Sunday 30 November 2008

The "Star Trek" trailer - now 100% less shonky


Since we last spoke, the proper "Star Trek" trailer went up in various places - for your convenience, here's a link to the movie web site with streamy goodness and all the HD prettiness you could ever wish for.

Winona's playing moms now.  Jesus, I feel old...

December? Already? Dear Lord...

You'll have noticed the gap in your regularly-scheduled service, then?  Yeah, about that...

We've had a fairly rancid suite of Autumnal colds, viruses and generally craposity to contend with in the UK and I've been very fortunate in experiencing everything that illness has had to offer this year (those of you who are blessed with asthma may very well appreciate what wonderful times you can have when you have an immune system which lays down and surrenders at the first sign of a head sniffle).

In short? Bed rest, sofa rest, many fluids and not much fun to be around - that's been my mid-November.  I hope that yours was significantly better.

Suffice is to say that I'm making it my mission to get my behind to the Doctor's and get me one of those free flu jabs that the British National Health Service so generously provide for us skirvy asthmatics...

Saturday 15 November 2008

The Star Trek teaser is here - in glorious shonk-o-vision...


And, yes, it's funking epic...

Though many members of the Nerd Hive Mind are bothered by J.J. Abrams and his writers making some radical changes to established Trek canon, what this brief, cam-phoned glimpse at next May's movie suggests is that the reboot has been worth the wait.

Trek being given a budget commensurate with it's iconic status in Western Pop Culture? Check.

Action, but not at the expense of character? Check (When was the last time that you saw a similar blockbuster trailer which waited so long to get to the quick cutting explosions and shiny stuff?)

Simon-goddamned-Pegg pwning bizatches with his one line in the teaser? Chiggedy-Check.

Go look at it before Paramount get on the case...

Saturday 8 November 2008

Burnout Paradise awesomeness update


Via our friends at Kotaku, news reaches Rolling Eyeballs that upcoming paid-for DLC for "Burnout Paradise" (our game of the year) will include a car suggested by that most wonderful of movies, "Back To The Future".

Yep - you'll be able to drive a DeLorean.

Needless to say, this DLC package of four cars will be finding it's way onto our 360 or PS3 hard drive sometime early in 2009 - I suppose it would be too much to hope for, say, a sweet and tricked-out VW Karmann Ghia clone to make an appearance in Paradise City?  Please, nice Criterion guys?

Tuesday 4 November 2008

Just to reiterate...


...in the words of Hijinks Ensue, "You like Voltron, Obama is Voltron, vote for Obama".

True 'dat.

Does that make McCain/Palin the unholy (and frankly unwieldy) union of GI Joe and Strawberry Shortcake?

Like, yuckles...

Make a difference

Cynicism is understandable - exactly what kind of earth-shattering difference can any politician hope to make after eight years of back-to-back Bush electoral victories and the attendent evil stench which has followed most of Dubya's decisions.

That said - if you're reading this in the States, and there's no reason why you should be, it would be a fine idea if you got out there and used your vote.

Which means, put down that copy of "Resistance 2", step away from "Fallout 3" and spend a few minutes making use of your democratic prerogrative.

Whether you vote for Obama or McCain, please make sure that the people who purport to represent you actually do so (and why not drop the habit of a lifetime and actually hold the swines to account once in a while?).

I'm sure Tina Fey would be happy if she never had to do that impersonation again, wouldn't you agree?

Friday 31 October 2008

Halloween Flashback

This weekend's Friday flashback is inevitably spooky, creepy and ooky - and brings you scary movie trailers, things which go bump in the day (the night is for amateurs) and Unimaginable Horrors From The Beyond...or You Tube, to give the Realm of the Scary its actual name.

Aceness from 1935's "The Bride Of Frankenstein".  Loving the warning for those with weak hearts to leave the cinema - such showmanship!

The justly celebrated teaser trailer for Alfred Hitchcock's seminal slice of transgressive terror, "Psycho" - you can't imagine the likes of Brett Ratner pitching up to give you an on-screen tour of their latest major studio bobbins, can you?

The trailer for George A. Romero's 1978 "Dawn of the Dead" - though I'm plenty fond of Zach Snyder's 2004 remake, this is the real deal. Loving the 1970's Synth Terror - is that one of the things which makes the 70's horror flicks still so palatable to me.

Dario Argento's "Suspiria" gets a trailer which is none-more-1970's - and as gloriously incomprehensible as the classic horror film that it's trailing.

And a trailer for one of my favourite movies - "The Hitcher". Talk about completely underselling one of the best B-Movies ever made.  Still, at least they've used one of my favourite elements of the film - Mark Isham's amazing ambient score - to underscore the action.

Coming more up to date - the trailer for one of the more controversial and audience-dividing movies of the 90's - "The Blair Witch Project".

The awesome genius of Pegg, Wright and Frost - "Shaun of the Dead".

"Evil Dead 2" - for the win, ne c'est pas?

