Spielberg to Hire World's Greatest Babysitter?

According to the Independent UK, Steven Spielberg may be looking at remaking the classic tale Mary Poppins.

There have been some snide comments made about the possibility of Spielberg making this film, Chuck Yarborough of Cleveland's Plain Dealer find the idea of remaking Mary Poppins so absurd he jokingly imagines a remake/sequel with ET starring in the title role. I, for one, look forward to seeing what a Spielberg version of Poppins would look like. I think Spielberg is at his best when he is making the "classic" Hollywood film. Catch Me if You Can and The Terminal were films that could have been made in any era of Hollywood, and been successful. His science fiction films can be hit or miss, the same is true for his "important" films, but when Steven decides he just wants to entertain us...well he does.

Neither The Hollywood Reporter or Variety have any more details on this story at the time I write this.

Eventually Even I Catch A Meme.

Continuing the Meme trail I caught over at David E's Fablog.

Four jobs you’ve had in your life: movie theater assistant manager, video store clerk, grocery store courtesy clerk, director of a non-profit.

Four movies you could watch over and over: Amelie, Willie Wonka and the Chocolate Factory, About a Boy, The Thin Man.

Four places you’ve lived: Castro Valley, CA; Baumholder, Germany; Reno, NV; Los Angeles, CA.

Four TV shows you love to watch: House, Supernatural, Grey's Anatomy, Judge Judy.

Four places you’ve been on vacation: Bayern; Anaheim, CA; Milwaukee, WI; Seattle, WA.

Four websites you visit daily: Google Entertainment, ICV2, Cathy's World, Los Angeles Times.

Four of your favorite foods: Porterhouse Steak, Black Pepper Chicken, Chicken Marsala, Cobb Salad.

Four places you’d rather be: London, Seattle, Montreal, Chicago. But only for vacation. What is it Randy Newman says..."I love LA!"

Who Needs Medieval Times When You Can Hire Robin Hood?

Tim Pollard, a former Games Workshop employee no less, performs Robin Hood banquets regularly in locations across the UK. From time to time he has even performed in the United States. You can read about the adventures of the travelling "official Robin Hood of Nottingham" at his own blog, or you can watch a slideshow of him firebreating here.

Who knew that Robin Hood was a firebreather? And Maid Marion kisses that mouth?

California Military Residents Acquire New Benefits in 2006

When a person who is in the National Guard or in the Reserves is called up for active duty in a conflict, as is happening today, it can often lead to financial burdens back at home. Family members of the soldier often have to manage household affairs on a diminished budget as the soldier's pay shifts from that of a private sector job to that of a member of the military. The State of California, and the Federal Government, already have a number of laws to help families of servicemen and women, but the State of Califoria voted to expand the benefits offered. In September 2005, Assembly Bill 1666 (Frommer) passed and starting in January this law will:

provide protections for these persons in connection with their military service with respect to recording fees for a power of attorney, termination of a mobile telephony services contract, military leave of absence from specified educational institutions, waiver of attorney membership fees, payment of arrearages under terminated motor vehicle leases, and continuation of gas and utility services, as provided. The California Constitution requires the state to reimburse local agencies and school districts for certain costs mandated by the state. Statutory provisions establish procedures for making that reimbursement.

The bill was passed with heavy bi-partisan support.

Gretsky Returns to Phoenix After Mother's Death

Wayne Gretsky, coach of the Phoenix Coyotes, has returned and will be coaching the Coyotes tonight. Gretsky had taken some time off to spend with his mother, who was suffering from lung cancer. Gretsky's mother died on December 19th.

It seems that two of the all-time great hockey players are having less than wonderful 2005s. Mario Lemieux, who has come back from serious illnesses in his career, has missed games this year due to an irregular heartbeat.

I Consider Myself a Shatner Devotee, but...

I can't believe I missed this.

The one-and-only William Shatner stars as The Storyteller in this rousing, campy series. Each episode tells a suspenseful story from an exciting time or place, filled with interesting characters, plenty of action, and surprising twists. All 15 episodes are included here, including "A Crack in Time," about a telepathic girl from the year 2098 who finds herself stranded in 20th century America, and "The Pirate," which tells the chilling tale of three vacationing children who stumble onto hidden treasure--and the sinister seafaring ghost that haunts it.

I will own this! I will have this! It shall be mine! That is my New Year's resolution!

After all, if I can enjoy all the Tek War books, and I do, this should be awesome!

Seriously, has anyone seen this? What channel was it on? What is the backstory?

I need information!

Teen Titans: Titans of Tomorrow

Quick note on this one, though it ties into my big review series thingie, and at the end, to boot.

Basically, the Titans and Legion of Super Heroes wind up fighting, among other poeple, 100 dudes with an axe so dang sharp it can cut through time and space. Despite this, no one dies in the fight.

So, was he hitting them with the handle, or what?

DC Comics and Me (Part I, Spoilers)

Well, got some trade paperbacks for Christmas from Julie, as in response to a wistful comment that I'd really pretty much lost track of DC Continuity years back.

Basically, I had what is apparently a fairly classic scenario for giving up on comic collecting... It got too expensive. Though Julie and I loved comics, our good intentions were broken by Our Worlds At War in particular, as it cost far too much money to collect, and by the way had little concrete happen as a result. It's fading in my mind, but it was hard that, after all of the hype and brutal reflections on war, you ended up with not much change. I mean, Lois' dad who was pretty darn new, died. Wee. Also Sarge Steel, acting rather out of character. Oh, and Strange Visitor. All of the stuff about enhancing her powers? Eh, forget it. Sucked.

Oh, and Aquaman, of course. You knew that would stick.

Anyway, that and the fact that in regular continuity Superman was visiting versions of Krypton that has been transformed by consensus reality into happy places and working on mastering his psychic powers while Green Lantern bummed around in his apartment, had oh-so-modern reflections on whether or not to marry his live-in, and explored tolerance issues with his gay sidekick instead of protecting the universe as the last living Green Lantern...

I kinda threw my hands up and gave up. I mean, it wasn't any of those things in particular... Superman getting psionic powers seems inevitable, the Big Monster of the Year crossover (which OWAW was the last one of for quite some time) often didn't change much permanently and I wouldn't've minded GL's expanding social conciousness and dating angst that much (though, maybe, a few less issues basically devoted entirely to them would've been nice) but, all of those things combined with an ever-ballooning price tag... Made me give up.

Oh, so anyway. That's part one. I have to work a bit... more on this tomorrow, I think.

Just in Time for My Birthday...well almost.

Coming soon to DVD...



The Flash! will be released on January 10th, two days late for my birthday. I was a fan of this show when it came out, and while I fully expect to find it doesn't live up to the rose-colored lenses of youth, I will be picking this big daddy up. I always thought the show had a chance, and that it was the fact that you never knew what day of the week the show would be on that killed The Flash! Then again it could have been that the show was so low budget that David Cassidy was in an episode as "The Master." A name that probably irked Dr. Who fans, but was a reference to Mirror Master in the comics.

Oh, and Season 2 of Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman will be out on the 17th. This means that we are approaching the dreaded Season 3, to be followed by the underrated Season 4.

Your Local Game Store is Just a Mouse Click Away.

In recent years, the direct to pdf roleplaying game market has exploded. When the industry was in its infancy some of the first products available were pdf copies of classic Dungeons & Dragons modules. In fact, these are a mainstay of some of the current pdf sales portals. Paizo Press (the publishers of Dungeon and Dragon magazines)and Rpgnow offer these classic games at very reasonable prices. Other classic role playing games (like Villains and Vigilantes), by other manufacturers, can be found at drivethruprg.com.

The pdf market is presently dominated by three paradigms. First, most pdf marketplaces offer out of print roleplaying games at very affordable prices. What games are offered varies from site to site, but if you are looking to fill in a collection these portals are a great place to look. Second, is the production and release of currently published rpgs in pdf format. The idea being that some people prefer pdf to print and/or are willing to pay less than the printed version for a copy. Third is the release of pdf only products which allow for small companies to release fairly attractive products at low costs. Anyone who has done any work with printers knows that the "highest cost" item of any product is the printing costs. By entirely eliminating the printing cost from the equation, small publishers can release their products in abundance. A fourth practice (not wide enough to be a trend yet) is the pdf release of products on company sites. Steve Jackson Games, Hero Games, and Pinnacle Games are attempting this practice, though Hero and Pinnacle are taking a different tactic than Steve Jackson. Steve Jackson games offers their own products in addition to other pdf products, while Hero and Pinnacle offer their products at both their own sites and at other "retailers." Steve Jackson products are only available at e23, the Steve Jackson pdf retail store.

