DREAM THEATER Live At Luna Park 360 interactive app (video)

Dream Theater have revealed details of their 360 Interactive app, which will be released alongside their upcoming Live At Luna Park Blu-Ray/DVD. The app promises a “unique immersive experience” and offers users the chance to scroll round the stage while the band play their track Six O’Clock – meaning an almost limitless number of ways to see the performance.

The desktop and laptop software, said to be the first of its kind, will be available to those who purchase the deluxe edition of Live At Luna Park.

The Blu-ray/DVD was filmed in Buenos Aires, Argentina, last August. It’s due for release next month.

“Live At Luna Park, a live concert captured on 2DVD, Blu-ray, Digital Video, 2DVD/3CD, Blu-ray/3CD, and a deluxe edition (2DVD/Blu-ray/3CD), will drop in May 2013.

Live At Luna Park was filmed over two nights in South America — home to one of Dream Theater’s most ardent fanbases. The DVD was filmed after a 15-month world tour, hitting 35 countries.

“This is without a doubt the closest a viewer at home will come to experiencing a live Dream Theater concert,” states guitarist and founding member John Petrucci. “Between the hi-def and 3D video, the huge audio mix and the documentary style behind the scenes footage, you are truly transported to the arena and completely immersed in the entire live experience.”

“We have the greatest fans on the planet and the people of Argentina are no exception!” adds Petrucci. “The energy and vibe at Luna Park was truly electric and contagious. The perfect synergy between band and audience. We are immensely proud of this DVD and incredibly excited to share it with everyone!”"

source: Dream Theater

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BIOSHOCK INFINITE so far (video)

The wait for the original Bioshock killed me.  Well, obviously not literally, but the game sounded perfect to me and took so long to come out.  A first-person shooter with steampunk art design, a weird yet well-told story, RPG-lite elements and beautiful graphics! I played the game on XBox, PS3 and finally the PC...loved it each and every time.

Bioshock 2 was fun.  I played through it quickly without much interest in returning.  But, I am replaying on PC for the achievements. (-']

Early word on Bioshock Infinite was mixed.  As much as everyone looked forward to big changes in location and design, after long delays, critics began to wonder if the game would ever see the light of day.  Irrational Games did the right thing by taking their time to craft the best game possible.  The result is a game that is even more fun to play than the original Bioshock but is also one of the best games I have ever played.

I read that one critic finished the single player storyline in 13 hours. I am almost that far along but nowhere near finished, as far as I can tell.

First and foremost this is a very beautiful game graphically.  On my modest, yet still fairly beefy gaming rig, it runs as smooth as glass.  Except for one minor bug I will talk about below...which now appears fixed.

I will not give anything away about the story but it touches on surprisingly mature matters including racism, fanaticism and much more.  The setting and art design only add to the uniqueness of the game. The whole package is as defining as the original Bioshock, this game will clean up at the year end awards.

Game play will make or break a game, no matter how good the story and this Bioshock improves on it's predecessors in every way.  You are still collecting better powers and weapons as you play but it all works so much more smoothly than in the past.

My only complaint is about your companion, Elizabeth.  Although she is a big help with locks, ammo and health, her animation is very choppy compared to the rest of the game.  As I mention, game play is very smooth but her animation stuttered as if her frame rate was separate from the rest of the game.  Either though a recent patch or by my turning off the v-sync, the problem has disappeared.

I am playing on PC but the game is also available for PS3 and XBox 360.  We are getting closer to bringing movies and games together in a new form of interactive entertainment and BIOSHOCK INFINITE is a great example of where we are headed. You should really play this game.

I will let you know how it goes.  All pictures are actual screenshots from my PC.

IGN's review:

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DEFIANCE launches (video)

As a gamer, I am intrigued by Defiance for a couple of reasons.  It was created by one of the minds behind Farscape, love that show.  It is also the first time what happens in a video game tie-in will affect it's TV show "partner". After watching the first 14 minutes, Defiance shows promise.  Hopefully the game will be worth playing.

from SyFy:

After months of anticipation, the online 3rd person shooter from Trion Worlds (makers of Rift) is available today for PC, PS3 and XBox 360. Set in a future Earth that's been radically altered by alien conflicts and terraforming, you play as an "Ark Hunter," tasked with tracking down alien technology from "Arkfalls," pieces of a destroyed alien fleet that periodically fall to the surface. You can choose to play as either a human or an alien, fight alone or with a group of other players, choose from a wide variety of weapons and modify them with alien tech, and travel the game's open world with a range of vehicles. As you play, events in the game will impact the Defiance TV series, and events in the TV series will impact the game, for a tie-in experience unlike any other.

Check out the full Defiance game launch trailer:

Defiance the series premieres April 15th at 9/8C on Syfy.

source: Syfy / Defiance

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Happy Birthday JIMMY CLIFF (video)

Jimmy Cliff, OM (born James Chambers on April 1, 1948) is a Jamaican musician, singer and actor. He is the only currently living musician to hold the Order of Merit, the highest honor that can be granted by the Jamaican government for achievement in the arts and sciences.

Cliff is best known among mainstream audiences for songs such as "Wonderful World, Beautiful People", "The Harder They Come," "Sitting in Limbo", "You Can Get It If You Really Want" and "Many Rivers to Cross" from the soundtrack to The Harder They Come, which helped popularize reggae across the world; and his covers of Cat Stevens' "Wild World" and Johnny Nash's "I Can See Clearly Now" from the film Cool Runnings. Outside of the reggae world, he is probably best known for his film appearance in The Harder They Come. Cliff was one of five performers inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2010.

source: wikipedia

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Happy Birthday ERIC CLAPTON (video)

Eric Patrick Clapton, CBE, (born March 30 1945) is an English guitarist and singer-songwriter. He is the only three-time inductee to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame: once as a solo artist, and separately as a member of The Yardbirds and Cream. Clapton has been referred to as one of the most important and influential guitarists of all time. Clapton ranked second in Rolling Stone magazine's list of the "100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time" and fourth in Gibson's Top 50 Guitarists of All Time.

In the mid-1960s, Clapton departed from the Yardbirds to play blues with John Mayall & the Bluesbreakers. In his one-year stay with Mayall, Clapton gained the nickname "Slowhand". Immediately after leaving Mayall, Clapton joined Cream, a power trio with drummer Ginger Baker and bassist Jack Bruce in which Clapton played sustained blues improvisations and "arty, blues-based psychedelic pop." For most of the 1970s, Clapton's output bore the influence of the mellow style of J.J. Cale and the reggae of Bob Marley. His version of Marley's "I Shot the Sheriff" helped reggae reach a mass market. Two of his most popular recordings were "Layla", recorded by Derek and the Dominos, another band he formed, and Robert Johnson's "Crossroads", recorded by Cream. Following the death of his son Conor in 1991, Clapton's grief was expressed in the song "Tears in Heaven", which featured in his Unplugged album.

A recipient of seventeen Grammy Awards, and the Brit Award for Outstanding Contribution to Music, in 2004 Clapton was awarded a CBE at Buckingham Palace for services to music. In 1998, Clapton, a recovering alcoholic and drug addict, founded the Crossroads Centre on Antigua, a medical facility for recovering substance abusers.

source: wikipedia

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