And, due to the wonderfully all-over-the-spot nature of You Tube, here's the French trailer for seminal Japanese fright-fest, "Ringu".

A little something for everyone there, wouldn't you agree?  Enjoy today's spooktivities and see you back here next week - when electoral events may have made all of us slightly more hopeful about the future.





Spooky audio goings-on (It's Halloween, you know?)


Via the splendid Whitney Matheson at Pop Candy - Orson Welles' pioneering radio broadcast of HG Wells' "War of the Worlds" is available to listen to online via the miracle of the Inter-Stream.

Friday's Moment of Gaming Zen


Why, it's almost worth dropping the rental cash in November just to run about in "Mercenaries 2" and take some names as Sarah Palin who will, merciful Allah/Buddah/Jeebus be praised, be sinking back into the richly-deserved regional obscurity that she deserves.

More of this kind of thing please, big video game publishers.  Who wouldn't love to play a level of "Gears of War 2" whilst distinctively skinned as a pissed-off and blood-hungry Gordon Brown?  Laying waste to Liberty City whilst attired with a virtual avatar of Anne Widdecombe?

Yes, yes and - thrice - yes.

(Via your friends and mine at Kotaku)


Tuesday 28 October 2008

New "Trek" pics up at Empire Online


Via the nice people at Empire Online, new pics from J.J. Abrams' 2009 "Star Trek" reboot - and more on the new issue, with a "Trek" cover which apes Kirk/Spock imagery from the classic TV series.

The Most Interesting Thing I've Read Today...


From the New Yorker, and via Joystiq, a fascinating profile on Cliff Bleszinski as Microsoft and Epic Games begin to swing the "Gears of War 2" hype hammer.

Monday 27 October 2008

Whilst on the subject of Marcus Fenix

I should have posted this excellent "Gears 2" trailer when it showed up online at the end of last week - it more than lives up to the "Mad World"-scored ad for the original game and pulls off the same trick of undercutting the absurd machismo and "Guns-R-Great!" BS which are writ large in the actual game.

Xbox 360 games out this week - scary, post-apocalyptic RPG edition


We'll be able to enjoy the normal and collector's editions (lunchboxes of joy!) of "Fallout 3", "Guitar Hero World Tour" (shipping as a game disc, a boxed game with the new guitar and the full band game if you're feeling spectacularly flush - and fulsome with living space), a dancemat-enabled "High School Musical 3" game, "MotoGP 08", "Baja 1000" and "Scene It? Box Office Smash" this week on 360 - though my spidey-sense tells me that the "HSM3" game is due to slip in the UK - Game list it as out in November 2008.

Yep, I suspect that officially counts as "Gears of War 2" counter-programming...

PS3 games out this week - LBP edition


The lovely folks over at PS3 Fanboy have their weekly list of new releases for your perusal - whilst LBP has made it past the enforced week or so delay to patch the controversial Qu'ran-quoting music track out of the game, and is ready for release in the US and Asia, for a European audience, the ever-present spectre of localisation has raised it's head and we get to see the game next week.

As ever, whilst games are not region-locked on the PS3 and you can import the title, it really isn't the best idea, as any downloadable content is region-locked to the various PSN stores - if you buy the US game, you have to download stuff from the US store.

Good luck with that.

Other stuff out this week in the US - the previously-discussed "MotorStorm - Pacific Rift", "Fallout 3 - Collector's Edition", "MotoGP 08" & "Guitar Hero - World Tour".  

"Quantum of Solace", "Fallout 3 - CE", "Siren - "Blood Curse", "Valkyria Chronicles", "To End All Wars", "Buzz! Quiz TV - special edition" and "Hail To The Chimp", meanwhile, are out in the UK - note that we're getting the latest 007 game a good couple of weeks before the US, to coincide with the movie's release here this weekend.

Even though I'm not good at shooters, I guess that I'd be opting for "Quantum of Solace" as my purchase this week...it's that "COD4" engine, don't you know.

 

Bored yet? Too bad.


(Via our friends at The Steampunk Workshop)

Words fail me

I'm all for connectivity and tech which makes your life easier, but this kind of stuff is just utterly beyond my ken.

(Via the nice, and entirely loopy people at AVS Forums)

Tuesday 21 October 2008

Obama - the mixtape


Get your Obama on - and grab some quality tunes at the same time...

MotorStorm - Jumping Out Of A Plane Edition

Via our friends at PS3 Fanboy, a new US ad for the upcoming "Motor Storm - Pacific Rift" game, which does a very good job of disguising the fact that the new sequel is essentially a very slightly tweaked update - we're not talking 'Paradise City' and Criterion here.

Fun, yes - check out the demo on the PS store if you have a PS3 - but not a game which will change the world.  The original 'Motor Storm' is now a Platinum title, and the demo doesn't really do much to indicate that you need to drop £50 on it - especially in these financially challenging times that we find ourselves in.

Mashed-Up

With thanks to the You Tubes, a splendid collision between The US version of The Office (i.e., the one with 100%-less Gervais, which can only be a good thing) and Battlestar.