Electronic availability of gaming products is an exciting possibility, but it requires a certain amount of consumer honesty. While Drivethrurpg.com had at one time attempted to use DRM protections for their merchandise, they found that such protections had a negative impact on sales. This is due to various negative sentiments in parts of the computer literate community regarding DRM specifically and not protection generally. Other sites have not attempted the use of such technology to protect their products. What this means is that theft is a very real possibility. There is nothing to stop a consumer from purchasing a pdf and spreading it for free across the world, nothing that is except the honesty of consumers. Given that "I'm gonna take it for free because x has so much money already" is the excuse many use when file sharing, most of the independant publishers won't suffer, and given that the "big boys" all produce beautiful hardbound products one would think it wouldn't hurt them much either. But Green Ronin, one of the largest d20 rpg publishers, has encountered a couple of problems in the past year with hardcopy order fulfillment. To quote:

I'll state right off the bat that half of 2004 and most of 2005 have sucked ass for Green Ronin. It's been one discouragement after another, most importantly because our fulfillment partners at Osseum harmed our business more than I can even describe to you when they went out of business earlier this year. I can't even begin to get into the details, which are long and complicated and ugly and messy, but the short answer is Osseum went out of business and was damn close to taking Green Ronin with them. Nine months after ceasing to do business with them, we are STILL suffering the effects of their negligence.

In 2004 and early 2005 we released multiple books that we were never paid for. Big books, hard cover books, color books, even a boxed set. Books that sold! Books that people bought and enjoyed, books that received good reviews, made "hot seller" lists in the game industry, books that were recognized for awards. Books for which we didn't see a dollar. I want you all to understand that when you're talking about how Green Ronin should be doing things better or differently.

So when a major player is suffering on the printed end, theft on the digital end could spell disaster for a company. Thankfully, Green Ronin believes in the digital process and has made their products available as pdfs as soon as they are released as books (they even have some direct to pdf material). So the onus is on us as consumers if we want to see this exciting marketplace continue. Want to share a wonderful rpg with your friend, particularly a classic out of print one, feel free to email him or her the pdf but make sure you bought more than one license or that you don't keep the file if you sent it. It's just marketplace courtesy that allows the possibility of our own dreams of becoming famous starving game designers come true.

Here is a list of recommended pdf products with links. The list is by no means comprehensive, rather look at it as a beginning:

1. The Afformentioned Out of Print Dungeons and Dragons Products. I prefer to buy them from RPGnow because I like their "credit" policy.
2. The free, that's right free, second edition AD&D pdfs available from Wizards of the Coast. Personally, I would download these post-haste as they probably won't be available forever.
3. The Basic Action Games BASH! line of games. These are a good example of a developing designer creating online direct rpgs. I think the system still needs development, it feels like a first edition, but that the company is having fun.
4. Truth and Justice from Atomic Sock Monkey Press. Yes, you will notice a lot of superhero roleplaying games.
5. The GURPS 3rd Edition materials on the Steve Jackson Website. I do believe the prices need to come down because these are out of print items. I think $12 to $16 is competitive for new materials, not old, but these are great products and there is some saving over the printed cost.
6. Savage Worlds from Pinnacle Entertainment Group. These are new products from a great company. You can also buy these books at RPGnow.com. High recommedations for Savage Worlds Core Rulebook, Rippers, and Necessary Evil.
   
7. Deadlands also available by Pinnacle Entertainment Group. Player's Guide and Marshal's Handbook are necessities.
8. Mutants and Masterminds by Green Ronin. This is one of my all time favorite superhero RPGs, it has replaced the old Mayfair system as the one I tinker with most.
9. The Hero System Books. Like the GURPS books these are a little pricey, but they are cheaper than the printed versions. The Hero System is one of the most elaborate gaming systems ever devised. It is extremely "crunchy," by which is meant that it is very rules oriented, but the system is internally consistent. Some of these are also available at RPGnow and Drivethrurpg.com.
   
10. Cyberpunk v. 3 is naturally available as a pdf. This is a revised version of the industry changing system by R. Talsorian Games. Mike Pondsmith, who created the game, is one of the most creative talents in gaming. He has often been ahead of the curve in his ideas (both the Dream Park and Castle Falkenstein rpgs are truly original), and hasn't always benefited from his innovations. His Cyberpunk rpg, for example, brought Cyberpunk into gaming, but it was Shadowrun which combined cyberpunk and fantasy that garnered a bigger part of the market. Oh, and R. Talsorian created the Dragonball Z rpg, an excellent game that was released two to four years to early.
11. The Army of Darkness rpg by Eden Studios. Bruce Campbell...Zombies...you know you want it.

There are hundreds of other worthy products. So get out there and download some classics, or peruse a new idea.

LA Times Offers Oscar Beat Blog

Sometimes you have to give the Los Angeles Times credit. Sure they want to dismiss the blogosphere as inconsequential. Sure most of the writer's they hire are from the East Coast. Sure there is a dearth of local opinion in the opinion column.

But at least they have their own "blog" section, which includes the "Oscar Beat" blog. Okay, it reads like a regular column. Okay, it is apparently only for the Oscar season. But at least they are trying...right?

Some Social Critics Think Christmas is Becoming Too Commercial

Every year, someone writes about how commercial Christmas is "becoming," as if in the past everyone who celebrated Christmas did so with self-denying piety. If you turn on the television today I am sure you will hear the news, but can you really call something that has been discussed for well more than a century "news?"

After all, one century ago G.K. Chesterton wrote about the "Critics of Christmas." Though I guess women wore more hats back then...

One writer against Christmas went so far as to say that the shopkeepers for their own commercial purposes alone sustain Christmas Day. I am not sure whether he said that the shopkeepers invented Christmas Day. Perhaps he thought that the shopkeepers invented Christianity. It is a quaint picture, the secret conclave between the cheese-monger, the poulterer, and the toy-shop keeper, in order to draw up a theology that shall convert all Europe and sell some of their goods. Opponents of Christianity would believe anything except Christianity. That the shopkeepers make Christmas is about as conceivable as that the confectioners make children. It is about as sane as that milliners manufacture women. — G. K. Chesterton, Illustrated London News, January 13, 1906.

The thought that Christmas will "perish" if stores stop saying Merry Christmas, or the government calls Christmas Trees Holiday Trees, is an absurd thought. But it is also a thought suffering from the same lack of faith in the holiday as the intentions attributed to the "consumerist" or the "liberal left." At it's core is a lack of faith that the holiday can stand on its own, without community support. Those who say "Christmas is becoming to consumerist" are not only forgetting how consumerist it has been for some time, but they are also denying the power of the day's message to stand on its own. They are saying that consumerism is powerful enough to diminish the message that we should be giving to one another and be charitable in our lives. In a way, they are committing the sin of believing that G-d isn't more powerful than consumerism. A rational believer might think that Christmas has become consumerist and laugh, then return to their home to a pious gathering of family and friends.

It appears to me that only those who are weak in their faith and need others to constantly support their beliefs who fear that Christmas is becoming to consumerist or that there is a "War on Christmas." A true believer has no care whether Christmas is public or private, has no care whether the retail industry is successful or fails. A true believer, to be cliche, "lives as if every day were Christmas."

On that note, it appears to me that those who seek to make "the proper celebration" of Christmas a greater part of the society ought, in charitable reflection, consider what this says to other groups in our pluralistic democracy. When I look around and hear someone say, the apparantly anti-Christmas, "Happy Holidays," I know exactly what holidays they are refering to. In fact, I appreciate that they acknowledge that there is more than one holiday occuring during this Winter Season. Rather than finding it to be an exclusive statement, I find it inclusive. I do find "holiday tree" ridiculous, because the tree really is a symbol of Christmas and not another major holiday. To return to the question though, how charitable is it to demand that others celebrate and acknowledge your holy day? Yes, it is charitable if they do. If they (whoever they are) say "Merry Christmas," they are being charitable. If they are Macy's they are being pandering. But if you demand that others proclaim the value of your day, you are being an uncharitable bully. Let us not in our desire to express joy oppress others or demand that they feel the same as we do.

