Matthew Waddingham

On the eve of a worldwide release of the eagerly anticipated Driver: San Francisco, NMM met with the brothers who are putting the North East in the spotlight for games production.

On an overcast morning on the Newcastle quayside the last thing I was expecting was to be greeted by a gathering of American muscle car enthusiasts and the deep rumbling of v-12 engines turning over.

This was the scene outside Reflections studio as we were invited to sample their latest game release, Driver: San Francisco.

During its five years in the making, Driver: San Franciscohas created a huge buzz across the globe. It’s set to be released on 2 September on PS3, Xbox 360, PC and MAC.

The game follows the exploits of hardened detective John Tanner as he sets about tracking down crime lord Charles Jericho who has been set loose on the streets of San Francisco.

A Centre for Innovation

The company Reflections was established by Martin Edmondson in 1984 and Martin was later joined by his brother Gareth. The studio has always prided itself on being innovative in the computer games world.

Creative director Martin Edmondson explained that even his first title, Castle Ravenskull, was “a very simple game, but very graphical, pushing machine hard at the time which we’ve always done as a studio.”

Reflections was thrust into the spotlight by the title Shadow of the Beast for the Amiga, a game praised for its revolutionary graphics with a wide array of colours and many levels of scrolling backdrops.

This trend was continued with PlayStation One release Driver, which was the first open world driving game, and also in PlayStation 2 release, Stuntman, where the gamer’s own footage was used at the end of each level to create trailers.

Innovative ‘Shift’

In 2006 Reflections was bought by games giant Ubisoft which has breathed new life into the Driver franchise.

The studio now has a staff of 170, many of whom are from the region and the rest of the UK, but it has also attracted talent from around the world.

The latest title continues their focus on innovation.

“We are pushing very hard for innovation using the ‘Shift’ mechanic in a genre that is lacking innovation and where it’s extremely hard to find new ways to play driving games”, studio MD Gareth Edmondson said.

The Shift mechanic is central to Driver: San Francisco and it is its standout feature which defines it from the milieu of other driving games.

With Shift at any moment the player is able to take a bird’s eye view of the area and be transported into any surrounding car.

In game this can be used to block an opponent, get away from chasing police officers, change direction rapidly or just simply change your beat up car for a better one that’s just driven past you

The Social Network, 2010.

How interesting that a film about the social media phenomenon that is Facebook is released at the same time that it has been replaced at the top of the networking pile by Twitter. Nevertheless The Social Network is intelligent and at moments a deeply suspenseful film which shouldn’t be missed by fans of the site and newcomers alike.

Part courtroom drama, part thriller, The Social Network is adapted from author Ben Mezrich’s The Accidental Billionaires and follows the inception and subsequent law suits surrounding Mark Zuckerberg and the ownership of the new media phenomenon.

Zuckerberg (Jessie Eisenberg), born out of the pain of the break up with his girlfriend, creates an early and somewhat harsh version of
Facebook called Facemash, asking fellow Harvard students to rate the appearance of their female peers. As Zuckerberg develops his new social media node it quickly becomes apparent that he is on the verge of something revolutionary and highly profitable.

At the centre of this chaos several young entrepreneurs are drawn together including Eduardo Saverin (Andrew Garfield), Zuckerberg’s close friend who funded the original venture; Sean Parker (Justin Timberlake – an inspired, if unlikely piece of casting), creator of Napster who introduces Zuckerberg to the big time; and the brilliantly portrayed Harvard-go-getters, the Winkelvoss twins, who believe Zuckerberg stole their idea.

One of the stand-out qualities of the film is the witty dialogue consisting predominantly of put downs delivered at a break-neck pace
combined with stylish camerawork and the intriguing character of Zuckerberg, never smiling, raising his voice or conceding an argument. Indeed the film, to its credit, is as devoted in exploring Zuckerberg’s motives and conduct throughout Facebook’s rapid rise as it is with the impact of the site itself. It would be interesting to find out the full and honest opinion of the real Zuckerberg on his on-screen portrayal, as his actions at times come across as naive, or even cruel.
The interesting aspect of The Social Network is the way it implies that Facebook created a lot of buzz and money, but not much else.
Annoying status updates, friend requests from people I hardly knew at school, and pictures of cats, dogs and babies I can do without.

Having just been to see Alice in Wonderland in 3d I finally got chance to see first hand what football in all its 3D immensity (is that a word?) would look like. About half an hour into the pre-film trailers and ads watching Cahill’s back post header hit the back of the net after a wonderful floated cross brought me close to tears.

The first fixture to be shown on Sky Sports 3D is the Barclays Premier League clash between Manchester United and Chelsea on Saturday April 3rd. After that they have lined up a further 5 Premier League games and the Football League playoff’s.

However, what is the possibility of me actually watching a full 90 minute game in 3D besides donning on a pair of the horrendous looking specs and mooching up to St James’ Park?

There are currently 1000 venues over the UK and Ireland which have signed up for the 3D sports package, but I’m guessing my locals not going to be one of them. Hopefully there will one venue in toon that I can track down and experience this first hand. The other alternative is to buy a 3D TV set which you’re looking at well over a grand for.

So ill wait patiently until the 3rd of April and if all else fails, sell my car and by a 3D TV.

Reports Brand Republic’s Revolution Magazine.

‘Almost 80 per cent of 873 media planners surveyed across 14 European countries including the UK said that they want to invest more budget in digital marketing this year.’

Find the full piece here.