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Monday, December 18, 2006 |
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Sci-Fi Brain News -- December 18, 2006
Fincham: 'Doctor Who' Has "Long" Future
digitalspy.co.uk is reporting that BBC One controller Peter Fincham has quashed speculation over the future of Doctor Who beyond its upcoming third series.
Speaking at a press screening of Christmas special The Runaway Bride this morning, Fincham said that there was "a long way to go yet with Doctor Who in its modern incarnation". The BBC has yet to officially commission a fourth series of Doctor Who for 2008 but David Tennant is thought to have already signed up for a fourth.
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The Browncoat Backup Bash - The Documentary
Browncoats, fans of Joss Whedon’s prematurely-canceled Firefly TV series and movie Serenity, got a taste of deja vu when on December 8 several hundred showed up in Burbank, Calif., only to find the Flanvention conference they were there for was canceled.
In typical Browncoat fashion, the fans took control of the situation and set-up their own shindig. What followed was three days of celebrities, songs, and gorram fun. QMx TV was there, capturing the spirit of the Browncoat community in action.
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SCI-FI BRAIN NEWS
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Friday, December 15, 2006 |
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Sci-Fi Brain News -- December 15, 2006
'Heroes' Gets Two Golden Globe Nominations
superherohype.com is reporting that NBC's "Heroes" received two nominations at the Golden Globe - one for Best Television Series and another for Masi Oka for his role as Hiro in the Best Supporting Actor category.
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Third 'Stargate' Series In Development
gateworld.net is reporting that be prepared to step through the gate all over again! A third television series in the hit Stargate franchise is now in development, GateWorld has learned.
A production source informs GateWorld that the new series is in the concept phase, and is being actively worked on by the Vancouver creatives behind Stargate SG-1 and Stargate Atlantis. No concept for the show has yet been revealed.
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SCI-FI BRAIN INDEX
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Thursday, December 14, 2006 |
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Roswell (2.11) “To Serve and Protect” – Review
By: jesuiscanadien
Isabel is bored, and decides to dreamwalk through a few people’s dreams for fun. She walks into Liz’s dream, and is bored by the hokey romance that is going on. She walks into Kyle’s dream, and he’s dreaming about a sci-fi Buddha. The dream suddenly turns and she sees a girl being dragged off in a black bag, still alive and screaming.
The next day, over at the Sheriff’s Office, Valenti meets an old friend from the State Police Board, Dan, and they jaw over the Hubble case.
At the Crashdown, Kyle and Tess are talking about alien things and Kyle admits his fear that Max changed him when he saved Kyle. Kyle tells Tess that he almost would’ve rather died. Tess tells him that she doesn’t know what will happen to Kyle, and he shouldn’t get freaked about it.
Isabel and Max go to Valenti to report what she saw. They find out that Valenti is being investigated by the State Police Board. Valenti tells the kids not to worry and he will look into what Isabel saw in the dreamwalk. Valenti is then at Senor Chow’s eating lunch with the rep from the police board and he’s getting grilled about the incident. He tells Dan that Max Evans wasn’t there and Dan drops the issue as they eat.
Over at the Crashdown, Liz is having Freudian slips about Max with clients and Maria grills her. Liz explains her current case of Max-on-the-brain, and Maria tells Liz to chill out as it’s just a case of the love jones. Maria’s edgy cousin comes into the Crashdown, which annoys Maria to no end. Shawn looks at Liz like a hungry man and leaves.
Later that night, Isabel is having a meltdown, trying to get ready for her date with Grant Sorenson. All she wants is a normal night, on a normal date, with a normal guy. Over at the Valenti household, Tess is playing a trick on Kyle, who thinks he’s suddenly gained alien powers. When he realizes his error, Tess laughs and tells him that he’s a cute idiot.
During Isabel’s date, she falls asleep and sees more information on the girl who was kidnapped. She goes to Valenti and impresses on him how worried she is about the situation. Max and Valenti talk about the situation and Valenti tells Max that he doesn’t know if he’ll be able to find her.
Valenti gets word that a Melissa Foster may be missing, as she never checked in when she was supposed to arrive at Santa Fe to visit friends. Isabel is consulted and she thinks the girl may be the one she saw. Isabel tells Valenti again how worried she is for this girl’s safety.
Maria is working at the Crashdown, and she warns her cousin Shawn off Liz and tells him some of the rules of the house. Shawn finds this amusing and flirts with Liz all the same.
Isabel is trying to get some rest, as she’s been so worried about the missing girl, and she gets another flash of info when she closes her eyes. She sees Grant pulling the bag and wakes up with Max at her side. She tells Max what she saw and they tell Valenti. He tells them that he’ll look into it.
Valenti goes to the judge to get a warrant, and the judge is hard to persuade. He ends up going to Sorenson’s campsite and finds equipment, but cannot prove anything. He gets into hot water with Dan and they fight about Valenti’s penchant for UFO hunting. Melissa Foster walks in and asks why they were looking for her. Valenti then comes under fire for the whole investigation and he tries to cool things down.
Meanwhile, Max and Isabel are talking about the risks they’ve been putting Valenti through, and Isabel is upset about not being right about the girl.
Over at the Crashdown, Liz, Maria and Michael are closing up, with Kyle hanging out, and Kyle’s telling them about what Tess is doing to torture him about his fears about being alien. Kyle is in the middle of comforting Liz about the Max situation, when Shawn walks in. Maria is rude to him and Liz tries to help out, but is shot down for her efforts. Maria is disgusted for Liz’s efforts and Liz tries to tell Maria that she isn’t into Shawn. Kyle is left talking to himself, as he readily admits.
When Isabel is asleep, she sees more about the kidnapping. Max calls Valenti, who is under more fire about his dealings with Max and Isabel. They meet in Fraser Woods and Valenti sees a really straight molehill and they follow a cord to some air tanks. He follows the cord back to a spot in the ground, which they all dig up and find the missing girl underneath, hooked up to the air flow. The kidnapper lies in wait in the bushes and takes a shot at Isabel as she tries to life the plastic box off of the girl’s head. Max puts up his shield to protect them, as Isabel works to get the box off the girl’s head and Valenti searches for the shooter. Just as Valenti sees the shooter, Isabel manages to get the box off the girl’s head and Max drops the shield, so he can get Valenti to shoot at the shooter. Valenti hits the shooter, but he flees into the woods, and Dan from the police board shows up and they have to explain themselves.
Dan is none too happy about the situation, but the victim is real, as was the kidnapping. Dan informs Valenti that he’s in for a suspension over having the kids on a ride-along, but Valenti takes the punishment to keep the kids out of the spotlight.
Isabel is talking to the victim and Laurie tells Isabel thanks for rescuing her. Isabel holds her hand and sees inside of Laurie, and sees something alien, recognizing it. As the ambulance pulls away, she tells Max that she felt like she knows Laurie.
This episode was interesting to watch as Isabel found new facets to her abilities. I personally would’ve told Valenti that he should tell Dan that he had a tip from a reliable psychic, as police around the country use them to find the missing and the dead. I found Isabel’s terror, as she tapped into the empathic abilities she has, riveting. I am sure having strong emotions, like terror, rip through you like tissue paper tearing under the weight of water, would be truly overwhelming.
I liked Valenti’s efforts to keep Max and Isabel out of the state investigation. He was valiant and discreet as Dan tried to plow through any confidentiality that should be present in an investigation.
Having experience in conducting an investigation, I must say, Dan’s predilection for conducting his investigation with a complete lack of professionalism was totally annoying. You never tell the person you are investigating, that they are under investigation. It corrupts the evidence. Dan is an idiot in my opinion.