We can leave arguments of what legal separation of Church and State are to the law professors for the moment. Regardless of any individual interpretation of the First Amendment, it is undeniable that our nation was founded on a respect for cultural pluralism, in particular religious pluralism and in the modern day a-religious as well. We can celbrate Christmas without bullying others, or requiring others to recognize our holiday. We can be charitable and acknowledge that there are other holidays as well. We should seek to understand them and take the time to remind our neighbors that we appreciate them. It is more Christian of us if we do. After all, Christmas was not invented by other people, it doesn't require the acknowledgement of others to be special. What it requires is that you remember what it means to desire Peace and Joy for yourself and for others.

Quick Headline Rundown for Today

1. According to the Hollywood Reporter, Google has purchased 5% of AOL. For most people this news comes as no surprise, but I was worried that it might not happen when Carl Icahn warned Google against the act. Icahn has been seeking for some time to purchase Time Warner and break it into many little profitable pieces, and given the state of the comic book industry I was worried that it might spell the end of DC Comics. It appears that AOL's threat to shift over to a Microsoft designed search engine influenced Google to invest in the internet service provider. I for one have always thought that AOL was an undervalued commodity that suffered from the dot com bubble burst. The marketing power of AOL is massive and it must provide enough of a user base to inspire internet giant Google to have invested.
2. According to WENN news service (IMDB Pro Subscription Required), Michael J. Fox may be making yet another Back to the Future sequel. This time Fox demands that the character be the same age as he is currently. Sequels are always a tough racket. There is a saying about Hollywood that, "The only thing Hollywood knows how to do is sequels." Implying that the only time they know they can make money is with something that has worked before. I loved the first Future film, hate the second one, and like the third, but I wonder what story is left to tell. I guess we could find out if Marty has really changed, or if he still can't stand being called a chicken.

Wallace and Gromit Release Date

The DVD for Wallace and Gromit: Curse of the Wererabbit will be available for purchase on February 7th. For those of you who didn't see this movie in the theater, go out and buy this film as soon as possible. The film borrows from the old Universal horror films and is truly entertaining.

While you are waiting, you might want to pick up the very enjoyable early adventures of the entertaining duo.

Is King Kong Really a Flop?

Peter Jackson's remake of King Kong has grossed $66.2 million in its first five days in release. It had a disappointing Wednesday release, Monitor Duty has some thoughts on why, and a less than impressive Thursday, but still ended up as the fourth largest December release ever. So let's see...big opening, but not biggest ever, what's the story here? Ah, that's the real question isn't it? Turns out that ticket sales may end up down 6% for the film industry this year and a Kong flop seems the perfect way to end the year narratively. We all know how much the media love their narratives. Nevermind that Kong is three-hours long which cuts into it's number of showings. Nevermind that Narnia is in early release as well. Kong is a flop, just ask the LA Times and it is because there are no "stars" in it.

Just to remind people what a real flop looks like, I would like to make some comparisons:

Town and Country starring Warren Beatty (you know a big name) cost $105 million to make which is about half of Kong's budget. Though inflation adjusted it would be a little more than half. Town and Country had a $10 million worldwide gross. Total. Not opening weekend. Period. That's it.

Ishtar. While we are talking Warren Beatty, let's add Dustin Hoffman to to the mix. Cost $40 million...made $14 million and those are 1987 dollars folks.

Titanic, not a flop at all. Never topped $36 million on any given weekend. Cost $200 mil grossed $1.8 billion. Now I'm not saying Kong is Titanic, but that Titanic never had an "awesome" first weekend. Let's see if Kong has "legs" before we jump ship.

Heaven's Gate. Cost $44 million (1980 dollars), gross box office: $3.5 million.

The Four Feathers Cost: $35 million. Gross: $18.3 million.

Gone With the Wind, Wizard of Oz, Citizen Kane, were all flops when they came out.

Gigli. Cost: $54 million. US Gross: $6 million.

The Postman. Cost: $80 million. US Gross: $17 million.

Shanghai Surprise Budget: $17 million. US Gross: $2.32 million

The Adventures of Baron Munchausen. Budget: $46.6 million (1988 dollars) US Gross: $8.08 million.

Cutthroat Island. Cost: $92 million. US Gross: $10 million.

Hudson Hawk Cost: $65 million. US Gross: $17.2 million.

Battlefield Earth Budget: $80 million. Worldwide Gross: $29.7 million.

Let's not presage the death of a film because it didn't make "as much as expected." Or the death of an industry that has survived the above flops.

Having Background Information is Useful...Being a Geek is Being a Geek

This past Saturday, I had the honor of hosting a town hall forum for some high school students who are interested in politics. In my job outside the village (that's a Prisoner reference), I promote youth civic engagement and this was a wonderful opportunity for some of the students I work with to listen to a diverse range of opinions about a politically salient topic. The topic of discussion, while it mattered to the students participating, is of little concern to the story I am about to share so let us leave it aside for the moment.

My panel was filled with excellent speakers from a broad range of professions, from academia to television writing/directing. I guess the one similarity the participants shared was that all of my speakers had been "published" in one format or another. As I mentioned above, one of the speakers was a television writer/director who has worked/created a number of shows I have enjoyed. As the diligent host, I -- who is already a geeky fan -- did additional background research so that I could have intelligent, but not "fan shocked," conversation. In other words, so that I could talk about what the writer/director is and will be doing rather than asking about minute obscuria from his shows. Who was this individual? Tim Minear, who has worked on no less than four of my favorite television shows of all time (Lois and Clark, Angel, Buffy, Firefly, to name the geekiest), and written/directed some of my favorite episodes. Needless to say, I think I came across as a fan, but not fanboy and was holding my own until the following occured...

TIM MINEAR

Comforatably enjoying his rubber chicken dinner.
[Telling a funny story about his time on Lois and Clark]

So Larry Niven wrote this short story called Man of Steel, Woman of Kleenex that discusses how Superman would kill Lois if they ever tried to have children.

CHRISTIAN JOHNSON
Carefully attempting to stay cool...

That sounds like a lot of the conversations on comic book fan forums. Naturally, these discussions usually end with someone pointing out that only one person is "woman enough" for Superman...Wonder Woman

At this point everyone laughs and the joke is made. It is a veritable conversation coup. But then, alas, something I hadn't planned for occured. My deep geek knowledge, and excitement regarding the current Infinite Crisis, decided to surface. Sure the last comment was geeky, but it was a surface comment and funny. It was meant to be a joke after all, but the next comment was too geeky to be useful.

CHRISTIAN JOHNSON
Continuing obliviously

Naturally this leaves out the "pre-crisis" availability of Kara Starr aka Power Girl. Who was the Earth-2 equivalent of Supergirl, not to be confused with Supergirl who naturally died during the Crisis on Infinite Earths...

chirp chirp chirp

I am still reeling from the explosion of geekdom. I might as well have whipped out my copy of Who's Who in the DC Universe (every issue) and begun a detailed lecture on the multiple Earths and their relevance to the Superman mythos. Enough already...

Note to self, next time just leave it at the Wonder Woman joke.

At least I didn't talk about how disappointed I was that Helen Slater didn't get to talk to Patrick Dempsey when she was on Grey's Anatomy. I had hoped to see if there would be any references to Happy Together. How does this relate to the Lois and Clark/Superman story? Helen Slater played Supergirl, naturally.

Hello!

Yes, long time no postie. Haven't felt very pop culture-y. Anyway, we managed to con our Business Research Professor into endorsing our research into a female-friendly game store. I say 'conned' because everyone knows you can't have a female-friendly game store, right?

Well, it's my wife's idea, and she, being a female gamer, thinks the potential for thousands more is just limited by the loser guyishness of the whole thing. Is it true, or a utopian fantasy? Hell, I dunno. I guess you have the Frag Dolls, and a few similar things. And I've always noticed a reasonable amount of women at local cons,though not as much on the message boards, but I guess that's a second category. So, maybe it's true.

It seems to me that something like this is pretty online-focused. But then again, maybe not. We shall see, won't we?

So, anyway. The point of all of this is...

Wanna take our survey?

:)

Putting the Warcraft Back into the War Against Christmas

While Fox News is worrying about the "War Against Christmas," the ever embroiled citizens of the World of Warcraft are fighting to ensure a Happy Winter Veil.

Greatfather Winter has gifts in store for those who are willing to bring him Milk and Gingerbread cookies.

Higher level denizens can find and ride a Rudolph-like reindeer.

Have a conversation with a Snowman.

Collect snowballs to throw at your friends.

Buy Holiday gear from Goblins.

