by The Flickcast, Jul 6 2011 // 9:00 AM
We’re pretty big fans of all things viral here at The Flickcast, but given that there is just so much to report on when it comes to awesome web videos, we thought it was time we just spelled it all out for you in a comprehensive list for you to enjoy it all in a digestible package.
We all know how terrible Spider-Man: Turn off the Dark is, either by first or second hand experience. But 4 minutes from the new Batman Live! stage show gives us Batman fighting a giant disembodied Joker head. Meh?
Who doesn’t love a good trailer mashup? How about when the two themes are both eerily similar in histories? That’s exactly what you get when My Little Pony meets Dark of the Moon in TransforMares: Dark of the NightMare Moon.
Speaking of trailer mashups (that are less ironic and more funny), here’s a mashup of the Source Code trailer with the popular game Half Life.
What if Luke Skywalker was the Billy Mumy, aka the creepy kid from the Twilight Zone episode where he made people disappear? Take a step into the Star Wars Zone to find out.
Getting deeper into the world of impressive shorts, this one takes a look at life from two different perspectives. We present to you Splitscreen: A Love Story.
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Posted in: Action · Drama · Fan Films · Fandom · Movies · News · Sci-Fi · Trailers · Video · Web · Web Video Roundup
Tagged: Batman Live, Half-Life, Magic Bullet 11, Source Code, Spider-Man: Turn off the dark, Splitscreen: A Love Story, Star Wars, TransforMares, Transformers: Dark of the Moon, Twilight Zone
by John Carle, Mar 15 2010 // 3:45 PM
Sometimes we watch Machinima because it tells a compelling story with some of our favorite characters. Most of the time we end up watching it because we appreciate a quick, cheap laugh. Ultrahouse 13: Mega Kitchen comes from an entirely different perspective: amazine visuals. You are probably asking how a Machinima could bring amazing visuals if it is just taking footage captured from a game.
Ultrahouse 13 uses the assets from the Half-Life 2 engine and places them in a real life house. Combine soldiers, no taller than a few inches, storm their way through a home and deal with resistance fighters along the way. The Combine don’t come alone as they are quickly joined by a Strider walker and drop-ship. But the rebels don’t go down easy as they defend their home with a gigantic DOG robot.
The short presentation seems very reminiscent of the style of “Ataque de Panico” which led to director Fede Alvarez being signed to Sam Raimi’s studio. Not to say that a “simple” Half-Life 2 Machinima will bring massive success to an aspiring effects artist, but after seeing what was accomplished here, it wouldn’t a huge surprise to see creator Eddie Smithson’s name in the credits of the silver screen someday soon.
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Posted in: Action · Machinima Mondays · News · PC Games · Video · Video Games
Tagged: Half-Life, Half-Life 2, Machinima, Machinima Mondays, Ultrahouse 13: Megakitchen, Video
by Cortney Zamm, Mar 9 2010 // 8:00 AM
Macs are great, except for when you want to play video games on them. Instead, OSX users rejoice whenever new and exciting titles are announced for the platform, and today is no exception. Kotaku has officially confirmed that along with the Steam software, Left 4 Dead 2, Team Fortress 2, Counter-Strike, Portal, and the Half-Life series are coming to Mac.
“As we transition from entertainment as a product to entertainment as a service, customers and developers need open, high-quality Internet clients,” said Gabe Newell, President of Valve. “The Mac is a great platform for entertainment services.”
This announcement has been rumored for awhile, as Mac-specific graphics were discovered in the beta files for the new Steam service last month. Valve dropped some serious hints later, with the release of some images of Valve games integrated with some familiar Mac themes.
Even more exciting is the new feature Steam Play, which will allow anyone who purchases a game on Steam for PC to download and play it for Mac, and vice versa, with no extra charge. Valve also hopes to release titles for Mac on the same day as the PC versions. The first simultaneous release for PC and Mac on Steam will be Portal 2, which was announced earlier this month.
Posted in: Announcements · Apple · Games · Geek · News · PC Games · Video Games
Tagged: Apple, Computers, Counter-Strike, Games, Half-Life, Left 4 Dead 2, Mac, Macintosh, OSX, Portal, Portal 2, Steam, Team Fortress 2, Valve, Video Games
by John Carle, Dec 11 2009 // 7:00 AM
He has been the face behind 20,000,000 units in video games sales. He was a simple scientist who fought his way through the disaster at Black Mesa and went on to become the face of the resistance against the Combine empire.
He was recently voted by the readers of Gamespot.com the Greatest Video Game Hero of All Time (even beating out Mario in the finals). He is Gordon Freeman of Half-Life and he has been able to do all of this without ever opening his mouth.
One of the key characteristics of Gordon Freeman, aside from being the “Free Man” as the aliens in Half-Life like to refer to him, is that he is also the “Every Man”. He was not a war hero. He wasn’t a super-powered being. He was a person doing his job when a terrible accident occurred and set the events of his life in to motion to lead him to a path of greatness.
Without ever being given a voice, players were given the chance to fill in the blank spots in dialogue during the game with what they felt would be their own responses.
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Posted in: Animation · Comedy · Fan Films · Games · Geek · PC Games · Video Friday · Video Games
Tagged: Animation, Fan Film Friday, Freeman's Mind, Gamespot, Half-Life, Half-Life 2, Machinima, Steam, Valve, Video Games