I felt Kyle’s frustration and fear about what was changing inside him after Max saved him to be realistic. Poor Kyle. He needs the ‘Alien Nation’ to lay off and assuage his fears. For someone who’s human, to realize that their universe may have been irrevocably changed could be disheartening and strike fear into their hearts.
Other than idiot Dan, this was a good episode, and I look forward, as always, to the next one.
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Thursday, December 14, 2006 |
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Sci-Fi Brain News -- December 14, 2006
Gay 'Heroes' Character Turns Straight
digitalspy.co.uk is reporting that a Heroes character that producers intended to be gay has been re-written as straight for "behind the scenes" reasons.
Series creator Tim Kring envisaged Claire Bennett's schoolpal Zach - played by Thomas Dekker, 18 - to be gay, dropping numerous hints in episodes screened thusfar.
In the pilot episode, Zach is teased about getting an erection in the school lockerrooms while in an episode screened as recently as November 20, Zach declares that he knows who he is and is "proud of it".
The character's MySpace profile claims that, of his orientation, he is "not sure", while his favourite movies are identified as Velvet Goldmine and Priscilla: Queen of the Desert.
However, a spokeswoman for broadcast network NBC has now told blogging site After Elton that Zach "is not gay... in all certainty".
In an email to the site, Kring explained that Zach being gay was the original plan, one that was subsequently dropped for other reasons.
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Hiro + Dinosaur = Whoa!
superherohype.com is reporting that fans of NBC's Heroes were shocked to see Isaac's painting of Hiro fighting a dinosaur, with his sword no less, in the fall finale of the popular new series. But is it something we'll actually get to see? Yup! TV Guide reports:
I'd want to read minds like Greg Grunberg does, that way I'd know if Masi Oka was pulling my leg when he told me last week that we "will see Hiro fighting a T-Rex" — hence the painting in the fall finale. "Don't forget," he added, "I [have a part-time job at] Industrial Light and Magic. You never know when I'll whip out a CGI dinosaur."
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'Lost,' 'Galactica' Get WGA Nods
scifi.com is reporting that ABC's hit SF series Lost got two 2007 nominations for Writers Guild of America television awards, and SCI FI Channel's Battlestar Galactica received one.
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Abrams: 'Trek XI' Aims At '08
scifi.com is reporting that writer/director J.J. Abrams confirmed to Variety that work is on track to release a proposed 11th Star Trek movie in 2008. Abrams, co-creator of ABC's Lost, is producing the movie for Paramount and co-writing it.
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SCI-FI BRAIN INDEX
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Wednesday, December 13, 2006 |
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Brainstorm #37
After an extended hiatus it turns out the the rumours of our demise were grossly exaggerated. Sci-Fi Brain is back and so is Brainstorm. This week: Halo 3, Sci-Fi TV, and the Console Launches. Get an umbrella, you're about to get brainstormed!
Topic One: Halo 3 Ad
Proteus4 First, I just wanted to say that we aren't dead. We live!
Grimzo Indeed, we are very much alive. just... looking for a new home! We're like the humans of Caprica in this way.
Grimzo Minus the jackassedry of Starbuck
Proteus4 Traveling through the cosmos searching for a place called... Well, that would give everything away.
Proteus4 We do have a plan though.
Grimzo Even though we're not cylons. not even jiggy!
Proteus4 I think. Grimzo is the Cylon.
Grimzo Liar!
Grimzo Enough of this geek talk - we're back and it's nice to have another Brainstorm. Let's start with some Halo talk!
Grimzo So what did you think of the ad?
Proteus4 So we have the Halo 3 ad and the upcoming Halo 3 beta. I loved that ad. I mean, it isn't gameplay but it sure was a helluva lotta fun for 30+ seconds.
Grimzo I posted my thoughts on my blog. I thought it was great but way too short.
Proteus4 Are we to assume that is John - Spartan 117 as a kid?
Grimzo How much did you geek out when you saw Master Chief run like that?
Grimzo I'm assuming that the kid was John - but who was the other kid?
Proteus4 That sprint run was fantastic as was the shield weapon. Super duper geek weapon of the year!
Proteus4 Kelly or Linda? One of the other female spartans?
Grimzo Yeah, along with the ultimate pose with the pistol while he was under the shield.
Proteus4 I hear people on message boards who don't think it was John at all but I definitely think it was him flashing back when he gets his helmet knocked off.
Grimzo It definitely was a flashback. Kid 2 looked back at kid 1 and the kid's face was replaced with the Spartan helmet.
Proteus4 Master Chief is such a badass. Someone better get this movie going again so I can enjoy the kick ass theater that this film is going to be. Along with the game... along with Halo Wars and along with Master Chief Kart racing.
Grimzo it's obvious that the kid was John.
Grimzo Well my thinking is that this ad was more about generating interest in the movie than it was about advertising the game.
Proteus4 Well, I guess we have seen Master Chief's face. I think the description matched Chief from the books.
Grimzo Why did everyone think John was Black?
Proteus4 I think it was putting the product back out there. Brand awareness. Monday Night Football was a great outlet for that.
Proteus4 The rumors that Denzel was going to play him in the movie.
Grimzo Too bad it wasn't on a better Football game
Proteus4 Yeah, I hear the football game was crap.
Grimzo For Canadian viewers, the ad was not on TSN
Proteus4 Was it not? I wasn't home to actually watch it.
Proteus4 I just watched it on Marketplace after I got home.
Proteus4 In 720p glory.
Proteus4 Did you sign up for the beta?
Grimzo I did, but I'm not sure if I did it on the right site.
Grimzo I just blindly followed a link on the 360 general board.
Proteus4 Halo3.com
Proteus4 I know the link you are talking about and it was confirmed by a bungie rep that it was legitimate.
Grimzo hmm I think I'll try registering for it again, just to be sure.
Proteus4 However, the link was released early.
Grimzo Ah ok.
Grimzo Welcome Jiggy!
Proteus4 I did it again after I used that link... just to be safe.
Proteus4 Jiggy!
Jiggyj Halo Beta?
Grimzo We're talking about Halo 3 and the fact that we're not dead.
Grimzo I think the beta is going to do wonders for the final product
Proteus4 Nope, we are just in the twilight world. Nobody can see us but we're there.
Jiggyj Not a Twilight Princess fan
Proteus4 Huzzwhat?
Grimzo What?!?!
Proteus4 Did you get a Wii?
Grimzo I hear words to the contrary from Mr Proteus.
Grimzo This is a good segway to our next topic though....
Jiggyj I've got a Wii and Zelda, Red Steel, Rayman, Monkey Ball and Trauma Center
TOPIC TWO: THE CONSOLE LAUNCHES
Proteus4 Wow, I am curious to know what you don't like about Zelda. How far are you into the game?
Grimzo I proudly raise my hand to say that I survived the hype and picked up neither new system!
Jiggyj I'm trying to get all the tears of light for the spirit in the lake
Proteus4 The Wii will be yours soon.
Proteus4 The first time you do that?
Grimzo Perhaps I will get a Wii when I get back in January.
Jiggyj No, the Zora spirit one
Proteus4 I just finished doing that 20 minutes ago.
Grimzo (as an aside, Grimzo will be taking a much needed holiday until January 9th)
Jiggyj I'm having more fun with Jump Ultimate Stars for DS
Grimzo How is that?
Proteus4 I have to admit that the game had some slow pacing at the beginning but it has picked up quite a bit now. I'm really enjoying it.
Jiggyj awesome
Grimzo I'm hooked to Elite Beat Agents
Proteus4 I haven't played this Jump Ultimate Stars?
Proteus4 EBA for me too.
Jiggyj Guy cheerleaders is not a game for me
Proteus4 Huzzwhat?!
Grimzo In fact, that and Big Brain Academy are my main travel companions from a gaming perspective.
