For a good decade starting in the mid-nineties, the survival horror genre blossomed and was actually pretty amazing. Sometime in the past 8 years, though, the genre began to decline. The Resident Evil series became more action-oriented and the Silent Hill series languished without a game comparable to that series’ first couple of games.
It’s odd, then, that the revival of the genre might come on a Nintendo console. Sure, the Gamecube had the Lovecraftian Eternal Darkness, but the bloody Zombie game ZombiU is unexpectedly fascinating. Combining the first person perspective with traditional survival horror mechanics on a new console from a company that has a reputation as family friendly is a bit of a risk for Ubisoft, the game’s developer. Add in features from the new Wii U pad controller and the experience might just be the most fun Zombie outbreak in recent memory.
As the gameplay footage below shows, the feeling of trying to guess the last number of a door code while a flaming zombie approaches is an experience that hasn’t been replicated on consoles for quite some time.
A developer named Undead Labs this week announced that yet another zombie survival game is being developed, this time for a console. State of Decay will feature a DayZ-like open-world, sandbox zombie apocalypse wilderness for players to inhabit via the Xbox LIVE Arcade or PC.
Undead Labs states on its website that players will have to find water, food, and shelter – all while battling the zombie horde. State of Decay seems to set itself apart from DayZ by focusing more on setting up fortifications against the zombie outbreak, allowing players to recruit NPC survivors and designate certain areas as a home base.
Undead Labs states that the world of State of Decay will develop in real-time depending on the actions players take. Content will be dynamically generated and the zombie threat will be “ever-increasing.” What is unclear from either the trailer or the announcement is whether State of Decay will feature the nerve-wracking and dangerous player-versus-player (PVP) interaction that makes DayZ so exciting.
DayZ itself is a mod for the Arma II military simulation game for PC that was released in an Alpha state earlier this year. In it, players spawn into a large, open world with little gear and have to dodge zombies and seek out basic necessities to survive. Other players are also playing simultaneously and competing for limited resources, meaning that some survivors turn to banditry as a way of life. State of Decay is the second DayZ-like zombie survival game to be announced this summer. In July, a game staying close to the DayZ formula called WarZ was announced by Hammerpoint Interactive.
Check out the State of Decay announcement trailer below and decide for yourself which zombie survival game suits you best:
It’s clear that the Internet can’t get enough of The Walking Dead, so AMC is keeping fans’ appetites sated ahead of the show’s third season, which starts October 14.
“Last month in an interview with AMCtv.com, Special FX Makeup Designer Greg Nicotero hinted at some of the new tricks he has up his sleeve for the walkers in Season 3 (Hint: ‘They’re sort of putrefying.’),” AMC says on the blog. “Now, you can take a look for yourself…”
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Meanwhile, as season 3 approaches, rumors about a possible movie have surfaced, with unofficial talks said to be happening around AMC.
There are no official talks for the release of a feature film of AMC’s The Walking Dead, as far as we know, but according to prominent horror movie news site Bloody Disgusting, there are non-official talks, or “rumblings,” among those working closely with the show’s crew and AMC itself.
…I have some friends working closely with “The Walking Dead” crew and AMC who confirm with me rumblings of a feature film. But before you get your panties in a bunch, we’re only in the third season of the popular zombie show – adapted from Robert Kirkman’s astounding comic book – and when I say rumblings, I strongly suggest the idea has been passed off in non-business conversations. The show was originally shopped as a feature film before it went network, so the idea of ending the series with an hour and a half feature would be exciting. But as I stated before, “24,” “Lost” and “The Sopranos” had been rumored for years, and they all failed to make the jump. Emphasis added.
Mr. Disgusting adds that “nothing is even close to official and don’t expect there to be any real talks for another few years.”
The show is extremely popular, and already has a cinematic quality to it. It’s hard to imagine that it could not easily make the transition to the big screen. Zombie movies in general are also quite popular (some more than others). That very fact, combined with the popularity of the show itself, should make a feature film, if timed right, a pretty big hit. Probably not Avengers big, but certainly big as zombie movies go.
On that note about timing, as Mr. Disgusting reminds us, both the X-Files and Sex And The City made relatively successful transitions to the big screen. Two features of the latter came out after the show itself was already over. The fist X-Files film, however, came out right in the middle of the popular show’s 9-season run. I wonder if a Walking Dead feature would be better timed sooner rather than later, while it’s still generating a great deal of buzz.