Many say that Winter Veil is becoming too commercial, and some speculate that the Goblin salesmen may be Horde infiltrators into Alliance territory. But one thing is certain. Winter Veil only lasts from December 15th through January 2nd and while it is going on, new players can join the World of Warcraft for only $19.99. I have to admit that I had my reservations about WoW, but once I started playing I dropped my other MMORPGs almost entirely. This is a fun game, and the seasonal event displays some of its glory.

So come join me, Faldir, over on the Malfurion server for some good times this Winter Veil season.

Why I am a Catholic

Or...for those who thought the Monk in 1st Edition D&D didn't make any sense. This is for you.

Thanks to the Ziggurat of Doom for this one.

In Totally Bogus News, Cuba Won't Be Allowed To Particiate in the World Baseball Classic

Undermining the legitimacy of the inaugural World Baseball Classic, the United States Treasury Department denies Cuba permission to field a team. So much for a real "World Cup" style tournament for baseball.

Why Hackers Hate White Wolf: DRM, Success, and Misunderstood Ideas

Geeks of one type are often geeks of another kind as well. This is especially true of Role Playing Geeks, many of whom are knowledgable and skilled computer experts. Some rpg/computer geeks are the kind of people who have strong opinions against Intellectual Property protection, you know the kind of people who believe that "information wants to be free yo!" Music, books, tv show, if one know's how to use bit torrent or one of myriad other ways to download entertainment on to your computer, you can find what you want and not have to pay for it. Well, White Wolf games decided to attempt aggressive measures to protect their IP, and it appears that the less than scrupulous have decided to make them pay. You know the type, those who make Windows based viruses because Micro$oft is evil, and everyone should be using Linux anyway.

White Wolf has had some aggressive IP protection policies in its past, and I believe that is why they had to release the following press release:

Dear White Wolf Users,
Like many other well-known companies of the last few years, White Wolf was the target of an attack by international hackers this weekend. These hackers are now attempting to extort money from us with the threat of posting user data to the internet. We have

no intention of paying this money, and are in contact with the FBI in an attempt to bring these criminals to justice.

We are choosing to make this public so that our users and fans can take any precautions needed to protect themselves. We are recommending that if you have used your White Wolf user password as the password for any other services you use on the internet, that you change them immediately.

These hackers were able to exploit a flaw in our software and access user data, this data included usernames, email addresses and encrypted passwords. As far as we can ascertain, they were unable to access any credit card data (nor have they claimed they did). However, it is possible for the encrypted passwords they accessed to be decrypted given enough time.

In addition, the site will be down for the next few days while we evaluate some of the software we are using and take appropriate action to help prevent future attacks.

We appreciate your patience and concern while we work through the details of this process.

In addition to this posting we will be emailing our userbase with this information. For correspondence regarding this, please direct all queries to wwaccounts@white-wolf.com .

Why would hackers want to attack White Wolf? Is it really for the "user information" and possible fraud that can be gained from Credit Card information? Possibly, but I believe it is because of their aggressive IP policies. Someone wants to make White Wolf pay.

What are these aggressive policies?


When White Wolf began its online e-book service for roleplaying games (Drive Thru RPG.com the pdf files they offered where protected with DRM technology. DRM is a kind of digital registration program which prevents (or helps prevent) filesharing by tracking each individual file and requiring proper registration. There are some technical issues with DRM, as Adobe came out with new editions of Reader old DRM files sometimes couldn't be opened, Linux (information wants to be free yo!) users are adamantly in opposition to them, and there is a possibility that DRM files could leave security backdoors. A "carnival" presentation of many of the griefs against White Wolf and DRM can be found at Boing Boing. Needless to say, by instituting the very unpopular (among a very sophisticated crowd) technology White Wolf made a few enemies. White Wolf eventually removed the DRM protection and decided to go for a "watermark" protection which lists the purchaser of the product as a watermark. Thus is they suspect file sharing, they can find out who is the root sharer, but tracking/discovering theft is nigh impossible.

Then early this year, White Wolf attempted to protect their IP and ensure that those who charge others to play in events based on White Wolf products had to pay a royalty fee. This didn't mean that people playing the game for fun, in their homes, had to pay a royalty as the permission was in the purchase.

Rather White Wolf was looking at their products as a type of interactive theatre production and that others were charging people to participate in White Wolf based "live action" theatre events. White Wolf believed that those charging people to play in "live action" events should pay White Wolf a licensing fee. Their view was that it was the equivalent of the local theatre company having to pay rights on any play it charges an audience a fee. Some people might have a knee jerk reaction, and many did, to this and scream, "I shouldn't have to pay to play a game!" They are, naturally, correct. You shouldn't have to pay merely to play a game. But some people do charge to run Live Action Role Playing events. At it is wrong to think that when others are charging to play White Wolf's intellectual property that the people who are already charging players to play don't owe a royalty to White Wolf. It isn't hard to figure out folks. If you are making money off of some one else's IP, then you owe a portion of the proceeds to the creator(s). If I make a CD filled with me playing Johnny Cash songs, and I charge for the CD, I owe the Cash family some money. If I charge for a production of "The Producers" by Mel Brooks, I owe Mel some green. If I charge money for running an adventure in the "World of Darkness" using rules created by White Wolf, making money solely because it is White Wolf IP, then I owe White Wolf money. The only reason people who charge for their "storyteller" services are making money is because they are running a White Wolf game. But as you can see from discussions, many people don't care and were downright angry at the prospect and White Wolf had to reverse their policy.

Needless to say, you can see I am very much in favor of protecting IP, I don't hesitate to call filesharing theft. Maybe it is that my wife, and many I know, work in fields where IP is costing individuals I care about money. I can say adamantly that it is. It's funny how everyone wants to become a millionaire musician, writer, or artist, but that no one wants to pay for the products that others make. Filesharing and theft of IP seem to me to be childish, "I can take it for free so I will and they can't stop me!" behavior. The defenders of it make ridiculous arguments and mock the advertisements made to defend Intellectual Property. I can't tell you how many people are employed by the entertainment industry. I can't tell you how hard they all work. I can tell you that every time you download a file for free you are taking money from struggling songwriters, game designers, sound mixers, sound editors, journalists, etc. Instead of looking at what you are getting, think about what you would be losing if it were your product. Sure you might like millions of people to look at your creation, fame is desired by many. But fame doesn't pay the bills when you are older.

Marvel to Offer Digital Backissues

Marvel Comics has announced they will be doing aggressive online launch of current and classic comic book titles. Marvel has had limited "dot comics" availability in the past, but the December 14th announcment makes it clear that Marvel views digital presentations in Flash format are a part of Marvel's marketing future.

As Cinerati has discussed before, comic books are in many ways "loss-leaders" for the companies that produce them. When an excellent print run of a comic book is 100,000 the profit margin on a monthly basis is fairly low. In order to make reasonable profit comic book companies rely on either licensing of their intellectual property or, in the case of Marvel, the release of IP in other formats. Both DC and Marvel, as well as other comic companies, release their intellectual property in the form of movies, action figures, and games. In the past, Warner Bros., who own DC Comics, have had one up on many competitors in that they were able to reap all the profits from their theatrical releases. Marvel on the other hand has had to deal with unpaid licensing fees. The recent struggles over the Spiderman franchise have led Marvel to create their own production studio. Warner is still reliant on other companies, among them ToyBiz the owner of Marvel Comics, to produce their game and action figure merchandice. Marvel has had an advantage in the toy market since they were acquired by ToyBiz when the action figure manufacturer realized it would be cheaper to buy, the then bankrupt, company than to pay licensing fees.

Marvel's press release (below) focuses on how the digital comics will introduce the comics medium to a new audience, an audience who consumes Marvel media in other formats. Marvel gets a double benefit out of the deal. First, some who read the digital comics will want to read the real thing and thus increase the profit of the loss leader. Second, the digital comics work as a permanent advertising campaign for Marvel intellectual property. Fans of the Fantastic Four movie who eagerly await the next film (to be released in 2007), will be able without charge to read the past and continuing adventures of the Fabulous Foursome.

For those who think current fans will be disgusted and end their comic purchasing ways, remember how few you really are and that new comics like Nextwave will not be offered in the digital format. If the only comics "hits" Marvel gets are digital, they will make sufficient profit on the other media to compensate and new fans will want physical copies. In other words, the disgruntled will be replaced and the market may even expand.