Sweetness ensues.

Sunday 19 October 2008

And in related Obama news...

Colin Powell has endorsed Barack Obama's presidential bid.

Crivens.  I know there's such a thing as unstoppable momentum, and this blog has already pronounced on the matter, but you know in your heart of hearts that the G.O.P. has any number of percieved slurs and would-be scandals ready to drop in the run-up to November 4th.

Fingers crossed, the American electorate can see though such blatant charades as that 'Joe the Plumber' nonsense that McCain/Palin resorted to last week.

Meanwhile, the other side of the campaign attempted to show that they (A) are human (the jury's out) and B) have a sense of humour.

Pfft. Tina Fey's still way hotter...

In case you were wondering...


...you would be doing the world a rather large favour if you cast your vote for this gentleman.  

Friday 17 October 2008

I Heart John Cusack

Proof that good stuff comes from all over the map with this interview with John Cusack, taken  from The Independent - a paper I generally dislike so much that I'd rather buy the Daily Mail (and I regard the Mail as the kind of thing that Hitler would have read and enjoyed).

Friday Flashback - It's BACK...

...and it has a Jones for great movie trailers from the 1980's.

To wit - 

"The Last Starfighter" - which I need on HD, like, yesterday.  The news that people want to remake this makes me sad and/or moderately homicidal (not really - but seriously skeptical that it won't be a charmless rehash with rebooted CG eye-candy).

"Enemy Mine"- Wolfgang Petersen's Ebony and Ivory tale of a stranded Earthman struggling to survive on a hostile planet with an Alien enemy combatant - your man Louis Gossett Jnr managing to act somehow under seventeen bazillion layers of latex.

"Labyrinth"did anybody see this movie in 1986 and not have a huge crush on Jennifer Connelly?  Or David Bowie (love the frightwig, Jared)?  Wouldn't it be cool to see more epic, puppety goodness of this ilk in cinemas again?  I guess that "The Spiderwick Chronicles" were a move in the right direction, and director Mark Waters admitted his debt to Amblin's 80's catalogue in that flick's publicity tour.

"Back To The Future" rules your ass.  That is all.

"Ghostbusters" - "They catch the ghosts that won't stay dead" - oh, 80's trailer voice artists (feel the joy).

And, inevitably enough, my favourite movie trailer of all time - James Cameron's "The Abyss".

Thursday 16 October 2008

15 minutes with one of my heroes

Or, to cut a long story short - James Cameron talks "Avatar", amongst other things...

Sunday 12 October 2008

What I'm looking forward to watching via the Blu-Rays..











Best warn the neighbours, then...

Like Napster, you mean?

From CNN/Money's blog - Lime Wire seeks to shrug off any accusations that they harbour dodgy MP3's and MP4's.

Yep, really.

Lord British blasts off

I knew that I wasn't hallucinating this when half-viewing it on BBC Breakfast news this morning - Lord British has only gone and buggered off into space (for the bargain price of $30 million).

Richard Garriott, the creator of the "Ultima" series and, more recently,  "Tabula Rasa" has stumped up the readies and headed for the Great Beyond.

And, yes, as a card-carrying geek, I'm properly jealous of him.

Best of luck, Lord B - enjoy the ride.

Sam & Herman's Big Adventure


Instead of flailing on your wireless Gibson guitar controller, why not see how the pros do it?

The Evil League of Evil is watching, so beware...


Via our friends at Hijinks Ensue - the Recluse strikes...

Friday 10 October 2008

And on an entirely different note...


Cinematical has a report on a edible Death Star.

I haven't posted in so long

My darling Fluffrick keeps telling me I need to post more, I don't know if this is what he had in mind, but I just need to vent.



I'm probably getting my knickers in a twist about something I really shouldn't be stressing over, but I can't help it. My darling has been asked by his brother to be the Godfather to his children. They now have three boys and the oldest (5 years old) goes to a Catholic school, but as yet none of them have been christened. I don't know the motivation for getting the boys christened, but it does strike me as having more to do with wanting to keeps their boys in what they deem to be a "good" school, as apposed to an over-riding faith in the Catholic Church.


My darling and his brother attended a Catholic school, but since the age of about fourteen, my darling stopped attending church and is now atheist. He has agreed to be their Godfather, not in a religious sense, but as an Uncle and hopefully a positive example in their lives. However, I think he has been asked to be Godfather because he is "Catholic" and it is my understanding the other 3 Godparents are not.


Okay, so ego does come into it somewhere. I have not been asked to be one of the 3 other Godparents, my services are most definitely not required. I hope to think, had I been asked I would have respectfully declined, as I couldn't personally reconcile it with my own atheism, I don't know. I am a Godmother to my best friend's child, but in my defence back then I was merely agnostic, not atheist.


I don't know what to do, if I protest and don't go to the christening, am I going to cause a major family rift, that will probably not have a significant impact on me and my darling, but could on my lovely mother in law. Or do I go and support my husband and just play happy families and no one is any the wiser of my contempt for the whole charade.


