26 February 2011

Reading is Sexy!! Goodreads.com 2011 Reading Challenge

Behold a sampling of our massive collection of books
As part of the 2011 Reading Challenge for Goodreads.com, I've decided to tackle some literary works that I normally wouldn't read. Usually I'm all about fiction, memoirs, classics, the occassional graphic novel, or nothing. This year as part of my 28-book reading goal, I'm going to try to change that by adding science-fiction, fantasy, and even *gasp* romance.

The photo above is only a sampling of the books we bought at our favorite used book store, Camelot Books in Fountain Valley, California. There are a few in there I received as birthday gifts, and a couple others I purchased from Barnes & Noble and/or Borders. 

24 February 2011

Dead Island trailer: are developers putting kids in harm's way on purpose?

Image courtesy of Wikimedia/Deep Silver

Last week the cinematic trailer (probably one of the BEST game trailers I've seen in a long while) for Dead Island made its way on the Internet and into the hearts of zombie aficionados everywhere. I admit, I decided to ignore the news about this forthcoming game mainly because I'm over the zombie apocalypse and we've already decided that if zombie warfare were to happen, you definitely want to team up with me. But after reading this little opinion piece from CNN titled, Why I can't get behind 'Dead Island', I was intrigued. Writer Omar L. Gallaga sums it up by stating that game developers are taking quite a few liberties in putting young children in the face of danger for the good of the game's story.

"...I'm getting uncomfortable with how comfortable game developers have become with putting children in peril and, often, allowing them to be gruesomely killed."

I went to IGN.com to check out the Dead Island trailer and knew it was pretty serious business when they asked me to punch in my birth date to make sure that I was over 18 (something any 10 year old can easily bypass). The trailer itself is amazing; the quality of the rendering is up there, the music serves as a melancholic dischord to the chaos that ensues, and the story is told in reverse and in slow motion. You can view the trailer at the end of the entry, but please take into consideration that the content is graphic and should not be viewed by/with children under 18.

16 February 2011

BAFTA 2011 NOMINATIONS!

OMG! You guys! The British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA) nominations for video games are in and my favorites LIMBO, Call of Duty: Black Ops, Halo: Reach, Mass Effect 2, and Kinect's own Dance Central have made the cut!! This is exciting news and such a terrific way to start my Wednesday morning!

I've never paid much attention to the BAFTAs, although I think they're like the UK's version of the Academy Awards, so to have these titles recognized by such a prestigious institution is totally off the chain! :)

I'll be sure to tune in March 16, 2011 to see which of my favorites walk away with that awesome BAFTA mask.

Visit http://www.bafta.org/ for more information.