Wouldn't you, the comic fan, like to share your hobby with a new generation? Think of the Dot Comics as Afternoon Cartoons that require kids to be able to read. That's the right mindset.

Marvel is embracing the digital medium as a second loss leader and shouting out to the competition, "It's Clobberin' Time!"

MARVEL GOES DIGITAL! HOUSE OF IDEAS LAUNCH CLASSIC & CURRENT COMIC TALES ONLINE!

Industry giant Marvel Comics has launched their popular characters and their adventures into the digital realm. Marvel.com is to be host to online versions of classic and current tales of Spider-Man, the Hulk, X-Men, and more. Stories from throughout the company’s long history will be translated into a form that can be viewed right off the fan-favorite website.

“There are two audiences that we're trying to reach,” observes Peter Olson, Creative Director, Online for Marvel Entertainment. “For people who have only been exposed to our products through movies and TV, we want to use this as a vehicle for introducing them to comics as a medium. For our long-time fans we feel it'll be a good way to check out titles they aren't familiar with and also to catch up with our archives.

“I'm working on a classic X-MEN run right now, actually,” he says, with the gleam of a true fanboy in his eye.

Although a black and white version of a Nextwave digital comic was shown to a select group of the press, there are no plans to make the digital version of this comic available to the general public. Nextwave #1 (Diamond code: NOV051973) will be available in local comic shops on 1/25/06.

Marvel is truly excited about the launching, especially concerning the technology being utilized. Every effort is being made to make online comics viewing a joy for the fan. “The reader is extremely flexible,” says Olson. “It allows the user multiple ways of
going through an issue, including a very innovative ‘smart panel’ mode that allows the reader to focus on the book one panel at a time. It provides convenience for the user as they can read their favorite comics from any computer with an Internet connection.”

John Dokes, Marvel Director of Marketing and Business Development, is understandably proud of this new venture, as well as eager to receive feedback on its operation. “Offering Marvel’s characters and stories in a new way such as this is something we’re very passionate about. We believe that there’s a large percentage of comics fans that will simply love to view our comics online and we hope we can all work together to make this as pleasurable and successful an operation as humanly possible.”

“The thought that classic Marvel tales and their current counterparts are being translated into the digital realm is as exciting as it is comforting. They’ll be preserved and strengthened for future generations.”

As this new feature of Marvel.com ramps up, the posting of stories will increase. “We'll be adding several new issues every week. Eventually it'll be up to one new issue every week day.” Dokes points out.

To view the newly launched Digital Comics, visit http://www.marvel.com/digitalcomics/catalog/catalog.htm

To find a comic shop near you, call 1-888-comicbook

Great News for Game Fan Programmers!

One of the common arguments made against strong intellectual property rights is that it limits creativity and the growth of a given media area. This argument is frequently made my DJs and was the cornerstone argument for why "Disney is evil" in Bob Levin's The Pirates and the Mouse. Levin argues that some characters have become a part of the cultural tapestry and that artists should be allowed to manipulate these characters in the creation of a kind of patchwork art. This would be similar to sampling that DJs do, but visual rather than aural. Levin doesn't point out that the case law created by Disney's agressive protection policies has created a legal history which is very helpful to the small fry, but he does make some compelling arguments against IP in perpetuity. The intellectual property protection in the Constitution is supposed to foster the public good by providing financial incentive for the creator while also allowing others to "stand on the shoulders of giants" and advance the arts.

From Article 1 Section 8:

To promote the Progress of Science and useful Arts, by securing for limited Times to Authors and Inventors the exclusive Right to their respective Writings and Discoveries;

We can debate what "useful Arts" means or what "limited Times" means, but that is unnecessary as Congress passed copyright laws very early and they are a well established part of American law.

What is amazing is that Vivendi Universal has shown that the marketplace can allow for the protection of IP while also allowing for fans of a given intellectual property to create new versions of existing IP. Vivendi Universal has decided to allow the fan created King's Quest IX to be created by the current fan only public creation team. According to the agreement, "Vivendi Universal Games (hereafter VUG) granted a fan license to Phoenix Online Studios to continue work on the KQIX project. As part of the negotiations between the two companies, VUG required a change of name of the project. As a result, "King's Quest IX: Every Cloak Has A Silver Lining" will now adopt a new name: "The Silver Lining"."

Mods, minor program modifications, have become somewhat the norm in the game fan community, but this marks a new high point for the industry and leaves open the possibility that companies may make available more IP which is financially not viable but has a loyal and talented fan base.

Holiday Fun For The Family

In the spirit of Americans being so addicted to violence that it permeates fully their lives. I offer you a Savage Worlds edition of the Holidays.

The War on Terror has opened on a new front -- Toyland is at War!

An early Christmas present from GWG/PEG!

Back by popular demand is the highly entertaining Battle of Christmas Eve. This free Savage Worlds adventure, by the ever-so-slightly twisted Wiggy should put you in a festive mood.

Christmas is coming, and across the land, children are fast asleep, waiting for Santa to deliver their presents. But for one little girl, Christmas is about to ruined by the Mujafuzzeen, diabolical toys intent on causing havoc in the real world.

Only the heroes of TIC-TOC can defeat the Mujafuzzeen and save Christmas. But is there time?

Find out in The Battle of Christmas Eve.

Pinnacle Entertainment is once again offering their Holiday Season themed scenario packet for the Savage Worlds game. I played this last year and had a great time. Maybe I'll do it again this year.

To play the scenarios you will need a copy of the FREE Test Drive Rules for Savage Worlds. Savage Worlds is an easy to learn and fun to play role playing game that bridges the gaps between playability/complexity, speed/realism, and wargame/rpg. Do yourself a favor...Save Christmas!

Awaiting The Prestige

In October 2005, Cinerati reported that Christopher Nolan (Batman Begins) would be returning to his mystery roots with The Prestige. The upcoming movie about competing magicians in London at the end of the 19th century will star Christian Bale and Hugh Jackman as the rivals. The Prestige is based on the World Fantasy Award winning novel written by Christopher Priest published in 1995.

The first disappointing news regarding the upcoming film was reported in today's Hollywood Reporter. It appears that Scarlett Johansson will be appearing in the role of Olive in the film. The Olive character exists a small, but important, section of the novel and the inclusion of Johansson in the role gives a hint as to how the film is being adapted from the source. The narrative of the book spans from the late 1870's to the modern day with Olive appearing during the early 1900s.

Given Nolan's talent and his displayed ability to narrate "internal" mysteries while playing with narrative structure, Cinerati had hoped that Nolan would cover more of the time spanning rivalry than is now likely. Johansson is too large a name to be given a minor role, though I am baffled at her appeal to casting directors since her best acting was in Eight Legged Freaks. It appears that starring in self-indulgent artiste fare directed by enfant terrible is what constitutes stardom today.

The narrative of The Prestige, the novel, reveals itself like a magic trick. In fact, the title itself comes from magician lingo (the word means illusion in French). To quote from the novel:

An illusion has three stages.
First there is the setup, in which the nature of what might be attempted is hinted at, or suggested, or explained. The apparatus is seen. Volunteers from the audience sometimes participate in the preparation. As the trick is being set up, the magician will make every possible use of misdirection.
The performance is where the magician's lifetime of practice, and his innate skill as a performer, conjoin to produce the magical display.
The third stage is sometimes called the effect, or the prestige, and this is the product of magic. If a rabbit is pulled from a hat, the rabbit, which apparantly did not exist before the trick was performed, can be said to be the prestige of that trick.

But the word prestige has numerous other meanings as well. It can refer to one person's standing in society or within a profession, it can also imply wealth. The difference being as between prestigious and prestidigitation. Christopher Priest's novel uses the word prestige to represent all the above definitions and a couple more. His use of the word is tricky and it is the root of the conflicts and mysteries contained within the novel. Both magicians (Alfred Bordon and Rupert Angier) seek prestige, and use prestidigitation to acquire it, but both also have secrets to keep and both conceal parts of their private lives. The reasons for this deception are best illustrated in a discussion early in the book about the Chinese magician Ching Ling Foo.

I saw Ching perform only once, a few years ago at the Adelphi Theatre in Leicester Square. At the end of the show I went to the stage door and sent up my card, and without delay he graciously invited me to his dressing room. He would not speak of his magic, but my eye was taken by the presence there, on a stand beside him, of his most famous prop: the large glass bowl of goldfish, which, when apparently produced from thin air, gave his show its fantastic climax. He invited me to examine the bowl, and it was normal in every way. It contained at least a dozen ornamental fish, all of them alive, and was well filled with water. I tried lifting it, because I knew the secret of its manifestation, and marvelled at its weight.