It is not my intention or desire to hurt anyone I love, but I don't know how to reconcile my beliefs and my actions.

Tuesday 7 October 2008

For the terminally lazy and unimaginative...


...comes a splendid way to sort out those difficult to resolve Christmas present issues.

Paramount are offering pre-gift-wrapped copies of their Chrimble biggies - "Indiana Jones and The Kingdom of The Crystal Skull", "Kung-Fu Panda" and "Iron Man".

(With thanks to the ever-vigilant peeps over at DVD Active)

At last - a politician you can believe in...

Via Joystiq, a slice of local US politics which made me chuckle - I, too, would gladly hand my vote to a dude who can melee attack n00bs and wield a gravity hammer with aplomb.

An update...

Things have been quiet on Rolling Eyeballs, of late.  A sad state of affairs, to be sure, and one that I attribute entirely to those unexpected Outside Factors.

Outside Factor Part The First?

Bonnie, our new dog.  She needs the attention, you know.

Outside Factor Part The Second?

Our new Playstation 3.  Which is a fully kick-bottom BD player, has a clutch of games worth looking at and multimedia functionality which makes it a real competitor to the 360 (is it just snide elitism on my part to infer that I don't really regard the Wii as being next gen?).

Outside Factor Part The Third?

That new college course I began last week - thinking about contemporary English novels doesn't leave much time for pottering around the Interwebs and sharing a grab-bag of content for you to behold.

Normal service hopefully resumed?

Monday 29 September 2008

A Hijinks guest comic

Joel from Hijinks Ensue - which we love more than is legal - has done a guest comic for Unshelved.

'Tis funny and no mistake - how do you start up a book anyway?

Sunday 28 September 2008

Arctics concert film - directed by THIS man...


Genius!  Out on October 14th, per the IMDB listing...

Saturday 27 September 2008

Paul Newman - Rest In Peace


Paul Newman died last night at this family home in Connecticut, following a long, dignified battle with cancer.  He was 83.

There's not much to say that his career didn't already manage to.  In an age where stars routinely barter with the media for any small crumb of exposure and the resulting oxygen of soul-cheapening publicity, he managed to achieve great success without compromising himself into the bargain.

Do you see many of today's stars quietly giving back to the world in the same fashion as Newman did with his philanthropic work?  Not without a media scrum in tow to record them doing so.

It's a sad day - remember him by watching one of his lengthy catalogue of films (The Hustler, Butch Cassidy And The Sundance Kid, Cool Hand Luke, even something as up to date as The Road to Perdition would benefit from a revisit).


Just like old times...


(Assuming venerable Grandpa demeanour and quavering voice) Remember the early days of DVD? Back in the very late 90's, when you would buy a movie and pray to the deity of your choice that it didn't lock-up your player? When you had to weigh-up the odds of sending your player to a Mod specialist who advertised in the back of "DVD Review" or finding a retailer who offered modded machines which could circumvent the stupidity of region coding?

Despite Blu-Ray having won the HD format battle, it appears that we haven't really advanced that much in the last nine or ten years - Region Locking is still with us and still as dumb as it ever was, and Paramount's first big Autumnal release, Jon Favreau's Marvel hit "Iron Man" is bricking BD players.

The more things change...

(Via AV Forums and Home Cinema Choice)

The Gaming Singularity Is Upon Us! (But where's Master Chief?)

Posted the link to this over at my Facebook page, but the embedding works better here - so press play to enjoy a story from Game Videos (Via Kotaku) on one of the things that I feel has the potential to make "Little Big Planet" fantastic, namely the ability to custom-create levels and post them up for fellow PS3 owners to play.

I await the "Castlevania" and "Gears..." levels with ill-disguised glee...

Thursday 25 September 2008

Bringing the awesome...


Via the always splendid Cinematical, behold the joy of Darth and Yoda slippers...

UK Games Release Dates - out this weekend...

On the shelves in your local games retailer tomorrow...

"Brothers In Arms: Hell's Highway" - Xbox 360 (WWII-set FPS action from Gearbox)

"WipeOut HD" - PS3 (The PS' futuristic racer goes next gen for the first time - for download via the Playstation store) 

"NHL 09" -PS3 (Another year, another annual EA sports update - this one getting great       reviews...)

"Baja - Edge of Control" - 360 (An off-road racer from the dev team who brought you "MX Vs ATV")

"Battle Fantasia" - 360 (Pretty looking, predictably insane 2D fighting game from Japan)

"Vampire Rain - Altered Species" - PS3 (The original stealth-em-up got bad reviews on the 360 last year - this hasn't done any better)

"Pure" - 360/PS3/PC (My pick of the week - insane off-road ATV racing game from Black Rock and Disney Interactive - so much fun, gorgeous visuals, pumping tunes, great controls - you need this game in your life if you've ever had time for "Burnout" or the much-missed "SSX" games)

Now Hiring


Tell 'em Dr Horrible sent you...

