The League of Extrordinary Bloggers- Comic Books.

So I just got the new league assignment it's a simple on I guess. Two words, COMIC BOOKS. Now what to do with them. It's easy to talk about a myriad of comics, I have been a fan as so many here have for most of my life. from the glory days of Spiderman and the Sinister Six, to the Spectral Lanterns and the New 52, which pretty much put me off of the whole Marvel/DC vibe. Sure I could wax nostaligic about Warren Ellis' incredible Transmetropolitan, or Judd Winnick's Barry Ween: Boy Genius, Or even put up something about comics from other countries, Like Lise Meyr's Nemi, Judge Dredd, Hub's Okko, or even classics like the Beano (I always preferred Whoopie for Sweeny Toddler!) or Asterix. But Let's instead talk about a comic that really got me thinking about the medium as an art form one of the first real big jumps out of the superhero comfort zone, and for me that book is Donna Barr's Desert Peach. 

I was in high school when I first heard of this book. I had first been introduced through a magazine called Amazing Heroes-  More specifically, the Swimsuit specials, Amazing Heroes had artists draw comic characters in bathing suits before Marvel did as kind of a geek fanboy answer to the only issues of sports illustrated most of us would buy. Beyond the titillation of Phantom Lady, or Super Girl in less clothing than they normally wore (what do you want I was a hormonal teenager at the time and yeah that really appealed to me at the time!) Nestled in this first issue was a one page talking about the Desert Peach, Erwin "the Desert Fox" Rommel's gay brother, and the misadventures of his company. As a red blooded American teenager with less sense than prejudgement, the idea of a comic glorifying gay Nazis sickened me. "The guy who writes this sick stuff should be horse whipped!" Then I looked again, and actually read the entry. There was more here than just some perverse fanfic as I may have earlier suspected, including the fact that the guy who wrote it is actually a gal! It looked to be genuinely interesting. So I picked up the first issue with trepidation and read.

In short totally worth it. The book is about the 351st Gravedigging and support Battalion in deed lead by Manfred "Pfrisch" Rommel, henceforth to be known as the Desert Peach. His platoon is a company of slackers and stray dogs who make for an interesting group but are not evil Nazis, but simply Germans (and a few Non Germans) who are in the army doing their jobs. It is far more about misfits in the military than any kind of glorification any taboos. The other crew are some incredible characters, CPL Udo Schmidt, who is the Peach's Valet, is your typical everyman slacker, and the only actual member of the Nazi Party, He joined as a kid, but not because he believes in Hitler, or his revolution, they were buying the beer! We also have Doberman, a crazy pill popping soldier, who has a pet anti tank mine (No he's not all there, why do you ask?) Major Raushling, the ever suffering camp manager, and Lt Winnzeig who is a tin plated Schastika wearing jackass loyalty officer, who is not a part of the Nazi Party, because where he comes from, they had to pay dues. There is even an American POW who edit's the camp's news letter, and makes the occasional escape attempt.

It also had some powerful moments, issue 13 for example was a real eye opener, done in a somewhat different style it tell's the story of Doberman's return trip to Berlin after his pet landmine goes off. Doberman gets pulled into concentration camp guard duty, something he is far from suited for due to his lack of sanity and actually having a human soul. when he tells the Udo, and he relays this to the Peach they go right to Erwin, who is hell bent to confront Berlin on this madness until he finds out that this all came from Doberman meaning he probably dreamed it up crazy S.O.B. It is a sad and incredibly well written moment. to see the horrors of these places through this character's eyes.  I even told Ms. Barr, she did not print my letter but she did send me a hand drawn postcard (which I unfortunately lost in a move DAMNIT!)


That being said it's a comic about the 2nd world war, from the German point of view, that has nothing to do with any pro Nazi message (issue 4 is an incredible and riotous attack on the Nazi party politics!) It was once described by a critic as being like M.A.S.H. without the depressing bits. Issue 13 proved that last bit wrong but I could not say enough good things about this book, If I piqued your interest, She does do her book as a web strip now, and has her complete collection of books (including Stinz which is also excellent, but imo not quite as good) for $45 plus shipping on her site here- http://thedesertpeach.com/store/

Meanwhile, at the League of Extrordinary bloggers,
Bubba Shelby Waxes Nostalgic about Plastic Man!
Fortune and Glory (days) talks about the Man of Steel!
Yelena goes through the gammut of comics!