Proteus4 You can unlock girls.
Grimzo And they're not cheerleaders- they're secret agents!
Jiggyj I got new Castlevania for DS today
Grimzo How is it? I couldn't find it in stores.
Jiggyj who cheer you on
Proteus4 The are Elite Beat Agents!
Jiggyj Good so far after about half an hour
Proteus4 They dance to the beat!
Grimzo Just because they use the power of music to solve the world's problems - doesn't make them cheerleaders
Jiggyj of a different drum
Grimzo What's next, you're going to say that male nurses are the cause of all the spontaneous combustion problems in this world?
Proteus4 I have got to grab Castlevania as soon as I get a chance. I've never finished a Castlevania game.
Grimzo I have finished every Castlevania game I've ever played. (well until at least 98%)
Proteus4 Wow, Grimzo is hardcore.
Grimzo They are probably the only games that I consistently finish.
Proteus4 I am going to bite the bullet and pick up Guitar Hero 2 for PS2.
Grimzo I never finished Halo 2.
Jiggyj I've got the double pack and Aria of Sorrow here I've never finished
Proteus4 I can't wait any longer.
Grimzo I finished that on my last work trip. Castlevania games are the best plane games.
Proteus4 I need to fly more then.
Jiggyj Me too
Grimzo There's something about those games that make them perfect for flying.
Grimzo Flying is meh
Grimzo Gaming while flying - that's fun.
Grimzo I can't find an extended battery for the DS Lite though.
Grimzo The DS Lite charge adapter is different compared to the DS one.
Grimzo so any power peripheral built for the DS doesn't work with the Lite.
Jiggyj just pack several double As
Proteus4 One thing that this topic is proving is that the "new systems" aren't that big of a deal.
Jiggyj I love my Wii
Grimzo Does the DS Lite work with AA;s?
Proteus4 I love my Wii but I think that I would have survived without it.
Jiggyj ah...good point
Grimzo I thought the battery was some weird proprietary thing?
Grimzo I played the PS3 today
Proteus4 The DS, PS2 and 360 have enough games this holiday season.
Jiggyj I haven't played one since E3
Proteus4 I touched the box the other day.
Grimzo Played the Motorstorm demo
Grimzo You know what? there's some CRAZY slowdown in that demo
Proteus4 How does it look?
Grimzo It's almost uplayable.,
Proteus4 Really?
Grimzo it looks about as good a burnout revenge.
Proteus4 I haven't heard much on that. What type of TV did you play it on?
Grimzo But the slowdown is ridiculous.
Grimzo It was at a kiosk in Futureshop.
Grimzo running at 720p
Proteus4 I wouldn't judge it based on their kiosks.
Grimzo Insane slowdown though; almost unplayable.
Proteus4 I have heard fantastic things about how the game looks..
Grimzo I thought i was doing something wrong.
Grimzo Minus the slowdown (which goes away after you have fewer cars on the screen) - the controls are great.
Jiggyj I got Rainbow Six Vegas and Legacy coming next week
Proteus4 I have Vegas already and I am going to rent Legacy.
Grimzo The sixaxis is going to be a very fun driving game controller.
Proteus4 I've barely played Vegas even though I love it and I have Viva Pinata rented but haven't touched it.
Jiggyj I haven't even beat Mexico yet.
Proteus4 Too many games.
Grimzo I have Star Trek: Tactical Assault for DS - and it's a much better game than the 6 that IGN gave it.
Grimzo Viva Pinata is my game of the year.
Jiggyj and I had to convince you to get it
Proteus4 I hate Mexico! For a tutorial it is far too long. The checkpoints are stretched out too far as well.
Proteus4 I'll but in Viva Pinata eventually.
Grimzo I didn't get Rainbow Six yet - I'll wait 'till I get back in January.
Grimzo Viva Pinata is the only game you need to play for the rest of the year.
Grimzo I'm now morbidly curious about getting animal crossing for DS.
Proteus4 I will have Guitar Hero 2 in a week. We will see about that.
Jiggyj Can't wait for 360 of that to come out
Proteus4 Nope, I want it now.
Grimzo I played Guitar Hero today as well. I love the controls.
Proteus4 I don't think the 360 can really add anything to the experience.
Grimzo get it for PS2 - unless the 360 version has competitive play on LIVE.
Proteus4 It isn't a game about graphics and the PS2 sound is just fine.
Jiggyj I have to wait since no PS2 or 3
Grimzo and achievements.
Proteus4 Shoot, forgot about achievements.
Grimzo I'll get the 360 version just for the achievements.
Jiggyj Freebird!
Proteus4 "Achievement Unlocked" Best pop up message of the year!
Grimzo So going back to the topic. PS3, none of us got. I thought Motorstorm slowed down a lot - but it might have been the demo unit's fault.
Grimzo I love the achievement unlocked message too
Proteus4 I'll wait until games other than resistance come out for it.
Grimzo Wii, we see to have mixed opinions. Chris likes, jiggy doesn't.
Jiggyj I'd get one if I could find one
Proteus4 The PS3 will be a great system once all the big name games actually ship.
Grimzo What bothers me about the PS3 is the botched online support and the bitter taste of the PSP
Grimzo It feels like the PS3 is another PSP.
Proteus4 I have had the opportunity to get a PS3 twice. I turned it down twice.
Proteus4 I wouldn't go as far as to say it is another PSP. The PSP fails in delivering a home console experience on a portable system. The PS3 is a home console system..
Grimzo The PSP feels like it has no identity of its own. The PS3 feels like it borrows too much from the 360 and the tilt feature from the Wii - there's nothing there that you can't get better on the other two systems.
Proteus4 I do want to run Linux on it and use it as a type of PC home theater.
Proteus4 I know, that seems like a weird reason to get a system but it could work really well.
Grimzo That sounded appealing at first, but then I thought - why not just use a spare old PC instead.
Grimzo There are still linux bits that don't work for the PS3 - there's no proper flash implementation for any of the browsers
Proteus4 I think most of my PCs are too old for that.
Proteus4 You need a certain amount of drive space and power to push HD content.
Grimzo True, I guess if you look at it this way, the PS3 is a relatively low cost PC.
Proteus4 Plus - Blu-Ray!
Proteus4 It doesn't matter to most but if you have an HDTV you want HD quality movies.
Grimzo I want to see VGA support for the PS3 though
Grimzo That's a crazy oversight
Proteus4 It does have HDMI.
Grimzo If they wanted you to use it as a PC- let me hook it up to my PC Monitor.
Jiggyj I don't even have a HDTV
Proteus4 At least the Wii is just a gaming system. Plug it in and don't worry about any of this other stuff.
Proteus4 I had fun with it right out of the box.
Grimzo And it will be successful because of that.
Proteus4 My batteries are dying quickly though.
Proteus4 I want a charge pack!
Grimzo Are you having a battery problem with your Wii?
Proteus4 Yes
Proteus4 I am going to have to go out tomorrow and buy a large pack of batteries to keep it going.
Jiggyj I've got a pack right nearby. I just replaced them earlier this week
Grimzo The 360 charge and play kit is great.
Grimzo Now here's the tough question to close out this topic: how do the two new systems compare to the 360?
Proteus4 Yeah, I would think that something similar for the Wii would have been a no brainer. But I do think they are really worried about people trying to play with it plugged in.
Proteus4 360 is still the king right now. Best system on the market.
Proteus4 In a year, things could be different but anyone who asks me what they should buy right now... I tell them 360. It has games and shows that it currently is just as powerful as a PS3.
Grimzo 360 for me as well. I didn't see reason to get either of the other two systems at the moment. I will most likely get a Wii sometime next year, but the PS3 will have to wait for a price drop.
