The Standard Model

Well, haven’t posted anything in a while, couldn’t really think of anything interesting that isn’t already plastered all over the internet. However recently I have been drooling over quite a few games that are yet to be released, some coming soon and others that are not due for far too long! The first game I am very excited about is released in October and that is:

This game looks fantastic. Diablo 2 but based on top of an FPS is pretty much the brief. Up to 4 player co-op with it using the same characters and equipment for single and multiplayer. You can jump into a friends campaign and play with them and keep the loot you get and the experience. They have used AI to generate literally millions of different guns all with different effects, stats and appearance which should lead to everyone having their own unique load-out. Made even more unique by giving you skill points to put into skill trees to give you some special abilities to aid in taking down the bad guys, or possibly healing your team-mates.
The game is an FPS first and then an RPG ontop of that, so whether you hit your target is all down to your personal aim and not some hidden dice rolls going on in the background (accuracy of weapons permitting of course)
All this wrapped up in a great stylized visual setting just makes for a game that I really cannot wait for… Here is the preview video that was released a little while ago:

The next game I don’t know too much about, but I already have it pre-ordered on steam just from how great I thought the demo was. It’s Batman: Arkham Asylum which is out here in September. Flying around in the shadows and then beating people up as batman was just great fun and you really felt powerful and scary as the jokers goons start to shoot at steam coming off pipes as they become terrified.

Another game I am very excited about but again don’t know much about is:
The first one was brilliant and a great surprise nobody was expecting such a compelling story as well as the great game play. Let’s hope they can pull it off again because this time people are waiting for it!

There will also be Operation Flashpoint 2, but I’m waiting to here more about it before I decide on if I want it or not, ArmA2 is filling my realistic military game quota fine for now.

That’s all the regular games I can think of that are really coming out soon that I’m looking forward to but as well as those there are 2 MMOs that I really really want to play sobad, Star Trek Online, and Star Wars: The Old Republic. These however I think need their own post because

It’s getting pretty hot! Summer is coming out in full swing which means I yet again wish I had air conditioning in both my home and my car. I have neither so I have to rely on making air fly past my face at high speed to try and cool off. So far it is adequate but if it keeps getting hotter I am going to be one sticky guy.. It’s a bit frustrating. I need to start working out again because my stomach has grown a wee bit and I don’t like it. The weather however is making it very hard to start because it’s so uncomfortable and I’m not the fittest guy in the world to start with. But oh well we shall see what happens.
I suppose I should mention Michael Jackson dieing because hey, everyone is! I liked his music, I wasn’t a massive fan I never bought anything by him or anything but I knew his songs and for those he did well. But come the hell on people are acting as though jesus was in that body and he just died for our sins or something. On the news today they were showing the tickets that had been sold for his upcoming gig in London that has a nifty hologram of him doing a dance move on it. You can either keep it, or get a refund for your money meaning you have to return the ticket. The person reporting the story said that it would make a nice thing to pass onto your grandchildren. What the christ? Why would someone born most probably 10-20 years from now give a shit about a musician who’s work is already 20+ years old. I hope I’m not alone in thinking this because I feel like I have gone a bit crazy. Also the kiddy fiddling thing. I can’t really say much because I don’t know if there is evidence or what-have you but I’m sure some interesting stories will come out after the initial period of people feeling bad and they start to crave juicy stories about him.

It has come to my attention that there was some sort of live concert at which Bear McCreary played the music of Battlestar Galactica. The music in BSG was always great, I have all of the soundtracks that are currently out and look forward to season 4’s soundtrack when that comes out soon. The music has a very unique feel, especially for a sci-fi show. They use a lot of interesting instruments that one wouldn’t expect to see and it really makes it special and why I love listening to it. Not to mention all of the memories of events in the show that come flooding back when specific songs are played.
I had a huge thing for Katee Sackhoff who played Starbuck, and here she is starting off one of the songs at the concert which then breaks into the excellent version of ‘All along the watchtower’ that Bear McCreary came up with, enjoy!

Oh. I’ve been there! Lots of times!

Futurama to make return on US TV

Animated comedy Futurama is to return to US TV screens with 26 new episodes - seven years after it was axed by Fox.
They will air in 2010 on cable network Comedy Central, which shows repeats and previously commissioned four specials.
source

So we’re getting more Futurama! This is fantastic news. If you couldn’t tell from how I do this blog it is most probably my favourite TV show. It’s definitely my favourite cartoon. It had been a hope of mine, and I believe the people involved with the show as well that if the DVD films sold well that another series would become a possibility. Which is why I told all my friends to buy copies in the hopes it would help. While the movies did have some absolutely classic parts in, many people didn’t appreciate them as much as regular episodes saying that they felt a bit drawn out. It’s a fair comment, I still found them enjoyable but I can see where they are coming from. It probably is just due to the writers and everyone else being used to doing 20 minute episodes for so many years having to do movie pacing is a whole different thing. Which is why getting more episodes is such great news because we know they can do this format perfectly.
So I would like to thank Comedy Central for bringing back my favourite show, which I look forward to with great anticipation. But also I would like to thank everyone out there in the world that bought copies of the DVD films, and the regular series. Without everyone out there buying and supporting the show there would have been no hope for any more of it. So thank you, many fans.