In defense of Mr Simbeidia.

So recently i dipped my foot into the whole Kickstarter thing. Being a gamer it's becoming almost a necessity for some things (DAMN YOU STEVE JACKSON WHEN CAN NON KICKSTARTERS BUY OGRE ALREADY!?!) Being also a huge fan of Robotech the godless otaku geek in me went straight for Robotech RPG Tactics, the newest game by Palladium books, and their first miniature release. It was funded in under 3 hours and has had quite the list of stretch goals which tend to be sent to me by email daily. It looks good. It looks real good. Not since Fasa illegally copied robotech designs have we had easy access to Tomahawks, of the VF-1S in miniature form. Yeah I am pretty giddy about this project, but some have said it looks great as long as he is not using that old ass palladium system as the basis.

As you can tell by the demo it is not. But it hit me why all the hate for a game system and creator that have been essentially the same for all this time? I can recall my first experiences with palladium (TMNT the RPG) the system was derivative of AD&D 1st edition with a lot of improvements, a fully fleshed out skill system, careers for classes, selfish alignments and SDC/Hit points to give characters both a better fighting chance at first level, and a more detailed idea of just how hurt they were. Is this system perfect? No, and when compared to modern RPG systems like Storyteller, Savage Worlds or M&M, it does look dated. Of course many things that are over 30 years old look dated. Which looks more modern, Sega Master System or the PS3, graphics and game play aside? Same with toys Look at the original He-man, and compare him to the new Masters of the Universe classics figures Mattel sells today. The new He-man does not look like he is constipated, and besides articulation, the figure simply looks better. Same here, it's unfair to judge palladium against newer games. The only way you could is if Palladium like so many game companies did massive upgrades such as AD&D, first edition had no skill system, and required the chart in the DM guide to determine to hit, 2nd ed gave you a basic formula to hit, and added "proficiencies" a somewhat broken skill system. 3rd ed reversed the order of Armor Class, added a more robust skill system, and feats, while 4th edition homogenized the classes simplified skills and introduced powers. My point is that while there is some similarity between 1st ed AD&D and what is now called D&D4, They aren't actually the same game. This is far more common in gaming than what Palladium does, and as often times it bites companies in the ass. D&D 4 was not the success 3rd edition was, and Same with Paranoia 3rd edition (named 5th edition for a joke), Cyberpunk 3rd edition was also a large failure for many reasons. Imagine if Monopoly did that, new monopoly had players using a movement system based on transit type and expenditure of money for fuel. you must enter an escrow phase to buy land, it might make the game more interesting, but is it still monopoly? I'm pretty sure my 1st edition Robotech rpg rule book is not completely out of sync with the new Shadow Chronicles rule book, because I know it's still the palladium system, They didn't change to an all d6, narative system, or an elaborate dice pool mechanism. so a few tweaks to make sure I am correct about my modifiers and I am good to go. It's kind of nice in a way. I know palladium gets a lot of guff for this, as well as copy pasting many parts of their games to speed up the workload, but in many ways this also makes for consistency. You aren't going to be surprised for better or worse.

As their first foray into miniatures gaming, I gotta admit it looks damn good, it is not the old paladium house system but looks to be fast and sleek while evoking the feel of the much loved and classic animated series, that has stood the test of time.

If Hasbro was smart...

