Okay Star Trek: The Next Generation Fans, this one is for you. Without much in the way of introduction, let’s just say that not very many men can make something as ordinary as sitting down this artful and, yes, this manly.
So, thank you Commander Riker. We could all learn something from you. You are, indeed, a boss.
Click through to see exactly what we’re talking about.
It’s difficult to put into words just how great this trailer is. However, as we get paid by the word around here, we should at least give it a try.
Well, to be sure, it’s amazing. So many great bits and so much pop culture and old-school sci-fi/action b-movie nostalgia all rolled into a slick package. And hey, the game, a stand-along expansion to Far Cry 3 itself, looks pretty fun too. It even stars famous sci-fi actor Michael Biehn, which is pretty cool.
If you haven’t seen this trailer for Far Cry 3: Blood Dragon, you should. In fact, click through immedietly and watch it. You won’t be sorry. Once you watch it, be sure to buy the game too. We need to support things like this.
Far Cry 3: Blood Dragon is available now for PS 3 via the Playstation Network and XBox 360 via XBox Live Arcade.
This should be happy news, but I don’t think it is. Warner Bros. has aquired the movie rights to Dungeons & Dragons and are developing a feature film version.
I’m trying to be optimistic here but this development brings up several important questions, especially this one: what’s the story? If you know anything about D&D, and I would bet most Warner execs don’t, it’s not a game with one, set story. It’s a game where players basically make up the story as they go along.
Sure, there’s some common elements like the various character races, occupations and such, and the Dungeon Master certainly plans out some of what might happen during the game, but the rest unforlds on it’s own as the game progresses. In other words, simply saying “We’re making a D&D movie” doesn’t really make a whole lot of sense.
But that doesn’t really surprise me. Warner Bros. just wants its own Game of Thrones or Lord of the Rings and to them D&D is the same thing and a name they can exploit.
To answer the story question (and this doesn’t exactly fill me with confidence either), the studio is apparently going to use an existing script by Wrath Of The Titans and Red Riding Hood writer David Leslie Johnson. That script is called Chainmail and is reportedly based on the game Gary Gygax and Dave Arneson thought up before they created D&D.
Of all the military sci-fi novels out there yet to be made into movies, I’ve always wanted to see an adaptation of Joe Haldeman’s The Forever War. I would also like to see John Scalzi’s Old Man’s War made into a movie or heck, even another try at taking Robert A. Heinlein’s Starship Troopers to the big screen.
That said, in spite of Orson Scott Card’s ridiculous personal opinions, his Ender’s Game is also a pretty great sci-fi novel it its own right, so a big screen adaptation of it is still a welcome development. That’s just what Summit Entertainment has done and to kick things off they’ve released the first trailer for the movie.
In it we get our first real look at Ender Wiggin (Asa Butterfield), a shy, complex and conflicted boy who turns out to be a military genius, and the rest of the supporting cast including Harrison Ford as Colonel Hyrum Graff and Ben Kinsley as Mazer Rackham. Truth be told, this looks pretty good and I look forward to seeing more.
Check out the trailer after the jump. Look for Ender’s Game in theaters on November 1.
As someone who made one or two commercials in the past, I can’t say all that much about the creative merits of this particular commercial except it didn’t really motivate me to buy an Audi. But that’s not really the purpose of this commercial anyway.
What’s the purpose then? Well, that’s debatable. However, to a Star Trek-loving geek like myself, I also say it’s pretty irrelevant. I just loved it because I get to see two great actors, who’ve played one of the most iconic characters in history, have a bit of fun. Plus, after today’s earlier sad news, I could use a bit of fun.
The two actors in question are Leonard Nimoy and Zachary Quinto who, of course, both played Spock in various incarnations of Star Trek. The commercial in question is “The Challenge” and in it Spock battles Spock to see who can get to the golf course first. The loser buys lunch. Who wins?
Well, I won’t spoil it for you except to say that the solution found by Spock is highly logical, pretty darn funny and a great twist.
Check out the commercial after the break.
One of the great special effects pioneers of cinema, Ray Harryhausen, has died. He was 92.
Fortunately, we can remember him through his amazing body of work including The Seventh Voyage of Sinbad, One Million Years B.C., The Golden Voyage of Sinbad, Clash of the Titans and my personal favorite, and one of the greatest films of all time, Jason and the Argonauts.
