Earlier today, Microsoft held their Xbox 360 press conference. Many of you were probably expecting a slew of new and exciting titles, and while Microsoft had a number of multi-platform, and console exclusives that may have impressed some, many of you may have left underwhelmed. I have to admit that I joined many of you in yawning through-out and while I applaud Microsoft for once again abandoning the sales statistics in favor of announcing new products, most of them failed to appeal to my tastes. Aside from the handful of you who live for Gears of War and Halo, I have a feeling you may have felt the same.
They missed the self-imposed deadline of “by the end of the month,” but Sony has finally restored access to the Playstation Network Store. For weeks, developers have been reporting losses, and many customers who’ve recently purchased games have been denied access to their downloadable content. Worst yet, several games have required the use of a key for online play which could only be unlocked via the online store — the move finally provides a bit of relief. Due to the length of downtime, much of the content that had been previously scheduled for release will be rolled out in waves in order to play catch up. For a full list of new content, head on over to the Playstation blog, just don’t be surprised if you have a little trouble logging in, seeing as everyone else will likely be flooding the store over the course of the next two days.
As Jabba would tell you, nothing says you’re the boss like your very own smuggler frozen in carbonite. Sure, you could just mount him on the wall of your pleasure palace, but why not find a more practical use for it? The guys at Tom Spina Designs did when they created their own custom Han Solo carbonite desk. It’s truly an amazing piece of functional fanboy art, I just wonder how much they’d charge us for one of our own. I wasn’t able to find a price quote on their official site, but they do have plenty of other great props, and furniture you can browse. After all, why wouldn’t you want your own galactic throne.
It’s been several months since the magnitude 9.0 Tōhoku earthquake devastated Northeastern Japan, and while the subject no longer dominates our headlines, the entire region remains in need. To help support the relief efforts, a group of relatively well-known cosplayers have gotten together to create a cosplay calender for charity with 100% of the proceeds going to the Japanese Red Cross society. The full sized calender will open to 11″ x 22″ with the actual photos measuring at 11″ x 17″.
A few weeks back, Columbia Pictures released the first trailer for Steven Spielberg and Peter Jackson’s upcoming theatrical adaptation of Georges Rémi’s classic comic, The Adventures of Tintin. The film will boast some jaw-dropping 3d, using some of the latest in motion capture technology. Indeed, the visuals can be quite stunning, but I’ve seen more than a few complaints from fans who feel the new visuals aren’t faithful enough. Still, with both Spielberg and Jackson on board, how can we go wrong? Read more…
Regardless of how you feel about Harmony Gold, or Robotech, one thing I’ve never seen were complaints about the music. Ulpio Minucci and Arlon Ober did fantastic job scoring the series, creating a memorable soundtrack that’s managed to strike a chord with fans worldwide. Recently I stumbled across this video of a group of fans from Chile performing a live medley. I love that they kept it real with the electric drum kit — the lazer toms were dead on. It’s worth a listen, and you’ll get goosebumps from the nostalgia alone.
Posted by Tim Sheehy on May 31, 2011 in Cinema, Tech
There are so many drinking/bartending apps on the app store . So many in fact, that I’ve had a hard time picking one — that was until this little gem caught my eye. Have you ever wanted to drink like a spy? Never had the time to write 007’s recipes down in the middle of a film? The Bond Mixology iPhone app has you covered. Every recipe from every film, complete with recommended brands and scene notes. On top of that, they’ve even thrown in imdb profiles for the actors to add a smidge of authenticity. They even offer up proper alternatives for the mixers that are no longer being produced, and for only $1.99, it’s a steal. For more information, check out their official website.
Who knew Commander Data had so much swagger? He might be the whitest rapper ever, but that’s no reason to hate. The video above was thrown together by musician & fanboy Dan Bull. Aside from his goofier exploits, like singing his open letters and posting them on youtube, Dan’s a pretty talented guy. Head over to his website to check out some of his original work and maybe even consider purchasing some of it. By the way, little known fact — Brent Spiner hated that cat. Read more…
Like many of you, I’ve spent the last year pining away for the upcoming Blu-ray release of the Star Wars saga. Specifically, I’ve been looking forward to owning a copy of the original trilogy in high definition, seeing as I haven’t purchased a set since the THX remastered edition in 1995. They released those “special edition” films less than 2 years later, but the way I see it, at least I’ll always have proof that Han shot first. I was hoping that the upcoming Blu-rays would feature both the original and “special” editions of each film. God knows they have the space to fit them on the disc, but it’s as I feared, only those “special” editions will be included. At least the box art looks pretty swank, right?
