Happy Halloween … Boo!

Check out my first attempt at a video game-inspired jack-o’-lantern. Or else.

Weekend Reading

A handful of links that didn’t get their own posts.

Phoenix College book sale benefits scholarship fund

Pick up some new reading material at a good price, and for a good cause.

David Tennant is coming to America

Doctor Who star in a pilot for NBC.

Give ‘Stray Bullets’ a shot! For free!

Read the first four issues online.

No Doubt’s Gwen Stefani ain’t no ‘Honky Tonk’ girl

Activision provokes another lawsuit.

Comic-Con founder, Sheldon Dorf, passes away

Ubergeek was 76.

‘Star Trek Online’ star-dated: MMO launches in February

Atari launching its enterprise before fiscal year ends.

‘The Box’ offers sci-fi morality tale

Turns out Donnie Darko wasn’t a fluke.

Princess Zelda comes out of the dungeon in ‘Spirit Tracks’

Who needs rescuing?

D&Deal: 2 Player’s Handbooks for the price of 1

A holiday bundle to rule them all.

Japanese TV mascot invades 7-Eleven stores

Domo-kun!

Post from: Nerdvana: Sci-fi, comics, games & more

Nerdvana Weekly: Nov. 1-7, 2009

Ever heard of Domo?

Those not in the know are probably scratching their heads after visits to 7-Eleven convenience stores. That’s because Domo, the mascot of Japan’s NHK television station, has expanded his empire to include Slurpees, bad coffee and truly terrible hot dogs. The gassy, meat-loving, apple-hating, egg-born cave-dweller can be seen on 99 cent coffee cups and other products. (You can check out lots of pictures at Top Cultured, or just head on down to your local 7-Eleven.)

It’s not Domo’s first foray into American retail: In 2008 the character was used in Target’s Halloween promotions.

Post from: Nerdvana: Sci-fi, comics, games & more

Japanese TV mascot invades 7-Eleven stores

The 4th Edition Player’s Handbook Collection includes both the essential Player’s Handbook and Player’s Handbook 2, which contains additional character races, classes and powers.

The bundle’s $34.95 price includes both manuals in a handsome slipcase, plus a $12 discount off a year’s subscription to the online D&D Insider service.

Not included: dice, Dungeon Master’s Guides, Monster Manuals or imagination.

See also: D&D parent co. pulls legal PDFs off market, starts flame war

Post from: Nerdvana: Sci-fi, comics, games & more

D&Deal: 2 Player’s Handbooks for the price of 1

That’s all about to change in the new entry for the DS and DSi handheld systems. Zelda is coming out of the dungeon and joining the adventure for the first time.

From Nintendo:

For the first time in the 23-year history of The Legend of Zelda series, the princess is leaving the villainous clutches of the underworld behind and joining the adventure with Link. In The Legend of Zelda: Spirit Tracks, the spirit of Zelda accompanies Link on his quest to save Hyrule.

Directly impacting game play like never before, Zelda’s spirit can take control of hulking suits of armor known as Phantoms, allowing the player to direct both Link and these new allies as they battle enemies, solve puzzles and uncover secrets. Zelda also rides alongside Link on his customizable train, offering wisdom that will help players find new areas, storylines and items. The team of Link and Zelda presents countless new storyline details for fans to enjoy, including a closer look at Princess Zelda herself, one of the most iconic video game characters of all-time.

“More than two decades into its rich history, The Legend of Zelda has introduced another historic first for players as Link and Zelda unite to save Hyrule in The Legend of Zelda: Spirit Tracks,” said Cammie Dunaway, Nintendo of America’s executive vice president of Sales & Marketing. “Combining these unprecedented new story and game-play elements with the series’ innovative touch-screen interface on Nintendo DS and Nintendo DSi, the game is sure to surprise and delight new and longtime fans.”

The Legend of Zelda: Spirit Tracks launches in North America on Dec. 7. For more information, visit www.Zelda.com/SpiritTracks.

Post from: Nerdvana: Sci-fi, comics, games & more

Princess Zelda comes out of the dungeon in ‘Spirit Tracks’

“The Box” stars Cameron Diaz and James Marsden as married couple Norma and Arthur Lewis. One morning on their doorstep, they receive a mysterious box with a button on it.  The couple are offered a deal by the box’s owner, the hideously-scarred Arlington Steward, played by Frank Langella. If they push the button on the box, they will be given one million dollars in cash. The catch is, by doing so a person, a stranger to them, will die. The question of morality versus self-interest is the heart of the tale.