Recently hasbro released a toyline called Kre-o, which is their attempt to rival that perennial brand lego. Unlike their previous attempt, called Built to Rule, This one employs minifigs and has been more successful. Another key difference with lego is that the brand has only produced products based on Hasbro owned intellectual properties. This includes Transformers and Gi Joe, which have done well so far, Battleship (which tanked like the movie) and the newest sets, based on Star Trek, which will most likely sell as it's the closest we will get to Star Trek Legos and having a legoeque Enterprise to sit next to your lego Star Destroyer would be cool. The benefits of toys like lego and other building toys for a toy manufacturer is clear, the pieces can be repurposed by both the end user and by the manufacturer. Those grey bricks from the failed battleship line can still make use in Star Trek as starship hull parts. and the mini figures for the most part can be repainted with rare exception, requiring only a few potentially unique parts. So with this in mind I think Hasbro would do well to make sets based on some of their properties from the 1980s that don't get as much love. After all by continuing production does help with copyright claims and it does not require a full retool to make figures for a line in this format. also these figures can help to gauge interest in possible re release as full toy lines. here are a few of their lines that would make excellent Kre-o fodder.

5- M.A.S.K. Originally held by Kenner, this line was part of the buyout of Kenner by Hasbro, and in it's day was every bit as popular as G.I.Joe and the Transformers. In short M.A.S.K. was an espionage variant on the G.I. Joe theme with the mobile armed strike kommand taking on the forces of Venom, each having vehicles and accessories capable of transformations from mundane vehicles or terrain into combat vehicles and weapons emplacements. also the heroes has special helmets or "masks" that gave special powers to the user. while they did release the leader of M.A.S.K. as specialist Trakker in the GI Joe 25th anniversary line, this never panned into retooled or rereleased full sets, probably because it was cost prohibitive to retool some of the bigger toys to the larger 3.75" figure scale, mask figures were like 2.5" or so. but as kits even big sets like boulder hill could be released more cost effectively and they can be made mostly out of bricks they already produce.

4-Inhumanoids Created and sold about the same time as Jem, Inhumanoids were about a group of adventurer geologists called earth corps, who are defending the earth from the subterranean evils of the inhumanoids Metlar, Tendrill and D-Compose. along with other heroes and villians in the line it was pretty ambitious in it's day for it's 14" monsters like the repainted Tendrill above, but the line was not a huge seller. In a lego scale, titanic monsters could be kits more like lego's bionica or hero factory lines. more heroes and minions for the villains could be produced easily at lego scale and more cost effectively. Leading to the never released 2nd line and possibly more.

3- Visionaries Knights of the Magical light. as they were also known were a line of techno-fantasy figures that used holograms on their chests and banners to call forth magical forces. Hologram stickered kre-o figures and toys would be a breeze. Vehicles and figures again easily repurposed, and viola, fan favorite back at small cost.

2- C.O.P.S. vs CROOKS Another old school 1980s toy line that fits the G.I. Joe Mold, C.O.P.S. was about surprisingly enough police officers in the future facing off against a cartoony mob of villains for control of Empire city. Again Easy fodder for a legoeque re release.,

1- Sky Commanders Another kenner buy out and not extremely popular in it's day but it's main gimmick (I.E. zip lines)  has a high play value and is supremely easy to replicate on the smaller scale. It is probably more likely to work on the kre-o scale than in the M.A.S.K. Scale they originally sold in. this and selling blind bagged figures for these lines (like they do for transformers, GI Joe, and Star Trek) could allow them to hold on to their copyrights and put out some amazing kits. Well that's my opinion anyway.

The Sleepover

So this is the new assignment from the League of Extrordinary Bloggers :

You have the opportunity to spend the night at any residence in pop culture. Where do you go?

I had to think about this one, I mean there are plenty of choices- Victoria chose the mansion of Darla Dimples from the film "Cat's don't Dance" which I have never seen, a bit of a pink nightmare in my opinion. Jason  chose to spend a night in the burbs, with Bruce Dern, Tom Hanks and Carrie Fisher before she got all crazy and stuff. And Ian? had a few options including area 51, and the Big Bang theory apartment.  As for me there are all sorts of choices, the Tardis, a Stateroom on the USS Enterprise, or Babylon-5 even the Batcave. but My luck there would be a Dalek attack,Borg assault or I would got caught up in a deadly political game of cat and mouse with a Centauri, or just gassed by the Joker, so nah, I want a place with geek cred, cool adventures but where I can view in relative safety and luxury. So here is my vote- TRACY ISLAND! 

swinging pad on a tropical island with all the luxuries and tech abound. most of the action in the show took place far away from their fabled abode. just sun, sand and high tech rockets that pop out of the swimming pool. Crystal blue waters, and some ingenious bat cave like environments with far less threat of sociopathic supervillians ruining my vacations. As an added bonus, lady Penelope.

