Richard Armitage to voice Bhairava in virtual reality video game
Several outlets are now reporting that Richard Armitage will be revealed Monday morning as the voice and likeness of the main character of a new virtual-reality videogame, called Embracing the Vampire, developed for the Oculus Go standalone headset platform. Players who already own a headset will be able to download a game app for a $4.99 monthly subscription price.
Armitage will be playing the character of Bhairava, named after the Hindu god of annihilation. Bhairava will appear in the avatar of a mutant vampire with pale skin, sparkly lips, gleaming teeth and dangerously spiky stubble. He will be the darkest of the vampires and appear at the most advanced levels of the game. Players will not only hear his voice, they will also see his body and face in a series of gestures and poses captured through mocap and digitally enhanced for participants.
In the game, players are confronted with a series of challenges that lead them to confront mutant vampires. First they must seek out the vampire, then they must discover the reason for the mutation of each character and take countermeasures, before they are able to metaphorically defang their opponents. In the final phase of each level, however, the player must attempt to kiss the mutant vampire opponent while the vampire tries to bite them. The kiss with Bhairava must last a minimum of forty-five seconds before the level is completed. Players who are bitten before they can kiss the vampire, however, will lose the level and must sit out for five minutes while listening to Armitage’s narration of the Manhattan phone directory before they can attempt to kiss the avatar again.
Oculus Go offers the option of watching or playing with friends, so it will be possible for groups of up to three people to team up to neutralize Bhairava’s mutation and then kiss Armitage the vampire. The game producer was uncertain how many players would want to take advantage of this feature, but there will be bonuses for teams — possibly in the form of more kisses of the vampire for each player. The company spokesman refused to reveal the nature of Bhairava’s mutation or how it can be circumvented, but he assured us it would take lots of effort and “plenty of strokes.”
Oculus is optimistic that this game will draw many new players to the platform, which retails for around $200 U.S. However, an advisory downloaded with the app suggests that players locate themselves in a secluded area, as the head motions of the player — twitching back and forth in an attempt to avoid a bit or time a well-placed smooch on the vampire’s lips can be disturbing or hilarious to others who are not wearing the headsets. To some extent, the game producer admitted, they are counting on the possibility that players will let themselves be bitten repeatedly in VR in order to continue playing the game.
Neither Armitage nor his publicist has returned requests for confirmation.
April Fool!
[Servetus adds: but those rumors that he is on track to do a new sound effect for Candy Crush Soda Saga must be true.]
I will admit that you got me. Maybe it was just wishful thinking? Halfway through the article I was already trying to figure out how I could afford one of the headsets. 😳
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LoLo said this on April 1, 2019 at 4:38 am |
Lolo I was thinking the same thing and I still haven’t bought a region free dvd player for UATSC if that ever becomes available!
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Michele Marsh said this on April 1, 2019 at 12:13 pm |
I’m going to see if my laptop will play Urban. I think most newer laptops will play all regions of DVDs.
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LoLo said this on April 1, 2019 at 12:40 pm |
Typically you will have to “switch” the region on the laptop and it limits the number of switches (usually five), but I think you can now use VLC to bypass the region and switch at will.
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Servetus said this on April 1, 2019 at 2:06 pm |
Thanks for the tips!
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LoLo said this on April 1, 2019 at 2:09 pm |
Thanks. Save your pennies!
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Servetus said this on April 1, 2019 at 2:07 pm |
Its good to hear that Richard is heading to a VR title! I wonder what role Bhairava will look like.
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Ogreatgames.com said this on July 31, 2019 at 12:36 am |
This was an April Fool’s joke. However, I’d be interested in seeing him move into that area as well.
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Servetus said this on July 31, 2019 at 12:37 am |
Youuuu! I believed you until the Manhattan phone directory was mentioned 🤣🤣🤣 Bravo to your creativity, imagination and sense of humour! 👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻 Made my day! 👍🏻 (taking in account I’ve just woke up 😊).
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Olga said this on April 1, 2019 at 4:44 am |
that was April Fool’s two years ago already. I wasn’t feeling up to it last year. Thanks for the kind words.
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Servetus said this on April 1, 2019 at 2:07 pm |
ok, you had me right up till the bit about reciting the Manhattan phone directory. Well played.
