Go Team Gorgeous Tiny Go! When an evil monster steals the guest only one super team can save them! It’s Kiko and Friends to the rescue but will the team be able to come together to defeat the evil menace?
Category: Multimedia
LucasArts and BioWare Reveal Star Wars: The Old Republic
from StarWars.com:
LucasArts and BioWare™, a division of Electronic Arts Inc. (NASDAQ: ERTS), today announced the development of Star Wars®: The Old Republic™, a story-driven massively multiplayer online PC game set in the timeframe of the Star Wars®: Knights of the Old Republic™ franchise. Star Wars: The Old Republic, being developed and published by BioWare and LucasArts, represents an innovative approach to interactive entertainment, featuring immersive storytelling, dynamic combat and intelligent companion characters.
In Star Wars: The Old Republic, players will explore an age thousands of years before the rise of Darth Vader when war between the Old Republic and the Sith Empire divides the galaxy. Players can choose to play as Jedi, Sith, or a variety of other classic Star Wars roles, defining their personal story and determining their path down the light or dark side of the Force. Along the way, players will befriend courageous companions who will fight at their side or possibly betray them, based on the players’ actions. Players can also choose to team up with friends to battle enemies and overcome incredible challenges using dynamic Star Wars combat.
“Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic is the most critically acclaimed Star Wars game in LucasArts history and a preeminent example of our company’s interactive storytelling heritage,” said Darrell Rodriguez, President of LucasArts. “For a long time, we’ve long wanted to return to the franchise in a grand way, and we felt that the best setting for it was an online world that would allow millions of people to participate in the experience together. We knew that the developer capable of working with us to deliver an engrossing story with a fully-realized online world was BioWare.”
“Traditionally, massively multiplayer online games have been about three basic gameplay pillars — combat, exploration and character progression,” said Dr. Ray Muzyka, Co-Founder and General Manager/CEO of BioWare and General Manager/Vice President of Electronic Arts Inc., “In Star Wars: The Old Republic, we’re fusing BioWare’s heritage of critically-acclaimed storytelling with the amazing pedigree of Lucasfilm and LucasArts, and adding a brand-new fourth pillar to the equation — story. At the same time, we will still deliver all the fun features and activities that fans have come to expect in a AAA massively multiplayer online game. To top it all off, Star Wars: The Old Republic is set in a very exciting, dynamic period in the Star Wars universe.”
Added Dr. Greg Zeschuk, Co-Founder and Vice President Development Operations, BioWare and Vice President, Electronic Arts Inc., “Star Wars: The Old Republic is set roughly 300 years after the events of Knights of the Old Republic, a timeframe that is completely unexplored in the lore. BioWare has been able to add to the Star Wars history in developing the game’s story and has created an overarching narrative that players can enjoy, regardless of their play style. Our goal is to offer players an emotionally rewarding experience that combines the traditional elements of MMO gameplay with innovations in story and character development.”
Additional details on Star Wars: The Old Republic features, gameplay and release date will be announced at a later time. For more information about Star Wars: The Old Republic and to sign up for future product updates, please visit StarWarsTheOldRepublic.com.
Asmodée Loses an Accent and Gets a Refreshing Change with a New Logo
from Asmodee Editions:
When does a logo change? When it no longers reflects the reality of its company. This was the case of the old Asmodée logo — with its old dragon scales inherited from the old RPG roots of Asmodée and its distinctively French accents, this logo no longer quite reflected this company has recently become:
Asmodee is now open to all sorts of games (from the light-hearted party gane to the strategy game, that’s without talking about licences, collectible card games and miniature games) and to players of all ages (the fabled 9 to 99), and is closer than ever to people with a presence at conventions throughout the year.
And mostly, Asmodee, through its branches across the world (Belgium, Germany, Spain, U.S.A.) is now planning and acting like a world leader when it comes to gaming. This is why we needed to no longer talk one language, but many of them — removing our “frenchy” accents to have a more universal “Asmodee” which can be read (and pronounced).
This is our new and improved logo, more fun and now with 100% more smiles, more open to the world, which is closer to what is Asmodee and what it wants you to discover.
Star Trek Featured in This Week’s Entertainment Weekly
from Entertainment Weekly:
After 10 often dismal movies, Star Trek had turned into a pop culture punchline. Even people who’d built their entire careers around Trek could see the writing on the wall. “Star Trek,” says Leonard Nimoy, “had run its course.” But director J.J. Abrams believes he can make the franchise cool again. This week’s issue of Entertainment Weekly has the inside scoop on Abrams’ surprising, idealistic odyssey, which could become next summer’s multiplex juggernaut.
