2nd G (the Best) (PSP)
19. Lost Planet 2 (Xbox 360)
20. Wii Sports Resort (Wii)
21. Hagane no Renkinjutsushi - Fullmetal Alchemist: Yakusoku no Hi e (PSP)
22. New Super Mario Bros. (DS)
23. Captain Tsubasa: Gekitou no Kiseki (DS)
24. Super Street Fighter IV (PS3)
25. Strike Witches: Anata to Dekiru Koto - A Little Peaceful Days (PS2)
26. Pro Yakyuu Spirits 2010 (PSP)
27. Nier Replicant (PS3)
28. World Soccer Winning Eleven 2010 Play Maker: Aoki Samurai no Chousen (Wii)
29. Yumeiro Patisserie: My Sweets Cooking (DS)
30. Suzunone Seven: Rebirth Knot (PS2)
Yesterday's live-action Captain America concept art gave us hope for the next Marvel properties getting the movie and video game treatment. Today's Thor concept art takes a large hammer to that hope.
Yesterday Ain't It Cool News delivered a set of images purported to be concept art for the upcoming Captain America movie, which of course also makes them concept art for the video game Sega will deliver to coincide with the movie's release.
Now Collider.com digs up a couple of similarly-styled concept art pieces showing off Chris Hemsworth as The Mighty Thor. We've previously seen an official teaser image of Hemsworth in full Norse regalia, but this is the first time we're seeing the full outfit, complete with glowing blue Mjolnir (pronounced myol-neer), plastic replicas of which are sure to start showing up at toys stores months prior to the movie's May 6, 2011 release date.
I'm just not feeling it.
Perhaps it's the faux scale-mail sleeves, or the random rubber-looking bits around the boots that don't seem to serve any real purpose. Maybe it's the fact that the Norse god of thunder needs to wear boots with jagged hiking soles.
It could be I've just been spoiled by Bryan Hitch's simple design for Ultimate Thor, who was just a big guy in a stylized muscle tee with a fancy belt.
It's just not screaming Thor for me.
Try this. Put the full-sized image on your computer screen and take a few steps away. Squint your eyes. That could be anyone. Hell, it could be blond Magneto.
Ultimately, I am not a film director, so what do I know? With Kenneth Branagh handling the directing, Natalie Portman as Thor's human love interest, and Anthony Hopkins as Odin, this could be the most spectacular Marvel movie ever created.
Hopefully the status quo will be maintained. Marvel will continue to deliver solid movies, and Sega will continue to turn them into mediocre games.
Exclusive: New Images of Chris Hemsworth as THOR [Collider]
The 2010 Come Out & Play Festival will start tomorrow in Brooklyn, NY. I've mentioned it before, but now I can show you the test-run for the festival's live-action version of Atari classic Kaboom.
Compare it to the virtual version.
Real-life Kaboom is just one of a weekend's worth of public games, some based on video games, that will be running during the festival.
Check out the full Come Out and Play 2010 schedule for yourself. Opening ceremonies are Friday night.