Ching saw me struggling with it but said nothing. He was obviously unsure whether I knew his secret or not, and was unwilling to say anything that might expose it, even to a fellow professional. I did not know how to reveal that I did know the secret, and so I too kept my secret...He walked with his head bowed, his arms slack at his sides, and shuffling as if his legs gave him great pain.

...But logic was magically in conflict with itself! The only possible place where the heavy bowl could be concealed was beneath his gown, yet that was logically impossible. It was obvious to everyone that Ching Ling Foo was physically frail...

...The reality was completely different. Ching was a fit man of great physical strength...the size and shape of the bowl caused him to shuffle like a mandarin as he walked. This threatened the secret, because it drew attention to the way he moved, so to protect the secret he shuffled for the whole of his life. Never, at any time, at home or in the street, day or night, did he walk with a normal gait lest his secret be exposed.

Such is the nature of a man who acts the role of sorcerer.

Of the two magicians in The Prestige one is like Ching Ling Foo, his entire life is an illusion. The other is a master performer, but unlike the above narrator needs others to reveal tricks before he can perform them. One is a natural sorcerer and the other is a natural performer. Both seek the secret of the other's most magnificent trick. Both tricks involved the transportation of a man from one location to the next, but both have different causes to similar effects. One, like much of magic, is simple when discovered (or is it?) and like most magic tricks the simplicity of the trick can ruin the effect. Once you know a trick's secret, the trick can only be judged by the performance/ingenuity and not the illusion. The magic is lost. The second trick's secret is the reason why The Prestige won a fantasy award.

Mystery and deception fill The Prestige, as does magic, in a tale filled with adventure. And no tale of the turn of the century would be complete without Nikola Tesla, who will be played by David Bowie in the film, and The Prestige delivers.

The novel masterfully incorporated real world magic history into its narrative. In one of those great moments of serendipity one finds in life, I found a wonderful book about the time period by chance at a local Borders. This book was about the famous Chinese magician Chung Ling Soo, not to be confused with Ching Ling Foo, whose own life was filled with mystery and one deep secret. Chung Ling Soo, one of the most acclaimed Chinese magicians of London, was not Chinese at all. Not only that, he own "real" identity turned out to be filled with deceptions as well. You see, Chung Ling Soo was really William Ellsworth Robinson, a former magicians' assistant and the husband of Olive Robinson. "But even William Robinson was not who he appeared to be, for he had kept a second family with a mistress in a fashionable home near London." Chung Ling Soo was an imitator of Ching Ling Foo, who was a real magician who's actual name was Chee Ling Qua and he became a formidible enemy of the American impostor. The biography of Chung Ling Soo, The Glorious Deception by ingeniuer Jim Steinmeyer is a wonderful narrative of real world rival magicians and living deceptions. The Glorious Deception displays that no matter how good a fiction might be, sometimes reality is even more exciting.

The number of parallels between the books is remarkable. Both magicians in The Prestige battle for the affections of Olive. One of the magicians has two homes -- the first with a happy family, the other with his mistress. One of the magicians in the novel, like Chung Ling Soo, was inspired by Ching Ling Foo. The list goes on the similarities between the magicians in The Prestige to the life of William Robinson are fun to find. One could only assume that Christopher Priest had read The Glorious Deception as part of his research. But that would have been impossible! For while The Prestige was written in 1995, The Glorious Deception was just released in 2005. It is as if we have witnessed a new magic trick...write a fiction novel and have it transported into the future (months before a film release of the novel) and transformed into a real life biography. Unlike with most magic tricks though, finding the "secrets" increases the appreciation of the fiction, but in this case the real world "illusions" are in some ways more fantastic than the fictional.

Old News About Spielberg and Electronic Arts

Back in October it was reported by EA games and the Hollywood Reporter that Steven Spielberg would be partnering with EA games for 3 next generation titles. Exciting new for the game industry indeed, even if it passed under Cinerati's radar at the time. What makes this news truly exciting is that Spielberg seems to understand that the future of digital entertainment is in Home use and not in the Theater. The financial burden of changing celluloid theaters into digital screeners is significant and, while it may be the long term future for the industry, seems unlikely to be the near future direction of the industry.

As the consoles, and PCs, which run games are becoming more powerful, the videogame industry has reacted by making videogames both more realistic and more interactive. New graphic capabilities have lead to beautifully rendered "animated" sequences filling the gaps between game levels on fight games, and nearly seemless narratives on roleplaying style console games. With each generation of game the Final Fantasy series becomes more an more like an interactive movie. A feature that audiences seem to enjoy. EA has taken the model of video game as interactive movie to heart and last year donated $8 million dollars to the USC School of Cinema-Television to set up a three-year Master's program in interactive entertainment as well as endow a faculty chair. It doesn't take more than ten minutes playing Fable or X-Men Legends to see how closely related the videogame industry is to film in narrative creations. Even the acting unions have entered into negotiation battles with the video game industry understanding that it is part of the entertainment future.

Spielberg has long been a visionary in the connection between videogames and film. Shortly after he founded Dreamworks SKG, the studio announced it was creating a video game division. Dreamworks Interactive released a monster game in 1999, Medal of Honor, which combined cinematic and narrative techniques with interactive play to good effect. In 2000, EA purchased Dream Works Interactive and has annually released sequels/expansions of the Medal of Honor franchise. Medal of Honor, the game, was a video game inspired by Spielberg's successful Saving Private Ryan and has left in its wake a large World War II first person shooter legacy. While Castle Falkenstein may have been the first successful WWII shooter, the Medal of Honor series took the action out of the "fantastic" and into the visceral.

According to the Hollywood Reporter (article linked above) Spieberg is an avid gamer who is quoted as saying, "I hve been playing EA games for years and have watched them master the interactive format...I am looking forward to working closely with the team in Los Angeles."

With an ever expanding DVD market, a changing theatrical market, and a burgeoning On Demand market, the video game industry is establishing itself in a strong place in the entertainment field. Those worried about the future of aspiring filmakers need only consider Neil Young (the VP of EA Los Angeles) comments, "The goal here is to have the first true collaboration between filmmakers and game makers. I'm personally excited by the opportunity to work with Steven to build games that don't just engage players with their interactivity but also try to move them emotionally."

Those who think that the future of the video game market will be dominated by programmers and math geniuses need look no further than the creative forces behind World of Warcraft and City of Villains to find games designed by "writers" and not "coders." Like film, video games are produced by multiple departments: Sound, Writing, Directing, Acting, Cinematography and Special Effects. The coders control the last two (and contribute to the technology available to the others), but it is the visionary creators who will rule the day.

Marvel Battle Dice Images Available

Matt Forbeck, game designer extra-ordinaire, has posted images of his forth-coming Marvel Battle Dice game. There seems to be a trend of mainstreaming superhero miniatures games. On December 7th Cinerati mentioned the upcoming non-collectible Teen Titans game by Bandai and according to Forbeck the Marvel game should be releasing in January.

This news bodes both positive and negative for the "gamer" industry. The gamer industry is a small cross-section of the overall gaming industry. The broader gaming industry includes all kinds of board games and toys, everything from family games like Monopoly to specialty games like Warhammer. The gamer industry, on the other hand, is a niche market made up primarily of specialty games devoted to the comitted "gamer" rather than the casual player.

The expansion of what would typically be constituted as a specialty game, in this case a superhero miniatures game, into the mainstream market is a positive trend for gaming as a whole. Gamers are continually looking for new players to enjoy games with and the entry into the niche marketplace by mainstream gaming companies is a positive trend in this regard. It also provides a glimpse of a possible stable gaming future where games designed by talented specialty game designers are widely available. Fans of specialty games remember fondly the days when the full line of Dungeons and Dragons products were available at Toys R Us and this may signal a return to such popularity.

On the other hand, if the current specialty gaming companies who produce a wide array of excellent games are unable to gain access to mainstream retailers this may be a sign of a crisis in the industry. While many Number One has talked to are excited about the Matt Forbeck designed game, there are others who wonder what this will mean for the popular Heroclix game by Wizkids Games. Wizkids games is a current "gamer" company which has made a great deal of headway into the mainstream marketplace, especially with its Heroclix property. If the Battle Dice game fortells the loss of the "miniatures" license with Marvel for Wizkids, this could spell financial troubles ahead for the company. This could mean trouble for the industry as well, as Wizkids is one of the larger niche game companies. Wizkids is the perfect example of a corporation attempting to adapt and expand its role in the marketplace.