Need I Say more?

 It seems like a win to me. and nicer than club med, or some overpriced Caribbean resort!

You Suck Marion!

Yes I called Pat Robertson "Marion" it's his real name. This sad old Bastard is having yet another go at Dungeons and Dragons. So let me start off this with a bit of history. Marion "Pat" Robertson (he calls himself Pat, as it was his nickname as a kid, and Marion is too feminine for he homophobic jackass. Anyway Marion ran a small christian broadcasting network that had hired a husband and wife team named Jim and Tammy Bakker to produce a christian puppet show, and Bakker did work founding another show called the 700 club. Well it became super popular with it's demographic so Marion (being the money grubbing asshat he is!) ousted the Bakkers and took the show over since then it has been his pulpit.

Marion has used this pulpit to bilk old folks out of their pensions for years, and to pimp christian products while attacking non christian media as "the devil" he also put himself on quite the pedestal, attributing miracles to himself and implying above human powers. just look at this ad for his "Diet Shakes"

He blamed Haiti for the typhoon that hit them in an accusation that seems to come straight out of a bad episode of Star Trek TNG.

and of course for me there is alway his relentless attacks on D&D the game that "Literally destroys lives" I have played D&D/Pathfinder/Warhammer etc. and the most damage it has done to my life is from small minded followers of Marion Robertson proving they are good christians by being self righteous little assholes and chastising me for my hobby. A hobby that encourages literacy, critical thinking, resource management, and teamwork. In short this man is a modern day pharisee, and if there is a god, I hope we see publicly his judgement of this man who uses the words of christ for his own selfish gain. I myself am an atheist, but as I have at least read the bible, I can tell this guy is missing major chunks of it for his own gain.

JLA Movie Part II- Fixing the Green Lantern.

So this is part 2 of my suggested ways to make a JLA movie worth watching. I have made no secret of my dislike of the Green Lantern movie. It was total crap.  Despite the ways it was probably more true to the comic than Iron Man (Which besides being a box office hit, was a great film.) It spent too much time screwing up some pretty big sacred cows. and Hal came off as a fratboy man-child without any shred pathos or humanity. That being said I have heard people start the chants of REBOOT THIS BADBOY! After all it worked for the Hulk.

But the Hulk was different in many ways. One I don't think people hated Eric Bana as Bruce Banner, or Jennifer Connley as Betty Ross, or Sam Elliot as General "Thunderbolt" Ross. But Ang Lee's attempt to turn what is the closest thing to an American Godzilla story (in short, who want's story HULK SMASH!) into something as gripping, artistic and romantic as Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, or Life of Pi. generally pissed off American movie goers who wanted the Hulk to be a mindless popcorn movie. Thus not only was Bana cast out, but the whole cast Betty was now Liv Tyler, and her Dad was William Hurt. and the first movie was at best alluded to, and more often flat out ignored. Then as new Hulk Edward Norton and Marvel had a falling out He was recast in the Avengers by Marc Ruffalo. This is one place where DC can do better.

One of the nice things about the Green Lantern is we can oust Reynolds without having to push into the cheap reboot "this never happened!" area.  Let's use the fact that we can follow a different lantern instead, and this time let's do him right. In short I say we introduce John Stewart. No not the Daily Show host/comedian, but the second Green Lantern of Earth. It's simple, start the film with Coast City being the site of a major cataclysm. Hal failed. Other heroes tried to help, but to no avail. Kind of the opposite of the Marvel, end of credits reveal some clue as to the upcoming project Avengers, start the movie with a quick encapsulation done by showing news clips including shots of Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman etc, trying to stop the cataclysm (I am thinking a preemptive strike from apocalypse.) Hal has a breakdown, maybe even hinting toward parallax when Oliver Queen, (the Green Arrow) plays the voice of reason, and snaps him out of it (especially better to have Nathan Fillion playing Ollie, IMO) This is when Hal, decides to relinquish the ring and take a sabbatical. The ring then seeks out Stewart coming home from his tour of duty, and about to start civilian life. feeling the loss of his camaraderie and life in the corps. The ring gives him new purpose and a good reason to do a more space based adventure.  and for Stewart here is my choice-

