The official Avengers trailer was finally released this week. Attached to the previews of Real Steal, it offers everything we wanted and more. All of the Avengers are showcased in the preview, providing the perfect teaser for the upcoming movie.
The Wolverine may end up with two separate cuts. In a recent interview with Hugh Jackman, he discussed the interest in making an R-rated Wolverine movie. A possible compromise that is being floated is the idea of releasing a PG-13 version of film, so as to not exclude the younger fans, in addition to the R-rated cut we all want to see.
Queen of the webisode, Felicia Day’s most recent project, Dragon Age: Redemption, is now live. It’s a brilliant webseries placed in the Dragon Age RPG universe. Felicia Day’s character, Tallis, is an elven assassin hired to capture an apostate mage. Along with the release of the webseries, a new DLC was released for Dragon Age 2 also featuring Tallis.
The entire line of DC’s New 52 has hit stores. The fan response to the reboot has been phenomenal, though all of the comics have received very diverse reviews. Almost every comic in the New 52 has been both praised and bashed. Most have gained a following, and a couple have already gained infamy, while very few have slipped under the radar altogether.
Readers, I’m sorry it’s been quite a long time since my last set of reviews! I’ll give you plenty of reviews to make up for it this time. In this installment of Casual Game Recommendations, you’ll find a review of gaming company Kairosoft (courtesy of my fab BF), two animal tending games, a great matching game, and more!
Before the final batch of DC’s New 52 hit stores, every issue had officially sold out at the distribution level. The order for a second printing of all 52 titles was given before the latest batch had even gone on sale. Justice League #1 remains the best selling comic of the year. Nearly a dozen comics have sold over 100,000, while Batman #1 and Action Comics #1 have broken 200,000.
Catwoman was a very sexually driven piece, ending with a splash page of Batman and Catwoman mid-intercourse. Some have called it amazing and artful, most are calling it an attack on feminism and females in comics. More outrage came from Red Hood because Starfire was changed into a busty nymphomaniac with little regard for individual humans, a major change from her past character. I enjoyed Catwoman, and sit on the artful side of the argument. I also highly enjoyed Red Hood, but I’m not sure how approving I am of Starfire’s changes. Hopefully they will be part of what has been promised to be explained in issue #2.
The next round of DC’s New 52 has just hit stores, making it a perfect time to recap last week. Who knows, you might get to the store and decide to pick up one of last week’s issues today. That’s if you can find them. While most reviews of the comics have been pitched somewhere between ‘mediocre’ and ‘alright,’ the comics themselves are flying off the shelves. Comic sales all around are being boosted by the popularity of the New 52. This sudden burst of interest is likely to die out when we get to the second issues. There is just something about owning a first printing of a first issue that really gets the nerd juice flowing. Anyways the lesson here is, if you think you want one of the new comics, and it’s available, get it now; it likely won’t be there when you change your mind (as happened to me with Superboy #1).
Putting the critical vs. commercial success of the comics aside, many of the issues took to handling lingering problems in the DC Universe. For those readers expecting to come in to an entirely new reboot, it is a bit of a shock to learn there is still so much backstory being consolidated in the wake of Flash Point. Issues like Green Lantern #1 come straight into an already active story line, and are not as friendly for new readers. Whereas Batwoman, possibly the best drawn of the available New 52, can only tackle fragments of the active story because they needed to catch readers up. (Which I will note, they did very nicely.)
Some of the comics are handling it better than others, a fine example being Suicide Squad. After so much outrage over Harley Quinn’s outfit on the cover, the comic turned out to be a pleasant surprise for many. It was one of the few that felt like a real origins story, making it accessible to even the newest readers. Aside from the unnecessary body trimming performed on Amanda Waller, this was my favorite comic of the lot.
As if the release of so many simultaneous first issue comics was not enough, it seems DC intends to keep pushing the boundaries. Almost as if in response to Marvel’s introduction of an ethnic Spider-Man, DC has announced a new openly gay Mexican as an edition to the Teen Titans. Miguel Jose Barragan, or Bunker, is DC’s first flamboyantly gay superhero, and unlike most homosexual superheros, Bunker embraces his sexuality at all times.
That wasn’t the end of the week’s news from DC either. Moving forward with the recent trend, DC Universe Online will be getting a free-to-play model. Starting in October, DCU will be joining the ranks of the free-to-play MMO.
With all the buzz around DC in the last few weeks, it’s odd to think that any DC related news is being held back. But it turns out that Christopher Nolan isn’t as eager to share his story as the rest of the DC world. Word is that Nolan is refusing to write the ending to The Dark Knight Rises on paper. Wanting to keep the internet safe from ending ruining spoilers posted by evil twits with nothing else to do with their time (a.k.a. people like me), Nolan is only sharing the ending verbally with select cast members. While this is probably a great idea, I’m going to continue to assume it involves Bane breaking Batman’s back, or critically injuring him in another way (at least that’s how it should end).
