RTX 2012: Interview with Grace Helbig

First off, let me apologize for the audio situation. Due to a huge pre-interview mix-up Steven ended up working with someone who clearly over-estimated their filming equipment; thus we have been left with lessened audio and an awkward filming angle. To clarify, this person is not and will never be affiliated with Constantly Calibrating or SilverHam Media.

Still, do not let these facts discourage you for if you do you will miss out on a highly entertaining interview from the master of charismatic encounters, Mr. Steven Needham (@DarthSir).

While I wasn’t present for this interview, let me just say that it ranks as one of my favorite from RTX. It’s a travesty that we don’t have better audio and video for it, but I’m sure we’ll talk to Grace more in the future. She is a sweet, hilarious, and overall amazing person. You should go check her out in all the places she resides: Twitter, YouTube, & Tumblr.

Mass Effect 3: Rebellion Pack Info

Well looks like Mass Effect 3’s multiplayer component is getting another free DLC pack in the form of the “Rebellion Pack”. This pack will be free to anyone who has redeemed an Online Pass for Mass Effect 3.

The pack includes:

• New Characters – Vorcha Soldier & Sentinel; Male Quarian Engineer & Infiltrator; and Ex-Cerberus Vanguard & Adept.
• New Maps – Firebase Jade: A waterfall surrounded base overlooking an ancient reservoir built by the Salarians; and Firebase Goddess: An Asari stronghold based in a Thessian metropolis.
• New Weapons – Cerberus Harrier Assault Rifle; Reegar Carbine Shotgun; and Krysae Sniper Rifle

The DLC pack releases on Xbox Live, the Playstation Network and PC on Tuesday, May 29th (Wednesday, May 30th on the PSN in Europe).

So let’s get this out of the way: “OMG WTF?! Y U NO RELEASE EXTENDED ME3 DLC YOU FUCKTARDS?!” Yes, I did read that earlier on Facebook, but the person had the momentary higher brain function to remove said idiocy from the post. Look, we all want to see what BioWare has in store for Mass Effect 3’s extended ending. We all just want some more single-player content in any way shape or form as well. The extended DLC is still at least a month away, if not more, and until that releases I can all but assure you that there will be no additional single-player expansions even discussed with the public. So, patience is key here.

BioWare as of next week will have released two multiplayer DLC packs for free that they could very easily have charged for. They don’t need to do this, but still they are. All I ask is that we extend a little more patience and goodwill towards them and wait to see what they have in store.

Hey it’s already been confirmed that Lance Henriksen, Tricia Helfer, and Raphael Sbarge have recorded further dialogue for the DLC; which can only mean good things for more Hackett, EDI, and Kaidan goodness. Now just announce Brandon Keener is returning simply to speak and I’ll be all set.

 

Source: Mass Effect 3: Rebellion Pack (BioWare Blog)

Calibrating Episode VII – Some Avenging Required

On today’s podcast Steven and I are frelling exhausted. As such I have decided to leave the podcast unedited for your listening..ummm….pleasure? On this episode we discuss The Avengers and its earth-shattering earthyness. We also get constantly distracted. It’s fun!

This episode is available on iTunes.
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Behold the Arcade NEXT All-Stars! SeaNanners vs. Minecraft!

A few weeks back we brought you word on a fun thing Microsoft Studios was in the process of doing. As you guys are well aware, those of you who maybe read my article “Microsoft’s ‘Arcade Next’ from a little over a month ago, Microsoft started releasing a series of Live Arcade games 3 weeks back. These games feature twice the maximum gamerscore (400, up from 200) which is expected to roll out to future Live Arcade games as well.

More information on tomorrow’s last event can be found below:

Microsoft Studios and Xbox LIVE are presenting the grand finale of their Arcade NEXT All-Stars live streaming event series this Wednesday at 6pm PST on Twitch.TV, when renowned gamer and YouTuber SeaNanners plays Minecraft: Xbox 360 Edition. SeaNanners, along with special guests, will play and give insight into the first-ever console edition of the game, and live viewers will have the opportunity to enter to win an Xbox signed by the creator of Minecraft, Markus ‘Notch’ Persson. To live stream the event, visit http://www.twitch.tv/xboxlivearcade

 
Make sure to tune in and check out SeaNanners take on Minecraft tomorrow!

Sometime tomorrow we will also be giving out a free code for Minecraft. Check out, and like, our Facebook Fan Page for more info on this and any further contests.

Kevin Pereira Departs Attack of the Show

G4TV.com announced a short while ago that Kevin Pereira, host of Attack of the Show on G4, will be leaving AOTS after the channels Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3) coverage. Below is what Stephen Johnson wrote up on G4TV.com:

After more than a decade on the air, host Kevin Pereira is leaving Attack of the Show. Attack will celebrate Pereira’s contribution to G4 with a month-long look back at his most memorable comedy sketches, interviews, and hilarious off-the-cuff moments from the show. The Pereira-palooza will culminate on May 31, his final day on AOTS, before Pereira delivers his final live, on-location coverage for the gaming world’s biggest event, the Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3), from June 4-7. In other words: Kevin’s going out large.

“For the last ten years, G4 has provided me a phenomenal career filled with countless once-in-a-lifetime opportunities and the chance to work with some of the most driven, talented and passionate people in the business,” said Pereira. “I want to thank our viewers for allowing me to inform and entertain them each and every week.”

My thinking is that this was bound to happen soon, if for no other reason than to allow Pereira to work more on leetUP. leetUP is, to quote Kevin Pereira, “…[a] live touring nerd-carnival…” My wife and I drove out to the first-ever leetUP in Los Angeles this past March, and aside for some security snafus it was an amazing evening. The most recent plans for leetUP have seemed to be, as Pereira stated, to take it on tour. As a full-time host of AOTS, Pereira likely wouldn’t have the time for such an endeavor.

We here at Constantly Calibrating are huge fans of both Attack of the Show and X-Play, so it’s sad to see another of the classic, if not the greatest, G4 “superheroes” leave. Adam Sessler recently departed G4 in a subdued, but public, manner which was nearly heartbreaking for us here. To see the other major G4 host leave, is upsetting, but maybe it’s time. Kevin Pereira has done some great work with G4, which we will be watching over the next month, but there comes a time for everyone to move on, and maybe this is it for him.

We wish Kevin Pereira the best of luck in the future, and will be stalking following him and his career for some time to come.

Now, if anyone from G4 is reading this (ha!), then be sure to know that here at Constantly Calibrating we have two plucky (plucky?!) young co-hosts who would be happy to look into filling the void Kevin Pereira leaves. Either one of us are fully capable, in theory, of taking on such a gig. Let us know! We’ll be patiently waiting by something for your contract to be delivered!

Source: Kevin Pereira Leaving Attack of The Show (G4TV)

The Morning After: The Avengers

The trailers have come to an end; lights have dimmed to optimal movie-viewing levels. You can hear your fellow moviegoers, yourself included, fidgeting in their seats. The Marvel logo appears on-screen and before anyone can begin to cheer a voice rings out from across the theater: “AVENGERS ASSEMBLE!” The screams and cheers that the Marvel logo might have elicited previously have grown to thunderous proportions interspersed with laughter from the crowd. This is the midnight premiere of The Avengers, a small indie film by some new director named Joss Whedon, and it was one of the best movie-going experiences of my life.