Blog Look Updated

Hello everyone.  If you’ve visited my blog over the past year or so you now should be seeing some nice new changes.  After starting an overhaul of the WordPress template I originally had this summer and putting it on the shelf during the school year, I actually decided to go back and finish things up.  For starters, I totally redesigned the header of the site.  I put the blog name and main links on tattered looking pieces of paper and made the name appear to be taped to the background.  This kept consistent with the footer design I made a year ago.  Also for the links, on rollover they should look circled by a pencil, or at least they do to me.  On the right and middle there’s some fancy little graphics, just because they fill the space and look somewhat cool.

I finally added content to the footer design that has been sitting there empty for a year now.  On the left I created a “Connect” section, since social networking is all the rage.  Currently I’m listing twitter, facebook, my blog’s rss feed, digg, and youtube (ok…not much on youtube but I might add things later).  If anyone has ideas for other icons to put or wants information on other things I use (xbox live account, music, etc.) let me know.  On the post-it note on the right, I added in a simple script to gather the “popular” posts and display them.  This is simply listing posts in order of how many comments they have.  It’s kind of scewed at the moment, but if this site picks up any steam that should become fairly accurate.

E3 2010: Best Upcoming Game Releases

The Electronic Entertainment Expo, better known as E3, recently took place on June 14th through the 17th.  E3 is an event for the computer and video game industry in which developers present their upcoming games and game-related hardware.  There were quite a few exciting game announcements this year along with new hardware from both Microsoft and Nintendo.  Here are some of the best games that were featured at E3 2010.

Halo: Reach

The latest, and potentially the last, Halo release from Bungie is Halo: Reach.  This game’s storyline is a prequel to all of the previous Halo games.  The UNSC is waging war against the Covenant, and almost all of humanity’s colonies have fallen except Reach.  Players will control Noble 6, a member of a team of Spartans, during the battle for Reach.

We’ve already seen the multiplayer from the beta preview this spring, which was already very polished and exciting.  New features include single use equipment being replaced by reusable and persistent armor abilities such as active camo, a jetpack, sprinting, and armor lock.  From the E3 trailer it was shown that there will be at least some spaceship battles during the campaign, which is a surprising change from Bungie.

As seen in ODST, Reach will feature the latest Firefight version, which has been announced to have matchmaking support.  There will be more customization of what types of enemies and waves can be seen, and a new weapon called the target locator, which allows airstrikes to be called in by the UNSC.  Halo: Reach is set to debut on September 14th, 2010.

Rock Band 3

The latest Rock Band game may be the most advanced music game created thus far.  Harmonix is trying to bridge the gap between video games and real music instruments by creating a new playable keyboard and also a stringed guitar to mimic real instruments and teach players real music skills.  Rock Band 3 will feature a new “Pro” mode, which players will use when playing with the realistic instruments.  The Squier Stratocaster six string guitar will be the featured Rock Band 3 controller.  Players can connect the new controller to PCs and create music on their own, and also it will come with audio outputs that allow users to connect the guitar up to an amplifier and play music.

As for the other details, there will be 83 songs released with Rock Band 3, and all previous content from the first two games and DLC will still be playable.  Somewhat as expected, there are updated graphics and players have more customization over their characters and the game.  As of now exact dates are not set, but look for this game to come out sometime this winter.

Call of Duty: Black Ops

Since the release of Modern Warfare, any following Call of Duty game has and will be receiving a lot of press.  The new installment is being developed by Treyarch, which is the less successful of the two CoD development teams (the other is Infinity Ward).  Black Ops is a sequel to World at War which is set during the Cold War.  Players will be involved with missions behind enemy lines in locations such as Vietnam.

Black Ops will feature some new equipment, such as a scoped cross bow weapon similar to the Gears of War torque bow.  The soldiers will also be able to fight with choppers and other types of aircraft.  Treyarch has announced that along with the usual game modes, there will be a four player online co-op mode available.  Black Ops releases November 9th, 2010.