A deleted scene from The Walking Dead Season 2 is making the rounds on YouTube. The show has become a huge hit, and the Internet has only served to build the buzz for the show, which starts its third season in October.
YouTube has no doubt contributed, and continues to do so ahead of the new season:
Dean “Rocket” Hall, the developer of the popular zombie apocalypse mod DayZ has announced the game will be getting a standalone version. Hall announced on the DayZ Tumblr blog that he has been named project lead on the development of the DayZ game. The title will be developed by Bohemia Interactive, the developers of ARMA II engine, which the DayZ mod currently runs on.
For those that just bought ARMA 2 through the Steam Summer Sale, worry not. Hall stated that development of the ARMA 2 mod will continue alongside development of the standalone version of DayZ.
Hall also revealed that the DayZ standalone title will be adopting the Minecraft development model. Very early versions of the game will be available for a discounted price.
The news of a standalone version of DayZ is not surprising, considering the popularity of the mod. For some time now, fans of the game have been speculating that today’s news might come before the end of the year.
The popularity of DayZ is something of a Cinderella story in gaming. The game is a mod for the military simulation game ARMA 2. Players are spawned on the beach of a game world large enough to cover many square miles. They must find food and water to survive while avoiding or shooting the zombies that inhabit the terrain. More dangerous than the zombies, however, are the other players in the game. At this time, up to 50 players can play together in a single instance of the game. Resources are scarce and many players have adopted a “shoot first” policy with regards to other players, who, if trusted too much, might shoot them in the back for a can of beans.
Part of the mod’s popularity comes from the fact that the game, while tedious to play for some, is interspersed with exciting confrontations between players, zombie, and other players. This, and the open, sandbox nature of the game makes it nearly as fun to watch clips of gameplay on YouTube as it is to play the game. Over the summer, DayZ became one of the most popular games that viewers watched streaming through Twitch.tv. This is all with the mod still in an “alpha” state, never even reaching full beta.
Sure, everyone says that they are ready for the zombie apocalypse. Hell, I’ve read enough zombie fiction and watched enough movies to know how to best the bastards. It doesn’t matter if they are the slow, dumb kind or the fast, smart kind – I have a strategy for both.
Double tap.
But are you really ready? Think fast – do you already have your tactical fields op waterproof uni-directional bezel watch? How about your assault gear cheat rifle with grenade and magazine pouches? No? You really think your shotgun and case of shells is going to do the trick?
If you’re of the belief that this situation is imminent, you may want to check out OpticsPlanet’s Z.E.R.O Kit – but only if you have some disposable income…like $23,999 worth of it.
Here’s what OpticsPlanet has to say about their kit:
There is no room for error when dealing with the undead. Our Z.E.R.O. (Zombie Extermination, Research and Operations) Kit takes into account all the different aspects of surviving the looming zombie apocalypse. When the undead hordes rise from their shallow graves to wreak havoc on all decent civilization, you’ll need to both fight back (Extermination), and find a cure (Research).
Always be prepared. In the new zombie world you can be king of the hill, or the tastiest treat in town.
And of course, zombies may not be the only thing trying to turn you into a treat. Tough times call for even tougher actions – and the survival kit may have to protect you from Mr. Anderson across the street, who’s hunger has led him to make some interesting decisions concerning the value of a human life.
The most intriguing part of the kit comes from the “R” in “Z.E.R.O”: Research. You can only kill so many zombies before you lose focus and become food or lose the motivation to live and just off yourself. To avoid such fates, one has to work on a cure:
“We’ve included Qorpak Beakers, Labnet Pipettes and a Celestron Microscope so you can take samples and study the innermost workings of zombies. The destructive nature of their cells might lead you to a better understanding of their life expectancy or how to possibly treat their symptoms so they no longer hunger for human flesh,” they say.
