by A.J. Focht
Strange things are happening over at Marvel Comics as a Doctor Strange movie is in motion. Marvel Studios already exploited their rights to most of the mainstream heroes, and, as they look toward the studio’s future, they’re going to have to start pulling from the lesser known source material. It looks like Doctor Strange is going to be the first of them, tentatively seeing a 2013 release date.
by Morgan
Hello again, fellow gamers! This month I’d like to bring you a variety of very different games, ranging from cute to badass. I’ve spent a lot of time this month neglecting WoW but playing some extremely fun games nonetheless. Here’s a selection of the best games I’ve played recently:
1. Touch Cats – iOS devices – Free
Most gamers have some sort of guilty pleasure game they enjoy. For me it’s pet simulation games. Sadly there aren’t many good free ones available. That’s why I was delighted to discover Touch Cats! It’s a basic pet game: you feed, groom and play with the cats you adopt to increase their happiness bar. You can check in on the game once a week or many times a day, though, with the game’s daily goals, checking in a couple of times a day has its rewards. There’s a lot about the game that makes me recommend it. At the top of the list are the missions you can send your cats on. Your cats can regularly search your virtual home for coins and items, and the items can be used for detective and rescue missions the animals can go on to collect rewards (generally clothing items and coins). Connected to this is another plus: the social aspect of the game. You can complete these missions solo or recruit friends and random users to help you. Once you’ve added friends you can also send your cats to visit other kitties in your neighborhood. All in all, Touch Cats is a simple yet adorable and addictive game.
by Bob Suicide
A study which purported to highlight the equality among the sexes when it comes to computer gaming was recently published in the uber-reliable Daily Mail. The survey was funded by the scientifically-minded, and above-bias team at Doritos, which lends further credence to the findings.
That’s right, Doritos. Now why would the chip company — known philanthropically funding scientific discovery in key areas such as how to make ranch “cooler” — waste it’s time researching women’s interest in computer games when it could be curing cancer, you say? Well, it doesn’t have anything to do with the recent launch of their own online computer game: Doritos Dip Desperado. No sir.
I’m honestly surprised that the survey didn’t find that “women say that computer games taste great and are less filling than the leading chip brand,” it’s that blatantly obvious this is a sad marketing ploy. But what the press release of an article did say was:
That while 50 per cent of men readily admit to frequent online gaming, a surprising 49 per cent of women confess that they too are addicted to Internet games.
And while men spend 22.3 per cent of their time online playing games, women trump them, whiling away 23.2 per cent of their time online playing games.
Revealingly, the study showed that not only are women just as keen on gaming as men — but that the majority would rather spend time playing on their gadgets than having sex.
by A.J. Focht
After fourteen years, the Harry Potter series is coming to an end. The first book was published in 1997, and with the release of the final film, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2, the journey comes to a close. Deathly Hallows premiered in London on July 7, and then in New York City on July 11. The internet has all but blown up since as fans avidly await the world wide release on July 15. The film is currently holding a 96% on Rotten Tomatoes, and shows no signs of falling. The video game by the same name and the official film soundtrack were released on July 12, 2011.
Harry Potter might be the biggest news of the week, but it wasn’t the only news. Yesterday, the first teaser poster for the Dark Knight was revealed. But that was only the second most exciting news surrounding the Caped Crusader in the past 7 days, as it was announced that Adam West will have a cameo in the upcoming film.
by A.J. Focht
Following a grueling six-year legal battle, the video game industry has kicked the ass of California lawmakers who wanted to ban the sale of violent games to minors. The successfully appealed California Assembly Bills 1792 & 1793 would have made it illegal to sell excessively violent games to anyone underage. However, there is no similar legal penalty applied for including similar content in other forms of comparable media, such as books, music, movies, etc. While the legal battle is officially over, critics of the Supreme Court ruling are just beginning to raise their voices. Everyone from The Daily Show to the Washington Times has attacked the court’s position, without ever noting it would have separated video games into a unique category, while opening the door to further censorship and restrictions on all other forms of art, creativity, and media.
by Alex Deuben
“It’s probably slightly more meandering.”
– Neil Gaiman
When the novel American Gods was published ten years ago, Neil Gaiman went from being a writer primarily known for comics like The Sandman and Mr. Punch and novels like Neverwhere and Good Omens to one of the most successful and acclaimed writers of his generation. In addition to his novels, short stories, picture books, and movies, in the past decade Gaiman has also become one of the most beloved children’s writers of our time, his novels Coraline and The Graveyard Book having become modern classics.
He also penned an episode of Doctor Who, much to the delight of both Gaiman and the long running sci-fi show’s fans. More recently, it was announced that Gaiman will be working with HBO and the director and cinematographer Robert Richardson on a series based on American Gods. Now Harper Collins is releasing the tenth anniversary edition of of the book in a hardcover edition that contains what Gaiman referres to as “the preferred text.”
SG reached out to Gaiman by phone for a brief conversation at the beginning of his book tour.
Read our exclusive interview with Neil Gaiman on SuicideGirls.com.
by A.J. Focht
Despite all his super powers, the Green Lantern might not land the green light for a sequel. Reports had been floating around all week that the movie would be getting a follow up regardless of its horrible performance at the box office. However reports of a Green Lantern 2 were quickly dismissed as Warner Bros. waits to make the official decision. Likely, the studio is wanting to see its $200 million (plus a ridiculous $175 million in marketing costs) returned before they sign off on anything. It all comes down to the green, and the lantern’s light isn’t going to help him out of this one.
And as if this summer hasn’t had enough of overdone CGI, Transformers: Dark of the Moon will be releasing worldwide on the first of July. In the earliest reviews it looked like the critics had gone to the dark side as they praised the film. Many critics insisted it be viewed in 3D claiming it to be the visual rival of Avatar. The later reports weren’t as kind. USA Today hails it as being visually stunning, but lacking story line, and…