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sparkhouse1 said this on April 1, 2019 at 5:39 am |
well, that’s the other thing fans are always asking him to do so it was wish fulfillment. 🙂
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Servetus said this on April 1, 2019 at 2:07 pm |
You had me until the third paragraph, where I was too busy trying to work out if forty-five seconds would be long enough to kiss him 😉
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Mezz said this on April 1, 2019 at 6:22 am |
Mezz right surely not long enough at least need a minute or 90 seconds at a minimum!!!
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Michele Marsh said this on April 1, 2019 at 12:14 pm |
Same conclusion I came to Michele! 😉
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Mezz said this on April 1, 2019 at 1:23 pm |
It’s the minimum needed to defang the vampire, but I hear that with the enhanced module (only $1.99 / month more) you can kiss longer if you want.
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Servetus said this on April 1, 2019 at 2:11 pm |
Very good! Took me about halfway to realize! It reads just like a video game the guys in the house might play. Well… except for the kisses!
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SueBC said this on April 1, 2019 at 7:54 am |
Sue thank you. I’m glad it wasn’t just me. I kept thinking oh no he’s already done that Arden’s Wake which I’ll never see now this!
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Michele Marsh said this on April 1, 2019 at 12:16 pm |
I was worried that the kissing would give it away.
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Servetus said this on April 1, 2019 at 2:11 pm |
I’m not a video game player at all… but this one I might be able to go for!
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SueBC said this on April 1, 2019 at 3:04 pm |
Just ration your play to avoid repetitive stress injuries in the neck. Apparently there’s a neck version of carpal tunnel that you can get from too much kissing / biting.
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Servetus said this on April 1, 2019 at 3:10 pm |
Not to mention, swollen lips!
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SueBC said this on April 1, 2019 at 4:08 pm |
I wish I had something clever to say here in the comment. Thanks for this wonderful April 1 announcement. I can’t wait to hear Richard as the vampire lord of all vampire lords. I’ll even throw away my son’s playstation for that.
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Guylty said this on April 1, 2019 at 12:12 pm |
maybe he’ll want to kiss the vampire. 🙂
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Servetus said this on April 1, 2019 at 2:17 pm |
Doubt it. He’s batting for the other team.
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Guylty said this on April 1, 2019 at 4:04 pm |
although kids play all kinds of weird games these days. (adults too)
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Servetus said this on April 1, 2019 at 4:09 pm |
Merci Servetus pour m’avoir surprise avec ce canular digne d’un très bon poisson d’avril!
Excusez moi de ne pas avoir répondu plus tôt. Il me fallait comme toujours proposer un angle de vue à 360°.
“I wish I had something clever to say here in the comment.” said Guylty.
Aussi, je vous présente le dernier sujet de presse, à la mode ici en France.
A savoir, certains médias ont renoncé à publier des informations parodiques, le samedi 1er avril, se refusant à ajouter à la confusion des fausses informations (“fake news”).
1- Ainsi, dans un éditorial du quotidien suédois Smålandsposten, le rédacteur en chef Magnus Karlssona écrit: “Sachant la facilité avec laquelle les fausses nouvelles se répandent, je ne veux pas voir la marque du Smålandsposten entachée par une histoire potentiellement virale et fausse. Nous travaillons comme je l’ai dit sur des informations authentiques. Y compris le 1er avril”.
2- Selon l’agence de presse TT, c’est aussi le cas en Suède des journaux du groupe Hallpressen (Jönköpings-Posten, Värnamo Nyheter, etc.), du Västerbottens-Kuriren et de Dalarnas Tidningar.
“On va l’écrire dans l’édition de demain (samedi). On en a parlé au sein de la rédaction, on y a beaucoup réfléchi, et c’est la décision qu’on a prise”, a expliqué à l’AFP vendredi le rédacteur en chef du Jönköpings-Posten, Erik Berger.
3- En Norvège, les plus grands médias nationaux (la radiotélévision publique NRK et les journaux Aftenposten, VG et Dagbladet) ont déjà abandonné cette vieille tradition depuis plusieurs années.
Pour ma part, que les “fake news” entachent la joie de lire, une fois par an, le premier avril, de gentils débordements humoristiques me désole au plus au point.
Bon dimanche à tous les fans!
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squirrel.0072 said this on April 7, 2019 at 7:17 pm |
It’s an ongoing question. I used to edit an Internet publication for German historians and we had an annual controversy about whether we could publish joke content on April 1. I can understand why the Scandinavians are doing as they are.
And now I know that in France it’s an “April fish”!