Here’s the list of weapon accessories that you get for your $24K:
GG&G Extreme Heavy Duty Swivel Bipod GGG-1245
Eotech Gear Scopecoat Cover for EoTech Zombie Stopper Red Dot Sight
OPMOD PVS-14 Monocular Gen 3 PINNACLE Night Vision Scope 64 lp/mm GNVPVS14-OPMOD
Vero Vellini Premium Padded Leather Rifle Sling, Brown V17228
Crimson Trace Full size Glock Laser Zombie Edition
Eotech Zombie Stopper Red Dot Holographic Sight
And that’s less than half of the kit’s contents. You can check the product page for a complete listing. No actual weapons, however, but that’s cool. Anyone knows the first act of any zombie outbreak is raiding the local gun store.
If you’re like me, nearly every moment spent watching AMC’s The Walking Dead is consumed with a desire to wield a crossbow and plant an arrow through the eye of some walker. Those who share my exuberance will be pleased to learn that Activision has just announced that you’ll soon have the chance to do just that.
Or take a stealthier approach, if that’s your thing. Either way, The Walking Dead is getting its own First-Person Shooter.
The game, in development by Terminal Reality, centers around the Dixon brothers – Daryl and Merle. You’ll be in control of Daryl, who as we all know, is one of the favorites from the series.
Players will control Daryl as they attempt to avoid detection from zombies that hunt using sight, sound and smell and will choose between fighting them or using stealth to avoid detection. Supplies will be scarce and players will need to carefully manage food, ammunition and supplies as they make their way through the game. Daryl will encounter “a slew of other characters” along the way that can help or hurt him.
So, a zombie survival FPS – with obvious potential. Let’s hope they don’t screw it up.
You can check out the new game’s official site here for a short video. You’re not going to find out much more about the game – only that it will be here some time next year.
If that’s too high of a goal, can a zombie theme park at least make good use of the urban decay that dominates a city that’s trying to rebuild while pumping some much-needed revenue back into the city? According to some developers for the Z World Detroit project, absolutely it can, and after taking a quick look at their idea, it certainly sounds feasible.
Z World Detroit will be a unique and spectacular zombie themed experience park that will transform a virtually neglected section of Detroit, Michigan. Participants will be chased by a growing zombie horde through abandoned factories, stores and homes across hundreds of derelict urban acres. The Z World Detroit initiative is a radical rethinking of urban redevelopment and Detroit’s well-documented blight and de-population. It turns perceived liabilities into assets that will bring a renewed vitality to a struggling neighborhood. When done right, Z World Detroit would be transformative for part of the city and become a legitimate destination.
Imagine experiencing what is essentially a haunted house with zombies in places like this:
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This:
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Or this:
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If done correctly, it would probably be as close as we could come to the real thing, minus the gory headshots, biting, and brain-eating. To help illustrate their idea, the project members of Z World Detroit created a video as well:
As for Detroit’s reaction to the Zombie Theme Park idea, if the author of the Curbed Detroit article is someone to go by, something this creative would be welcomed:
This sounds a lot like all that fun we had during the 1960s race riots. It is nice to know that Z Land is finally going to capitalize on our love of adrenaline rushes and nostalgia. Now even visitors from the ‘burbs can “wonder if they will make it through the night.” And new Detroiters that missed “rock bottom” can pay to have a more terrifying version of the city re-created.
It should be noted that support for the project hasn’t taken off as of yet. The current donation total stands at $570, which is well short of the the $145,000 goal. Considering the support Matthew Inman, creator of The Oatmeal, received for standing up to a bogus letter from a lawyer and the amazing support shown to Karen Klein, this seems like a perfect match for an Internet audience that has no hesitation in getting in touch with its giving side, provided it’s a worthy cause. Saving the city of Detroit with a Zombie Theme Park, one that makes use of the resources that are already in place, fits that bill very well.
The funding campaign for Z World Detroit continues until August 10, 2012.
Zombies have been in the news a lot lately, to say the least; with all the stories floating around about a “zombie apocalypse” and tales of the synthetic drug “bath salts” turning users into flesh-craving maniacs, it’s not hard to see why the Center for Disease Control has had to beef up their website with disclaimers that they are not aware of any disease that would make a person want to eat flesh and/or brains. They’ve also implemented a preparedness tutorial in the event of a national crisis or disaster which masquerades as a zombie-survival guide.
