Whether you’re still recovering from WonderCon like we are, nerding out over Mortal Kombat X’s official launch trailer or trying to figure out what the recent update has done to your Xbox One, we’re here to get you up to speed on what you may have missed in terms of gaming news. In today’s Gaming Daily: some guy used over 14,000 toothpicks to recreate a screenshot from Super Mario Bros., Amazon has reportedly purchased Crytek’s Cryengine 3, and the three day Square Enix game reveal is officially live on Twitch.
Man builds Super Mario Bros. load screen out of toothpicks.
If you ever find yourself with an exorbitant amount of time, patience and toothpicks, you may want to take a few notes from Twitter user BitBlt Korry‘s newest video. As you’ll see in the image above, as well as the video at the top of the page, he used over 14,000 painted toothpicks to recreate a screenshot from Super Mario Bros.
According to the user, he forked over 10,000 yen (or $84.00 US) to complete the five day project. He not only bundled up and painted the toothpicks, but off set them to give the work of art depth. He even added a tiny pop-out Mario at the bottom of the piece. Cool!
Crytek and Amazon agree to $50-70 million licensing deal.
After struggling over the course of last year, Crytek has reportedly forged an alliance with web-giant Amazon to help recover financially. According to several sources who’ve anonymously contacted Kotaku, Amazon has agreed to a licensing deal for the German company’s CryEngine 3.
So, how much was Amazon willing to fork over for this game building tool? The amount isn’t official, but is rumored to be in the realm of $50-70 million dollars. Whatever the actual amount is, sources were certain that it was substantial enough to help pull the company out of financial hardships.
Though this news may sound surprising, mainly because of who the new relationship is with, the decision itself was hinted at last month, when Crytek co-founder Faruk Yerli referenced a mega deal in an interview with Develop. “It was a huge one, probably the biggest one,” he said at the time. “I can’t say anything more in detail, but hopefully we’ll be able to announce it with the partner soon.”
This news is especially interesting considering all of the gaming talent Amazon recently acquired. In addition to purchasing Killer Instinct developer Double Helix and forming Amazon Game Studios, the company hired Kim Swift (Portal designer), Erik Nylund (Halo Writer) and Clint Hocking (Far Cry 2), and already has them working on unannounced projects.
HT: Kotaku
Square Enix is hosting an interactive reveal on Twitch
While it’ll be difficult to beat the interactive trailer for Silent Hills (aka P.T.), Square Enix is doing something interesting over on a Twitch channel they’ve specifically created for a three day game reveal.
As of right now, we don’t know much about the title except for the fact that the phrase “Can’t Kill Progress” has something to do with it– especially considering that it’s the name of the twitch channel, and has to be what the CKP initials stand for in the corner of the announcement’s promo image.
So far, the stream has consisted of a man being trapped in an empty room with surveillance cameras and guards checking up on him. Whatever it is, the general consensus seems to be that it has something to do with the company’s Deus Ex franchise. We’d have to agree.
HT: Twitch
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That’s it for today everybody. Keep Nerdist tabbed for all your upcoming gaming news, reviews and features. Also, if you’re looking to kick around some theories for Square Enix’s upcoming game, feel free to do so in the comment section below, or start a conversation with me over on twitter: @sam3214!