For the last few weeks there has been a bit of buzz surrounding the proposed 2012 sequel to J.J. Abram’s Star Trek. According to a recent interview with writer/producer Robert Orci, the film is currently being prepped using a 70-page outline. The script hasn’t been finished, and Abrams is busy wrapping up work on Super 8, and with the film currently set for a June release, things have been looking rather bleak. Now, we’re hearing a rumor that the film’s release has been pushed to the holiday season. A December release date would give them the time they need to throw the film together, but I have to admit I’m disappointed. Still, I wonder if anyone didn’t see this coming a mile away.
Posted by Tim Sheehy on May 25, 2011 in Videogames
Atari and Bedlam Games’ Dungeons & Dragons: Daggerdale will finally be available for Xbox Live! and PC starting tomorrow. I’ve been waiting for the title patiently since it was announced back in 2010. It’s been a long time since I’ve played a decent D&D-related dungeon crawl, and while it certainly won’t be the same as Black Isle’s Dark Alliance series, everything I’ve heard about the game sounds promising. Expect real-time gameplay, questing, character development and multiplayer modes, all modeled around the updated 4th edition ruleset. Unfortunately, playstation gamers may have to wait a little longer. Daggerdale had been scheduled to hit PSN on the 30th, a week after its PC and Xbox counterparts, but I’m sure nobody was expecting the online store to be down when that date was initially announced. No word on if it’ll still make its scheduled release date.
Like many of you, I’ve spent the last week glued to my copy of Rockstar’s latest thriller, L.A. Noire. As you may already know, the title’s inspired by film noir — a genre defined by its hardboiled action, dark narratives and unique visuals often associated with the ’40s and ’50s. The game itself borrows heavily from the novels of James Ellroy and films like Chinatown, and The Big Sleep. If you’ve been enjoying the game so far and want some supplemental material to watch, look no further.
Back in 1994 Decipher published their first edition of the Star Trek: The Next Generation Customizable Card Game. For the most part, I’ve avoided collectible card games over the years, but I remember having given the game a shot. Unfortunately for a collectible card game, it was incredibly complex with as many as 17 different card types to keep track of. Decipher no longer holds the license for the franchise, and it’s been years since their last set hit the market. Bandai has taken this opportunity to step to the plate with their upcoming Star Trek: The Next Generation Deck Building Game — for all intents and purposes, it’s safe to assume that means it’s just another collectible card game. TrekMovie.com has given us the first look at some of the upcoming cards that will be featured in this summers release.
I’ve seen people use Minecraft to create all kinds of awesome maps, but I’ve never seen anything quite like this. Not even the Enterprise-D built to scale could hold a candle to these. The video depicts a number of maps based on the various animated works of Studio Ghibli. You’ll recognize scenes and locations from films such as Spirited Away, My Neighbor Totoro, and Laputa: Castle in the Sky, all of which seem masterfully crafted. i can’t imagine how much time and effort was spent constructing these maps, but they’re all really impressive.
Summit Entertainment is once again making noise about their upcoming plans to “reimagine” the Highlander film franchise — I’m not sure how I feel about that term, but it’s probably for the best. In a recent press release, it was announced that they’ve inked a deal with RCR Media Group to co-finance the project. The release goes on to list Justin Lin as still being attached to direct the film, though Lin seems to be in high demand lately. He’s currently set to direct the sequel to his previous film, Fast Five, which proved to be a smash at the box office, as well Terminator 5 — of which, I’d rather see. It also names Art Marcum and Matt Holloway as the script writers. Holloway did a bang up job with Iron Man, so I’ve got high expectations going in. Hopefully the franchise will finally get the treatment it deserves. After all, it’s a hell of a concept, I just wish they had gotten it right the first five or so times.
Posted by Tim Sheehy on May 18, 2011 in Pulp Fiction
Check out this lovely painting by Weta Workshop’s Ben Wootten, who once served as both artist and concept designer for Peter Jackson’s Lord of the Rings trilogy. You may recognize his work from the various DVD extras and art books included with the various releases over the years. WETA recently made his work available for sale in the form of large poster art prints. Each individual 23.7″ x 11.7″ print sells for roughly $35 plus shipping and comes high quality satin paper, and while you may have missed our chance to receive a hand-signed copy, I can assure you each poster is more than worth that price. Unfortunately, the more I look at them, the more I find myself pining away for The Hobbit. Until then, we’ll just be left craving for more. For an closer look at the poster, or to order one of your own, check out the WETA store for more information.