Now, Bangor, Maine has gotten in on the act with a “Zombie Apocalypse Day”, which prepares people for any sort of disaster and helps them learn to think on their feet in the event of an emergency. It just happened to be a zombie emergency this time, and it just happened to be in Stephen King’s hometown (oddly enough, he hasn’t written much about zombies, unless you count Pet Sematary; his 2006 novel Cell touched upon the phenomenon, but incorporated technology into the mythos).
Dozens of people participated, including members of the National Guard and health care workers from nearby hospitals. People got into zombie makeup and were set free to role-play after getting into character; the storyline involved a deadly outbreak originating in Jamaica which is spread through bites.
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Image credit: Kevin Bennet/Bangor Daily News
“The entire thing is very similar to any regular pandemic influenza planning,” said Kathy Knight, director of the Northeastern Mine Regional Resource Center. “So we can use what we learn here in the planning for that type of event.”
While Stephen King didn’t attend the event, all those zombies invading his town probably didn’t escape his attention.
Last week, we looked at six zombie games currently seeking funding on Kickstarter. One of them, Dead State, has since reached its funding goal of $150,000. As of the time of this writing, the game has 6,446 backers, who have pledged $174,948, and it still has 10 days to go.
Here, the game’s project lead discusses the project and why it’s seeking support on Kickstarter:
“It’s not really about the zombies. It’s about the humans, and what happens to them physically and psychologically,” he says.
Here’s the trailer:
The project’s developers are offering a slew of prizes for those who pledge various amounts of funding. The highest contributions have come from two backers, who have pledged $1,000 or more each. The prize for that is a personalized item in the game.
“This is a non-equipped item that would be found by players – you provide the description, we make the art,” the developers say. “Some standards and editorial restrictions apply.”
There are two more levels of gift giving: $2,000 or more and $5,000 or more. Nobody has been quite that generous so far.
The world continues to be infatuated with zombies, and the trend is showing no signs of slowing down. This is evident when you browse Kickstarter for some of the projects seeking funding. It’s not hard to find zombie films, zombie art, zombie fashion, and of course, zombie games.
There are plenty fo zombie projects to choose from if your’e looking to invest your money into the greater good of the genre at large, but there are no doubt many of you zombie fans out there who are more interested in games above all else. With that in mind, here are six zombie game projects that are currently in need of handouts.
Note that some of these are not video games. There are some card games thrown into the mix for good measure.
What do you do when the zombies invade your office? The natural reaction would be to cower in fear and be eaten alive. But there are those out there that refuse to go quietly when the walkers come. Those that will grab any implement of destruction available to them and fight off the hoard for as long as they can. In an office setting this is a little tricky. Not much around that can do very much damage. Sure, hot coffee could be thrown in their face but that won’t stop them. Sure, you could grab a handfull of thumbtacks and hurl them in the zombies direction, but that will only make them mad. We desk jockeys are more or less doomed when the undead ones come.
It seems unfair when we are the ones most concerned and most interested in the zombie apocalypse. Sadly, all we have is the ability to pretend we would all be badasses when the world ends and we’re the only ones left. So grab your stapler and your binder and join me in a little fantasy zombie violence. If you’re a weekend warrior zombie hunter this set of stationery is for you:
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This set comes from razorfish, and surprisingly a lot of people went into its creation. Creative Director Jacques Pense from Frankfurt, Germany gets most of the credit. Isn’t that always the way with office work?
CREDITS
Client: NBC UNIVERSAL Global Networks Deutschland GmbH
Agency: Jung von Matt AG, Germany
Creative Directors: Jacques Pense, Michael Ohanian
Art Directors: Matthias Kracker, Stefan Rösinger
Copywriters: Lennart Frank
Graphic Artist: Karla Kurz
Account Manager: Kerstin Stutzmann, Ruben Ockenfels
Post Production: Recom
Production: Frank Schweizer
Published: 2008
AWARDS
New York Festivals – Silver
ADC Germany – Bronze
ADC Europe – Finalist
D&AD – In Book
Zombies are huge right now. Probably bigger than pirates or ninjas ever were. So when I saw these great Zombie art pieces from comic artist Ken Haser I had to post them.
WebProNews reached out to Ken to ask him about the pieces and this is what he had to say:
“They were done as commissions at last week’s Wizard World Philly and I usually get a lot of zombie character requests.”
