Joystiq

There Came an Echo, voice-controlled strategy starring Wil Wheaton

Jessica Conditt — Mon, 18 Feb 2013 20:15:00 EST

Iridium Studios, the team responsible for 2011's Kickstarter success, Sequence, is tackling the widely untouched genre of speech-run gaming with There Came an Echo, a voice-controlled strategy game. Iridium hopes to cash in on Kickstarter once again with There Came an Echo, asking for $90,000 to complete the game for PC, with a launch on Steam scheduled for mid-2014 (no Greenlight required).

Players in There Came an Echo act as the field commander of a small squad and talk members through operations to achieve various objectives. The game will recognize a pre-programmed vocabulary of a few hundred commands, such as "head to Bravo 3," but each command is fully customizable.

"For instance, instead of 'Grace, hold position,' you might choose to say 'yo girl, hold up,' or instead of 'weapons free,' you might say, 'not the gumdrop buttons!' You'll be able to direct your troops in a style completely your own," Iridium's Kickstarter description reads.

If that's not intriguing enough, Iridium roped in geek extraordinaire Wil Wheaton to star in There Came an Echo. Iridium founder Jason Wishnov has a pretty hefty industry track record himself, including freelance work for Joystiq's Wii Fanboy and DS Fanboy when those were still things back in 2007. Check out Wheaton and Wishnov in the Kickstarter promo video above.

There Came an Echo, voice-controlled strategy starring Wil Wheaton originally appeared on Joystiq on Mon, 18 Feb 2013 20:15:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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DC Universe Online gets even more super voice actors

Griffin McElroy — Fri, 22 Oct 2010 16:20:00 EST

Sure, you could get your superheroic missions from timeless characters in DC Universe Online through boring text discussions -- but it seems Sony Online Entertainment is doing its darndest to fill the game with real human voices. Authentic voices too: For instance, Arleen Sorkin will reprise her role of Harley Quinn from Batman: The Animated Series, while super prolific voice actor Corey Burton will provide the pipes for Brainiac.

Dwight Schultz, of The A-Team and Star Trek: The Next Generation fame, will add another notch to his voiceover belt by speaking for The Flash. Rounding out the list of actors is Wil Wheaton, who recently voiced the Blue Beetle in Batman: The Brave and the Bold -- though, this time around, he'll be doing vox for Robin, who is sometimes called Boy Wonder, but never to his face.

DC Universe Online gets even more super voice actors originally appeared on Joystiq on Fri, 22 Oct 2010 16:20:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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NES signed by gaming industry superstars auctioning off for charity

Griffin McElroy — Fri, 15 Oct 2010 00:00:00 EST

Filed under: Weird But True, Opinions, New In Pop Culture

We can't help but notice that there's something wrong with your Nintendo Entertainment System. No, it's not that its connector pins are totally jacked after two decades of rough cartridge insertion -- it's that it isn't covered, toe to tip, in the autographs of some of the gaming, tech and general nerd industry's most prominent figures.

You can rectify that problem by bidding on this NES, which has been signed by folks like Penny Arcade's Mike Krahulik and Jerry Holkins, Wil Wheaton, MC Frontalot, Jonathan Coulton and many, many more. All the proceeds from the auction go to the Baystate Children's Hospital in Springfield, Mass. -- as do the proceeds from eBay user DanMckela's other auctions. Go take a look at his altruistic wares!

[Thanks, Dao Jones!]

NES signed by gaming industry superstars auctioning off for charity originally appeared on Joystiq on Fri, 15 Oct 2010 00:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Wil Wheaton's State of the Geek Union Address delivered during PAX keynote

Griffin McElroy — Sat, 27 Mar 2010 17:30:00 EST

We've been floating on a cloud of inspiration since yesterday afternoon, when nerd culture luminary Wil Wheaton delivered the keynote address for PAX East 2010. For one hour, the audience watched as Wil touched on a myriad of game culture touchstones: His newfound love of Dragon Age (including a ton of end-game spoilers), his first encounter with D&D, how he's watched games evolve over the years, and his ever-evolving love of the Penny Arcade Expo. We couldn't poll the audience, but we're pretty sure everyone left the theater with inexplicable warm feelings.

You can listen to the whole (fairly NSFW) keynote in the audio player below.

Wil Wheaton's State of the Geek Union Address delivered during PAX keynote originally appeared on Joystiq on Sat, 27 Mar 2010 17:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Wil Wheaton to deliver inaugural keynote at PAX East

Griffin McElroy — Tue, 09 Feb 2010 19:00:00 EST

Before the live Joystiq podcast recording, before the Blueberry Muffin Tops Breakfast, and before ... you know, all the news, the festivities of PAX East have to be kicked off with proper keynote address. Appropriately enough, the first-ever east coast iteration of the con will be introduced by the man who led the opening ceremonies of PAX 2007 -- child star, adult star, writer and world-renowned D&D cognoscenti, Wil Wheaton.

If you're curious about what to expect from Wheaton's speech during the almost-sold-out expo, we suggest checking out his speech from three years ago. We imagine it will be in a similar style as that, only ... beardier.

Wil Wheaton to deliver inaugural keynote at PAX East originally appeared on Joystiq on Tue, 09 Feb 2010 19:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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