actor Michael Jai White. White may be known by some in his forgettable role as Al Simmons/ Spawn in the film Spawn. But this is a great case of poor direction and a character with little personality. White has some serious chops and can pull of comedy as evidenced by his film Black Dynamite, a comedic homage to the blacksploitation films of the 1970s. where he plays a bad mutha pimp action hero named, ironically enough Black Dynamite. I am a firm believer if you can do comedy, action and drama are easier. Don't believe me, watch Robin Williams in One Hour Photo, and then watch Stallone in Rhinestone, or Deniro in Rocky and Bullwinkle. In short a perfect replacement for Van Wilder there. I think White can lend a gravitas to GL that is sorely needed, and will also make for a more diverse cast for JLA, Sure I prefer Jordan, but Stewart done right severely trumps Jordan done poorly!

any thoughts? love to hear em'

DAMN IT!!!

SO I have been looking at the new Star Trek game for the PSIII with almost as much enthusiasm as the movie. Trek has, unfortunately had a tumultuous history with video games a few good (starfleet academy ect) some bad (see the NES version) but this looks pretty good as a over the shoulder action game, and if done right I would be quite pleased mores because I had heard that the PS Move would get it's own phaser.

As all three of the big consoles decided to embrace the movement tracking schtick this time around after  so many non gamers flocked to the Wii for it's unique controls and easy to pick up play. I was impressed how Sony had at least tried to make the move not just a rip off Wii. Using the standard playstation eye meant you could but move in pieces rather than the whole console or expensive upgrade  options the other companies used. The other thing is they have tried to make motion gaming part of hard core gamer titles such as Resistance III, and Kill Zone III as a  supplemental but not required way to play. It's actually much more fun than i expected to pull out the rifle attachment and play full screen. that being said I thought phaser? Hell Yeah! but it was not to be. I mean just look at the thing! it's awesome add the epic fail of Star Wars Kinect, and it puts some serious prominence on move and Star Trek.
Oh and this is what I mean by Epic Fail of Star Wars Kinect-

So yeah Star Trek move could not dare be this kind of embarrassment to the franchise!

Ah Retro Gaming.

A few of my favorite things...

This is a "game" for the first video game console, the Magnavox Odyssey, no cart inside, but a set of TV overlays (for color) mapdoard, playing pieces and other game components. 

The Odyssey system itself, yes that clunky square thing in my hand is the controller and it's as comfy as it looks!

Emulators! We don't need no stinkin' emulators! When we play Samurai Showdown II it's standing up with a full arcade unit like god intended.

200 MB cartridge, and it's about the size of a Nintendo Wii, Gotta love the Neo Geo, it's a perfect example of go big, or go home! 

Who would win?

My Money's on Brock, I took this shot for a photo contest on action figure insider, I was told I won, but never got my prize. Bastards!

Feelin' crafty

Well, actually feeling like showing off my craftiness, enjoy.

JLA Movie Part-1 How to fix Wonder Woman

This post is inspired by something I read on Topless Robot recently. It was a list of the 8 things DC/Warner Brothers needs to do to get a JLA movie off the ground. and for the most part I kinda agree. But more than that I think many of the things needed to turn the DC universe into the powerhouse marvel has had lately needs more detail. So with that in mind here is my first in a multi part series on what I think would make an excellent lead up and hopefully a good JLA movie.

PART-1, Wonder Woman.