“I don’t think people even understand what Star Trek means anymore,” says Abrams, who saw the first Star Trek film in 1979 with his father at a theater on the Paramount lot. But he feels no warm-fuzzy nostalgia about it. In fact, Abrams can sum up his regard for Trek in two words: Galaxy Quest, the 1999 hit starring Tim Allen that satirized Trek with painful precision. “It’s so ridiculous, so accurate, so sophisticated, it spoils the Star Trek universe,” he says. Plus, at heart, Abrams is still more of a Star Wars guy. “All my smart friends liked Star Trek,” he says. “I preferred a more visceral experience.” Which is exactly why he accepted Paramount ’s offer in 2005 to develop a new Trek flick; creatively, he was engaged by the possibility of a Star Trek movie “that grabbed me the way Star Wars did.”
Abrams says he was also drawn to the project because he believed in — and wanted to evangelize — Trek’s unabashed idealism. “I think a movie that shows people of various races working together and surviving hundreds of years from now is not a bad message to put out right now,” says Abrams. That ethos may seem cornball to an America darkened by a decade’s worth of catastrophe, but after an election season that has seen both presidential nominees run on “hope” and “change,” Star Trek just may find itself on the leading wave of a zeitgeist shift — away from bleak, brooding blockbusters and toward the light. “In a world where a movie as incredibly produced as The Dark Knight is raking in gazillions of dollars, Star Trek stands in stark contrast,” Abrams says. “It was important to me that optimism be cool again.”
Is the world ready again for Trek’s optimistic vision of the future? Some involved with the film suspect the presidential election may have a dramatic effect on how Star Trek will be perceived. “This is a franchise that offers hope for unity — and so does Barack Obama,” says Zachary Quinto, who plays Spock. “When this movie comes out, and Obama is president, hopefully there will be some parallels.” Perhaps, but the elder Spock knows that moments of unity can be fleeting. “My only regret is that the movie can’t come out sooner,” Nimoy says. “I think the world could use it. Don’t you?”
While Nimoy will be putting on his ears to play a wizened Spock in the new Star Trek, don’t expect a cameo by William Shatner as Captain Kirk. Last month, the 77-year-old actor posted a video on YouTube, complaining about being left behind, and chastising Abrams, even though Shatner’s Kirk died in Star Trek Generations (1994). “I brought him back to life in one of my books, very easily,” Shatner tells Abrams in the video. “I’m just sorry that I’m not in your wonderful movie.”
Abrams has seen the video, of course. “I don’t know how my life has become a thing where William Shatner talks to me through YouTube,” Abrams tells EW. “I was such a huge fan of his, but we wrote a scene for him in the movie and it didn’t feel right. And he said to us — he said publicly — that doing a cameo didn’t interest him. Which I totally appreciate. But we did try.” EW tried to reach Shatner, but he declined to be interviewed. Through a spokesperson he said, “I don’t think it would be appropriate for me to be involved in the Star Trek universe at this point.”
You can read the full Entertainment Weekly article at Star Trek: New Movie, New Vision.
Gorgeous Tiny Chicken Machine Show, Episode 16: Game of Dating
It’s brother vs. brother. Lick Poop battles it out against his 2 smarter and smoother siblings. Will Lick Poop finally reveal his true feelings to Kiko or does his denial know no bounds?
Director Brian Kalin O’Connell, writer Steve Melching discuss all-new Star Wars: The Clone Wars episode this Friday, October 10 on Cartoon Network
from StarWars.com:
Star Wars: The Clone Wars puts a new shine on a very recognizable part of Star Wars lore as the Y-wing bombers make their debut in “Shadow of Malevolence,” an all-new episode of the hit animated series premiering at 9:00 PM, Friday, October 10, on Cartoon Network.
In the second of a three-episode arc, “Destroy Malevolence” finds Anakin Skywalker, his Padawan Ahsoka Tano and Jedi Master Plo Koon utilizing long-range Y-wing bombers to lead a bold strike on General Grievous’ warship, the Malevolence, and its destructive ion cannon.
The Y-wing bombers were first seen among the Rebel Alliance’s primary starfighters in 1977’s Star Wars: Episode IV A New Hope. “Shadow of Malevolence” director Brian Kalin O’Connell, writer Steve Melching and supervising director Dave Filoni were inspired by the concept of showing the Y-wings “fresh off the showroom floor.”
“We like to find ways to draw connections between The Clone Wars and the original trilogy,” Melching says. “In the original Star Wars, the X-wings and the Y-wings have truly been through the wars, and they’ve had the crap beaten out of them. We thought it would be fun to imagine that they were originally manufactured during the Clone Wars — so for us, they came off the assembly line and into battle.”
O’Connell says the artists behind The Clone Wars were excited about “introducing” the Y-wings — and putting the series’ lead characters into a full-fledged space battle for the first time.
“Guys like (design/concept artists) Russell Chong and Killian Plunkett, along with Dave (Filoni) come from a classic Star Wars background, so they understand that Ralph McQuarrie feel of the 1970s, and they do it right,” O’Connell says. “We don’t want to change the lore, we want to add to it. By introducing the Y-wings, we get to add a new dimension, a little history.” Some people, he realizes, might think that it’s “just a vehicle.” Nevertheless, O’Connell says, “We know it’s a huge deal for the fans. We don’t let it distract from the story, but we still get to add the geek shot — and when we do, we try to do it justice.”
