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Mass Effect: New Earth

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Mass Effect: New Earth is a theatrical motion simulator amusement park ride at California's Great America in Santa Clara, California. It opened on May 18, 2016.

Ride

In the 4½-minute ride, guests sit in the 80-seat Action Theater with a custom 60-foot 3D LED screen with 4K resolution. A performer plays the captain of the audience's ship, which is simulated as traveling alongside the main starship from the Mass Effect series, the Normandy. In the ride's plot, which coincides with the timeline of Mass Effect 3, the audience's ship travels through a mass relay to the planet Terra Nova. The audience's motion seats are equipped to simulate wind and water and are equipped with leg pokers and neck ticklers. The ride features 80-channel surround sound. The ride mentions but does not show the series' main character, Commander Shepard.[1] Guests also wear passive 3D glasses.[2]

Construction

Mass Effect: New Earth at California's Great America in Santa Clara, California.

Electronic Arts, publishers of the Mass Effect franchise, had previously worked with Cedar Fair to produce a ride based on Plants vs. Zombies: Garden Warfare (Plants vs. Zombies Garden Warfare: 3Z Arena) at the Carowinds amusement park in Charlotte, North Carolina. Fortune called the partnership the latest example of amusement park development for contemporary gaming audiences.[1] The Mass Effect ride was announced in September 2015.[3] The Great America amusement park is near Electronic Arts' Redwood Shores headquarters.[1] Mass Effect: New Earth opened on May 18, 2016.[4]

3D Live designed the ride with help from Halon Entertainment and Cedar Fair. BioWare, the series developer, was included on weekly calls to discuss the ride's story, animation, and artwork. The technology used for the ride's screen was originally intended for Michael Jackson's This Is It Tour prior to the artist's death. A representative from 3D Live likened the ride to "a live augmented/virtual reality experience" with the ride's immersive screen, as compared to similar 3D rides at Disney theme parks.[1] Halon Entertainment made the ride's 3D content and borrowed from the series' development assets. The Mass Effect game trilogy was created in the Unreal Engine 3 game engine, and Halon used Unreal Engine 4 for the ride's visuals. Halon's lead technical designer said that the visuals were produced on several artist workstations with Unreal 4 rather than requiring a computer cluster to render the content.[1]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e Gaudiosi, John (April 28, 2016). "Electronic Arts Blasts Off With 'Mass Effect' Theme Park Ride". Fortune. Archived from the original on April 29, 2016. Retrieved April 28, 2016.
  2. ^ Frank, Allegra (May 18, 2016). "Mass Effect 'holographic' theme park ride celebrates opening day". Polygon. Retrieved October 5, 2017.
  3. ^ McCormick, Rich (September 30, 2015). "Mass Effect is becoming a 4D theme park attraction in California". The Verge. Archived from the original on April 29, 2016. Retrieved April 28, 2016.
  4. ^ Farokhmanesh, Megan (April 28, 2016). "Mass Effect-themed park ride opens in May". Polygon. Retrieved October 5, 2017.
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