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Servetus said this on April 7, 2019 at 8:06 pm |
Good point, that you wrote earlier about the subject. Definitly I always miss the boat. As we say where I come from: ” j’ai toujours un train de retard”.
Au premier avril, pour faire une farce, dans ma jeunesse, on accrochait un poisson en papier dans le dos de la personne victime.
Voici un texte sur l’origine de l’expression ” Poisson d’avril”
https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Poisson_d'avril
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squirrel.0072 said this on April 7, 2019 at 9:41 pm |
I always look forward to your April Fool’s Day posts 😆
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KellyDS said this on April 1, 2019 at 1:34 pm |
Oculus Go headset = $200
Kissing Armitage = priceless!
Thanks.
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Servetus said this on April 1, 2019 at 2:23 pm |
Love it! Happy 1st 🤣🤣🤣
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Chrissy inwm said this on April 1, 2019 at 2:04 pm |
you too!
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Servetus said this on April 1, 2019 at 2:24 pm |
You get better and better every year!! i wanna-kiss-those-sparkly-lips ;-)))) hugs and thanks for the much needed smiles and fantasies!
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Hariclea said this on April 1, 2019 at 2:49 pm |
what the world needs now … is bites, sweet bites …
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Servetus said this on April 1, 2019 at 2:51 pm |
Haaaaaha! 😀 Nice one! Thanks for the great post. You had me until “In the final phase of each level, however, the player must attempt to kiss the mutant vampire opponent while the vampire tries to bite them.” and then I was basically grinning all around if my ears had not been in the way…
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Anja said this on April 1, 2019 at 11:42 pm |
LOL, thanks. (Sorry this went to spam.)
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Servetus said this on April 3, 2019 at 2:44 am |
This just got picked up by some weird bot. I hate this. You can’t write a joke without an algorithm somewhere taking it seriously.
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Servetus said this on April 1, 2019 at 2:52 pm |
I just surprised that they are still making VR games. Thought that trend was over and done with. This whole games as a service thing is just another trend that will die eventually.
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jadedrabbit said this on April 1, 2019 at 3:47 pm |
I kind of hope so. It’s one thing that keeps me from playing video games much — I don’t want to subscribe to a game I love, I want to pay for it once and own it. I play free Candy Crush Soda Saga because there isn’t a single download “own it” version, which I’d happily pay for.
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Servetus said this on April 1, 2019 at 3:50 pm |
Respekt, wieder mal hat’s echt gedauert bis mir ein Licht aufging. 🙂
Herzlichen Dank für die gute Laune.
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Elanor said this on April 1, 2019 at 8:55 pm |
it was wishful thinking — you knew you wanted it.
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Servetus said this on April 2, 2019 at 3:34 am |
I really wanted it to be true, bad, bad, vampire Armitage. At least I don’t have to decide ( for now) if I should start playing video games, to an advanced level, in order to follow RA everywhere. Great stuff Servetus.
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armidreamer said this on April 2, 2019 at 7:38 am |
You never know. In the spring of 2014 my April Fool’s joke was about Armitage getting public social media, and in August of 2014 he got some.
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Servetus said this on April 5, 2019 at 6:42 pm |
Ha! Hope your oracular powers are in full swing, for RA playing a vampire anyway – not sure about advanced gaming though
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armidreamer said this on April 6, 2019 at 2:57 pm |
In 2014 there was that moment where it looked like he was interested in voicing a game (hypothesis via twitter follows), but it came to nothing.
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Servetus said this on April 7, 2019 at 4:44 am |
I wish you could pitch this to game developers haha! I’m pretty sure there’s a captive market for this 😉
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Nix said this on April 2, 2019 at 2:32 pm |
Absolutely there is 🙂
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Servetus said this on April 5, 2019 at 6:42 pm |
Oooh, you had me there for a moment! But then it got quite detailed with the mocap and vampire kisses and I sensed the trap… ROFL! Thanks for the fantasy and laugh!
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Esther said this on April 4, 2019 at 6:20 pm |
an important principle of lying: don’t make the lie too complicated
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Servetus said this on April 5, 2019 at 6:41 pm |
ooops, your April fool is being retweeted as fact by some people!
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rachel said this on April 5, 2019 at 5:53 pm |
I would say this happens about half the time I write a spoof: someone believes it. In 2012 I wrote one about a terrorist squad of women with razors who assaulted Armitage in a hotel and shaved off his beard, and there were people who believed it and then got very angry at me.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Poe%27s_law
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Servetus said this on April 5, 2019 at 6:40 pm |