Star Wars: The Clone Wars airs at 9:00 PM, Fridays on Cartoon Network. George Lucas is the series’ creator and serves as executive producer, and Catherine Winder is producer.
The Guild at Blizzcon
from The Guild:
The whole cast of The Guild will be attending Blizzcon Friday and Saturday! There will be a Guild panel from 1:30-2:30 PM on Saturday where we will preview Season 2 as well as answer questions about Season 1 and anything else the audience would like to hear!
Also, thanks to the kindness of Blizzard, we will have a booth set up where we will be selling DVDs and an Official Cast Photo, debuting at the con! All 6 main cast members will be hanging out, but will be specifically signing DVDs and Photos at the following times in the booth:
Friday 11 AM-1 PM
Saturday 3-5 PM
Please stop by and say hi, or catch us around Blizzcon!
The Legend of Neil on Twitter
from The Legend of Neil:
Hey all, we’re trying to be everywhere that you are, and you can now follow this feed [for The Legend of Neil] on Twitter if you like. Just click here to get to our Twitter page! Also click to follow Sandeep’s Twitter or Felicia’s Twitter. Happy tweeting!
[Web series The Guild and Gorgeous Tiny Chicken Machine Show also have feeds on Twitter.]
Gorgeous Tiny Chicken Machine Show, Episode 15: Retarded Policeman’s Ponce
Ponce from Retarded Policeman joins the fun at GTCMS. No time for fun time now. Unicow has an eating disorder? Carrot is battered? Even cancer has invaded the fun time of GTCMS. Can Kiko find the secret to bringing fun time back?
Photos of Felicia Day and Sandeep Parikh at San Diego Comic-Con 2008
I had a chance to sit down with Felicia Day and Sandeep Parikh of The Guild on the final morning of this year’s San Diego Comic-Con, and was thrilled to have the chance to speak with them. They were both extremely funny and easygoing as they interacted and jibed with me and each other. The interview was videotaped with the intent to put it on ÜberSciFiGeek, and because of the noise at the convention a voice recorder was also kept running. Thankfully, someone was taking photos as well. I say thankfully because, the day I was getting ready to transfer the video to my computer for editing, my camera died… after inserting the tape. Presently, the interview is still locked away within the belly of my very dead Panasonic video camera. The audio of the interview has already been posted here in MP3 format, and now we finally have some photos to share! If you are a fan of Felicia and Sandeep, you will love this collection of over 100 photos of them.
A special thanks to Squeak for getting up early and tagging along to take the photos. You’re a life saver!
I Can Has Cheezburger?: A LOLcat Colleckshun
A search at Amazon.com a few months ago for a LOLcat book led to the amazing discovery that one didn’t exist. That oversight has now been corrected: I Can Has Cheezburger?: A LOLcat Colleckshun is a hilarious guide to LOLcats by Eric Nakagawa and Kari Unebasami — the duo who started the Internet meme and launched the hugely popular icanhascheezburger.com in January 2007 — and co-author “Professor Happycat”.
Professor Happycat pops up throughout the book in cartoon form to explain things to the reader, such as how to mangle spelling and grammar in proper LOLspeak fashion (LOL Speak Poetry Magnets are available for practice), and who Ceiling Cat and other prominent LOLcats are. The book collects over 200 full-colour LOLcat pictures from the website, some classic and some new, and all extremely LOL-worthy. Professor Happycat says, “Mah new book iz teh best book evr”, and it’s hard to argue with that statement if you’re a LOLcat fan.
A note from the publisher states: “In case you’ve somehow missed the LOLcat sensation, here’s the lowdown. It all began in early 2007, when, after a bad day at work,” Eric Nakagawa asked his friend Kari Unebasami via chat to send something to cheer him up. Kari sent him a photo of a smiling fat cat with the caption “I CAN HAS CHEEZBURGER?” superimposed onto the picture. Soon, Nakagawa and Unebasami created a blog at icanhascheezburger.com (named after the most popular LOLcat of all) and the phenomenon known as the LOLcat was born.”
The book is small and square, the perfect size to tuck into a bag and carry everywhere, or to stuff into a holiday stocking. It’s a great conversation piece and the perfect gift for geeks and cat-lovers of all ages.
Teh cute kittehs, they needs sequel now. Srsly.
Pre-order at Amazon.com:
I Can Has Cheezburger?: A LOLcat Colleckshun
I Can Has Cheezburger?: A LOLcat Colleckshun is distributed by Gotham Books, an imprint of Penguin Group (USA), and its international affiliates. For more information, visit the official book website at lulzftw.com.
Gorgeous Tiny Chicken Machine Show, Episode 14: Take Anything You Want
Nothing wrong with a little junk in your diet. When an Aerobics Guru visits fun time becomes health time. Kiko and Friends’ diets are put to the nutrition test. What is Panda eating?