As the story “The Monkey’s Paw” and countless episodes of “The Twilight Zone” have taught us, any magic deal that seems too good to be true always is. The couple must make a decision and deal with the consequences of their choice. Of course, the fallout from this moral quandary is far more complicated than initially seen.

The screenplay was adapted by Kelly from a short story by Richard Matheson, who also wrote “I Am Legend.” Kelly has an interesting film-making style. He’s quite confident in an audience’s ability to follow along and connect the dots on their own. This leaves him free to dispense with much of the exposition and hand-holding many directors are beholden to in their works.

As in “Darko,” he does a remarkable job of not just telling a story, but creating a wider world upon which the tale plays out. Once his chosen narrative comes to an end, the viewer is left satisfied, but still feeling they’ve only experienced a portion of what’s truly out there. This is perhaps his greatest strength, his ability to open a door into another world just wide enough to deliver the story and tantalize the audience, then close it leaving them hungry for more.

The Box
Starring: Cameron Diaz, James Marsden
Rated: PG-13 for thematic elements, some violence and disturbing images
Running time: 115
Grade: B-

Post from: Nerdvana: Sci-fi, comics, games & more

‘The Box’ offers sci-fi morality tale

Closed beta testing of the game, which is set in the generation after Star Trek: The Next Generation, began earlier this year.

Via Cinema Blend

Post from: Nerdvana: Sci-fi, comics, games & more

‘Star Trek Online’ star-dated: MMO launches in February

In 1970, Dorf put together the Golden State Comic-Convention, in a time where comic book cons were few and far between. From these humble beginnings the convention grew to what is now the largest gathering of comic and pop culture fans in the country.

Post from: Nerdvana: Sci-fi, comics, games & more

Comic-Con founder, Sheldon Dorf, passes away

The band No Doubt doesn’t like a feature in the new Band Hero video game that lets players control digital versions of real band members and change things up by making them sing other artists’ songs.

It’s called “character manipulation, and a lawsuit filed Wednesday against Activision claims this lets players have all sorts of bawdy fun by making lead singer Gwen Stefani perform suggestive lyrics from the Rolling Stones hit Honky Tonk Women, for example. It claims the band raised objections but they were not heeded, and the result is a “virtual karaoke circus act.”

No Doubt is seeking unspecified damages and an order barring Activision from using any band members’ likenesses with non-No Doubt songs.

Just a few months ago, the widow and former bandmates of Nirvana frontman Kurt Cobain railed against Activision for using the late grunge rocker’s likeness to play other artists’ songs in Guitar Hero 5. Before that, the company settled a lawsuit over Brutal Legend, a rock ’n’ roll adventure game starring Jack Black that the company tried to kill after it acquired a smaller developer. The game was published last month by Activision’s rival, Electronic Arts.

Via The Associated Press

Post from: Nerdvana: Sci-fi, comics, games & more

No Doubt’s Gwen Stefani ain’t no ‘Honky Tonk’ girl

Writer-artist David Lapham creates a beautifully interconnected world full of criminal tales. We see how thin the line is between the normal world and the dark underbelly. Seeing the bad things that happen to good people who cross that line, mistakenly or otherwise, never ceases to enthrall. Lapham’s black-and-white art matches the intensity and strength of his writing.  In my opinion, aside from the legendary Frank Miller and possibly Matt Wagner, Lapham is the finest writer/artist working in the industry today.

It is one of the best non-superhero titles out there. So if you’re curious to check out a comic outside of the spandex set, give “Stray Bullets” a shot.

And if you’re already a fan of Lapham’s work, he’s also selling original art from “Stray Bullets” for the first time ever on the site. If I weren’t clutching my pennies so tightly right now, there’s several pages on there I would absolutely love to purchase.

Post from: Nerdvana: Sci-fi, comics, games & more

Give ‘Stray Bullets’ a shot! For free!

According to The Doctor Who News Page, Rex Is Not Your Lawyer is about a hotshot Chicago lawyer who begins suffering panic attacks and coaches his clients to represent themselves in court. The show is directed by David Semel, who helmed the pilot for Heroes.