I immediately wanted to know how much he usually charged and how long they took because as a non-artist I immediately assume that they are thousands of dollars and take months of work. “I Usually charge about 50 for the copy paper size and 100 for the big 11X17,” he said. “They can take between a 1/2 hour to 45 minutes for the small ones and an hour or 3 for the big ones— depends on the amount of detail.”
Check out the trade paperback for his comic “The Living Corpse: Exhumed” comes out on June 20th from Dynamite Entertainment!
I love the Star Trek Captains, because all I can imagine is the Trekkie they are eating was probably so stoked to meet them, having a nerd-gasm and all, and then they started eating him.
Ken Haserhas worked on various comic titles including “The Jersey Devil”, “Digital Webbing Presents”, “Warmaggedon”, “The Eyes of Asia”, “The Living Corpse” and others. Ken is currently sharing writing and artistic duties for “The Living Corpse” from Zenescope, which has also been optioned for film. He has also done a lot of work with Dynamic Forces doing remarks.
“If you’re a little crybaby bitch, it could be too much for you. I.R.L Shooter presents patient zero…you will shit yourself.”
In what is without a doubt the most badass laser tag experience in the history of ever, Australian company I.R.L. shooter is bringing us just that – a real life shooter. If that doesn’t already sound like every FPS player’s dream (I mean, paintball can only go so far), what if I told you that the IRL shooter is going to be centered around dispatching zombies.
In what is described as a “fully immersive live action real life, multiplayer, first person shooter, role-playing game,” you and five of your friends can pay to fight off the zombie hordes in a Left 4 Dead-style game that supposedly benefits from cinema-level production values.
It’s called Patient 0, and it’s coming to Melbourne on Halloween night. From the official site:
From the moment you purchase your ticket, you will be taken on a journey into a completely realised universe of our design, culminating in you and 5 of your friends having to fight your way through a zombie infested building, solving puzzles, collecting information and trying to stay alive.
Unlike other live action zombie shooter games, we are creating a brand new weapons system that will keep an accurate score of your game-play; how many kills, headshots, body shots, misses, friendly fire etc. So not only do you have to survive and complete missions but your game will be ranked and your score matters.
Imagine the most realistic first person shooter video game, in real life.
And zombies.
Check out the promo video for the experience below:
The game will run for a month, as they take it to different locations across Australia. They plan on changing up the storyline with each installment, to keep players on their toes. Due to the demanding physical nature of the game, you know, running from zombies and such, and all of the unavoidable bad language, you must be 16 or older to participate.
The project is being funded on project crowdsourcing site Pozible. It’s already received $34,011 in pledges, more than triple the original goal. Folks who back the project can receive pre-sale tickets. They are currently in the second round of pre-release sales.
Below is your weapon. As of now, the laser M4 replica has a range of 70m and the shot itself has a 15 cm diameter. They are working to improve the range and shrink the impact radius. In another awesome turn, they are also adding “kick” as well as muzzle flash and real gun noises to the laser rifle.
I don’t think that “shut up and take my money” even does this justice. Let’s just hope the whole thing is enough of a success to warrant making the trip to the States.
It seems that the creator of Candyman and Hellraiser is taking on a new project called Zombies VS Gladiators. That is a winning title, right there.
Amazon Studios (count me as one that had no idea Amazon had a film studio) has announced that they have hired Clive Barker to rewrite the script. GeekTyrant is saying that the original came from writers Greg Ostrin and Michael Weiss, who were working on something with the same title. They are not sure if it is the same project, but, come on. How may Zombies VS Gladiator movies could there be?
Zombies VS Gladiators is set during the Roman Empire. A Shaman, who is about to die on the Colosseum floor, casts a curse that reanimates history’s first known zombies. A gladiator steps up to take on the hoard single-handedly and save Rome.
No big surprise – It’s exactly what the title says it is.
The original pitch trailer for Amazon Studios – by Greg Ostin and Michael Weiss:
I’m not really sure if this is going to be exciting to watch or if it is the beginning of the end of the zombie horror genre. It has seen a huge spike in interest in recent years, culminating in the mainstream smash hit The Walking Dead.
A group of gladiators taking on a zombie hoard sounds like some great eye-candy carnage, but it also sounds like something a desperate pitchman would tell a Hollywood executive, just to get a movie made. Clive Barker has written some horror classics, but if I have to be honest, he hasn’t done anything good since the early 90’s. This one could go either way.
