Punching people is quality entertainment!

Just wanted to share an amusing Deus Ex clip that has been put together by Gamespot.

Start your Saturday with a punch! (or like a hundred punches, as the case may be)

Besides the quality of the punching, you can find my complete opinion on Deus Ex here.

Old Repbulic companions -Pets with personality

Now that my hopes of Diablo 3 in 2011 have been crushed, I turn to my other hope of 2011, which is the MMO Star Wars: The Old Republic.

With a glowstick like that, he'd be the king of any techno party

Star Wars certainly does not hold the same magic to me that it once did and it's been a while since the last really good Star Wars game came around (Republic Commando maybe? Or even back to Knights of the Old Republic).

Nevertheless I get suckered right back in, when you show me lightsabers and big Star Destroyer-like capital ships, like an abused spouse coming right back for more (Really, it was my own fault for expecting too much. This time it will be different...).

On the official Old Republic website there is a weekly update every Friday giving you a brief glimpse of some aspect of the game.
This week it's companion characters.

It's weekend and time to get your Space Marine painted!

No, that is not some dirty euphemism.

This is for all those people out there, who take their nerdhood to the next level (this includes myself), and spend considerable amounts of time painting small plastic figurines.

These figurines are then used to stage dramatic battles between powerful factions of the galaxy, waged on your very own living room table (with or without impending risks from pets jumping on said table)

Now I have only been painting Warhammer 40k models for under a year and I will be the first to admit that I suck pretty bad at it.

An Ultramarine terminator. The very first Warhammer model I painted. I know it looks shit, but I was very happy!
Unpainted model to the left for reference of how it looks before some untalented noob mess it up

No Diablo 3 in 2011. A million voices cry out in pain

So Blizzard has now officially stated that we will not get our grubby hands on the finished version of Diablo 3 this year, dashing my previous hopes to the contrary.

My reaction to this is:

But since an official release date was never really announced I guess we cant really be too upset (So put those pitchforks away, people)

Oh well, good things are worth waiting for I guess..

You can check out the full story here at Blues News: Diablo 3 in early 2012

Need cheap sci-fi fun for the weekend?

If you're looking for some passable sci-fi action video gaming fix over the weekend for less than the price of a pint of beer at the pub (depending on how greedy your local pub owner is), then I have just noticed that Aliens vs Predator is on sale on Steam this weekend for 5 euro.

It's a first person shooter that lets you play as a Predator (shoot poor marines and rip their skulls off), an Alien (jump on poor marines and eat their faces) or marines (get shot by Predators or eaten by Aliens).

"All right kids, for the last time, stop fighting or I'm not taking you to Disneyland tomorrow!"

It didn't exactly set the world on fire when it was released and it's certainly not of the quality of something like Crysis 2, but for 5 euro it should keep you satisfied for long enough that you feel you got your moneys worth.

Farcasting my way through Hyperion

I recently stumbled on a sci-fi book called "Hyperion" while flicking aimlessly through the Kindle store.

The cover or synopsis did not really catch me, but I downloaded the sample first chapter and it looked alright enough for me to want to give the book a chance.

I must say that I was extremely positively surprised by the quality of the book.

The cover is very low key sci-fi, but you know what they say about judging books by their cover.
That you shouldn't

Diablo 3 closed beta begins

Okay, so it's not exactly a sci-fi videogame but as I do have the original Diablo on my all time top 10 video games list I will go ahead and make a post about it anyway, 'cause frankly I am looking forward to this the way Greece is looking forward to fiscal stability.

Starting yesterday the closed beta testing for Diablo 3 is now underway.
Sadly I am not one of those lucky enough to have gotten a beta invitation but here's to hoping I'll get one at some point.

If you *really* only like sci-fi themed games just squint at the screenshot and pretend the wizard is shooting a laser beam. *zzzap!*

The real reason I am excited about this is because it shows that the game is getting pretty close to release (probably 3-5 months if previous Blizzard beta periods are anything to go by).
With a little luck we might even get a diabolical little christmas present with release in 2011.

That would be awesome, although I am getting a little tired of using my planned christmas vacation to play Blizzard games, like I did with Cataclysm and Wrath of the Lich King before that...