Rest in peace Mr. Harryhausen. You’ve done those of us coming after you, and movie fans, a great service, and we thank you.
(Image Credit: Peter Macdiarmid/Getty Images)
In celebration of Star Wars Day on May 4th, geek chic merchandise line Her Universe will be debuting six new Star Wars fashion pieces exclusively on Hottopic.com. Included in the release are several new tops and, for the first time, dresses featuring a galaxy far, far way. Featured characters include Boba Fett and Darth Vader as well as the Rebel trio, Han Solo, Luke Skywalker, and Princess Leia.
This is the second year that Hot Topic has teamed up with the fangirl line created by actress and entrepreneur Ashley Eckstein. Star Wars is in fact very dear to Eckstein’s heart; she was the voice of Ahsoka Tano on Star Wars: The Clone Wars.
“I am thrilled to be working with Hot Topic again to celebrate May the 4th Be With You,” said Ashley Eckstein. “I am also excited to debut a new design with one of our favorite guest designers, Denise Vasquez. Denise brought her unique ‘Day of the Dead’ inspired style to a new design featuring Boba Fett.”
It isn’t that often that iOS users don’t get the latest and greatest aps first, before their Android-using pals. However, when the app in question happens to come from Android-maker Google, iOS users tend to take a back seat.
Most apps from Google do eventually arrive for iOS (thank you Google for Maps) and when they do, iOS users are usually very happy. However, when the app in question causes a problem, that happiness can turn to anger pretty fast.
Sadly, that seems to be the case with the newly-released Google Now feature update to Google’s iOS search app. The shot story is the updated app, which just went live earlier this week, seems to be draining users batteries at an alarming rate.
Fortunately, the folks at Cult of Mac have got you covered. Over at their site they detail just how to make sure Google Now doesn’t kill your battery in short order. You simply turn off location reporting from the privacy setting in the app.
It’s really pretty simple and we’ve included the pic (courtesy of LifeHacker) of where to look for the setting after the break.
If you’re an iOS user who has installed this app are you having any issues with battery life? Let us know in the comments.
Another day, another video from Google about Google Glass. Hey, dont’ blame us, if this really is the “next big thing” we don’t want to be accused of not bringing you all the details about it so you can be ready.
With that in mind, Google did release a new video today highlighting more of the features of Google Glass. This time around the video shows how users can navigate through the Glas menu simply by swiping and taping on the side of the headset to find and select icons.
Seeing how users can interact and control glass in this manner helps put to rest our fears of hoards of people shouting commands to their headsets in public. We still find it odd when people seem to be talking to themselves but then actually have some sort of earpiece in and are really on a mobile phone.
Fortunately, if this video is any indication, verbal commands are not the only way to get Glass to work. Nice to see we still have to use our hands for something.
Check out the full ideo after the break. Google Glass arrives for the rest of us sometime next year.
Google is a major player in the tech world. So much so that they have their very own convention, called Google I/O. At this convention, which takes place in San Francisco from May 15-17, developers and other Google-enthusiasts gather to discuss, learn and get a glimpse of what Google has in store for Android and its other ventures.
As of late yesterday, the company has posted the full list and schedule of sessions avilable at Google I/O. With ove 120 choices ranging from Android and Chrome to developing for Google Glass and Google Wallet.
In short, if you’re a developer (or a Google-enthusiast) you won’t have any trouble finding something interesting and informative to see and do.
Sadly, if you don’t already have a ticket to Google I/O, you’re out of luck. They’re sold out. However, you can be sure most of the major sessions and keynotes will be available live via streaming or later online at Google’s Developers Live.
Even though we’re big Apple fans, we’re very interested to see what Google unveils at this event. They do create some pretty cool stuff.
Could be pretty exciting indeed.
For things like movies, TV shows and games, it’s pretty easy to get excited about a certain product when you see a trailer or other prmo-type material. Movies, TV programs and games are tangible things we have a lot of experience with so we pretty much know what we’re getting into. Then there’s something like Google Glass.
This is a product so different and, at the moment, so scarce, it’s difficult to really know what to think about it. Is it the “next big thing” or is it jus another fad that will disappear as fast as it appeared? Time will tell.