I think it's amazing how many people think this is some massive question mark on how to turn this into a good or even decent film. Yet Thor was a fine film just as mystical just as fantasy and as far fetched as Wonder Woman Yet somehow fraught with less challenges, why? Simple. Thor had less stakes, well that and a penis. Many people focus on Wonder Woman as a sex symbol, and just as a woman and this is in my opinion one of the things that holds the character back. Case in point I have heard people say that Jessica Alba would be awesome for this role because she is "hot" and done comic movies before, but there are more criteria than just a hot girl we can put in a brunette wig. By comparison, women love Robert Pattinson but no girls ever suggested that he should play Thor, he's "hot" according to many, and has done his share of geek films (Harry Potter and the accursed Twilight films at least!) Don't get me wrong Chris Helmsworth was inspired casting. And this is what Wonder Woman needs. This also goes with the costume. The newest attempt at a wonder woman film had Adrianne Palicki dressed in a costume that looked like poor cosplay, but the kind you find at Spencer's gifts. If we try to push the hawtness that will easily supersede the plot and character. What we need is to use a costume and feel that pays tribute to her Amazon or greek fantasy origins. less of this-

And more like this-

As for plot and foes, lets stick to some DC cannon, and to this let's avoid girl villains who seem to be there because girls need to fight girls, this can be a real slap in the face to what wonder woman is, a symbol of empowerment, not just a hawt chick we can get into a catfight (Meao!) My choice, is Ares, god of war. An epic foe with a large story behind it.

In short this is where we need to take this film. Make her a warrior, a hero , not just some hawt chick in a skimpy outfit and you could have an incredible movie.

first impression

So this week, the League of Extrordinary Blogger's assignment this week is, you guessed it, first impressions. Las Vegas Yankee http://jathniel.com/journal/4/15/2013/1st-impression-that-gets-me-everytime talked about the man of steel's first flight from the Alexander Salkind film. Very cool moment but for me I'm going with Doctor Who.

Here is a man who makes more first impressions than most, and sometimes to the same people. But for me his entrance from the first episode of the BBC reboot, the episode "Rose".

The set up was classic, of course it helps that the audience mostly knew what the doctor is, but it's fascinating that his introduction to Rosé is not some exposition about his time machine etc. instead he is busy bombing a building to deal with a bunch of autons. best damn quote, "I'm the doctor by the way, and you are?" "uhm Rose" "pleased to meet you,now RUN FOR YOUR LIFE!"

It's an impression that has brought us 7 more seasons of the galifreyan with the England obsession's adventures, so I guess it had to be pretty effective on us too.

DYNAMAN!

While looking over some of the seething nerd rage caused by the League of Extraordinary blogger's assignment this week I saw this little gem http://fortuneandglorydays.blogspot.com/2013/04/league-of-extraordinary-bloggers-i-hate.html?m=0 and it reminded me how disappointed I was when I first saw this show. I worked for the TV Station KJMH at the time (your local Fox Station) and I saw that we were getting a redubbed sentai show and it immediately reminded me of Dynaman!

During USA's Night Flight, Dynaman took a Japanese sentai, or "battle team" action show and dubbed it with pop culture references and Mystery Science Theatre style comedy. They also used a rocking 1980s soundtrack. It was comic gold and somewhat more adult than it's original audience would have been. Led by Doctor Ho, The five good looking Japanese friends from all walks of life faced the evil antics of Bernie Tanaka and Mel Fujitsu. So When fox announced this show I was figuring this may be a slightly tamer version, but no instead we got this crap!

Sad as crap, Let's watch more DYNAMAN!

The New Model SUCKS!

Often times your favorite pop culture institution goes through a major change and to quote Mr. Horse from Ren and Stimpy, "No sir, I don't like it!" It's like Doctor Who fans say you never forget your first doctor, but the one after is bound to cause some ire. I remember all the nerd rage over David Tennant "Come on man, he looks like he's like 12 years old!" Same was complained by Jon Pertwee fans "This jackass is all teeth and curls!," Tom Baker fans "Who the hell is this prettyboy!" and Peter Davidson fans "this new doctor is a total clown, just look at the way he dresses!" And of course this is more than Doctor Who,  Trekkies get it too with new series, and with the new movies (though I am shocked at people hating on the new movies myself).  And the less said about the Star Wars Prequels, the better.

