Posted by Tim Sheehy on Jan 11, 2011 in Videogames
It was perhaps the most popular iPhone game of 2010. Even I have to admit that I as hooked after finally deciding to give it a chance, and now it looks like Angry Birds will be moving beyond the digital realm in the form of a table-top game. I would have used the term boardgame, but there’s no board — only blocks, pigs, the birds and the sling you use to launch them. So how could that possibly work? Well, for those of you who are having a difficult time imagining it, check out the video above. Read more…
It’s never easy crafting your own props, let alone attempting to recreate one from scratch. That said, artist Josh Jay did a fantastic job sculpting his very own Brotherhood of Steel power helmet from Fallout 3. That much is impressive, but what’s more is that he actually took the time to document the process through photos, posting several galleries detailing the techniques he used while constructing it. Had he actually taken the time to write out some instructions along with his photos, they’d make a fantastic visual aid. For more photos check out his galleries here and here.
Since Microsoft’s Kinect hit the market last November, the homebrew community has been hard at work modifying the technology for all sorts of interesting applications. Using open source drivers, developers have created everything from adult-oriented mini-games to musical instruments like a virtual midi drum kit. One such modification makes use of the motion tracking sensors to deliver a 3d shadow puppet show. I’m sure it wasn’t too complicated to devise, but it just goes to show how easily the technology can be adapted for uses outside the gaming environment Microsoft had in mind when creating it.
Get ready to toss those 3D glasses sooner than you expected. That’s right, Toshiba has announced plans to debut their glasses-free 3D televisions worldwide come April. They’ve already been selling the technology to Japanese vendors since December, however those sets were limited to the 12 to 20 inch range. Instead, the TVs hitting North America in April will reportedly be 40 inches on up — so expect a hefty price tag.
I have to admit that I wasn’t very impressed with Little Big Planet’s first outting. While the game gave us plenty of tools to build with, the platforming aspects of the game seemed a bit tiresome. After merely a week and half — I’m told it took some people less time than that — I found myself placing back on my shelf never to be played again. A shame really, considering all the hard work spent on creating countless user-generated content. Thankfully, the upcoming sequel, Little Big Planet 2, features a bit more than just your typical platforming.
A few years back, Star Trek fans got together to produce a series of new episodes featuring the continued adventures of the USS Enterprise and their five year mission. Star Trek: New Voyages, as they called it, featured decent production values and less-than-spectacular acting, but I had to hand it to them for trying. Of course, that series took far too long for them to produce in a timely manner. Now, it would seem someone else has taken it upon themselves to produce yet another fan series, Star Trek: Phoenix — this time opting for an original approach. Read more…
At one point, you couldn’t film a space epic without having to use scale models. Studios like Industrial Light and Magic were forced to craft these incredibly detailed models for use in creating some of the most memorable sci-fi films of our time. Fortunately, but the time Joss Whedon’s Firefly came to be, studios were able to rely on CGI, allowing them to fore go the trouble of crafting these models by hand.
Pixel artist Pierre Manry recently threw together this awesome little 8-bit homage to the recently released Tron Legacy. I haven’t seen the film yet — I know, shame on me — but I’ll probably make it to the theater tomorrow. From what I’ve been told, the film is absolutely fantastic. I’m just not sure if I want to see it in 3D, or not. I imagine it’s probably amazing, but is it going to be worth the inevitable headache? Until then, I suppose I’ll just keep watching this video, wishing someone would have actually made a game exactly like this. Kudos for using Mega Man sprites, by the way.
Back in November, Kotobukiya decided to take a few photos of their Star Wars ArtFX statues while attempting to recreate some memorable scenes from the holy trilogy. Given that they only had Darth Vader, some Stormtroopers, and Boba Fett to work with at the time, I’d say they did pretty well for themselves. The statues are incredibly detailed, and thankfully lack the need for finer details like facial features, etc. No doubt that would have made their job a little more difficult.