Sunday 21 September 2008

Guitar Hero - World Tour Video Post

Gasp as mad buggers take on Alex Van Halen's double-bass drum apocalypse twist, "Hot For Teacher" in the new "Guitar Hero" game.

(Via your friends and mine at IGN)

Behold! The Great Back-Pedal of Aught-8...


Yep, I like to think that I'm generally a man who can admit when he's wrong.  That whole "Michael Bay is the next James Cameron" kick that I was on the other year?  Yeah, that was wrong.  Fun movies but the guy clearly has a micropercentage of Cameron's chops.  Short of a blow to the noggin which has the cumulative effect of removing Bay's personality wholesale - see the Lukas Haas plotline in Woody Allen's "Everyone Says I Love You" for how that might play out.

When it comes to the PS3, I'm equally all at sea.

I felt that I had the machine pegged - a metric f-bomb of (potential) power sadly hamstrung by the not-inconsiderable issue of no amazing games to harness it with.  The usual Sony battlecry of "It's too early in the life-cycle of the machine! Buy it now and some good games will be along once we've fished 'em out from the back of the sofa - promise!" was beginning to ring truly hollow and wouldn't be enough to bail out the Big S this time.

Having had the chance - props to Evo Jon and Elle Driver - to spend an extended period evaluating the PS3, mine's a big old slice of Humble Pie to go.  With extra humble.

Whilst my better half remains unconvinced - Boo Snook is all about the 360 - I have to say that I find this latest iteration of the Playstation brand to be an increasingly convincing option.

The XMB (or 'cross-media bar') interface is slick and intuitive - the video previews of game demos are neat, the information held is conveyed swiftly and it's a damn sight nicer than the endless sub-menus of the current Xbox Live media blades (though this may change when the Autumn 'New Xbox Experience' arrives imminently).

Video is slick and Blu-Ray - on the evidence of the "Casino Royale" transfer I saw - is a worthy HD format, albeit one with needless BS like region coding to make buying a PS3 something of a crap shoot for the enthusiast crowd.  Still, there are ways around that particular restriction -we're already seeing multi-region stand-alone Blu-Ray players being sold by third-party modders and I feel certain that the 'homebrew' community will deliver a solution sooner rather than later.

Games are fun - which is key, I guess.  I didn't get a chance to play "Metal Gear Solid 4", but the PS3 version of "Call of Duty 4 - Modern Warfare" is a percussive, eyeball-meltingly intense shooter, which employs every visual and auditory trick in the book to draw you into the game's blisteringly ferocious firefights.

"Motor Storm" is a great looking racer, with a fun physics engine which combines with a very user-friendly control system to deliver a game which rivals "PGR 4" in the high-speed stakes.

"Virtua Tennis 3" is far prettier than the 360 version - why, Maria Sharapova's digital avatar looks almost human in the PS3 iteration of the game.  Scarily human-looking, even.

If you like shooters, you're probably better off plumping for a 360, but you knew that.  If you want a less hardcore option but can't get around the Wii's critical lack of grunt and seeming disinterest in serving the core Nintendo audience, a PS3 seems like a wholly logical choice for a space in your living room.  And then there's the likes of "Little Big Planet" to consider, which just looks ace...

Having said that, the new 360 price cut just made your choice a hell of a lot more difficult...

Tuesday 16 September 2008

The Craft/Geek X-Over...


Via the splendid peeps at Craftzine.

Don't you just want one?  Imagine the havoc one could wreak in an unsuspecting post room with one of these little darlings to hand...

From Our Interesting Casting Department...


An interview with director D.J. Caruso, on the subject of his next project, Brian K Vaughan and Pia Guerra's wonderful graphic novel series, "Y - The Last Man", via our friends at Cinematical.

As ever these days, they're talking about condensing the ten-volume series into a trilogy of films and as much as it would be fun to see Yorick, 355, Ampersand and Dr Mann on the big screen, it's a tough sell as a project (the story focuses on the last man alive after an initially inexplicable global event which sees every other male entity on the planet, human and animal alike, suddenly drop dead).

This is a particularly adult and strange journey into a wholly different world and it's difficult to imagine any studio wanting to release this story in it's pure and uncut form.

I don't necessarily see Shia LaBeouf as Yorick but he's personable enough, which is key, and I'm sure he could do justice to the extremes of the Last Man's journey.

One to watch...with some large sense of trepidation.

For Anyone Who Asks Me What's On At The Cinema Shortly...

Empire has the answer.

I'm not entirely sure that 'Sizzle' reels really do the business that their creators would hope them to - 60 seconds of quick-fire clips ,devoid of context, surely only blitz an audience into submission and rarely, if ever, register as anything more than another barrage of blipverts.

And the audience at the cinemas that I go to are usually busier texting these days than watching anything that's up on screen.

In short? Fail...

 

Friday 12 September 2008

Friday Flashback

Yep - It's another Flashback Friday...