Gears of War 3

The third installment of Gears of War picks up eighteen months after the previous game.  One of the main new features will be a 4 player story based co-op mode.  There will also be new playable female gears.  Anya Stroud, who was the team’s control officer in the first two games, is now joining the battle along with Jace Stratton.  The picture on the right is concept art of Anya.  It’s an awesome picture so you should click it to view full size.  Combat will feature mutating enemies and new equipment such as a double-barreled shotgun, Lancer with a bayonet instead of a chainsaw, and incendiary grenades.

There will be a new mode called Beast, which is the opposite of Horde Mode from Gears 2.  Players are now the fighting on the Locust side, combating the COG.  Killing enemies earns you tokens, which can be used to upgrade your class.  Gears 3 isn’t set to release until April 5th, 2011.

Honorable Mentions

The list of games featured at E3 is way too many than I can discuss in this post.  Here are some other games that were featured and will probably be worth playing once they are released:

• Portal 2
• The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword
• Goldeneye 007
• Fable III
• Assassin’s Creed: Brotherhood

New Xbox 360 Slim Revealed

As of now the uses of Kinect and games to accompany it are limited, but its easy to imagine what is launching with it.  There is a Kinect Sports game that looks very much like Wii Sports, but with a few added games and interaction.  A few dancing based games already exist, with the group being led by a game called Dance Central.  After seeing the trailer for it, it looks like a Rock Band style dancing game.  This will probably cause the Dance Dance Revolution games to be quickly phased out of the market.  There’s also a fitness “game” (moreover fitness software) that looks appealing.  Its trailer showed various exercise activities, a personal trainer system, and abilities to detect your height, waist size, and other attributes about yourself.  Lastly, which may be one of the most interesting Kinect features, is “Video Kinect”.  You can now make video calls on your TV using voice and gesture commands for control.

TV Series Cancellations and Renewals for 2010

Series Cancellations

“Heroes” (NBC)

The most notable show that has been canceled is NBC’s Heroes, and it’s about time.  Heroes was a science fiction drama series, with emphasis on the drama.  In short, the show was about ordinary people who discover extraordinary super powers, and how their newly found abilities take effect in their daily lives.  There is a wide range of characters, going from those that can fly, to characters who can bend time and space, and even simple ordinary people.

Don’t get me wrong, the first two seasons of Heroes were actually very good.  The episodes were full of action and suspense, and viewers kept wanting to know what would happen next.  However beyond that, the writers struggled to have an underlying plan of where the show was going, and the show went downhill.  Characters were killed off and continually brought back, timelines intermixed way too much, and some plot lines were simply dropped without resolution.  One of the most aggravating themes was the relationship between Claire and her father Noah.  It seemed every other episode they were fighting, telling each other how much they loved one another, or Claire was being “rebellious”.  I think the same dialog was used about 20 times over.

Adding to their problems was a terribly boring season four.  There was a severe lack of action and the introduction of some characters that were useless to the plot.  The more interesting characters weren’t shown enough, and the final battle was pretty lame.  Anyways, sources say the network is still leaving the door open to conclude the show with a mini-series or movie.

“FlashForward” (ABC)

The new ABC action drama FlashForward has been canceled after a 22 episode first season.  The show started out strong and interesting to viewers, but throughout the season dropped down to less than half the amount of viewers as it had during the pilot.  I watched the pilot and thought the show had a pretty intriguing concept to it, and somewhat thought it was going to be ABC’s replacement for Lost.

In case you still want to check out the show later on DVD, it’s based around a mysterious event that causes nearly everyone on the planet to simultaneously lose consciousness for 137 seconds.  During this time people see what appear to be visions of their lives approximately six months in the future, hence the term “flashforward”.  The plot follows a team of FBI agents to discover what happened and why.

“Law & Order” (NBC)

A somewhat shocking move (but one that had to be coming soon anyways) is that NBC has officially canceled “Law & Order,” concluding the show after 20 seasons.  Instead of shooting for a 21st season, the original will be replaced by “Law & Order: Los Angeles”.  I’ve never gotten into the show or any of the other Law & Order shows so I don’t care too much about the changes, but I’m sure some die hard fans from over the years will.  Sources say that “closure opportunities” will be discussed for the show, possibly having characters from “L&O” appear on the “Los Angeles” spinoff, or even having a two-hour wrap-up movie.