Grimzo Also what bugs me is the dumb crap that sony is pulling with their arcade support.
Grimzo You can download PSOne games on the PS3 - but you can only play them on the PSP!
Proteus4 Dumb Crap?
Proteus4 Yeah, I heard about that. Bit silly.
Grimzo You can't download games for the PSP on your own - it has to be through the PS3
Proteus4 They really want you to go out and buy that PSP.
Proteus4 Forced connectivity.
Grimzo For what? a six dollar game? It's never going to work.
Grimzo Retro gaming is supposed to be a convenient diversion - not something that's so complicated that you need to spend time before you can actually play.
Grimzo How many Live Arcade games did you just go out and buy on a whim?
Proteus4 Virtual Console is great but there are too few games on the North American store.
Grimzo You do it because it's instant gratification. You can play in seconds.
Proteus4 Japan has Ice Hockey and GunStar Heroes!
Proteus4 I want those!
Grimzo No Ice hockey here?!?!?!
Grimzo what's available here then?
Jiggyj I always played with the skinny guys
Proteus4 I did just pick up the Genesis pack for my PS2, which has a lot of the great Genesis games on it.
Grimzo I was 3 skinnys and a fattie.
Jiggyj Fattie goalie
Proteus4 Not much, Mario Bros (sans super). Soccer, Donkey Kong, Wario Woods.
Grimzo Boo.
Proteus4 I think I had medium guys..
Jiggyj Isn't Bonks and all of that out
Proteus4 Haven't played it in years.
Grimzo Any enhancements for the virtual console games?
Proteus4 Bonks is out for the TG-16 crowd. I am thinking of getting that.
Grimzo can you play any of the games online?
Proteus4 No enhancements.
Jiggyj no online
Grimzo really? that sucks.
Proteus4 I'm not too bothered.
Grimzo Why is Microsoft the only manufacturer that knows how to do online correctly?
Proteus4 They started early and have had years of R&D in the PC market.
Grimzo One could argue that Sony had Everquest....
Proteus4 Everquest is completely different to setup then Live.
Proteus4 Live requires a system that will work throughout all of its games. Everquest is one system for one game.
Grimzo True. Closing thought for this topic. If you could only have one of the three, which would it be?
Grimzo 360 for me.
Jiggyj 360
Proteus4 360
Grimzo Fair enough.
TOPIC THREE: HEROES AND OTHER TV
Jiggyj All hail Heroes
Proteus4 Heroes has been pretty damn good lately. For a show that I wasn't too fond of at first it has really captured my attention.
Proteus4 I hate the comparisons to Lost. The shows are nothing alike.
Grimzo Lost Sucks. Heroes Wins!
Jiggyj Yeah, Hiro doesn't fight polar bears...just dinosaurs
Grimzo They are very similar, except Lost has absolutely no plan or sense of direction.
Grimzo Hiro has got to be one of the most endearing characters on TV in many years.
Proteus4 I wonder if we are actually going to see a dinosaur on this show any time soon.
Proteus4 Budget restraints would make it look like a hand puppet.
Grimzo With the ratings Heroes is getting, I doubht they'd need hand puppets.
Grimzo So Peter Patrelli is the Speedball?
Proteus4 Well, let's just wait for 24 to return in January and then look at the ratings.
Grimzo I bet Hiro Nakamura could take on Jack Bauer in a sword fight.
Proteus4 Peter is rogue.
Proteus4 Jack would find a way to kill them all.
Grimzo And what's up with Starbuck?
Proteus4 Jack moves to fast for Hiro. Jack can travel across Los Angeles in 5 minutes.
Proteus4 Starbuck is angsty. Simple as that. She is a fighter pilot but for a while there she was something else and she was beginning to like it.
Grimzo I think the writers just make her messed just for the sake of it.
Proteus4 Possible. Did Apollo go through an angst ridden stage last season.
Proteus4 It can get a bit tiring for these two characters to have so many issues. Sometimes I just want to see them kick cylon butt and celebrate at the end of the day.
Grimzo I agree. Enough of the overwhelming angst.
Grimzo Doctor Who - I will say this in advance - Love and Monsters is one of the greatest hours of funny sci-fi television EVER.
Proteus4 Ha. You are diving into a very mixed pool there. I really liked it from what I can remember but there were some hardcore fans who hated the episode.
Grimzo "we even have some sort of love life"
Proteus4 It is a smart episode and reflection of the series' fans.
Proteus4 Hell it is a look at Fandom in general.
Grimzo I'm going to give it a very high mark. I know a lot of people didn't like it, but for me, it's so brilliantly written and so genuinely funny that I can't ignore its greatness.
Grimzo It's one of those episodes that you will either love or hate. but if you love it - you can watch it over and over.
Proteus4 I believe it is an RTD episode and I'm usually very mixed on his stuff but I thought this episode simply had a lot of fun.
Proteus4 Especially for a filler episode that was meant to give Tennant and Piper a bit of a break.
Grimzo I loved LINDA, and Moaning Myrtle just made me laugh
Grimzo As did the Absorbaloff!
Proteus4 The light hearted nature is required after The Satan Pit.
Grimzo It's funny about the Satan Pit, I kept expecting the captain to say something about being shot on the ass.
Grimzo (he was in the Mummy Returns)
Proteus4 Torchwood is the strangest show ever. It could be a great show... it really could be but the writers seem to be content with trying to make it "adult". Too adult. Every episode has the required bad sex joke or awkward sex moment that really takes away from the story.
Grimzo they make it adult for the sake of it. Though there are some classic lines on that show
Grimzo "he came and went"
Proteus4 There have been some great moments though and this last episode was the best yet.
Proteus4 Yeah.
Grimzo Best TV show last few weeks?
Proteus4 Heroes.
Grimzo Heroes, and Doctor Who's been consistently good.
Proteus4 Then again, I have been watching Dexter and that is gaining my interest.
Grimzo I'll get into Dexter once it's on DVD.
Final Thoughts?
Grimzo This is most likely the last brainstorm of the year for me (unless I find a way to log on remotely from my vacation time)
Proteus4 Well, hopefully we will put something together in that time.
Grimzo So happy holidays everyone, thanks for your support and reading, and I hope to see you all again soon! and happy new year too!
Proteus4 I'm still searching for a new job.
Proteus4 Happy New Year!
Grimzo Employers, give Proteus a job. He is a time travel expert!
Grimzo I on the other hand, want nothing to do with work for the next few weeks The only gaming for me will be on my DS!
Grimzo Goodnight and goodluck! Brainstorm Out!
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Wednesday, December 13, 2006 |
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Sci-Fi Brain News -- December 13, 2006
Matthew Fox Thinks 'Lost' Is Paced Just Right
chud.com is reporting that lately a lot of fans have been griping about the show’s pace, but Fox thinks that the thing is going along just fine. “I’m happy where we are now,” he told me. “I hope the show stays on as long as it takes to tell the story. Ultimately that’s all I care about. If it feels like it’s because we’re so successful around the world and kind stretching it out, that would be a bummer. But I don’t feel that way. I feel like Damon and JJ and all those guys over there that are creating this thing - it began with a plane crash on an island and they know the final conflict, and they’re getting from A to B, and at this point they’re getting there as quickly as they want to get there, as quickly as the story dictates they get there.”
But it isn’t like Fox is insulated from the way fans feel. When asked what fans say to him on the street, he said, “Right now it’s like, ‘What, you guys have to go off the air for a couple of months and now I find you in New York? Why aren’t you in Hawaii making new episodes?’ And I’m like, ‘Actually we’re still shooting, the break didn’t mean anything to us. Everybody’s shooting, I just happen to not be shooting. I won’t tell you why.’”