The primary concern of consumers isn't usually the health of any particular company, but the industry as a whole and thus the most important concern is product availabilty and quality design. As long as talented freelance designers like Matt Forbeck, who also works with Wizkids, are designing games the gaming industry has bright days ahead.

Kung Fu Assassins Attack UCLA

This Sunday, December 11th (scroll down to the bottom of page), students from the Deadly Venoms school of kung fu will descend upon the UCLA campus to battle over who will inherit the school's treasure and legacy. Will it be Toad? Snake? Centipede? Lizard? Or the mysterious Scorpion? Who knows? (Well actually I do, but I'm not telling).

If you've seen Five Deadly Venoms you know it as a poorly dubbed Chop Socky classic. In fact, it is one of the all time great Shaw Brothers films. But you haven't really seen the film until you've seen it on the big screen (35 mm) in Mandarin (with subtitles) and remastered. Awesome.

Gaming Goodness for the New Year

With the coming of the New Year, and possibly in time for my birthday, two new interesting gaming products will be released. The first is based on an entertaining, but soon to be cancelled, television cartoon series. The second sees the return of a cornerstone Role Playing game into the market.

Though the television series may be cancelled at the end of this year, that hasn't stopped Bandai from releasing a new Teen Titans "miniatures game." The game is not collectible in the random sense and it doesn't appear that it will be ultra-complex, but it is a Teen Titans game. Naturally, I must own all three sets. According to ICV2 the game will "come packaged in sets of four characters along with a comic book page that doubles as a game sheet, a character-shaped die for game play, and one third of an inte

rlocking piece that forms an exclusive Communicator when consumers collect all three sets in the series. Each Teen Titans Comic Game Heroes package (MSRP $5.99) also includes a game card for the "Battle Communicator" LCD game."


I wonder what Matt Forbeck, whose Marvel Comics based Marvel Battle Dice will also be released next year, will think about this? (You can read all 6 of his articles about the dice here).








For those of you out there who love three things -- Westerns, Evil Dead Movies, and Role Playing Games -- great news for the upcoming year. Pinnacle Entertainment has made it's official announcement regarding the Deadlands: Reloaded game. Deadlands will see release early in 2006. Sure this is four or five months behind schedule, but fans of the RPG have been waiting years for the update (since the d20 synthesis/crisis).



The Deadland game is set in an alternate version of America's post-Civil War past in which ancient spirits have been awakened and where the Supernatural is a regular threat. The threat is less in the civilized areas of the East (but still present), but the Supernatural thrive in the West where brave adventurers, hearty homesteders, and wealth seekers journey forth.

To quote the Pinnacle Website:

"Each epic tale features detailed information on a specific place or event, and puts your posse smack in the middle of things for a customizable campaign of horror and glory! They’ll ride with Wyatt Earp, protect Deadwood from the all-too-real Ghost Dance, learn firsthand about the Reckoners and their servitors, and maybe even take some of ’em down."

For those interested in the earlier incarnation of Deadlands, the majority of the rulebooks (there are over 50 of them) are available as PDF files from the Pinnacle Website. Pinnacle will include a conversion guide for newcomers who wish to use older material. Shane Lacy Hensley is one of my favorite game designers (he is also working on City of Villains for the PC), so someone looking for a combination of Lovecraft and Deadwood should make Deadlands there first stop.

Will the Harry Potter Series End With the Death of Harry Potter?

The current speculation in the British press is the upcoming final volume of the Harry Potter series will end with the death of the eponymous hero. The Mirror has the story, which demonstrates to wonderful effect the tabloid nature of the British press, where all things must be controversy and scandal. Speaking of which, assume an identical story to air on Fox New soon as sensationalism is Murdoch's stock and trade.

Why do the British press think that Potter will find his final end? The following quote by the Audio Book actor who portrays Potter in the US Audiobooks:

"She's lived with Harry Potter so long she really wants to kill him off."

So Jim Dale makes it clear that Rowling is becoming tired of writing Potter books, so much so that she "really wants to kill him off," and that automatically means we should assume he dies in the next book? I don't think so. I do think that it means we should assume that Rowling has written a couple of private short stories that do the chap in. Maybe she has even written a Holmes pastiche where Potter is the victim and Holmes gives up because he doesn't like the chap. Maybe she has even taken to browsing various Potter/Weasley slash fiction sites. I don't know what it means except that she is done writing the book and is happy she gets to move on.

And Potter fans need not worry, she has indeed finished the book.

Rowling has already revealed she has written its last chapter, in which Harry and his chums come of age.

But the only detail of the top-secret project is that the final word is "scar".

So let's see...she has written the book, which I imagine has completed its major narrative movement before the final chapter (as she has done in every book so far), and the final chapter is about how "Harry and his chums come of age." Is it supposed to be after this point that she kills Harry? Well, heck that could mean he dies of old age...or cancer...or a Quidditch accident at the next World Cup.

But to rumor mongers it means he is brutally murdered. I don't know if Harry dies or not. I do care and I will buy the book and read it. But I would buy it and read it even if I had full knowledge that he lives until the end of time.

Does one of the most popular fiction series in history really need this kind of rumor -mill manipulations to increase the sales of the next volume?

I think not.

World Baseball Classic Finals Prediction

I predict that the United States will play...the Dominican Republic in the March 20th Championship Game at Petco park.

Why?

Hmm...let's see.

Dominican Republic:

SP Bartolo Colon
SP Pedro Martinez
RP Antonio Alfonseca
RP Duaner Sanchez

1B/DH David Ortiz
1B Albert Pujols
2B Robinson Cano
2B Alfonso Soriano
SS Miguel Tejada
3b Adrian Beltre
RF Vladimir Guerrero
LF Manny Ramirez

United States:

SP Jake Peavy
SP Dontrelle Willis
SP Barry Zito
SP Roy Halladay

RP Jason Isringhausen
RP Billy Wagner

C Jason Varitek
1B Derek Lee
SS Derek Jeter
3B Eric Chavez
CF Johnny Damon
CF/LF Carl Crawford
LF Adam Dunn
LF Barry Bonds

These aren't even complete lists, but no one really compares to the depth of these teams with the possible exception of Puerto Rico.

For a list of players by country look no further than the World Baseball Classic site.

Thanks to Fruits and Votes for the info.

Headed Immediately to the Stygian Abyss of the Garbage Can Comes...

Conan the Collectible Card Game. Comic Images, who currently publishes the Raw Deal WWE Collectible Card Game, will be releasing a Conan card game in the near future. As noted by gamingreport.com the game will have 55 card starter decks (at $10.99) and 11 card booster packs (at $3.49). This would have been huge news 13 years ago, but the barbarian will have to overcome significant market forces to be competative in the current CCG marketplace. It might have been nice if Comic Images had asked themselves the following question, "Just how big is the Conan fanbase and of those how many are interested in a Collectible Card Game?"

This isn't to say that the mighty Cimmerian doesn't have any market clout, he does, but I find it hard to imagine that there is muc CCG appeal here. Imagine the following:

Howard Fan 1: Okay, I tap Conan the Reaver who decides to attack your Juma the Unyielding card.
Howard Fan 2: I "sacrifice" Juma in order to play Conan the Avenger from my hand to intercept your Reaver. I pump his strength with the Thulsa Doom card from the Kull expansion, while increasing the Avenger's strength with the "By This Axe I Rule Card."
Howard Fan 1: But you have forgotten that I had played the "Red Nails" card which prevents you from playing Kull expansion cards during combats.
Howard Fan 2: Ah, but I had played the Ashton card which allows me to ignore all modifying cards if they prevent the play of Atlantean modifiers. This, plus the fact that I had played the Tower of the Elephant location card means that I get to add Juma's strength to the Avenger card because Elephant makes all sacrifices increase the player of Thulsa Doom's character's strength.
Howard Fan 2: Fine. I activate Aquilonian princess, who prevents Juma from being sacrificed because she must be sacrificed instead.
Howard Fan 1: Okay. Who wins. Conan or Conan?

Any time the resolution of a game ends with who is tougher Conan or Conan, I think the playability is a little lacking.

