The Boba show

Superman, again
So, the big news today is that Warner Bros. is looking to reboot the Superman franchise... again. That's not news, really. They've talked about it for a bit. Seems no one liked that whole Superman-as-deadbeat-dad reboot. Go figure. Here's where it gets interesting, Warner is bringing in Christopher Nolan as an advisor on how to approach the new film(s). Keep in mind, he's (probably) not going to direct them but help Warner figure out what they should do. Hopefully that won't include making Superman "dark." Dark is Batman's territory, that's why it works for him. Superman is not dark. Also, Superman would not knock Lois Lane up and then bail. Superman saves planets and solar systems from giant planet and solar system-eating robots -- he doesn't stop half-baked real estate scams, no matter how big or how much Lex Luthor has to do with them. Anyway, hopefully things work out for Supes. Oh, the article also mentions that Nolan and co. have begun the script phase for the third Batman film.

24
Does the idea of a 24 film excite you? Then prepare to get even more excited. Are you prepared? Hmm? Good. Turns out the long-talked-about 24 film may happen. I might even go see that if it does.

Star Wars
That whole Star Wars live action (possibly) cable TV show is starting to gel. It sounds interesting on paper, I guess. Darker, more character driven, well written. Let's believe it when we see it but it just might work. I mean, I was skeptical about the Clone Wars and I kinda like that show. Although, this one is being billed as "Sopranos meets Deadwood in space" and apparently features a young Boba Fett "making his way in the universe" while dating a Twilek prostitute. Two out of three facts in that last sentence are true. Having trouble picking them out, aren't you?

EA busy
Electronic Arts is a big corporation. They make some good games, and if they don't they buy the companies that do. At their recent shareholders conference call they announced a buttload of new games and initiatives, including a 2011 release for the new Dragon Age game and Crysis 2, among others. They also mentioned that Dead Space 2 will now be a 2011 release instead of the original 2010 announcement.

And finally…
Hey, remember that EA conference call I just talked about? Yeah, they also announced that there will be something seriously "far-reaching" for Mass Effect coming in 2011 as well. What could that be? A lot of people are saying Mass Effect 3, but how "far-reaching" is that? It's the last part of a planned trilogy, it's sort of the opposite of "far-reaching," no? Could it be an MMO? The Mass Effect universe would definitely lend itself to one of those given all the different cultures and abilities and whatnot. But who knows? I guess we'll have to wait and see.

The Player: Mass Effect 2

Did I mention that I had to go on a suicide mission? Yeah, that is happening. Like, in the next day or so.

One of the things I love most about Mass Effect 2 is its focus on the goal. From the get-go, you know the stakes: Commander Shepard must assemble a team of the galaxy’s roughest and toughest to take on a mission so preposterously difficult, it’s (essentially) a suicide mission.

That’s pretty much the game right there. Yes, Mass Effect had Shepard focused on stopping a single foe as well, but getting from A to B included hours of traipsing about the galaxy exploring planets, stopping pirates, discovering artifacts and being awesome in many different ways. It was a lot of fun, it introduced us to the vast universe of the game and rounded out everything nicely with its sandbox-y feel.

In ME2, pretty much everything you do is about the mission. No more fucking about and chilling with space monkeys: shit got real. (Yes, Martin Lawrence/ Marcus Burnett real.) Once you take on the mission: you spend a lot of time recruiting your 11-member team. Then you spend a lot of time helping them sort shit out so their head can be in the game. When you’re not Mr. or Miss Human Resources, you’re collecting resources and tech to make your ship and weapons awesome enough so that some of you might come home – or at least make it so your enemies regret ever pissing you off.

I keep thinking of two analogies for the differences between the two games.

One is that Mass Effect was like a TV series, lots of breathing room, time to get to know a lot of different characters and mine the minutiae of the universe. ME2 is if they took that show and continued it in a two-hour blockbuster film. It’s concentrated, focused and all the more intense for it.

The other one is simple: Mass Effect was the regular season, ME2 is the playoffs. No more room for mistakes.

And it’s the mission (and 90% of the game’s focus on it) that makes it so. It’s always looming there. And now it’s all that’s left to do.

For my part, I’d say my companions deaths are what’s looming most. I don’t know if we’ll all make it back. I’m not going to say that I like everyone on my team, but I like most of them and there are even some whose deaths would upset me a lot.

All I know is that I’ve done my best, we're well prepared, we're pissed off and no matter what the odds, you should never count me out.

Tell Liara I love her…

Pump Fake: Super Bowl radness

Hi. Long time no see. Or write, as it were, a-ha-ha-ha. Anyhoo. I've been busy. Saving the universe in the 22nd Century takes up a lot of spare time and mental space. I'm sure at some point I'll have had my fill of (space) adventuring, whoring it up with secret (space) agent ladies and shooting various (space) aliens in the face and will maybe start writing this blog again. I'll assume that crushing silence is both all of you shedding quiet tears of joy.

So, yeah, the Super Bowl. Guess, I'll put my two cents in. First off, this was my dream match-up way back when both teams were, like, 5-0. A Manning and Brees showdown sounds just about right and no matter who loses, we all win. (Or something like that.) But yeah, this should be a doozy.

As for a prediction, I'm taking the Colts. Manning is on a tear, the Saints looked unconvincing against the Vikings -- even after, like, 57 turnovers, it still took OT and a field goal to win. So, I don't know. I'm thinking the destiny thing may not happen this year. But who knows? All we can ask is that it's still a game going into the second half, right?

Now, back to killing aliens. Hard.