Okay, so these aren’t zombie robots. Technically a thing has to be alive before it can die and come back to life as a zombie. But they are robots and they are dancing to thriller, which in itself is pretty impressive.
Why wouldn’t they dress them as zombies for this?
These robots were designed by the French team Aldebaran Robotics, and programmed by the Nonlinear System Laboratory at MIT. (Yeah, I study robot choreography at MIT. No big deal.) They are synchronized over Wi-Fi, with one of the robots actually providing the soundtrack. They come with an x86 AMD Geocode 500 Mhz CPU, 2 GB flash memory, two speakers, vision processing capabilities, Wi-fi connectivity and ethernet port.
At the beginning all the robots are waiting for my signal to start. While dancing, they are constantly synchronizing with each other, so if a robot lags behind they will wait for him and the late robot will accelerate. When I remove a robot from the choreography, the others continue dancing. When he stands up again and resumes his dance, he asks the others for a starting position. Then he goes to this position, and starts dancing. Since he starts with a little latency, he will dances a little faster and the others a little slower to synchronize.
The music is played by another robot, and is a part of the synchronization process : the robots are synchronizing with the music too.
This work is the result of the collaboration between the Nonlinear System Laboratory at MIT (http://web.mit.edu/nsl/www/) and Aldebaran Robotics.
These little guys also love to play soccer.
And dance…
And dance…
In some ways these videos are a lot more impressive. There are more robots and some of them do different dance moves, adding to the overall choreography.
A Miami man was shot to death by police after they witnessed him eating the face off of a man on the MacArthur Causeway off ramp Saturday. The incident is being reported by the Miami Herald, who posted pictures of the incident as it happened, in broad daylight.
According to the police report, a road ranger saw a naked man chewing on the face of another man and told him to back away. Another woman saw what was happening and alerted a police officer.
The officer approached and told the man to back away. The naked man continued to assault the unconscious man, so the police officer opened fire. The man was not fazed by being shot, so the officer continued to unload his weapon. Witnesses say six shots were fired.
The scene took place just below The Miami Herald Building. The newspaper captured the incident when reporters were able to get clear shots from the building above. It was also recorded on the buildings video surveillance. Police have requested those tapes.
Police believe that the victim was a homeless man and the perpetrator may have been suffering from “cocaine psychosis”, a condition caused by cocaine overdose. That may be an explanation to the reason the man was naked, as the condition causes the person to suffer from extreme fever. And it also may explain why he did not stop after being shot.
It could also be that he is the first victim of the zombie apocalypse, and he was just trying to get to those juicy brains.
Can the zombie apocalypse teach all that you need to know about geography? What about a roleplaying game that requires players to plan their course of action? Can that kind of gameplay reinforce geographic lessons, especially when the roleplaying includes locating “safe zones” survivors can continue to, well, survive in?
That’s certainly what the Zombie-Based Learning Kickstarter project, created by David Hunter, is banking on. While the concept of video game-enhanced learning is not a new concept, per se, applying zombe apocalypse survival specifically to geography is. Aimed at kids who are in the middle school age, Zombie-Based Learning is clear about the goal of giving students an alternative to “boring textbook reading.”
The Kickstarter page reveals more about the ingenious idea:
What we’re doing here, is teaching how to be a geographer by learning skills needed to survive a zombie apocalypse. Imagine being in a classroom where instead of reading about maps, you’re designing them to show the spread of a zombie outbreak. Instead of reading about the distribution of resources on Earth in a textbook, you are researching available resources to plan your post-outbreak settlement. I’m not just talking about learning where places are or memorizing capitals of states or countries, I’m talking about learning the deeper concepts of geography that geographers actually use. And all in an exciting scenario.
Hunter credits both his love of geography and the undead for the appropriate inspiration. He also feels this kind of role-playing/teamwork-based projects are fantastic teaching tool, one he has taken one step further by focusing on a particular subject being “taught” via a specific kind of roleplaying. Hunter also believes combining the two concepts can draw the interest of students who would otherwise ignore their geography lessons:
By building this project, we can show that learning can be done through far out scenarios, or even just based on what students are interested in. I also believe that the Zombie genre has the potential to engage often disengaged students, providing an alternative to boring textbook reading.