Tennant (pictured) has held the top spot on Who since Christopher Eccleston left the role after the relaunched show’s first season. Matt Smith will succeed him as the ever-changing Time Lord. Earlier this year Tennant was announced as the host of Masterpiece Contemporary on PBS, and next year PBS viewers will be able to see his performance in the title role of Hamlet when Great Performances picks up his recent production with the Royal Shakespeare Company.

See also:

• Next ‘Doctor Who’ special arrives in time for Christmas
• Sneak peek at ‘Doctor Who’ RPG
• New ‘Doctor Who’ logo revealed

Post from: Nerdvana: Sci-fi, comics, games & more

David Tennant is coming to America

The fund is named for Padriac Meriadoc Hill, a student in the Classical Studies and Honors programs at PC who was shot and killed during an attempted robbery of the movie theater where he worked in 1993. His first name is the Gaelic spelling for “Patrick” and his middle name, “Meriadoc,” comes from a Hobbit character in The Lord of the Rings, a book his father loved.

I attended PC as part of the Classical Studies program, and the sale was always a lot of hard work but was also a lot of fun. If you can get out that way, please support this program and you’ll find some great deals on books! And if you can’t make it but would like to contribute, call the Honors office at (602) 285-7305 to arrange for a student to pick up your book donations.

Post from: Nerdvana: Sci-fi, comics, games & more

Phoenix College book sale benefits scholarship fund

Post from: Nerdvana: Sci-fi, comics, games & more

Weekend Reading

I’m no pumpkin artist, so in case it’s just so bad that you couldn’t tell, it’s supposed to be a Boo ghost from the Super Mario Bros. games.

Happy Halloween!

Post from: Nerdvana: Sci-fi, comics, games & more

Happy Halloween … Boo!

Weekend Reading

A handful of links that didn’t get their own posts.

Netflix streaming announced for PlayStation 3

No longer Xbox-exclusive … with a catch.

Join the glorious Klingon Empire — or else

Qapla’!

A Very Browncoat Halloween

Firefly flashback in Nathan Fillion’s new series, Castle.

Is this how the zombie apocalypse begins?

Ground zero: Mexican restaurant in Idaho.

‘Resident Evil Zero’ rises again Dec. 1

GameCube title updated for Wii controls.

Nintendo DSi forced to grow up quickly

Bigger screen coming for older folks.

A scary good TF2 deal!

Were you quick enough?

‘Avatar’ trailer rammed down sports spectators’ throats

James Cameron’s magnum opus teased in Sunday football.

Next ‘Doctor Who’ special arrives in time for Christmas

‘Waters of Mars’ to air in U.S. on Dec. 19.

Who’s definitely not coming back for ‘The Hobbit’

John Rhys-Davies just can’t face it.

Post from: Nerdvana: Sci-fi, comics, games & more

Nerdvana Eeeekly! Oct. 25-31, 2009

New Line Cinema

Actor John Rhys-Davies recently told Empire Online that he will not be joining the cast of The Hobbit to play the father of his character from The Lord of the Rings.

“Really I am not sure my face can take that sort of punishment any more,” he said in reference to the prosthetic makeup that turned him into Gimli son of Gloin — and gave him a severe allergic reaction that prompted him to ceremonially burn the mask after production wrapped.

Ian McKellen, who played the wizard Gandalf in the film trilogy, has made no secret of his plans to return for the prequel. Other performers who have the potential to cross over include Hugo Weaving as the elf lord Elrond; Ian Holm as the Hobbit himself, Bilbo Baggins; Andy Serkis as the miserable cave-dweller Gollum; Orlando Bloom as the royal father of elf warrior Legolas; and even Viggo Mortensen as a younger version of the ranger Strider, aka Aragorn.

Guillermo del Toro (Hellboy, Pan’s Labyrinth) is directing the two-part adaptation of The Hobbit, in which Bilbo goes on a quest to the Lonely Mountain with Gandalf and 13 dwarves, and along the way discovers the lost One Ring of Power that rises to such prominence in The Lord of the Rings.

Via SCI FI Wire

See also:

• Today there is peace in Middle-earth
• Tolkien estate prepared to derail ‘The Hobbit’ over money
• 71 years ago, we first met Bilbo Baggins

Post from: Nerdvana: Sci-fi, comics, games & more

Who’s definitely not coming back for ‘The Hobbit’