Now if Fantasy Flight were releasing this as an expansion of their Call of Cthulhu card game...that I'd play. How you ask? Well, Clark Ashton Smith, Robert E. Howard, and H.P. Lovecraft used to take elements from each other's writing and add it to their own tales. They had a kind of "shared universe" if you will. That would be interesting, but Conan vs. Conan should only be a conversation referring to the quality of various adaptations (i.e. which Conan movies/comics/RPGs are better).

Get Killed in Original, Return for Sequel

Sarah Michele Gellar, who played the hapless victim in the Grudge, will be making a return to the franchise in the Grudge 2 slated for release October 2006.

The Horror Channel covers the story here.

Peter Segal to Direct Get Smart Movie

Peter Segal (50 First Dates, Anger Management) will direct a big screen version of the adventures of agent 86. So far it looks like Steve Carrell will play the Don Adams role.

So, what do you think?

Looks like a good match to me, but I hope that Carrell adds a little more depth to his performance than his role in Anchorman. Apparently, Carrell is also slated to star in a sequel to Bruce Almighty entitled Evan Almighty.

The Road from LA to NY Apparently Goes Through Florida

First Mike Piazza goes to the Mets via Florida, now it looks like Paul LoDuca may be making the same trip. Sure it's taken him a litte longer than Mike to goes from Florida to New York, but I still find this ironic.

On the Dodgers' side of things, well they still don't have a coach but, it looks like they will be adding Rafael Furcal to their roster next year. Furcal is a good shortstop and will be a good addition to the Dodgers. Even after other players heal up, the addition of Furcal will add "flexibility" and depth that the Dodgers lacked last year when they had to pull from the minor league well too often last year. It is likely that Izturis, the Dodgers' current SS who will be out until July, will be moved to Second with Jeff Kent moved over to First. If this ends up being the case the Dodgers will have upgraded both offesively and defensively and that could lead to a post-season appearance.

Fantasy Flight's Beowulf the Legend Requires Luck to Win and Imagination to Visualize

October 2005 saw the release of Fantasy Flight Games Beowulf the Legend, the latest in what can only be described as an explosion of board games produced by the company. Beowulf the Legend was designed by board game designer extrordinaire Reiner Knizia and is graced with artwork by artist John Howe (those how watched the Peter Jackson version of Lord of the Rings have seen interpretations of his artwork). While Reiner Knizia is a genuine board game superstar, not all of his games are equal nor are all releases of his games. Sometimes the mechanics fail to impress, sometimes the graphic design fails to impress, and sometimes the relationship between the mechanics and the theme of the game is hard to discover. So how does Beowulf the Legend rate in the categories and one additional category, component quality?

Mechanics:

To begin, how are the mechanics of Beowulf the Legend? First, they are surprisingly simple. The game play is divided into 36 episodes, each representing an individual event in Beowulf's adventurous life. To quote the rules, "In most of the episodes players compete for fame and awards...Whoever has the most fame and the most treasure to their name becomes Beowulf's successor and wins the game." In order to compete in the various episodes players are dealt "activity cards." Two of the cards are given to all players: one Beowulf card (representing Beowulf participating with the player in a given episode) and one fighting card with 2 symbols (representing the prowess of the shieldbearers). In addition to these two cards each player is dealt five more cards frm the shuffled activity card deck.

There are three types of episodes --Minor, Major, and Treasure -- and each of the episodes is resolved in a different manner. Before I continue, it should be noted that all players arrive at all events at the same time because they are Beowulf's companions. A Beowulf piece is moved forward one event after the last event is completed. There are three types of Minor episodes, most of which add, or change, the cards in the player's hand or reduce the number of "wounds" suffered by the player.

Major episodes, which depict the significant events and challenges of Beowulf's life (fighting Grendel as opposed to Sailing to Geatland). Major episodes, unlike minor episodes which are likely to add cards to a player's hand, are resolved in one of two ways. "Simultaneous Play" episodes are resolved by players secretly selecting cards from their hand and placing them face down in front of themselves. When the cards are revealed, all cards with a symbol matching the symbol of the event are counted (Beowulf cards are wild cards) and the player with the highest total gets the most prestigious award from the event and the player with the next highest total gets the next most prestigious prize, and so on. After the selection of gifts is made, any cards that did not match the symbol of the event are returned to the respective player's hand. So player's are allowed to bluff. Only the cards matching the event are discarded. So players must choose which events they wish to spend cards on wisely. This is further complicated by the second type of Major event the "Clockwise Play" event. In this event, the players -- starting with the "first player" who is initially the youngest player -- begin an open bidding war where they must play at least one card and must equal or exceed the number of matching cards of the prior player play continues until only one player is either able or willing to continue adding cards to the pot. When a player cannot, or will not, play a card they are removed from the episode. Player's receive "status markers" in inverse order of when they were eliminated. In a five player game, the first player would take status marker 5. Awards are then divided, with the player with the highest status (the lowest value card, i.e. 1) getting first pick of the available awards. The player who had the lowest status (the highest value card) become the "first player" in the next major event.

Treasure episodes are similar to Simultaneous Major Episodes except they can only have one winner.

When players reach the Death of Beowulf event players resolve this major event by revealing their entire hand. The player with the most cards with "symbols" is given status one, and so on, then the players select the awards for this event. At the end of the game players total their fame and treasure in the basic game (or merely their fame in the advanced game), the subtract points for injuries suffered along the way (no one wants a new ruler who is close to death after all) and the player with the highest total wins.

In essence, this is a public and secret bidding game which combines elements of luck and strategy where players must choose which events to win and which to lose in the manner associated with their cards. Given the high regard given to "trickery" in the epics, the secret bidding (Simultaneous play) episodes are a nice mechanical edition. In essence the game is simple to play and takes roughly 30 minutes to an hour to complete.

Graphic Design:



As you can see, the game is beautiful to look at, though there are not a lot of small details for player's to gawk at in multiple playings. What I found the most appealing was the shape of the board. As an inverted L, rather than a square or straight board, the board represents both the eventual termination of life and the fact that it can take an unexpected turn.

Components:

Like all of Fantasy Flight's recent games, every thing post-Lord of the Rings, Beowulf the Legend has high quality components. Like many American companies in recent times, Fantasy Flight Games seems committed to having games that have component quality comparable to those in the European gaming market. The "chits" are large and printed on heavy cardstock with nice graphic design. The only minor quibble would be that the fame tokens are not wooden are plastic, but given the lush design of the game and the added cost that would cause to an already significant price ($39.95) the addition of wood pieces seems foolish.

Relationship Between Mechanics and Theme:

The game play section begins with the following quote:

As a player you accompany Beowulf on his travels and adventures. You stand by him in all his exploits ready to assist him in both word and deed. The aim ofhte game is to achieve fame and rewards in the form of fame, treasure and alliance tokens, special cards and additional activity cards. It is all played with one goal in mind: to win Beowulf's recognition and favour. At the end of the game, Beowulf's successor -- and therefore the winner of the game -- is the player who possesses the most fame and treasure.

By the description it becomes readily apparent that the scoring system matches the theme, but what about the bidding resolution system? Does such a system represent the furious action of the battle scenes, or the political negotiations of the Hall scenes? To fully answer this, one must understand what the cards in each player's hand stand for. There are six types of activity cards representing the following: Travelling, Friendship, Wit, Courage, Fighting, and Beowulf. When the players play the individual cards in the events they are representing those kinds of actions. So when a player plays Travelling (an example would be Hunting the Sea Hag as they sadly left out the famous swimming race) he or she is demonstrating their ability to travel swiftly. With fighting cards players are representing their skill with arms. It would take too long to detail how the mechanics work in each individual scene, so I will select two where I think the mechanics do indeed support the theme, but which also require a little inductive imagination. The first scene is the King Hrothgar's Hall Major Event. This event is a simultaneous secret bidding event where the player who bid the most "Friendship" cards is the winner. Using a bit of imagination, one can visualize the companions of Beowulf planning their "toasts to Hrothgar" in secret and revealing them in the Great Hall. Each boasting of how much respect he (or she as this is a board game) has for the great king. The mechanics also work with the Grendel's Attack Clockwise Play event --which requires both courage and fighting prowess -- it seems only natural that the player exhibiting the most courage and fighting ability should win the day. In fact, the bidding process in a way simulates the scuffle as the companions help Beowulf before Beowulf finally takes things fully in hand and removes the arm of the beast.


Overall, I have found Beowulf the Legend to be an innovative and interesting game which is easy for the novice to learn and which is highly replayable.
You can download a pdf copy of the rules here to see if you might be interested in owning this new game.