What does help answer this question, at least a bit, is all the videos and more Google are putting out about Glass. In this latest one, a pretty comprehensive ‘How To”, Glass’ features and use are explained in detail.
The video shows you how to navigate the UI with the side touchpad, adjust the display for optimal viewing, and put the device to sleep to help conserve battery. It also gives a better look at the whole experience than what we’ve seen so far.
We’re still not convinced that Google Glass is the “next big thing” and/or a “must have.” However, it is nice to see more of what Google has in mind for the product. Who knows, if they keep this up, they might just convince us after all.
This is probably one of the geekiest posts we’ve ever put up here, but that’s okay as we often love some hot tabletop gaming action. To make said hot tabletop action even hotter, you really need some cool terrain pieces to visually enhance your adventures.
Fortunately, the gang at Dwarven Forge has got you covered. If you haven’t checked out their Kickstarter campaign yet, you should. These things look great, are durable, modular and will lend that extra flair to all your tabletop gaming sessions. And really, who doesn’t want extra flair? I know we do.
This is what Kickstarter was made for. Take that money you were going to give to Zac Braff and instead, give it to something really cool with perks that will last a lifetime.
Plus, because their Kickstarter is sure to be funded, your donation could get you a veritable treasure trove of awesome gaming pieces. Something every geek needs in his or her bag of tricks.
So, what are you waiting for? You get to support an awesome Kickstarter campaign and get some amazing stuff for yourself. What could be better than that?
[Via Geek Dad]
In a show of the strength of the online video community, it has been announced that YouTube will be a title sponsor of the online video conference, VidCon, for the next two years. The 2013 VidCon is expected to have more than 10,000 online video professionals, content creators and fans in attendance.
Since the event’s inception in 2010, YouTube has been a supporter and sponsor. While the specifics of their title sponsorship will be released closer to the event, it’s clear that the decision will give YouTube a strong presence both this year and in 2014.
“YouTube has been a long-term supporter of VidCon, and is, of course, the biggest company in online video,” said Hank Green, creator and cofounder of VidCon. “We’re thrilled to have them as our title sponsor for the next two years and are grateful for their continued support of our efforts to create a compelling and productive experience for VidCon attendees.”
Noted as “the largest industry conference and fan extravaganza in the world for online video” VidCon is set for August 1-3, 2013, at the Anaheim Convention Center in Anaheim, CA. Industry Day, which is geared toward professionals and the online video business, will be on August 1.
As fans of Apple and its products, we love things like this. Sure, these kinds of results should be taken with a grain (or three) of salt, but still, it’s kinda cool to see and makes us love Apple stuff even more.
What are we talking about? Well, this week ZDNet reports that based on a new study from Soluto, which uses “data from its massive online database of PC crashes, hangs, and performance metrics to identify the 10 most reliable Windows PCs you can buy today”, the most reliable Windows PC in the world is a 13″ Retina MacBook Pro running Windows via Boot Camp.
How abou that? According to the study, the MacBook Pro is “at the top of the list” with other hardware like the Acer Aspire E1-571, the Dell XPS 13, the Dell Vostro 3560, the Acer Aspire V3-771 and Apple’s 15-inch Retina-equipped MacBook Pro taking the next spots.
What about other vendors like Toshiba, Lenovo or market leader HP? Yeah, they don’t even crack the top ten. Sad, but true.
So, if you need to run Windows and are looking for the best, most reliable hardware out there to run it on, guess you should get a Mac. We’re not really surprised. We could have told you that.
In somewhat of an ominous email I, and probably nearly every Xbox Live member, received today from Microsoft, a date has been announced for the folks at Redmond to reveal their next generation gaming console. A day past 3 months after Sony held their presentation for the Playstation 4, M$ will lay it out for everyone on May 21st at 1pm EDT/10am PDT.
Rumors have flowed a plenty about what the next Xbox (720? Durango? Fandango?) will feature, from features like an updated or even built in Kinect sensor, HDMI passthrough letting it act like a cable box, whether or not it will support Blu-Ray media, to screams that it won’t be able to play used games.
Hopefully most, if not all, the rumors out there will be answered during the presentation, and maybe we’ll even see what the damn system will look like (unlike the Playstation 4, which we’re still waiting on…).
Watch the announcement live May 21, 1pm EDT/10am PDT on Xbox Live, Xbox.com or Spike TV.
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