Gaming History You Should Know – Star Trek: The Experience May 10, 2020
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It’s Sunday and welcome to this week’s look at Gaming History You Should Know, where we highlight some of the best independently produced gaming-related documentaries. Come with me as we take a trip to Las Vegas circa 1997.
When I was a kid, I loved watching Star Trek. (ED NOTE – You don’t say?) The films Star Trek Generations and First Contact were on a regular rotation in my VCR and I would watch syndicated episodes of The Next Generation, The Original Series, Deep Space 9 and even Voyager on television while downloading patches and mods on my PC’s abysmally slow modem. In fact, I would argue I probably got a better education watching some specific episodes of Trek than I ever learned in school at the time.
People don’t give Star Trek enough credit these days. The show was revolutionary for its time and one could argue it was probably the biggest transmedia property of its day with interconnected movies, television shows, books and video games. Oh and did I mention that starting in the late 90s, you could actually have a first hand EXPERIENCE in the Star Trek world? You just had to spend some time at the Las Vegas Hilton.
In the late 90s, my parents took me on a vacation to Las Vegas, NV for the first time. Star Trek: The Experience would be something we were going to check out. Without spoiling any details, I believe I had the best time ever, and it cemented my fandom up until Enterprise wrecked it.
Star Trek The Experience would not last forever. A few short years after receiving a major Borg upgrade, the attraction closed in 2008. To this day, nothing like it has ever reopened anywhere in the world.
One month ago, the YouTube Channel Theme Park Backlot premiered this incredible look at the experience. He talks about its early history, what you could do in it, and why it is no longer there. Take it away!
I know what you’re thinking, what does this defunct Star Trek ride/show have to do with gaming? Well, the group who made this ride pioneered a lot of new show effects that only now places like Disneyland (with Rise of the Resistance) have been able to replicate. Seriously that transporter effect alone was worth the price of admission to STTE. You weren’t merely on a recreation of the Enterprise’s Bridge, the show’s story made it clear you were onboard THE Enterprise. In fact most of the original cast remarked (upon touring it themselves) the set built at the Hilton was identical to the set they spent eight years on down to the Easter Eggs.
With modern theme parks now building on The Experience’s foundation, they’ve started incorporating gaming-related features on top of their shows. Now, thanks to the power of real-time graphics, you can experience rides like Smuggler’s Run and actually fly the real Millennium Falcon through the Star Wars galaxy! There’s even in-park penalties guests could risk if they do poorly on the ride. If STTE hadn’t shuttered, who knows what new technology it could’ve incorporated?
Special thanks to Theme Park Backlot for letting us feature them in today’s article. Go and check out their YouTube Channel for more great videos!
Nintendo Switch Software Update 10.0.2 Released May 9, 2020
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This is just a reminder but Nintendo has released a software update for the Nintendo Switch and that update is currently required to update your games and use the Nintendo Network.
The new update is version 10.0.2. If you had the previous version, the update process shouldn’t take very long. You do not need to update your controllers after downloading this update if you already updated them after installing version 10.0.1.
Forgotten Halo Media May 9, 2020
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We have started to receive the first game information for the newest Xbox console and players are chomping at the big hoping there will finally be some unveiling of the next Halo game, Halo Infinite, soon. The Xbox brand has been intertwined with Halo since the original console launched back in 2001, and as Halo games shifted from being developed by Bungie to Microsoft’s internal studio 343 Industries, the expanded Halo universe took off.
In 2009, shortly after the release of Halo 3: ODST, Microsoft’s 343 Studios launched the Halo Waypoint app. The app gave Halo players easy access to their online progress, awarded avatar items and offered exclusive video content you couldn’t find anywhere else. At around the same time, Halo: Legends was about to get released into Blu-Ray Disc, and Halo Waypoint was poised to take advantage of promoting the anthology.
Sadly, that app has not been ported to the Xbox One, and as of the time this article is being posted, many of the Halo Waypoint videos have not been officially added elsewhere, either to the Halo Channel app, a special feature in a Home Video compilation or Halo’s Official YouTube Channel.
The Mona Lisa
The Mona Lisa was an animated short produced for the Xbox 360’s Halo Waypoint app during its heyday. It was an animated adaptation of a short story included in Halo: Evolutions and was produced by the same company who later went on to animate Halo: The Fall of Reach for Home Video in 2015. Here’s the trailer:
As you could see from the trailer, the titular Mona Lisa is invaded by Halo’s most insidious foe, The Flood. With no Master Chief to help them, the surviving crew must find a way to defeat the parasite or prevent it from spreading at all costs.