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Everybody Loves Hypnotoad
chud.com is reporting that David X Cohen, co-creator of Futurama, says the new eps (which may be on TV or may be straight to DVD) will take place two years after the Fox show ended, and they will immediately deal with the Fry/Leela relationship. We can expect to see Nudar, an evil alien nudist, more about the secrets of Nibbler, and more about dark matter.
And the best part of the interview: “[W]e are looking into producing a full 22-minute episode of Everybody Loves Hypnotoad for the DVD release. I am serious.”
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'Transformers' Teaser Trailer Online Next Week
rottentomatoes.com is reporting that Paramount that the first official teaser trailer for "Transformers," not an announcement trailer, will appear online on Wednesday, December 20th in HD. Direct feeds soon to follow.
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'Torchwood' Gets Second Season
scifi.com is reporting that the BBC reported that it has ordered a second season of Torchwood, the hit Doctor Who spinoff series, which will air on BBC Two in the United Kingdom. The series is produced by BBC Wales; the first season, starring John Barrowman as immortal time-traveler Captain Jack Harkness, has broken ratings records on BBC Three.
Filming for the second season (called a "series" in Britain) is due to start in Cardiff next spring, and the programs will air later in 2007 in the U.K.
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SCI-FI BRAIN INDEX
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Tuesday, December 12, 2006 |
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Sci-Fi Brain News -- December 12, 2006
'Heroes' Creator Not Afraid of Killing
digitalspy.co.uk is reporting that Heroes creator Tim Kring will follow the lead of Lost in killing off major characters as the show progresses.
"This show will survive on our ability to kill off characters and repopulate," he told TV Guide. "But everything's been going so well it's been hard to pull the trigger on anyone."
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BBC Channels Fight Over 'Torchwood'
digitalspy.co.uk is reporting that a potential second series of Torchwood is the subject of an internal scrap at the BBC, according to the South Wales Echo.
The Doctor Who spinoff draws around a million viewers each week for its Sunday night premiere on BBC Three, then attracts around 2 million more for a Thursday night outing on BBC Two.
Now BBC Two is apparently keen to air episodes from the second series before BBC Three, while creator Russell T Davies is said to be "pushing for" a slot on BBC One.
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SCI-FI BRAIN INDEX
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Monday, December 11, 2006 |
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Sci-Fi Brain News -- December 11, 2006
'Firefly' Fans Resurrect Canceled Convention
news.com.com is reporting that word comes from Burbank, Calif., that passionate fans of the Joss Whedon TV show Firefly from all over the world have ponied up money to help pay to carry off "Flanvention," the fan convention that was scheduled to begin Friday but was abruptly canceled Thursday.
According to Corey Bridges, the executive producer at Multiverse Network, who was in town for Flanvention, people had come to Burbank from all over the place, only to find when they arrived that the event had had the rug pulled out from under it.
But never to be told they can't have what they want, the show's fans, known as "browncoats," scrambled and found a way to make it work.
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The AFI's Top Ten For 2006
darkhorizons.com is reporting that the AFI also handed out their ten best television shows for the year with "Battlestar Galactica", "Dexter", "Elizabeth I", "Friday Night Lights", "Heroes", "The Office", "South Park", "24", "The West Wing" and "The Wire" all taking honors.
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'Southland Tales' Final Cut Locked
darkhorizons.com is reporting that "Donnie Darko" helmer Richard Kelly has posted in his MySpace blog that they have finally locked picture on "Southland Tales".
Set in a near-future post-apocalyptic Los Angeles, the film follows the criss-crossed destinies of an action film actor (The Rock) stricken with amnesia, an ex-porn star (Sarah Michelle Gellar) in the midst of reconverting, and twin brothers (Seann William Scott) whose destinies becomes confused with that of all mankind.
The current runtime on 'Tales' now stands at 137 mins, a full 27 minutes shorter than the "work-in-progress" version shown to much derision at this year's Cannes Film Festival.
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Spielberg's Fashion & Time Travel Projects
darkhorizons.com is reporting that Steven Spielberg is taking an active role in the development of two television projects set up at Fox reports Variety.
Ed Burns and Christy Turlington are attached to write a drama set in the fashion world. Spielberg came up with the concept for the untitled Burns project after attending New York's fashion week.
Storyline revolves around five twenty-somethings with fashion jobs such as photographer, designer, makeup artist and model. Burns and Turlington will exec produce, and Burns to direct if it goes to pilot.
The other is a time travel actioneer from scribe Scott Gemmill which revolves around two young American physicists in WWII who discover a way to pinch time and travel to the future.
The pair wind up hopping between 2007 and the 1940s in order to aid the war effort - but in the process begin to upset the space-time continuum. The show will alternate between serial and stand-alone episodes.
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SCI-FI BRAIN INDEX
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Friday, December 08, 2006 |
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Sci-Fi Brain Is Back!
Yes, Sci-Fi Brain is back. As long time readers have probably noticed, we've been missing from IGN for a few weeks now, but we are back now. If you want someone to be upset with, on the count of three how about everyone shout in unison a big "Frak you!" to the hacker that even Starbuck would be proud to hear.
1...2...3...FRAK YOU!
See, don't you feel better now? At least they cared about us enough to screw with us. And if you were approached by anyone claiming to be any representative of Sci-Fi Brain, we apologize for any inconvenience they might have caused you.
As you can see, all our content is still here and nothing was lost. We are a bit behind in posting because of the downtime, but we'll try to update the site with all the show reviews you missed while we were down. We've still got to fix the colors of the blog and make it more like Sci-Fi Brain, but at least we are back, and on Monday everything will be as right as rain and going full steam once again.
So thank you for being patient while we dealt with some issues. Be sure to take note of the new blog site and update as appropriate if you had the old one bookmarked.
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Friday, November 17, 2006 |
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Roswell (2.10) “A Roswell Christmas Carol” – Review
By: jesuiscanadien
Max and Michael are shopping for a Christmas tree, according to Isabel’s rigid guidelines, when a man is hit by a car after saving his daughter from the same fate. The man dies as Michael tells Max they have to leave. Max couldn’t heal the man because there were too many witnesses and it would’ve summarily outed their alien status.
Back at home, Mrs. Evans reads in the paper about the man’s death and as she and Mr. Evans discuss the matter, Isabel storms in, completely unhappy about the tree that Max picked out. Max sees the spirit of the dead guy sitting in the laundry room, watching the proceedings and he goes to talk to him. The man asks Max how he could have let him die.
At the Crashdown, Maria and Michael exchanges words after Michael asks for an extension on giving the Christmas present on Christmas Day. Maria then goes to the UFO Centre and gives Brody his lunch, and at the same time, gives him a little piece of her mind regarding Michael’s impudence. Brody lets her know that he won’t be in town for a couple of days, so she doesn’t need to bring his lunch, but he’s acting a little odd, so Maria is unsure of what is really going on. She leaves under a cloud of confusion.
Over at the Valenti household, Tess storms in after an unsuccessful day shopping, and interrupts the guys watching a football game, to grouse about the shoppers raiding the store shelves. The guys disregard her holiday angst and tell her that they don’t bother with Christmas, which disturbs her on many levels.
At the store, Isabel is looking at Michael’s gift for Maria, which is an electric toothbrush. Isabel lets Michael know what an appropriate gift is, and gives him homework to do regarding the gift. Michael is disgusted with Isabel, as he watches her walk off.
That night, Maria is with a bunch of carollers, as Max watches from afar. The ghost of the man who died shows up and argues with Max over his family’s well being. Max goes to Liz to ask for her advice. Meanwhile, Maria continues carolling, and as they are at a house of a five year old girl with cancer, Maria sees Brody and realizes why he was away for a couple of days.