Posted by Tim Sheehy on Dec 30, 2010 in Videogames
You can snag yourself a free episode of Telltale’s Back to the Future: The Game, that is, if you want to wait until February to play it. The deal has been going on for awhile now, but Telltale Games — the guys behind the recent Sam & Max, and Monkey Island titles — are giving away that first episode to anyone who registers via this site. Of course, if you’d rather just buy the game outright, you can download it right away and start playing. So far, it’s recieved mostly rave reviews, so I wouldn’t blame anyone for not wanting to wait. Still, pretty awesome of Telltale to just hand out the first episode for free. Read more…
I’m kidding, actually. I use my iPad all the time — I just wish it was more than a glorified ebook reader. Sure, I have a few apps that I use all the time, but aside from watching videos on services like Hulu, Netflix, or streamed over my Air Video server, reading books and playing a few games pretty much covers it. I’m not sure Apple will ever add functionality for the device — at least, not this generation — so I’ll take my added functionality wherever I can get it. In this case, it comes in the form of an HDMI adapter.
Posted by Tim Sheehy on Dec 29, 2010 in Videogames
Check out this amazing video of Hironobu Sakaguchi’s The Last Story for Nintendo’s Wii. The battle system looks fantastic and seems to mix a number of popular elements. In addition to the classic menu-based combat we’ve seen in his previous titles, we’re given a bit of action-oriented stealth gameplay as well, and it looks fantastic. Unfortunately, the game will be a Wii exclusive, so it might lack the visual polish that we’ve come to expect in modern roleplaying games, but to be honest, none of that really matters to me so long as I actually enjoy playing it. Read more…
Like most viewers, I found Deep Space Nine far more entertaining than Star Trek Voyager, and a worthy successor to Star Trek: The Next Generation. Unfortunately, the series never really gained much ground in the litterary world — at least, in comparison to The Next Generation, or the Original Series. As a result, Pocket Books relaunched the series in order to bring Deep Space Nine in line with the current Trek timeline, as established by the Next Generation and Titan novels.
I always assumed the Empire owned stock in Starbucks, but I guess I was wrong about that. Instead, they apparently grow their own blend. ThinkGeek claims these unique beans as being hand-roasted by Stormtroopers, but let’s be honest, when has the Empire ever employed stormtroopers for manual labor? All kidding aside, I’m not sure what’s worse, the fact that this coffee has been branded so shamelessly, or the fact that I really want to try some. These beans actually come from Africa and Indonesia and are an officially licensed Star Wars product, for what that’s worth. Take a risk and dabble in the dark side for only $15 a bag.
Posted by Tim Sheehy on Dec 23, 2010 in Videogames
You don’t have to be a card carrying member of the NRA to appreciate a wide selection of projectile weaponry. In fact, anyone who has spent enough time playing first-person shooters would tell you that nothing beats having options and that’s exactly what you get when you play Borderlands. The title reportedly contains close to 17,000,000 weapons — though, arguably they’re mostly variants. The game hit consoles late last year and garnered plenty of positive reviews, so I have to wonder why they’ve waited so long to make the game avaialble for download via PSN or Xbox Live!
I spend so much of my time online these days that it’s no wonder I’ve forgotten how much fun it can be to take a camping trip. While I have to admit the notion of being away from my precious array of electronic devices scares the hell out of me, it wouldn’t hurt to unplug every once in awhile. Though I wouldn’t be able to bring along my copy of Family Guy: It’s a Trap, or my new LED TV, I can keep the Star Wars spirit alive with this awesome Tauntaun sleeping bag. As you’ll note from the picture above, the bag itself features a Tauntaun-head for a pillow. It also comes with a lightsaber shaped zipper so you can attempt your best Han Solo impression. Don’t worry, it probably won’t smell as bad — that is, unless you refuse to bathe or you’re camping on Dagobah. They usually retail for $99, but you can snag one for 20% if you order yours from ThinkGeek today.
I’m surprised we haven’t really brought this up yet, but I imagine some of you haven’t already heard about the upcoming Level-5/Studio Ghibli collaboration, Ni no Kuni. You can expect the classic art and animation we’ve come to expect from Ghibli, looking very much like your standard Miyazaki fare, and Level 5’s previous titles have proven the studios ability to seamlessly blend animation and 3D using beautifully rendered cell-shaded visuals.