There are also two videos describing his idea. One is a shorter one for those interested in the Kickstarter, and the other one is a longer one for teachers who are curious as to how Hunter’s idea would work for their students.
First, the Kickstarter pitch video:
The second video, the one aimed at teachers, is a little longer, coming in at 24 minutes. This, as you might expect, has a lot more detail than the six-minute pitch video:
Hunter envisions five different scenarios with which students can learn from. They include:
Planning for the Outbreak
News of a zombie-like outbreak has reached your community. You are helping to plan in case the outbreak reaches your area.
Post Outbreak Survival
The outbreak has reached your area and chaos has followed. You use your skills to just try and survive and find other survivors.
Finding a Place to Settle
Through surviving you have met with other survivors, now you are trying to decide upon a safe place.
Building a Community
With your group of survivors, you make decisions to build a safe and sustainable community.
Planning for the Future
Based on what you know about Geography, and based on a knowledge of the past, your community makes long term plans for survival and rebuilding a life.
Considering all of that information, what are your thoughts on using the zombie apocalypse as a tool to help students learn about geography? Is this a brilliant idea that’s been long-needed or is just a frivolous exercise on Hunter’s part? Let us know what you think.
For those who are wondering, Zombie-Based Learning has over half of its $5000 goal. Perhaps he should partner up with James Paul Gee.
What if instead, I said zombies and breasts? Does that interest anybody? If you’ve been piqued by any or all of the above, I’m proud to present to you Zomboobies, a film set to release later in 2012.
While conducting experiments to create “the perfect breasts”, a group of doctors are transformed into evil mutant creatures with an unstoppable hunger for boobies! See hot women fight to keep their perfect breasts out of these evil doctors’ mutant hands!!!
The film, Opai-Zuki-Zombie! in Japanese, is the feature debut of director Francois Fujimoto. It was filmed earlier this year in L.A., and is currently in post production – set to come out some time in 2012. There are really no more words…just check it out below (kind of NSFW):
Any sucker for this kind of stuff can’t help but see the potential in that. The director promises that the full trailer is coming soon, and it will involve, well, more zombies and more boobies:
You can check out the film’s official site here, but there’s really not much there yet. When asked (on YouTube) whether the film (when released) will be available on DVD or for download, Fujimoto replied “Yes.” So, let’s think optimistically and take that to mean both.
You don’t want to be the aperitif at a zombie feast. Nobody does. But when the undead arrive, if the film genre is any indication, assume that there will be lots of them and they have appetites incapable of being spoiled. Worse, we remaining humans will find ourselves bereft of all reliable resources for our survival. You’ll need all the help you can get. Luckily, a forward-thinking fellow named Jeff at doejo.com has got you covered and put together a zombie survival map with locations of all the necessities you need to survive on a zombified planet.
Using Google Maps API, Map of the Dead (not to be confused with this other Map of the Dead) displays a color-coded key of all of the necessary locations you need to know about in order to survive in a world of zombies. Everything from military resources and cemeteries to pharmacies and liquor stores are included in the map so you’ll be able to find the closest supplier for your needs whenever you run out of something.
The map identifies danger zones, which are described as areas having a high risk of zombie infestation due to the presence of man-made structures. If you’re to go by what the map tells you, zombies are a cosmopolitan class of monsters who only want to hang out in well-developed cities. As you can see below, if you cross the river over into that charcoal-colored area of wilderness on the map you’ll be safely beyond the reach of the zombies’ clutches. However, all of the resources you need are still on the zombie side of the river, so… pack up before you go, I guess?
Cleverly, you can also download a copy to print off and store away in a safe place because, really, if the zombie uprising jumps off, do you think they’re going to provide very reliable IT support? No, but at least you’ll have your trusty map.
As things go, it appears that Central and South America as well as most of Asia and Africa will be largely unaffected by the zombie populations, so in lieu of risking your life and fighting off the legions of undead, you could always just put some money aside and jet down there at the first sign of trouble. Canada, oddly enough, seems to be of no regard to zombies as the country appears to be zombie-free. Cuba, however, seems to have a zombie problem, which figures – will there ever be a time when it’s okay for Americans to safely travel to Cuba again?