Over at Liz’s house, Max tells her about what has been going on and Liz consoles him. The ghost shows up and tells him that he must restore the balance. Max tells Liz what the ghost said.
Maria checks up on Brody and they talk about his daughter Sydney, as she pops out of the house to get help with her costume for the Christmas pageant that is going on that afternoon.
Isabel is over at Michael’s apartment, dropping off some gifts while she continues to shop, and Michael shows her the Jetta bumper he got Maria for Christmas. Isabel and Michael have words over the whole Christmas thing, and Isabel stalks off to complete her shopping.
The Valenti’s and Tess are grocery shopping, when they run into Amy DeLuca, and Jim gets all ‘aw-shucks’ around her. Amy gushes over Valenti taking in Tess, and Tess and Kyle watch as Valenti is tongue-tied, as Amy picks up her turkey and leaves.
Meanwhile, Liz and Maria are talking about Brody, and Maria is telling Liz that she needs to be with Brody, and be a mother to Sydney. Liz tells Maria to cool it with the marriage talk and asks if Brody said anything to her. Maria realizes what she’s saying and Liz consoles her and tells her to let Brody and his daughter have their time together. Maria tells Liz that the situation is so wrong because Christmas is supposed to be about miracles. This twigs something in Liz.
At the Christmas pageant, Isabel introduces the kids, and Liz runs up to Max and tells him her idea about helping out Brody’s daughter. The ghost comes up behind Max and tells him that it looks like they have a plan. After the pageant, Max tells everyone about his plan and Isabel and Tess agree with him. Michael is worried about the ramifications.
Over at the Valenti household, Tess is having a meltdown over chairs and tells Valenti that Amy DeLuca is coming for dinner. Valenti freaks out and he and Kyle fly around the room, trying to clean up, as Amy is standing outside at the door. Amy tells Jim that she is glad he invited her, and that she really liked his note, and that she misses him too. Tess is smiling in the background and he shoots her a look.
Max goes over to Brody’s house and finds out that Brody had to rush Sydney to the hospital. The ghost asks Max what he’s going to do now. Max runs over to Michael’s place and tells him that he’s going to the hospital to save Sydney, and Michael tells him that he’s coming, to keep Max from getting everybody killed.
Back at the Valenti house, Amy is regaling everyone with tales of how she and Jim knew each other, while Tess is putting out food on the table. When Kyle realizes Tess went to a lot of trouble, he walks into the kitchen to thank her. Tess tells him that it’s her gift too.
Over at the hospital, Michael tells Max to listen for certain knocks, as he sets up to be watchman, as Max goes to do his thing. Max first heals Sydney, but then sees the other sick children and heals as many as he can, before the night nurse comes in. Michael knocks to tell him that trouble is coming, before he dives in the door and they both slip out a window.
Back at home, the news programs show the Christmas miracle that Max made. The Evans family is discussing the situation, as Isabel shoots Max meaningful looks. Over at Michael’s place, Maria wants to exchange gifts, and she sees the bumper that Michael has been cleaning up for her. Misunderstanding the gift, she asks where her gift is, and asks if it is in the pile that Isabel left at his apartment. Michael goes over to the pile and finds the gift that Isabel bought for him to give to Maria, and he gives it to her. It is a pair of pearl earrings, and Maria is thrilled.
Max talks to Liz about what happened and she tells him that he’s not God and he needs to respect the reasons for bad things happening. Max leaves and while he walks, the ghost tells him that everything will be fine and then leaves to join his family. Michael drops in on Max at his house, and tells him that he is upset that he couldn’t help with healing those kids too. They drive by Brody’s house to see him cuddling with his daughter. Then Max ends up at the Midnight Service with his family.
This episode was rather treacly, with heaps of holiday emotion for all. I found the manipulation of my emotions at the end, when Max was healing the kids, really cheesed me off. Not that I’m a Scrooge, but I don’t enjoy being manipulated. I prefer genuine displays of altruism that aren’t based on getting me to feel the ‘magic of Christmas’, etc. This is to be expected by any holiday-themed episode, so I have to get over it, but it still annoys me.
I must say, manipulation of emotions aside, I enjoyed seeing Isabel revel in her role of Christmas gal extraordinaire. She was so into her assumed character that she really reminded me of certain people in my family who shall remain nameless. I live to cheese these people off, and I am sure that Isabel would be just as easily played with, if someone like me was there to push her buttons. Isabel was just so determined to have a normal happy Christmas, it was funny to see her have no clue that most people aren’t having happy Christmases like she seems to think they are.
The Bickersons were back in fine form, as Maria sent Michael a plethora of mixed messages. Poor Michael doesn’t know if he’s coming or going. Isabel really needs to sit him down and talk to him about what it’s like to be a woman and what men need to do about it.
The time dilemma seemed to be a bit better this episode, for which I am eternally grateful. I was actually able to figure out what day it was, which is a blessing. Most episodes I am struggling to figure out if the day has changed or just where in the week they might be.
The whole ‘ghost of Christmas Present’ thing was a bit old, but then I think the writers were just trying to have a Christmas theme in an alien nation. While I enjoy things pertaining to the supernatural, I found this ghost to be pushy and irritating. I would’ve told him to sod off, but then I have little patience for pushy people.
For a holiday themed show, it wasn’t too bad, if not irritating for its treacly emotion and manipulation of said emotions. I guess if I had to choose between this holiday episode and other shows, it wasn’t the worst of the worst, but then I’d rather avoid these things if at all possible.
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Friday, November 17, 2006 |
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Sci-Fi Brain News -- November 17, 2006
Superman Fancies Skirmish With Brainiac
moviehole.net is reporting that speaking about the recently-announced “Man of Steel” – that’s what they’re calling the next ‘Superman” pic – star Brandon Routh tells IESB that he’d love to see the evil alien get his due.
“There’s a lot of talk about Braniac – everyone wants to see [him]. But in the Superman Returns video game you get to play as Bizzaro [the imperfect Superman clone], and Bizzaro’s pretty fun – you could have some fun with that [too]”, says the actor, reportedly keen on getting involved in Legendary Pictures’ “World of Warcraft” movie next. “So I’m leaning towards one of those”.
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'Thing' From Another Era
moviehole.net is reporting that
OK, so it was a remake itself, but there were so many years between the original “Thing” [from another Planet] and John Carpenter’s timelessly entertaining 80s reimagining- not to mention the fact that the latter merely took the original’s rough stencil and dragged the bitch by the collar until she was running – that a) another remake seems pointless b) they’ll never top Carpenter’s version c) We’d much rather Carpenter’s proposed sequel, than a rehash of the first pic.
But I’m not in control of the ideas department at Universal – an accountant probably is – and that’s why such a remake has been given the emerald light.
"The Thing" 2007.
According to Variety, Strike Entertainment and Universal Pictures, the team behind the “Dawn of the Dead” remake, think Carpenter's frightener is now due for a retool.
The one thing going for the project is its writer. Ronald D.Moore, of “Battlestar Galactica” fame (he has also written a sequel to “I, Robot” apparently) has been handed the assignment.
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SCI-FI BRAIN INDEX
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Thursday, November 16, 2006 |
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Anime Review: RahXephon Ep.16
By: samwiseb
Anime Review: RahXephon Ep.16
Sixteenth Movement: “The Moon Princess (Island of Others)”
We begin with our three main characters from last week’s “flashback” episode as Helena Bahbem and Makoto Isshiki make arrangements to transfer Quon to Bahbem Foundation. Itsuki is royally pissed at losing his “sister” and enquires if they’ll be wanting Ayato as well... but “that facsimile” can be sent to a concentration camp, far as Isshiki’s concerned.