Unlike most betas, but *like* most Blizzard betas, there is no NDA in effect for the Diablo 3 beta, so expect people everywhere flashing screens and videos on the internet and smothering us with the pixellated goodness of the game.

To anyone lucky enough to have already gotten a beta invite I wish you happy beta testing and to all the rest of us who are crossing our fingers I wish good luck. Mostly for myself of course.

The Spice must flow -The wonders of the Dune universe

Aside from the Warhammer 40k universe another big favorite of mine is the Dune.

Sand worms are a big part of the Dune mythos.  They'll happily gobble up the huge harvesters that collect the Spice. Nom nom nom!

Like 40k it presents a pretty bleak view of the future with lots of political scheming and maneuvering between different "Houses".

New X-wing game in the works?

In space no one can hear you go "Noooo!", but I'm sure George Lucas would like to fit it in there some way all the same...

One of my most fondest video game Star Wars moments is that of playing Tie Fighter for the PC.

I came slightly late to the party and so missed out on playing the original X-wing game, which was also hailed as very good game.

Tie Fighter presented a pretty deep "sim-like" experience of piloting the spaceships, leaving you to do stuff like energy management and diverting shields forward or aft to boost your defense.

It allowed you to zoom through an epic space battle between Rebel Mon Calarami Cruisers and Imperial Star Destroyers (or older Victory Class Star Destroyers or Nebulon-B Frigates or... well, you get the picture. I like Star Wars).

Racing at full throttle along the side of an Imperial Star Destroyer while blasting at the X-wing in front of you presented you with plenty of "Hell yeah!" moments for true Star Wars geeks like myself.

And the graphics were very good, which really helped to put you in the universe.

Honestly, I swear, at the time, this was good look graphics...

Now it seems that the X-wing series may get a long long long overdue revival.
LucasArts are hiring some new people, among them someone with experience in "aerial combat games", particularly "space-based shooters".

Now I don't want to get my hopes up too high but if there really is a new X-wing game on the way then I may experience full nerdgasm...

You can check out the story at GameSpot here: LucasArts hiring

Just...just don't be prequel era games...

Public service announcement: Don't watch Transfomers 3

Spoiler: I don't like this movie so much

Now I know that I am late to the party and most of you that were considering watching the hideous creation that is Transformers 3 will long ago have made your decision either way.

However, if I can save just one person from this 3D enchanced CGI pile of poo-poo then I will consider this as time well spent.

Warhammer 40k: Space Marine - number 1 Ork carving simulator

Having just gushed about my love for all things Warhammer 40k I think it only natural that I take a moment to talk about the just released 3rd person action game Warhammer 40k: Space Marine, which I have just played through this week.

The Dawn of War RTS series has been the premier Warhammer 40k video game presence for a long time, but I'm happy to say that Space Marine takes a decent stab (pun intended) at giving video gamers a more action oriented view into Warhammer 40k and the life of a Space Marine.

Simply put this game is a gory Ork snuff fest with the main Space Marine character slicing through thousands of Orks with his trusty chainsword, power axe or thunder hammer. The way you regain lost health is even by doing bloody "execution" finishing moves on your hapless and stunned opponents, which includes timeless classics such as lifting up your victim by the tip of your sword and revving it gleefully or throwing him to the ground and curb stomping his head with your heavily armored foot (and who said video games were full of meaningless violence?)

If you look at this picture and go "Awesome!" then Space Marine is for you

Personal top 10 games list

As all good humans I am fond of sorting things and making lists about how great they are; movies, video games, meals, My little Pony comic books and so on.

These lists say more about what we value as an individual than about the objective quality of the subject being judged.
So I think that maybe showing you a list of what I consider some of the most memorable and formative games for me can give you an idea about what makes me tick.

Deus Ex -More fun than you can wave an elbow sword at

So I have recently played through the multi-platform game Deus Ex Humand Revolution and I have to say that I found it to be a very enjoyable experience.

The protagonist Adam Jensen complete with augmentation mechanical arms

Deus Ex takes place in the near future, where science has developed the technology to replace limbs and organs with mechanical replacements, giving humans the possibility to get infrared vision, lungs impervious to poisonous gas or frigging blades that slide out of your elbows (for those melon slicing emergencies)