Posted by Tim Sheehy on Dec 22, 2010 in Japanese TV
I adore Hikaru Utada. She’s perhaps the most recognizable Japanese pop icon in recent years. In fact, I’m pretty sure she still holds a record or two for selling over 8 million copies of her debut album in Japan alone. That’s a lot by our industry’s standards, and even moreso by their own. That aside, she’s got a lovely voice and a natrual beauty to compliment it, which is why I fall head over heels in love every time she does a commercial. This latest ad has her singing “Can’t Wait ‘Til Christmas,” which was included on the recently released Utada Hikaru Single Collection Vol. 2 while leaning on a giant bottle of Pepsi Nex Zero — a drink I personally find delicious. It’s a shame you have to fly to the Japan to try it, though. Read more…
I’m not sure how many of you are familiar with Bakugan. In fact, I wasn’t really aware of it myself until I asked my wife, who happens to work in retail, what had been selling really well. I half-expected her to say Pokemon but instead, she mentioned Bakugan Battle Brawlers. The title alone was very off-putting for me — I’m not fond of alliteration, you see — but I figured I should try to learn something about it, seeing as I moonlight as an anime journalist. Read more…
Posted by Tim Sheehy on Dec 21, 2010 in Videogames
Okay, so I’m not really sure it ever was a secret to begin with, but it sure seemed that way. Back in June, Square Enix showed off a small set of upcoming titles for Apple’s iOS devices and for whatever reason, almost nobody took note. It could be because, at the time, Apple had yet to make a signifigant impact in the portable gaming market. Regardless, that didn’t stop Square Enix from pushing forward with some notable classics. The first of which, Secret of Mana, finally hit the App store last week. The port largely stays true to the original, while featuring slightly updated graphics and new artwork. It’s currently priced at $8.99. The soundtrack is also available on iTunes for 25% off until January 5th. No word on when to expect any of the other titles they showed off at E3, but personally I’m still looking forward to their upcoming port of Final Fantasy Tactics: The War of the Lions.Read more…
Those of you with an iDevice may have noticed the recently released update for your iBooks app. Apple pushed their 1.2 update on the 15th, allowing users to view fully-illustrated children’s books, cook books, reference guides, and more. Personally, I can’t wait to download some photography books, though I imagine they’ll probably take up signifigantly more space on my hard drive — a small price to pay, or is it? Read more…
The special one-night-onlyNorth American screening of the upcoming live-action adaptation of Gantz is happening on January 20th. Given the special circumstances surrounding the limit release, only select theaters will be showing the film. I remember how annoyed I was when I missed out on a screening of Princess Mononoke simply because I couldn’t find a theater in time, but this time Fathom Events will be looking out for us all. They’re providing a list of all the theaters that’ll be participating in the world premiere event. Better yet, you can search by zip code to find the closest theater nearby and even purchase advance tickets — not that I’d worry about it being sold out before you get there, but you never know. To see the list of participating locations, click here.
Posted by Tim Sheehy on Dec 15, 2010 in Videogames
Literally. The first in-game footage from the highly-anticipated Uncharted 3: Drake’s Deception debuted last night on NBC’s Late Night with Jimmy Fallon. Naughty Dog’s Evan Wells and Christophe Balestra were on-hand to show off the game, and while I imagine they’re still working out a few of the bugs, they put on a pretty good showing. The demo featured a few minutes of gameplay that takes place presumably early on. Nathan Drake, and his partner/mentor Sully are caught in what appears to be a burning mansion in France and are under assualt by numerous gun-wielding mercenaries intent preventing their escape. It’s pretty exciting footage, despite Jimmy Fallon’s inability to press the shoulder buttons when prompted. The game is currently slated for release on November 1st, 2011.
I still don’t get why people take the time to make these Star Wars poster parodies, but it would seem they’re becoming more popular. Back in October, I shared several examples of these alt-art posters and they proved to be somewhat entertaining, so here we are again with another set — this time, by artist Matt Ranzetta. While I personally can’t say I love the posters themselves, I can’t really knock Matt’s taste in cinema. They also fit the subject matter quite well, all things considered. I’ll admit that Cool Hand Luke made me giggle a little, though.