It’s hard to believe that it’s been nearly three years since Namco Bandai’s Soul CaliburIV hit the market. Better known for its quick, combo-driven gameplay, and scantly clad femme-fatals, the latest entry in the series shocked us all when Namco Bandai teamed up with LucasArts to include several guest characters from the Star Wars universe. Some details have finally emerged regarding its long-awaited sequel.
Feast your eyes on this extremely limited edition “Musha” Darth Vader. Yoshitoku, a long-standing Japanese art and craft house, has decided to design this exclusive figure to commemorate their 300th year in business. At just over a food and a half tall, this aluminum and resin sculpt How limited, exactly? They’ll only be producing 30 pieces total and each figure will sell for around 136,500 yen — that’s nearly $1,675. They’re incredibly detailed but I can’t imagine wanting to pay that much for one. Assuming you can afford it, and know enough Japanese to surf Yoshitoku’s official website, pre-orders are open through June 10th.
Today, 20th Century Fox unveiled their plans for a 21st century reboot the Hannah-Barbara classic, The Flintstones to by co-produced by Warner Brothers Television. Overseeing the production will be none other than Family Guy‘s Seth MacFarlane. However, unlike MacFarlane’s raunchier block of animated programming, the show will probably be a tad more family-oriented. Furthermore, while the production might start later this fall, the show itself may not even air until 2013. It’ll be quite the wait, but considering the amount of red tape likely surrounding a series as old as The Flintstones, and MacFarlane’s target demographic, it’s surprising the project even got the green light in the first place. Whether or not the show will be any good definitely remains to be seen.
Posted by Tim Sheehy on May 12, 2011 in Design, Fandom
While many of you may recognize some of her work from around the net, you probably don’t know the name behind some of these nerdy Art Nouveau-inspired character portraits. Her name is Megan Lara, a 22 year-old aspiring artist and self-proclaimed fangirl and her art’s been turning quite a few heads as of late. Her art isn’t limited to these portraits either. Megan’s portfolio also includes fine art, general prints, and more. Currently, a large portion of her works are available on t-shirts via Level Up Studios, but her designs can be found everywhere from RedBubble to, most recently, ThinkGeek. If you’d like to check out more of her work, you can visit her official site or browse on over to her Deviant Art.
Namco Bandai revealed the latest trailer for the upcoming fantasy action title, Dark Souls. Like it’s spiritual predecessor, Demon’s Souls, the title promises brutal, highly difficult and unforgiving gameplay while providing one of the most immersive experiences the genre has seen to date. I have to admit, I found the previous title to be a bit too difficult at times, often needing to take extended breaks to prevent myself from stressing out. In addition, the game’s environment, though arguably beautiful at times, can be extremely creepy. It had been a long time since a game sent those kinds of tingles down my spine. Nevertheless, this upcoming release looks spectacular and I really can’t wait to give it a try. The trailer also reveals an October release date — unfortunately, the game will be available exclusively for PS3. Given Namco’s involvement, we can always hope that it’ll get ported, but only time will tell.
Like many of the newer cable networks, the Science Channel lies on the fringe of my available HD programming. I almost never catch any of the shows, but I once happened upon it while an episode of Sci-Fi Science: Physics of the Impossible was airing. For those of you who aren’t familiar with the program, the host Dr.Michio Kaku takes concepts from Science Fiction and tries to explain how he thinks they’d work using current scientific knowledge and technology. The guys from Devestator Quarterly threw together this little parody showing us that some fanboys out there might take issue with his often liberal approach to some of the lore we hold so sacred. Campy? Sure, but it’s worth a laugh or two. Read more…
The other month we wrote about Mark at Major League Mods and his amazing R2-D2 Xbox 360 projector mod. His design was astonishing enough to make any Star Wars fanboy green with envy. Now, he’s at it again, this time with a fresh take on his original Millennium Falcon Xbox. Years ago, Mark combined the innards of Microsoft’s old black box with a classic Kenner ’79 Millennium Falcon. Microsoft recently released another black box, and while this one is much slimmer, it didn’t stop mark from throwing together another great mod for a customer. This fully functioning 360 slim looks absolutely fantastic. The engines and running lights are a great touch as well. To see how everything works, check out the video below. You can also check out the Major League Mods website for more of Mark’s mods.
I’ve lost track of how many Dragon Ball games have flooded market in recent years. The license has been spread pretty thin with most of the titles retelling Akria Toriyama’s original plot from start to finish while taking a few liberties along the way. In addition, most of these games have featured similar cel-shaded visuals and gameplay, leading many people to believe that once you’ve played one, you’ve played them all. Of course, I’ve had plenty of people tell me that’s simply not the case. They’ve made improvements with pratically every itteration of the series and while we many have chosen to ignore them in the past, this latest entry might cause you to take notice.