Remember The Rembrandts?  Theme tune to "Friends"?  This is arguably a much better song and a prime slice of early 90's guitar pop.  A classic, if you will.

And this is a Semisonic tune which is more than a match for their biggest hit, "Secret Smile".

Whilst we're on the subject of fantastic bands who were on the "10 Things I Hate About You" soundtrack, here's some vintage Letters to Cleo.

Heading back to the UK, the much-missed Sundays  - Live, even!

Finally - more from TheAudience (or what Sophie Ellis Bextor was doing when most of us had after-school jobs).



Wow. Bummer.

Xbox 360 Fanboy brings the pain.

Really? Ted Nugent?  In a world where the various music game franchises haven't managed to sign up an Eddie Van Halen, a Joe Satriani or even a Paul Gilbert, is Ted Nugent really the best bet as a boss character?

I mean - as the embedded video (thank you, Joystiq) shows - he's kind of a buffoon even when he's doing nothing more complex than promoting his appearance in the game.




Thursday 11 September 2008

How Chris Chike got his high score back...

None of which will many anything to you if you don't play, spectate or endure a partner's obsession with Harmonix's "Guitar Hero 3".

Chris held the world record on "GH3"s insane,  finger-busting, fret work-out on metal mavens  DragonForce's "Through The Fire and Flames".

Now, after some serious woodshedding, he owns the n00bs who would try to test him.

Sweet...

(via Kotaku, and  Game Videos)

Wednesday 10 September 2008

A new "Quantum of Solace" trailer...


...is up over at Yahoo Movies.

And boy, is it impressive.  That Dan Bradley action staging seems to be coming along a treat - the thudding is palpable, even in the quick-cut style beloved of contemporary movie trailers.

Tuesday 9 September 2008

For Apple Heads...

No huge shocks from todays Apple press conference - iTunes 8 is available now, with spiffy new "Genius" playlists and some slight upgrades to the interface (there's a 'Grid View' available in this iteration, if that floats your racing yacht).

There's a new iPod touch - with thanks to our peeps at Gizmodo - which looks like this.  Hmm, nice...

This time around, there's a new iteration of the Nano, which is more bevelled, thinner and has a slightly revamped user interface (album art scoots along at the bottom of the screen, rather than at the side as at present).  The scroll wheel has gained a turbo charge, too.

The Classic, just as I've bought the 80gb, jumps to a 120gb storage configuration.  Gah!!

There's also a software update coming this week for the iPhone, but as I don't have one, and have no plans to get one, I'm not getting too excited about it.  Current firmware bugginess has been sorted, by all accounts.

That's what you get for being a Beta tester, I guess...

At Last! The Musical Score Album Whedonites Have Been Waiting For!

If you hop on over to Amazon (or your online music store of choice) you can pick up Christophe Beck's score album for "Buffy The Vampire Slayer", drawn from seasons 1-7.  Go on, you know you want to...

Any accusation (possibly from the lovely Boo) that this post is a wholly transparent excuse to run a picture of Emma Caulfield is quite absurd and clearly beyond the pale (Also? Correct).

I'm waiting for "Harpsichord Hero" myself...


It's time to remember my ill-spent youth watching Kelly Willis videos on the late, lamented Sky music video channel, "CMT", as the still vocal PS2 massive gets to croon around the living room with another entry in the 15 Million-plus selling Karaoke gaming franchise - Yep, you've guessed it.  Get ready for "SingStar - Country"...(Via Kotaku)

Monday 8 September 2008

The Force - Unleashed - If You Really Must...

Tycho at Penny Arcade has the downlow on the retail version of LucasArts' "Star Wars" 3.5 multi-media cash cow, "The Force Unleashed".

Though he's not wholly wowed by the experience, it still looks a whole lot better than LucasArts' other forthcoming game, the post-"Gears...", terrain-deforming shooter, "Fracture"...

And on the subject of console failure rates...


Courtesy of the dudes over at Xbox 360 Fanboy, a rumour control story about the 360's notorious Red Ring Of Death failure rate affecting as many as 68% of pre-redesigned chip units.

Speaking for the bloggers who bring you this daily farrago, we've been fortunate enough not to see the image above in our day-to-day use of our machine (perhaps this is because we don't carry the hardcore card and refrain from using our 360 for fourteen hours at a time?).

Wiseacre quippery quite aside, it's obvious that the 360 had serious design issues from launch and it's probably only down to the Xbox community refusing to let this problem go away that Microsoft did anything about it...  

That One Kid, redux

CNBC business anchor Jane Wells  on her son's next gen console flip-flopping.

Say what you want about the 360 - reliability issues, rabid nutjobs all over Live, the whole 'more FPS than anyone really needs' malarkey - it does have the games that PS3 currently lacks in abundance.

Why, only today I visited my local game store in Fluffrickville and heard a pearler of a comment from some hapless fanboy trying to gain some traction in a discussion with an equally diehard 360-ite - "Yeah, PS3 games are not as compelling as their Xbox equivalents because Devs are only wrestling with 40 per cent of the Sony boxes' performance".