Ayato demands to know how long Commander Kunugi and the others knew he was a Mulian. Director Shirow Watari tells him it’s okay for him to be here, and that being an Instrumentalist for RahXephon is not too unlike painting. He then offhandedly mentions once having a son who loved to paint, but Ayato’s not hearing any of it. Uncle Rikudoh later asks Watari why he didn’t tell Ayato the whole truth. Interesting.
Meanwhile Megumi, the only one who doesn’t know Ayato’s secret, passes the final test to become an officer at TERRA (the test is a surprise simulation in which we’re momentarily fooled into thinking Ayato has stolen RX, and Megumi must give the order to shoot him down under Protocol B-3 or whatever). She resolves to finally confess her feelings for Sou, and even goes lingerie shopping in anticipation for what she hopes will happen next (um… last time I checked, she was only 14). Fortunately she learns of his relationship with her friend Kim before she has a chance to embarrass herself. Crushed, she seeks out Ayato and the two of them reflect on where they are. It’s a cleverly-written scene with each of them unaware of what the other is actually talking about.
Nanamori blames Isshiki for “tricking” her into betraying Itsuki, and bitterly leaves him her newly-purchased nightgown since, thanks to him, she has nobody to show it off to. No sympathy from me here, lady.
Haruka tries to talk to Ayato, but he throws in her face the fact that she failed to tell him the truth as she promised back when they first met. Quon reveals to Ayato that she too is Mulian, and asks him to take her back to Tokyo with him. He laughs to himself as he realizes he’s had the means to return home all along… after all, it was RX that brought him across the Absolute Barrier in the first place. Despite Quon’s warning that he still might not find his answers, he agrees.
At Neriya Shrine, Itsuki tampers with the security records to by time for Ayato’s and Quon’s escape in RX. Haruka stops Ayato long enough to say she’ll wait for his return, and they both clasp hands. Her sister Megumi meanwhile is waiting to inform him of her promotion, when she sees RX blasting off into the night. She rushes back to TERRA headquarters to face the same scenario she trained for earlier. Amidst Helena and Isshiki leaning into Commander Kunugi’s face over Quon’s sudden disappearance, Protocol B-3 is instated. To Be Continued!
Wow. After the last two episodes, that’s more like it.
The episode title refers to the Tale of the Bamboo Cutter, which Rikudoh casually alludes to while questioned by niece Haruka concerning the adopted daughter she never knew he had (Ayato’s mom). Apparently he did in fact raise Maya up until she awaked to the fact she was Mulian and left home to fulfill her purpose.
Rikudoh also advises Haruka to tell Ayato… what? Something that might explain her conflicted familiarity with him? And how does it relate to Tokyo? As always, stay tuned. (That, or you can go back and look for hints from prior reviews of this series)
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Thursday, November 16, 2006 |
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Sci-Fi Brain News -- November 16, 2006
LaBeouf Signed for Two More 'Transformers'
supherohype.com is reporting that Shia LaBeouf told About.com that he is signed for two more Transformers movies.
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Eccleston to Appear on 'Heroes'
superherohype.com is reporting that TV Guide's Ask Ausiello is reporting that Christopher Eccleston — the original Dr. Who from the current Sci Fi/BBC series — is joining the cast of Heroes in January.
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Shawn Ashmore on Future 'X-Men' Movies
superherohype.com is reporting that Shawn Ashmore said that, "I know they are doing a Wolverine prequel and I've heard a rumor about a Magneto film... those are all in the past like prequels and origin stories, so I don't know. There are rumors about an 'X-Men 4,' but as far as I've been told 'X3' was going to be the last big ensemble 'X-Men' movie. I would love if they made another one, but I'm not sure that they will," he told us.
In the interview, available in full at the link above, he also reveals he has a contract in place for a fourth film.
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Life And Art Collided In 'The Fountain'
scifi.com is reporting that Darren Aronofsky, writer/director of the upcoming SF epic The Fountain, was reluctant to cast his real-life fiancee, Oscar winner Rachel Weisz, in the starring role, until co-star Hugh Jackman suggested it.
"When we first started dating, me and Rachel, I was like, 'Look, you know, if we date, we can't ever work together,'" Aronofsky said in an interview in Beverly Hills, Calif., last week. "Because I felt crossing that line between professionalism and your personal life was not professional [laughs]. But Hugh kept pushing for a meeting, because we had a list of women, and he was really curious about working with Rachel, because they're both stage actors and he really respected her work. So, finally, I gave in, and I said, 'OK, just meet.' And when they connected, it was one of those things that, as a director, you're always looking for when you see two actors that link. And they just held on to each other."
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SCI-FI BRAIN INDEX
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Wednesday, November 15, 2006 |
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TK-422: Gears of War! Killer App?
by Grimzo
TK-422 returns after a brief hiatus to tell us if Gears of War is the killer app everyone claims it is!
The burning question on every puny human's mind is this: Is Gears of War Microsoft's system selling killer app that can single handedly rise up to challenge the impending monster launches from Sony and Nintendo?
The answer is a resounding… maybe!
Gears is a great game, probably the best game to come out all year. It has a combination of polish, graphics, playability and multiplayer longevity. It’s a unique game that plays differently from every other shooter out there and has a couple of gameplay innovations that will be imitated by many future games. This is the new high bar for shooters, and Epic has managed to set it very high.
Graphically, there’s nothing that looks as good anywhere. Everyone knows this already. What’s probably not discussed is the level of polish on the graphics. Lots of games look good, but you’ll always run into strange glitches or characters that appear to pass through walls (like in Call of Duty 3) or texture tearing or other graphics no-nos. Gears of War has none of these problems. Not only does the game look good – it’s nearly graphically flawless from a technical standpoint. In addition, load times are barely noticeable, menus are easy to navigate and look good, and so on. This is an extremely highly polished visually stunning game, but again, this was known even before the game was released. Bottom line from a graphics standpoint - this is the best looking game out right now for any system, period.
What about the other stuff? We know it looks good, but what is it that makes Gears of War such a gem? I’d say it’s the little innovative touches that manage to come together so perfectly. For instance, who would think to take the simple act of reloading and turn it into it’s own little game mechanic? The geniuses at Epic of course! Active reloading is really fun and adds a whole new timing dimension to a firefight. The fact that you have to time your button presses perfectly and have to often do it while running away from a horde of approaching enemies is a fantastic gameplay addition. It’s also a blast to use online. I’ll get to the multiplayer aspects of the game later though- be patient young creatures.
The much talked about roadie cam looks great. It does nothing from a gameplay perspective but it looks very awesome. Every player animation looks very cool too. Using the A button combined with the analog stick to move from cover to cover is implemented quite well too. I like the use of the Y button to look at points of interest. Even when you’re in cover, you can see little icons at the bottom of the screen that show you what your options are. Very user friendly interface!
The game forces you to stay behind cover as much as possible. Running around out in the open will only get you killed. With this in mind, the level designers carefully planned each level to give the player multiple flanking options. You have many tactical choices that are at your disposal, but it never feels like you get bogged down in the overall strategic combat like you would with a game like Rainbow Six. It basically boils down to trying to pin down the enemy, avoid fire and move from cover to cover until you get to a favorable position from where you can flank the enemy. Straightforward, but strategic enough to make each battle feel rewarding.
There are a couple of problems though. The save system in the single player campaign sucks. I can understand the desire to use checkpoints as the only places where you can save, but some of the design decisions make no sense. Why can’t you have more than one save for your single player campaign? What if you wanted to show the game to a friend and start off at a different level? What if you wanted to replay a level but not lose your current position? Very poor design choices when it comes to that. To make things worse, cutscenes aren’t skippable. Now I know they use the cutscenes as a means to distract you while they load map portions, but if you die at a point where there’s a long cutscene right after your checkpoint, the scene can get old really fast. Not being able to skip it makes it worse. Minor complaints for what is otherwise a nearly flawless game.