So that's my question, what is the new impelentation of a classic pop culture icon that just pissed you off to no end. For me I have a few, the first is Dungeons and Dragons 4th edition.

Now to be fair I was never the biggest D&D person to begin, but as it was the biggest game in the hobby thus you have to deal with it some times because of that. I was always more of a runequest fan because the rules were more realistic and interesting. I put up with people in the 2nd edition calling my beloved RQ archaic and old while their system was "modern" Really? Modern? you still use levels, have a ton of "just because" rules (Why cant mages use swords, because they are mages!) etc. etc. but 3rd edition was an incredible improvement. More tactical, and engaging, it did a lot to improve the inherent goofiness of the D&D rules. and other than the D&D revolution (which is a rant for another time) D&D had actually moved into my stable of enjoyable fantasy games.

Then came 4th. TSR had been bought by Wizards of the Coast (the makers of Magic the Gathering) who in turn were bought by Hasbro. That's right Hasbro, makers of G.I. Joe, My Little Pony, and Mr. Potato Head! in fact the afore mentioned d20 "revolution" was really an attempt to sell more players handbooks by saying you can use the basics of the OLR to do what you like but must require the use of the player's handbook in a full d20 version of the rules. (too bad clever game companies found several loopholes and then began to release their own many clones with different and many may say better feel.  Through company brainstorming it was determined that D&D and in deed all roleplaying games as a hobby were circling the drain! to attract new blood we need to make the game more like a rising star in the gaming industry, the MMO. And thus D&D 4 was born, with online content. World of Warcraft terminology, and an attempt to homogenize the classes to the point of uselessness. The whole game was now like the old video game gauntlet. Wizards and Elves had different ranged attacks (magic vs arrows) but no real difference other than semantics. It was a perfect example of the company over thinking and mass packaging a good thing. Others have argued that progress is important. But when it is mutated beyond the point of being recognizable is it progress or something else? So what about you guys what is the big implementation hat you think sucked? New Star Trek, New Star Wars, new Coke? let me know!

Is there such a thing as channel rehab?

So the Syfy network has been optioning some pretty big stuff this upcoming year. RIngworld Blake's 7 and more Syfy sounds like it may indeed be on the right course. Now let's talk about that stupid stupid name!

Back in the day Syfy was simply the Sci-Fi Channel. The name worked and it stood for what they were going to be broadcasting much like other narrowcasting cable channels did like MTV, BBC America, BET, and Lifetime- Television for Women. At least that's what it used to be. the change to the name Syfy was done to de-emphasize science fiction in their line up. This means they can get a wider audience with professional wrestling, direct to video action films, and other shows that have at most a peripheral connection to science fiction. And they are not alone. BBC America the purveyor of fine British television has been showing x-files and Star Trek TNG (which ironically would make more sense to be on say a sci-fi channel) Now I get that since Patrick Stewart is British and the principle lead, but there are plenty of shows with British actors on TV shows here in the states. Are you going to start showing Mr. Belvidere or House? and how the hell is X-files british other than Gillian Anderson going british after the show ended. This is a common strategy of narrowcasting to "broaden their base" but it's more like exchanging their base. I mean when was the last time you saw music on MTV is a common complaint for a reason. Less music videos and more Jersey Shore, is this a good thing? I mean how many sci fi fans were turned off by pro wrestling, or fans of british commedy would quickly turn off TNG? Maybe that's why we see Syfy going back the other way, trying to gain back some of the credibility it lost with reality shows like Mad Mad House and Who Wants to be a Superhero? Now let's change the damn name back. It would go a long way to letting people know what you stand for.

Then ditch the damn wrestling.

2 other George R.R. Martin i want to see NOW!

HBO has learned that George R.R. Martin is a cash cow. Season 3 of a Game of Thrones made record ratings prompting them to fast track a 4th season. That being said he has a couple of other projects I would love to see. If these shows make it to air i may reconsider my atheism. You heard me God, get crackin!