“Ghost Whisperer” (CBS)

The Ghost Whisperer is a television series that follows the life of a young woman that has the ability to see and communicate with the dead.  The main character, Melinda (Jennifer Love Hewitt), helps earthbound spirits resolve their problems and cross over into the light.  The show has been officially canceled after five seasons, and I’m somewhat surprised it lasted this long.

I only saw a few episodes during it’s run, and they weren’t overly interesting or different from each other.  The main reason to watch was because of Jennifer Love Hewitt (as seen by the picture on the left, click it for full size), and even that can only last for so long.

Noteworthy Renewals

“Chuck” (NBC; 13 episodes)

Chuck is an action comedy series about an average computer nerd who receives an encoded e-mail from an old college friend now working in the CIA.  The message embeds the only remaining copy of the world’s greatest spy secrets into Chuck’s brain. With this information Chuck must help the government thwart assassins and terrorists.  Chuck primarily works with two other agents and works at the “Buy More” in the IT department in the meantime.

This show has been renewed for a third season by NBC, consisting of 13 episodes.  It’s likely this will increase to around 20 as the season gets closer.  I’ve seen the show a few times and I don’t see any reasons why it should have even been on the bubble to be renewed or not.  Chuck has an original plot with well scripted characters.  The lead actress is very good looking (photo on the right, click for full size), and I’ve seen Jordana Brewster do some cameo work, which is awesome.  The theme song for the show is Short Skirt/Long Jacket by Cake, just adding to show’s plus side.  Chuck is a relaxing show to watch and is a nice change from all of the cop investigation or doctor shows that are out there (not to mention reality shows).

“V” (ABC; 13 episodes)

The rookie sci-fi show, V, has been renewed by ABC for a second season in the fall.  V is a re-creation of the 1983 miniseries created by Kenneth Johnson.  This show depicts the arrival on Earth of a technologically advanced alien species which appears to come in peace, but actually has darker underlying motives.  “V” stands for the “Visitors”, who claim to only need a small amount of Earth’s resources, in exchange for sharing their advanced technological and medical knowledge.

I saw two full episodes of this show and it does seem like it could have a future, but I don’t think it will grab nearly as many viewers as ABC hopes for.  If there are any redeeming qualities of the show, it’s that Morena Baccarin from Firefly and Elizabeth Mitchell from Lost are in it.  Alan Tudyk from Firefly was also in a few episodes, but that didn’t last.

“Human Target” (FOX)

Human Target is based around a unique private contractor that protects his clients by integrating himself into their lives, to become the “human target.”  The series started this January and had a good run of 12 episodes.  As of yesterday it has been confirmed for a second season. Personally I have only seen one episode of this show so far, but it seemed fairly interesting.  With “24″ wrapping  up this year for Fox, Human Target is basically 24′s replacement.

Have a ‘Lost’ Valentine’s Day

In celebration of Valentine’s Day this year, I’d like to share with everyone some special cards based on the TV show “Lost”.  If you know any die-hard fans of the show out there, these would fit the occasion well for you.   If somehow you aren’t aware of the show, or the fact that it is completely insane and the fans are even more insane…here’s a quick intro.  “Lost” is an adventure/drama/science fiction/everything else type of show on ABC that is now in its sixth and final season.  The concepts and plot-line to the show are very convoluted and it is almost impossible to start watching anywhere but season one.  However, if you have the patience to start from the pilot, and the mental capacity to remember everything that is happening, it’s a really interesting show.  Onto the cards…

This first one is of Jack, the main character, in his drunken state once he has left the island and is trying to go back.  Spoiler?…too bad.

This second card is of Sayid, who is the tech expert on the island and helps discover Rousseau’s distress call in season one.

As for sources of these pictures, the link is in both of the pictures, so it should be pretty self-explanatory.  Also to note, you can click on the pictures for a larger version.  This is the case for most pictures that I will post.