The constant coverage of any talk surrounding the new Evil Dead has left us knowing only one thing for sure, we have no idea what to expect. First it was thought to be an addition to the series, and then a reboot of the first movie. Now the latest reports say that it won’t even have the character Ash Williams. I’m kind of pleased to hear that Bruce Campbell will forever remain our Ash, but if Ash isn’t the lead in the reboot, can it even be called a reboot? Right now it’s looking more like a modern revisiting rather than a direct reboot or remake.
It’s a mantra that’s been around for as long as I can remember: “Be nice to the geek in class because, one day, they’ll be rich/own the company you work for/rule the world.” Harassed and ostracized by those in the more popular crowds, us geeks served as a cautionary tale; Don’t let your bullying go too far because you’ll pay for it later when the geeks inherit the earth.
And inherit the earth we have. But not quite in the glorious way we imagined.
Geek-tastic movies filled with superheroes and heroines have topped the box office, our conventions are over-flowing with fans, and everyone on the street collects and wears the geek-chic swag. We’ve ignited a mainstream love for comics and sci-fi, and helped line the coffers of the major comic book houses and movie studios along the way. But we’ve also done something a little more important; we’ve inspired a new generation of scientists, mathematicians, astronomers, and archaeologists.
And while Hollywood is able to market “geek” to the masses, the scientific community is also learning how to market both natural and social sciences to a public that is generally very wary of the S-word (“science” is literally a word meaning “knowledge” –– but somehow that’s threatening).
Most recently, a group of gamers are being heralded as saviors by the scientific community thanks to a protein folding game posted on Fold.it. The Foldit puzzle was created to add a third dimension that a microscope slide couldn’t provide. Targeting a monomeric protease enzyme, a cutting agent in the complex molecular tailoring of retroviruses (including HIV), Foldit allowed gamers to use their honed-by-Tetris spacial skills to create a 3D image of the protein molecule. As a result, scientists can better understand the molecule’s structure, how it causes many diseases (including HIV), and how to create drugs to properly inhibit these proteins.
While much of the press is spinning it as though “mere gamers” were able to solve a complex puzzle (in just 10 days!) which had previously stymied scientists for year, I like to think of it a different way. This “citizen scientist” movement is a brilliant symbiotic relationship that should be nurtured. In the case of this specific Foldit puzzle, scientists needed spatial reasoning from a human that a computer alone couldn’t provide. Meanwhile gamers love exciting challenges that provide more of a sense of accomplishment than a spot on a leader board. Indeed the players of Foldit appear to share my sentiment. The final piece of the protein puzzle was solved by someone with the user name “mimi” who wrote an email to MSNBC in support of the game,
“The game is not only an interesting intellectual challenge,” notes mimi, “but it also provides a unique society of players driven by both individual and team rivalry with an overall purpose of improving the game and the results achieved.”
This is people coming together to advance science and, in turn, to advance humanity. It isn’t just a one-off project either. There’s a deep and exciting “citizen science” movement making the rounds and there are other scientific puzzles that need our particular brand of geeky help. Here’s just a couple of examples:
This puzzle game works to decipher the Oxyrhynchus Papyri discovered in 1896. Due to the nature of papyrus and the age of the documents, mostly fragments have been found. Piecing the fragments back together then deciphering their contents would be a monumental task for even the most skilled team of researchers –– that’s where the game comes in. Linguistically inclined geeks can identify Greek symbols using a keyboard.
If first-person shooters are more your style, you can play Galaxy Zoo and hunt for Supernovae. When presented with three images — new, reference, and the subtraction –the gamer determines whether they’ve found a white-hot supernova in their cross hairs.
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While public interest in our geek culture might wane, this surge in popularity is providing lasting contributions to the scientific community. So let’s get over our hang-ups, and try to encourage it wherever we see it, even if it appears kind of “off” or “fad-ish.” Interest is interest. And maybe the next time you see someone taking a child’s DS away in favor of more so-called “worthy” pursuits, let ‘em know their child’s interest in gaming might be the key to curing cancer or unlocking the connection between quantum mechanics and general relativity. Essentially we need to spread the word that it’s OK to let little tikes “game on.”
Last Wednesday saw the first big batch of DC’s new 52 released. Reviews were as mixed as they were for Justice League #1 the previous week. A few of the comics were praised here and there, but there seems to be one clear winner for the week. Animal Man #1 has caught everyone’s attention, and I have yet to hear a bad word about it. For reviews on all of last week’s releases, check out Nerd Bastards‘ full report.
Potential major *SPOILERS* for The Avengers have been leaked. If you don’t want to know who the big secret villain is, just skip the next paragraph.