You can't tell from where you're reading this post, but I'm genuinely rolling my eyeballs in disbelief.

Alien 5? We Can But Dream...

James Cameron, accosted by man with Elf ears, lays down the law about the increasingly abysmal state of the "Alien" franchise...

Common Sense Comix

Sunday 7 September 2008

Saturday 6 September 2008

The future is here. Kinda.

Via our marvellous gaming friends at the semi-official Sony PS3 blog, Three Speech, comes a fairly amazing video that you should watch before reading the rest of this post.




Pretty amazing, huh?

I get the sense that the Next Gen is still Sony's for the taking if their developers can marry this tech to a game worth playing.  And I don't say this as an MS/360 fanboy - it's a question of when, rather than if our household picks up a PS3.

Makes you wonder why the facial replacement in so many movies nowadays is so rubbish when software devs are knocking out stuff like this for games?

Is this what Lars Ulrich meant by the creativity of You Tubers?

We Love...The Daily Show




The eternal problem - gaming room or living space?



Over at MTV's Multiplayer blog, writer Tracey John provides an example of the compromises made by gamers living in NYC.


Friday 5 September 2008

Friday Flashback

A possible future feature for the weekends on Rolling Eyeballs?  Egad - it's as though we're putting some thought into this enterprise...

This would be an unsung late-80's/Early 90's classic from Aztec Camera, presented for your viewing pleasure this weekend.

Aztec Camera - "Deep and Wide and Tall" (via the You Tubes)

Or for a shaky (but wholly watchable) recording of the video...

And feel the genius of Canada's thinking-person's alt-rock/hard rock/geek rock onslaught, The Pursuit of Happiness, with their Beavis and Butthead-unapproved "Cigarette Dangles".

More up to date - and my favourite song of the last ten years or so - Weezer's "My Name is Jonas" (Live in Japan, no less).

And, finally, Liz Phair - before she became almost too embarassing to listen to (she never was a great live singer - forewarned is forearmed!)

Quick Hits

In a story which will come of no surprise to anybody, we still pay more in the UK for games consoles - Pocket Lint reports on the US price drop for the 360, and why we won't be seeing a similar drop any time soon...

Tech Crunch  and Tech Radar on Google's new 'Chrome' web browser.  It's okay - I prefer what I'm using at the moment.

Whilst in other news, Hell Freezes Over...

US Republican spouse Cindy McCain - she's just like us, really.

From Back-Down Corner - Adam Savage of 'MythBusters' didn't hear, see or say anything untoward about some broken tech from a highly litigious conglomerate the other week. Oh no, Sir...

And Lifehacker have found me a new website to love...

Ghostbusters 3 - new stirrings on the spectral grapevine


Remember that rumour doing the rounds about a new entry in the "Ghostbusters" series  - possibly a next generation reboot featuring the likes of Seth Rogen and Paul Rudd rather than the classic Murray/Ackroyd/Ramis/Hudson quartet?

Another day, another wrinkle - word is that Columbia Pictures have hired Lee Eisenberg and Gene Stupnitsky from the US incarnation of "The Office" to write a third installment in the series - they've just worked with Harold Ramis on his latest directorial project, the Jack Black-starring biblical comedy "Year One".

The thinking at this point appears to be that the classic cast are the target of this script - with it being a continuation of the established characters rather than - as is the fashion - a ground-up reboot designed to appeal to the blog generation  (wait a minute....)

You can read Empire's take here, Cinematical's story here and AICN fanbobbins here.

As much as I love the first film, enjoyed the second and eagerly anticipate the chance to get my paws on a build of the in-limbo video game, I'm sure that I'd rather entertain this film as was - there's more opportunity to deliver a flick with more contemporary effects, but the idea of FX-heavy comedy can go either way, can't it?

Wednesday 3 September 2008

Felicia Day Interview over at Joystiq

To geeks in the know, "Buffy" alum Felicia Day is quite the name to drop.

Writer, producer, creator and star of excellent web series, "The Guild" , Felicia made an appearance at last weekend's geek nirvana, Pax 08, to promote the show, duet with Jonathan Coulton on a version of the 'Portal' tune "Still Alive" and generally make like the nerd-friendly girlfriend most twenty-sided die wielders would smote Level 62 Orc Warriors to meet.

Joystiq has a video interview with her...

Zack & Miri have a Red Band...

...Trailer, that is.

Kevin Smith's latest movie - high up the list of my films to see this Autumn/Winter - now has what our friends in North America know as a Red Band trailer, which is a short way of saying 'Very Not Safe For Work'.

Given the bold title and storyline centered on two friends who make an amateurish debut in the Adult Film Industry, that's hardly a surprise.

What is a surprise is that the Motion Picture Association of America appear to be allowing the film to be released minus some previously discussed cuts,  and allowing him to sidestep a commercially prohibitive NC-17 rating.

It's a funny trailer and bodes well for the movie - I'm particularly enjoying the sequence at the beginning of the teaser with Justin Long....