The short is horrific and just awesome, telling a gripping story in the Halo universe. It wouldn’t be the only animated short to get neglected…
Midnight in the Heart of Midlothian
A cancer-stricken soldier is recovering from major surgery as his ship is invaded by the Covenant. With the help of the ship’s AI, he needs to figure out how to keep the location of Earth safe from the invaders. The short was absolutely beautiful, told in many parts, with an epic ending. It has never been brought to the Halo Channel, nor has it been officially released on any other medium.
However, those two aren’t the only animated short that has seemingly been “lost”. There is one more.
The Return
The Return was an even shorter animated story taken from Halo: Evolutions. In fact I think it was the very first animated Evolutions short. Set before the events of Halo 4, the short tells the origin of the Elite that was not willing to accept the peace that was settled at the end of Halo 3.
Given that this was such a major component of Halo 4 (and its origin is very glossed over), this is an important story that should have been made a permanent addition to the Halo Channel.
I have no idea why the animated short and The Mona Lisa weren’t included on the Blu-Ray Disc release of Halo: The Fall of Reach, in fact the home video release of that animated special came with no special features at all.
The Experience Halo 4 Launch Event
Experience Halo was an enormous event that many press believed transformed an entire country into the Halo world for one night. If this sounds a little familiar it’s probably because some of this idea (interacting with Halo in the real world) is a reoccurring idea for Halo marketing since Halo 2‘s I Love Bees Campaign in 2004 and most recently has been expanded upon (to great success) for Halo: Outpost Discovery.
In Liechtenstein, the gaming press were treated to a fun little experience in anticipation for the release of Halo 4 on the Xbox 360. They were shuttled into busses and given instructions to complete a series of challenges in some wild environments. Along the way, they encounter the Chief in the middle of a battle. Here’s a press video of the event.
Halo Reach Developer Commentary
Players who picked up a copy of the Halo Reach Collector’s Edition or Halo Reach Legendary Edition received download code to unlock a special video commentary for the game that could be watched through the Xbox 360’s Halo Waypoint application. The commentary video is an hour long as features interviews with four major developers of Halo: Reach.
Due to the fact that the video required a DLC code to unlock it, it’s unknown how many people watched it, but we made a review of it years ago.
So there are a few examples of Halo media that has gone forgotten for all these years. If there’s anything you think I’ve missed, please post a comment below. We could be weeks away from seeing our first in-game footage of the next Halo title, and my hopes are high this will restore Halo to its place as the top game of the next Xbox console.
Halo Infinite is coming Holiday 2020 to the Xbox One, Xbox Series X and PC.
TGS 2020 Cancelled May 7, 2020
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Due to an abundance of caution and a concern over public safety in the middle of the COVID-19 pandemic, Tokyo Game Show 2020 has been cancelled. The event was one of the biggest trade shows in Japan and was intended to provide the public hands-on gameplay for upcoming titles.
The organizers have said they intend to move their major reveals online, and will stream live video of many of the important panels they had scheduled for this year.
Xbox Series X Gameplay First Look May 7, 2020
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We all know Microsoft’s next console will be out by this Christmas, but we haven’t seen much in the field of what games we can expect or what the games developed for it will look like. Today, Microsoft revealed the first gameplay coming to the Xbox Series X.
Microsoft promises they will do a new preview of the Xbox Series X every month. Most of the games we saw in this video are going to take advantage of Smart Delivery, which will enable a game that is purchased for the Xbox One to seamlessly enable a native Xbox Series X version.
All games shown will be coming to the Xbox Series X.
Xbox Series X Gameplay Reveal Tomorrow May 6, 2020
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Microsoft has announced the time they will reveal actual gameplay running on the Xbox Series X, the next Xbox console. Take a listen to the startup sound.
The Xbox Series X will reveal at 8am PST tomorrow on various streaming services. We will keep you posted when the stream launches.
The Xbox Series X is coming Holiday 2020.
The Last of Us Part II Story Trailer May 6, 2020
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Don’t adjust your monitors, I think this is the first new officially released footage we’ve seen of The Last of Us Part II in a very long time. Here it is in glorious 4K!
The Last of Us Part II is coming June 19th, 2020 exclusively for the PS4.
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