The multiplayer modes are great. Very different from the run and gun you’d see in a game like Halo. This is more of a thinking person’s shooter, and it takes some getting used to. Playing the campaign online co-op is how the game is meant to be played. No lag and lots of fun. Co-op modes are always fun, and this is no exceptions. The competitive game modes aren’t very varied though, with each mode being a variation of deathmatch It would have been nice to see some classic modes like capture the flag make it to the final game. Perhaps in a future expansion pack?
Overall, there’s a lot to like about Gears of War. This was billed as Microsoft’s sole killer app, and it comes close to making you forget that there are two other major console launches just around the corner. This game is good enough to sell systems, but Microsoft really needs to do a better job marketing it. With virtually no expanded retail presence and almost non-existent advertising campaign, Gears of War seems to have been released with little mainstream fanfare. Both the PS3 and the Wii have managed to capture so much attention that Gears of War seems more like an afterthought. With better Microsoft support, this game could have had much greater success. Pre-orders aside, for now, it feels like Microsoft’s best 360 release is a hidden gem that nobody but the hardcore gamer knows about. Time can only tell if this non-chalant marketing support is enough to carry the 360 and Gears of War this heated console race.
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Wednesday, November 15, 2006 |
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Heroes 108: Seven Minutes to Midnight - Review
By: ZotQuix
In the history of televised dream sequences, it's rare that the feel of a dream is actually captured. In fact, I'd venture it's only been successfully done once...at the end of the fourth season of 'Buffy the Vampire Slayer'. Recent attempts by 'Lost' and 'Heroes' have achieved the feel of a dream only to middling degrees of success, though one understands that it is not always authenticity that is aimed for but rather the forward movement of the drama at hand.
An academic on usenet once spoke of a Threefold fold theory of gaming and role playing game creation. The notion behind the theory is that you have three concerns which sometimes work in concert but are often in opposition which influence not only the decisions that players in those games make, but also dictate the creation of the game itself. The concerns are those of 'the simulationist', 'the dramatist', and 'the gamist'. The simulationist wants the game to mimic real life or at least a universe that is realistic even if it holds certain impossible premises. The gamist simply seeks victory under the given terms of the game. The dramatist prefers interesting or extraordinary things to happen. Regardless of concerns for realism or movement in a positive direction, the dramatist is looking to see something they've never seen before.
Obviously this theory can be applied to any sort of storytelling with only slight modification. One might need to term the gamist's concern as progressing the story and characters to points of closure (even if it is only intermediate closure), usually with a positive outcome or in layman's terms, "a happy ending". Otherwise, the threefold theory maps fairly well. Yet we don't evaluate media based on multiple criteria. Generally, the simulationist view is the most popular one for people and critics to take, and the concern which overrides all others. "Realism!" is the battlecry of the pseudo-intellectual armchair writer. And it is difficult for it not to be. As writers or critics, reality is our common ground and how we make our readership care.
To tangent a bit here, I may have made it about 100 pages into William Burrough's 'Naked Lunch' before giving up the endeavor. It is a prime example of a book that is too incoherent to read cover to cover. Not that there weren't moments of narrative. Burroughs essentially confesses to slaughtering his wife before things go all mugwumpy and we enter an often times surrealistic world called Interzone, filled with tales of heroin addiction and homosexual Indian boys kept in cages named "kiki". If it justified its existence that would be one thing, but lacking narrative or realism, it is difficult to believe that it does. Or at least those were the old rules of the game. Actually, this is a piece of literature that the establishment now calls "seminal" perhaps an unfortunate choice of words, but there is no denying that it is an important creation. So maybe what one can glean here is that critics *are* willing to look beyond the most basic terms of evaluation and get something further from an experience. But we have to work at it a bit.
As it happens, Burroughs was a rather long lived heroin addict, and spoke about how difficult it was to get clean. How one entered a surreal hell. He spoke of methadone, and how it was used in the process of cleaning up, and how you essentially would end up a methadone addict, but this was preferable. So it would seem Isaac is in for quite a difficult time. Actually, this is one area where I might allow for Drama to trump realism, as I feel like it is inexecusably cliche to see yet another drug addict gets clean experience broadcast (doesn't even 'Lost' have one of those?). I digress however.
'Heroes' is a show that is beginning to bog down in problems of its own creation. New York Magazine recently ran a piece about how 'Lost' and other shows like it could remedy their situation -- essentially by giving the viewership answers to some mysteries held to long in suspense. This would cure many ills on 'Heroes,' and it *can* be done. I'd harken back to Buffy the Vampire Slayer creator Joss Whedon who routinely constructed suspense and then resolved it with all the due closure one could desire, only to create new suspense at just the right pace. Still this doesn't address other criticisms levied (I've made them myself), specifically that 'Heroes' feels too far removed from our world to begin with. It fails from a simulationist perspective.
Even the dreams feel fake. And while I admire the artistry of walking through a scene in which you yourself are in, and might even admit that it is vaguely reminiscent of what some dreams I've had are like, they fail to nail it by a long shot. It was too contrived, too bent to the story. As they had already pushed the setting to India, the sort of cues one might get that we are seeing a dream and that things were out of the ordinary were undetectable, lost adrift an already foreign and serenely beautiful backdrop. We as an audience find it alienating even if it is pleasing to the eyes.
So what can one say? The Threefold theory correctly suggests that there are multiple ways for a story to succeed, but we as critics are drawn towards realism as the highest priority criteria for success. Why? Well, even before the issue of connecting with one's audience is thought of, a more base reason might be because it is difficult to achieve. Storytelling is not a documentary. As a writer, you are creating. And to maintain suspension of disbelief, realism is crucial. Even if that's just realism with respect to the premises that have been set up (such as everyday people having superpowers). So when I say that I feel like characters and events don't feel authentic, its pretty damning.
But what about success by another criteria? The whole point of the Threefold theory is that any of the concerns can represent a legitimate way to pursue a story. Looking at 'Seven Minutes to Midnight from a dramatist's view, well, its kind of spotty at best. Mohinder's story in particular is sort of boring. The dialogue with his mother was compelling enough, but the tension between his father and him felt so cliche. And then the whole 'having a sister he never knew about' thing practically made me laugh. I mean, you sort of can't do that any more with out invoking Return of the Jedi, whether intentionally or unintentionally.
There were places that 'Heroes' succeeded as a drama this week. Parkman's story got more interesting - the radiation meter badges were a nice touch. Matthew John Armstrong plays Ted Sprague perfectly. This is a totally believable character. Between the beard and the bound prisoner setup, he just looks a little crazy. I could see him as an EMT who is actually a Charles Manson/Ted Kaczynski type, or at least believed to be one. I'm not sure exactly where Matt is going to go after ending such a brief call from FBI Agent Audrey Hanson, but we'll see if that makes sense next week I suppose.
The highlight of the episode was Hiro's storyline (as is often the case). Even if this week was mostly setup, I enjoyed Hiro's interaction with the waitress thoroughly. It feels like we're going to get a lot more of his story soon. Seeing that he has apparently jumped back too far, it will be interesting to see how characters are reunited (or at least interact) as this arc of events is (hopefully) reaching some sort of conclusion.
Which brings us to the last criteria for success and the one that New York Magazine thought was most important. Closure. And while I may not take issue with how Lost is handling their storyline, 'Heroes' badly needs some questions answered and some progress to be made. Otherwise its just an incoherent, too ambiguous mess. It stops being real and begins to be a dream, and while dreams are cool things, few people would say that they really care about them or where they are going in any sustained way. -ZQ
To get your surrealist dream sequence fix on and also hear a wicked cool song, check out Frontier Psychiatrist by The Avalanches.
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