Tuesday 2 September 2008

Save Hijinks Ensue!


To keep you up to speed, Joel and the Hijinks Ensue  community are still doing their best to make Hijinks an ongoing concern - your support is still needed and welcome.

Like the funny? Make with the clicking.

Need new comics? Make with the clicking.

A devotee of pink fabulosity and Fancy Bastardness? Make with the clicking.


Monday 18 August 2008

We Love Monkey World




We're down here in Dorset on holiday (yes, we do go to work occasionally).  It has to be said the one of the main reasons for coming to Dorset is to visit Monkey World and we were not disappointed.  This delightful chap above is Paulo, he is a Woolly Monkey, a tragically endangered primate from South America.

This splendid Orangutan is part of the Nursery group; the park is the European centre for orphaned Orangutans.  I chose to adopt A-Mei who if the "Mother" to this group.  She certainly has her paws full.



This is a somewhat surreal picture from the Annual Bridport torch light procession.  It sadly was a somewhat damp night, but a fun night nonetheless.  The procession started from Bucky Doo Square and ended (seemingly many miles away) at the West Bay.

Wednesday 13 August 2008

Welcome to Hollywood...

This one comes from the category - Lies, damned lies and Hollywood Accounting:

New Line Cinema allege that The Lord of The Rings trilogy has yet to turn a profit....

Courtesy of our friends at the Los Angeles Times...

Monday 11 August 2008

The Hijinks! They....Ensue!



Another day, another opportunity to remind you about Hijinks Ensue's current subscriptions drive.

Get gut-busting laughs every Monday, Wednesday and Friday from Joel Watson's splendid Web comic and check out the forums for quality geek chat with no jerks allowed.

It's a Geektopia, people!

Mario Madness

Courtesy of the fine people at Craft magazine's blog, check out the joy which is a crochet recreation of the first level of Super Mario World.

There are no words to describe the coolness...

Saturday 9 August 2008

Bernie Mac, RIP

Some horrible news, breaking via the Associated Press and Cinematical, which tells us that Bernie Mac, stand-up comic and integral part of the "Ocean's Eleven" team, has died from complications stemming from his recent bout with Pneumonia.

A story to this effect was all over the internet last weekend, but the quotes attributed to Mac's publicist seem to confirm this very sad news.

He died today, aged 50, in a Chicago-area hospital.



(The You Tube video features some NSFW language - but you're all grown-ups, right?)

Save Hijinks Ensue!



You really should be reading Hijinks Ensue! - it's one of the best Web Comics out there. If you have love for sublime geekery, things of genuine amusement and all sorts of fancy bastardry, then you would do well to head on over there now. Feel free. I'll be here when you get back.

Site Major Domo Joel Watson is currently running a subscription and funding drive to allow him to keep running Hijinks Ensue as a full-time job and we're supporting him in that endeavour.

Why don't you, too?

Friday 8 August 2008

A brief trip through Roland Emmerich's lovely house..

Roland Emmerich, then. German-born, cheerfully mainstream helmer of such popcorn-selling blockbusters as "Universal Soldier", "Stargate", "Independence Day", "Godzilla" and, my personal favourite, "The Day After Tomorrow".

Perfectly entertaining flicks are his forte, but if the attached tour of his London townhouse from the New York Times is to be believed, there's a crazy auteur of Gilliam-esque proportions just waiting to be let off the leash.

Click and be bewildered...

Thursday 7 August 2008

Shane, Shane - let's talk about this...

Courtesy of the always on-the-ball folk at Cinematical comes news that Shane Black - the latter-day master of hard-boiled dialogue and thick-ear action in such films as "The Last Boy Scout", "The Long Kiss Goodnight" and his own directorial debut, "Kiss Kiss Bang Bang", is considering a return to the well by penning a screenplay for "Lethal Weapon 5".

A spec script, no less.

My jaw - it has dropped.

Andrew Ryan lives!

Thought that some of you might be interested in this video from You Tube, which reveals the forthcoming PS3 version of 2K Boston's spooky First Person Shooter "Bioshock".

Get ready to travel to Rapture again (with a nice frame rate and lovely water effects...)

Monday 4 August 2008

What we did on our holidays...




A view of Torshavn, in the Faroe Islands, on a damp and decidedly closed Sunday morning. Other than a handful of cafes, and the odd ATM vestibule, nothing seemed to open on the island.

One to visit when it's a bit more open, perhaps?




The Blue Lagoon, just outside of Reykjavik, Iceland.  I didn't go - swimming isn't really my bag, what with the imminent drowning and all - but K and her Mum did and report that it offers the odd sensation of swimming in a warm, mineral bath.  



The view from our cabin porthole, at 03:00am - pretty, isn't it?




An aerial view of Bergen, in Norway, from the top of the Floibanen.  Imagine 19,000 tourists milling around us as we take this picture, with just as many accents and every conceivable type of camera clicking, buzzing and humming as background noise.

The way we live today, eh?