With filming just weeks away, new rumors are starting to surface regarding J.J. Abrams’ upcoming Star Trek sequel. Early rumors claimed the film would focus more on crew itself rather than pitting them against as single adversary, while others seemed to suggest that the Kirk and company could match wits with a classic villain like Harry Mudd or Trelane. Sources recently claimed that Abrams had approached Benicio Del Toro to fill that void, but we’ve yet to hear anything further regarding his involvement, if it’s indeed happening. This latest rumor, however, seems to suggest that we might even see the return of the Klingons.
Here’s the recently released trailer for the upcoming Doctor Who Christmas special set to air Christmas Day. The episode, titled The Doctor, the Widow and the Wardrobe, is an obvious homage to C.S. Lewis’ The Chronicles of Narnia. The story is once again set during World War II, and while I’m starting to grow tired of that particular period of history, it certainly fits the Narnia gag. They haven’t said much about the plot, but from the trailer, it looks as though he’ll accompany a family of children, and who I can only assume is their widowed mother, on an adventure that takes them into a world that very much resembles the frozen forests Narnia. Both Amy and Rory are notably absent from the trailer, and there’s still no word on if they’ll be making any more appearances next season.
Posted by Tim Sheehy on Nov 21, 2011 in Videogames
I love a good soundtrack as much as the next guy, but these days I’ll be hard-pressed to purchase an actual compact disc, let alone a four-disc set. That said, here’s one I don’t mine shelling the cash for. Jeremy Soule’s The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim 4-Disc original soundtrack contains all the audio from the game, almost all of which, I imagine, feature live recordings. The opening theme even used a thirty man choir to capture that Nordic-feel, while using a runic language they actually made up just for the game. There are some really beautiful pieces contained within, and I wouldn’t hesitate to call it Soule’s best work to date. It really says something when I haven’t grown sick of hearing any of the music — something that no other Elder Scrolls title has managed to date. The full four-disc set only retails for $29.99 via Jeremy Soule’s directsong online store, and all copies purchased before December 23rd will come personally autographed by Soule himself.
Posted by Tim Sheehy on Nov 21, 2011 in Television
HBO recently released a production trailer for their upcoming second season of Game of Thrones. I believe the new season will cover the events of the second novel in the on-going series of novels A Song of Fire and Ice, entitled A Clash of Kings. The trailer shows off some of the new faces will be seeing throughout the season, as well as the return of several fan favorite who managed to live through last season — there might be a spoiler or two for those who haven’t read the book or seen the show, but nothing that should ruin it for you. If you haven’t seen the first season, it’s currently available for pre-order via Amazon and won’t hit stores until January 10th. If you’d rather just read, or listen to the book itself, both the audiobook and original novel are currently available at your local retailers, or can also be purchased via Amazon or iTunes.
Posted by Michael Pinto on Nov 20, 2011 in Animation, Fandom
At first I didn’t take the Broniestoo seriously, but this has made me change my mind: Operation Winter Wrap Up is a site started by My Little Pony fans with the objective of “Bronies donate Ponies to children in need” with a holiday toy drive. Currently the Operation Winter Wrap Up site includes detail information on where to donate, toy suggestions and other ways that people can help: And there’s also a Facebook page as well. Read more…
Posted by Michael Sacco on Nov 20, 2011 in Videogames
Mojang’s block-building game Minecraft accomplished a rare feat in gaming — it’s been one of the most popular and recognizable games in the world for over a year, but it only came out yesterday. A two-year-plus beta testing period gave it all the exposure it needed to thrive, and now you can find the highly addictive game on Steam, ready for your real dollars. Minecraft is pretty much the definition of “indie darling” , but it has a ridiculously wide appeal; after all, who doesn’t like building with blocks? The possibilities are limited only by your imagination, time, and tolerance for bad graphics. (If you’re looking for something a little more two-dimensional, though, allow me to recommend Terraria.) Read more…
Posted by Michael Sacco on Nov 18, 2011 in Videogames
Developers at Runic Games quipped after announcing their hack-and-slasher Torchlight 2 that Torchlight 3 would see release before Blizzard’s juggernaut Diablo 3. It looks like they might have to eat a little crow on that one, since after announcing today that Torchlight 2 would not be released in 2011 as originally projected, they might not even beat Diablo 3 to release with this game. Regardless of when it actually comes out, Torchlight 2 should be a fun romp while it lasts, and it’s adding the most important part of games in its genre: multiplayer, a curious omission from the original Torchlight. The main appeal of Torchlight 2, though? Its bargain-bin price tag. The last one went for around $20 and Runic expects to have a similarly low price for their sophomore effort. Read more…
Get ready for the most adorable video ever. Believe it or not, this is an actual product — an inflatable, talking Dalek that a kid can actually drive around. Honestly, who needs Power Wheels when you can ride around threatening to exterminate people? Don’t bother trying to answer, it’s rhetorical. If I had a kid, this would be purchased immediately, despite the fact that you need a European power outlet or adapter to charge the sucker. I probably won’t have a niece or nephew old enough to drive one of these around for a few more years, I’m actually a little giddy at the thought. Unfortunately, I don’t think we’ll ever see an adult-sized model, but if anyone wants to build one for Halloween next year, that would be really cool. If you do, take pictures or shoot a video for us please. If, on the other hand, you want to pick one of these up, you can actually import one, just keep in mind my note about the power adapter. The Ride-in Dalek retails for a hefty $299.99 and ThinkGeek will toss in an optional adapter for an additional $20. Read more…
Tired of waiting for Lego to officially license your favorite films like Star Trek or Back to the Future? Me too. I had my hopes up when Lego started releasing those awesome Star Wars kits a few years back, but nothing ever came of it. Fortunately for us, the guys at Ichiban Toys have decided to release few custom kits to fill the void. There’s just a catch or two — the sets are incredibly small and extremely expensive for what you get. Don’t get me wrong, they look awesome, but judging by the size of some of these kits, $15 for a Klingon Bird of Prey that only usesaround fifty small pieces can seem a bit steep. That said, they’re all official Lego pieces, so anyone with access to the right ones could probably build it themselves after giving it a close enough look.
