The media hot librarian is back! I’ve brought a
pre-Halloween spooky treat. Most geeks will tell you
that ghosts and the after-life are fictitious. In the
same breath they’ll tell you they’re a Jedi. Go
figure. This is the ultimate book for those geeks that
do believe. Spook by Mary Roach, is a funny and
informative.
Spook covers all possibilities for the after-life from
reincarnation to ghosts. It also dives right into the
subjects of mediums and EVP. What makes this book so
interesting is it’s not written by a believer. Quite
the opposite, Mary Roach is interested in finding
proof but not so interested she accepts anything and
everything at face value.
Ms. Roach goes so far as to attend medium school in
England to see what that was like. It’s interesting
to see how that
actually plays out. (You to can be a
medium or Sherlock Holmes, which ever comes first!)
This book also shows its reader how legitimate science
has been trying for years to find proof of an
after-life. So, contrary to popular belief, it’s not
just some crackpot idea held by new age-y crystal
wavers.
I give this book four and a half bats and very much
recommend this to anyone who seeks the truth about ghosts.
I am sure many of you know that Star Trek is being rebooted. (The process of starting over…you know like a computer.) It is coming out Christmas 2008. It is being directed by J.J. Abrams of “Lost” and “Alias” fame. It is written by by Alex Kurtzman and Roberto Orci, who have scripted “Alias” and “Lost” shows as well. The team also wrote Mission Impossible III.
The script is showing how the titular three met each other in the Starfleet academy. It also connects to the original Star Trek series with Leonard Nimoy playing Spock. The three of course being James T. Kirk, Spock, and Dr. McCoy. Of course what everyone is interested is who is playing the pop culture icons as younger men. It has now been announced for all three playing the leads. James T. Kirk is played by Chris Pine. (Smoking Aces) Zachary Quinto (Skylar from Heroes) is playing Spock. Karl Urban (“Lord of the Rings: Two Towers” and “Return of the King”) is playing Dr. McCoy.
So now you know. And knowing is the half the battle. Oh, wrong franchise…keep an eye out for that in the next year.
One of these games will most likely eat Jon’s time, one of these will eat Krash’s if he can get it, and 2 will be fighting to the death to try to wrestle my minuscule amounts of spare time away from the Orange Box. Guess which ones? Oh, and remember, kids, release dates are tentative. Just ask anyone at your local chained video game store.
OCTOBER 15, 2007
Tony Hawk’s Proving Ground (Xbox 360, PS2, PS3, Wii, DS) Beautiful Katamari (Xbox 360) The Elder Scrolls IV: Shivering Isles (Xbox 360 retail version) Rockstar Games presents Table Tennis (Wii) Flash Focus: Vision Training in Minutes a Day (DS) Fullmetal Alchemist: Trading Card Game (DS) Bee Movie Game (DS) Seven Kingdoms: Conquest (PC) Ninja Gaiden II: The Dark Sword of Chaos (Wii Virtual Console) Metal Marines (Wii Virtual Console) Gate of Thunder (Wii Virtual Console)
OCTOBER 16, 2007 Fury (PC) Heroes of Might and Magic V: Tribes of the East (PC) Sega Rally Revo (PC) Crash of the Titans (PSP) Spider-Man 3 (PSP) Dawn of Magic (PC) Victorious Boxers: Revolution (Wii) Avatar: The Last Airbender — The Burning Earth (Xbox 360, PS2, Wii) SWAT: Target Liberty (PSP) The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion – Game of the Year Edition (PS3) Guilty Gear XX Accent Core (Wii) Sea Monsters: A Prehistoric Adventure (Wii, DS) Ultimate Duck Hunting (Wii) Zoo Tycoon 2: Extinct Animals (PC) Disney Princess: Enchanted Journey (PS2) Disney Princess: Magical Jewels (DS) Prism: Light the Way (DS) Fish Tycoon (DS) Hannah Montana: Music Jam (DS) Power Rangers: Super Legends (DS)
OCTOBER 17, 2007 Speedball 2: Brutal Deluxe (Xbox 360 Live Arcade) Every Extend Extra Extreme (Xbox 360 Live Arcade)
The British Academy of Film and Television announced that Will Wright will become one of the BAFTA Fellowship this year at their British Academy Video Game Awards, making him the first member of video game industry to be one of the fellowship. BAFTA is starting to recognize the “massive impact” that video games have made on pop culture, and how they’ve changed motion pictures.
“Will’s immense, creative body of work and his continued contribution to the industry make him a most worthy recipient of the Fellowship,” said Hilary Bevan Jones, chairman of the Academy, “and being such a pioneer, we are thrilled that he will be the first person to receive this honor.”
The award ceremony will be held on October 23rd in London.
Today started so easy. Get out of the relaxation chamber, listen to the oddly friendly computer voice over the intercom, throw my coffee cup and the radio into the toilet, walk through a fiery gate ripping a hole in space and time to escape my glass prison, put a box on a giant red button, and enter the elevator right after my fillings are vaporized out of my head by a wall of energy. And now, here I stand staring down a hallway with beams of red light shining across hunting for me, all the while small robotic laser guided egg shaped machine gun turrets are asking me nicely where I’ve gone and if I would please come back out. What exactly did I sign on for, and why am I a girl?
I have 2 defenses, hopefully unerringly intertwined: my wits and a gun that tears the universe a new one and then tears another new one to connect to the now slightly older new one. I shoot a hole behind the laser turret, and turn to my right and fire again, creating the second hole in the wall next to me. I reach my arm through watching it pop out down the hall, and step through and grab the small egg shaped death device from behind. I toss it back through the wormhole behind me, and see it fall and fire at random. Somehow, I can even ignore it’s pitiful cries, and its claims that it doesn’t hate me.
Ok, that may have been a little hard to follow. That’s really because the game is that far from normal. Portal is filled with innovative level design and intriguing puzzles that will keep you on your toes and thinking for a few hours, which is the biggest drawback to the game: it’s really short. Beatable within a few hours for what could be considered the story mode. Additional challenges are included as well, which have been compensating for the length of the overall game.
Visually, the game is wonderful. The amount attention to detail overall is very good. The physics engine that they’ve used makes the game feel as real as you can get when you’re running around with a wormhole generator. Everything ties together and is surprisingly easy to maneuver, if not simply disorienting as you attempt to make yourself upright when you pop out of a hole.
Aside from the imaginative design and well done graphics and control, the game is funny. It’s written by the same group of guys that wrote Psychonauts. And it’s just better if you really pay attention to what’s being said and the writing on the walls. Jonathan Coulton has done a song for it as well, which is included with the cake at the end of the game.
I give Portal a 10 out of 10. It exemplifies what a first person shooter puzzle game is. Oh, and some other stuff came out with Portal in the Orange Box set. I haven’t gotten around to those yet. Available on the PC and Xbox 360.
Originally published in the Shoreline Community College paper, the Ebbtide.