WILD CARDS

This one admittedly could be a tough one to do within budget, unless it's animated. but there are over 20 books you can have a Simpsons level of seasons without issue. For those who don't know this series it is a re telling of post world war 2 history after a virus from space turns many of us into hideous freaks (jokers) or superhumans (aces) a more realistic portrayal of the superhero genre where many with powers don't just don tights and fight crime. It was also a shared world anthology Martin started with a bunch of sci fi writers based on George RR Martin being the authors' GM in a Superworld rpg campaign.  Securing rights could be a hurdle but otherwise damn this would make for some incredible tv easily as awesome as Game of Thrones.

The Hedge Knight/ The Sworn Sword

This one is both likely as hell and a huge no brainer. The Hedge Knight, and it's sequel The Sworn Sword. are prequels to Game of Thrones. And to be 100% honest Martin knows how to do an incredible prequel. Set generations before thrones, The Hedge Knight tells the saga of Ser Duncan the Tall, and his squire Egg. It is awesome to see house Targaryan in full swing, and Houses Stark and Lannister take a back seat in the story. In the books it was revealed that Duncan eventually becomes lord commander of the king's guard, and Egg is the only character who is in Game of Thrones (albeit is a very old man). That's what I liked most about this no overt push to link the worlds such as finding out dunk tought Tyrion to read, or inspried Robert's rebellion ala the Star Wars prequels which seemed to force as much reference to classic Star Wars as possible, especially if you look at the cut scenes. Star trek was equally guilty of this in the first season of Enterprise. These prequels are not nearly as political as thrones as they focus on a single knight's journey making an interesting change of pace from the main books. With the Game of Thrones series doing as well as it does casting a bunch of unknowns and using most of the same sets this is an easy sell to an established audience. We can only hope. 

HELLS YEAH!!!

I have high hopes that if done right, this could be a hit as big as Battlestar Galactica was for Sci Fi channel. If you haven't seen the original, you owe it to yourself. it is the best sci-fi drama to come out of the UK (that isn't Doctor Who!) 

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-22079232

Seriously all this show needs is a fresh coat of paint and the right actors. even recycling most of the scripts verbatim it will be an incredible show!

Yeah I did this before, but this is a continuation, think of this as part two, electric boogaloo.

Yeah I did this before, but this is a continuation, think of this as part two, electric boogaloo.

NERD RAGE IS.....

Seeing good developers die because of corporate desire to consolidate and make more mobile games.

Finding out this numnut is going to be both Hal Jordan and the Highlander

A baroness with an American accent.

 what I will feel if this Jagoff is in the new Star Wars movies.

I Mean we got enough nerd rage when George Lucas introduced this schmuck, Am I right?

felt with so many remakes, reboots and reimaginings. 

Especially when you screw with Rocky Horror Picture Show! 

What we felt when we saw this!

What I will feel when they cancel this show!

Chung bao Hotz Tze Hwoon Dhan!

So Fox is now trying to send cease and desist orders to any group of fans who sell Jayne Cobb style knitted hats on the internet. WHAT!?! You treat a show with so much promise and potential like total shit, and then Ripple Junction entered into an agreement to sell officially licensed  hats and now Fox has begun threatening lawsuits  to anyone making and selling them. I don't blame Ripple Junction, nor do I blame Think Geek who sells the official hats on their sites. Nope the blame is all on the shoulders of Fox. Rupert Murdoch's suits couldn't find a decent show with their heads being wedged up their collective asses as far as they are, and yet now some ten years after the show was murdered by these ass wads, they want to shut down fans and sell them wares they make money on. In short fuck them. You had a golden opportunity to have a show that if it had been given a chance to flourish could have made you as much money as Star Trek makes Paramount or Star Wars make Lucas/Disney. You blew it. Fans loved it you killed it, and no the fact that you have held your claws into the rights to the show may mean you have a legal right, but you have no morals here and pissing off your fanbase more is simply adding insult to injury. I am sorry to say you won't be making tons of money from series after series of Firefly action figures and vehicles (I know I would have bought them in an instant) and yeah that talent is now mostly working for Disney (which also owns the rights to your biggest sci fi success story Star Wars which you didn't keep the rights for. In summary Fox proves that after all these years they can still suck more than a dyson vacuum set on high!