Posted by Tim Sheehy on Nov 16, 2011 in Videogames
Oh Bethesda, I had such high hopes. Don’t get me wrong, I still love the game to death. I’ve been having an blast venturing across the winter wonderland that is Skyrim, and slaying the occasional Dragon that seemingly pops out of nowhere, but it’s been five years, so I just have to ask — why haven’t they fixed their horse physics? You’d think that at some point someone might stop and say “Hey, this is something people might care about.” Obviously it wasn’t high on their to-do list, but that’s okay. I can overlook it, after all, it’s still hilarious and makes for great videos. Don’t you think?
Seeing as the next Doctor Who Christmas special is just a month away, now’s a great time to get into the spirit of things with this ridiculously cool Snow-lek shirt. I never really thought of building a Dalek snowman, but after seeing this, I kind of want to try. Of course, I’m sure nobody else will get the reference unless they’re fans, but I guess that’d be the point of doing it in the first place. The shirt, designed by artist Malcassairo, is currently being sold at TeeFury, and like every other design they print, will only be available for the next 24 hours. Their shirts are usually decent quality, and should only cost you $10 + shipping, but if you’d rather pass, there’s always a chance the shirt could pop up on a site like RedBubble, though it would be significantly more expensive to order it from there. If you’d rather just see more of Malcassairo’s work, a larger portfolio is available at their Deviant Art page.
Here’s the latest trailer for the upcoming Star Trek: the Next Generation – The Next Level Blu-ray sampler set to be released on January 31st. The trailer starts with the teaser footage released a few months back, and the new content starts around a minute and seventeen seconds in, detailing the restoration process, and showing clips from the episodes included on the disc. You’ll probably notice that the episodes are still in 4:3 format, rather than 16:9, but that’s actually intended. They haven’t really said why, but there could really be any number of reasons, such as unintended crew or equipment being present in the shots, etc. That said, the show is still being completely recomposited from scratch using the original negatives and transferred to 1080p, so it’ll still look amazing. Once again, the sampler will retail for $21.99 and should include five full episodes. It’s been confirmed that the rest of 178 episodes will eventually follow.
Posted by Tim Sheehy on Nov 15, 2011 in Television
Earlier today, NBC decided to tout their new mid-season lineup. Rather than the awkward sound of crickets or the occasional tumbleweed associated with such an announcement from the fourth-place network, my twitter-feed exploded with the hash tag #savegreendale. I immediately re-examined the press release only to discover that, sure enough, Community was nowhere to be found. As you can imagine, I freaked out. It’s only natural, after all, it’s one of the few NBC sitcoms I still enjoy on a regular basis. Thankfully, it turns out the show isn’t cancelled, per se. It’s just “on the bubble,” so they’re just thinking about it. So, what can you do to save it? Read more…
Posted by Tim Sheehy on Nov 14, 2011 in Videogames
So, Skyrim hit stores last week and I’ve been glued to it ever since. So far, I’m about twelve hours in and I feel like I’ve barely scratched the surface of the game in terms of content. There’s just so much to do; so much to explore. I haven’t really seen enough of the world to know if it’s as repetitive and drab as any of Bethesda’s other titles in recent years, though from what I’ve seen so far, I don’t expect it to be. Almost every experience I’ve had, from fighting Dragons, to exploring different types of ruins, has been a relatively fresh experience. That said, it hasn’t been without its fair share of glitches.
I have to hand it to Atlus. Just when you think they’re ready to move on, they find a way to surprise us. After they announced the Persona 4 anime, and fighting game, I seriously thought that would be the last we saw of the series. It wasn’t long before they announced a port of the original for Sony’s Playstation Vita, which will launch stateside next year. Now, they’re even discussing plans for a stage adaptation of the game to debut next March. The show’s being produced by Marvelous AQL, who some of you might recognize from games like Harvest Moon, and Rune Factory. They also happen to be involved in musical theater, television series, and other forms of media, so they’ve had experience with this sort of thing in the past. In fact, they recently produced a popular musical based on the anime Prince of Tennis.
What follows is an amazing in debt audio interview with science fiction author Philip K. Dick from 1979 — the interviewer is Charles Platt. The author goes into amazing detail about his life story and books that inspired him: Read more…
Posted by Michael Pinto on Nov 13, 2011 in Animation, Fandom
Oh sure any fanboy can buy a mere Mobile Suit Gundam model kit and put it together — but only a hardcore fanboy like Taras Lesko can hand craft a seven foot tall Gundam out of paper! Shown below is the step-by-step assembly and a video that he made: Read more…
Posted by Michael Sacco on Nov 13, 2011 in Videogames
The Elder Scrolls series is pretty much the embodiment of the western RPG, so it’s no surprise that the latest entry in the series, Skyrim, has been one of the most anticipated games in recent memory for genre fans worldwide. What’s slightly more surprising is the fact that it’s overwhelmingly the most popular game on Steam two days after its launch. Why is that such a surprise? Well, I don’t know if you’ve heard of it, but there’s this other game that came out recently called Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3, and it had the biggest launch of any video game, ever. But no, Skyrim is thoroughly trouncing it, with roughly five times the number of concurrent players as MW3. Steam gamers: people of taste. Read more…
