10 mins of "Aliens: Colonial Marines" gameplay

I've never been the biggest fan of the Alien movies but they still rank pretty high on my personal cool wall.

An Aliens FPS is nothing new, but in Aliens: Colonial Marines the slimy black critters are not accompanied by Predators for a change.

Gearbox (of "Borderlands" fame) is making this game, which means that it could turn out to be rather cool.

This just released trailer shows the first in-depth actual gameplay that has been released to the public:

I don't know who did the voice over to this trailer but I think they should not have shot him up with horse tranquilizer before he did the speak.

He sounds about as excited for this game as I was about my last visit to the dentist.

The game itself looks alright, I think. A bit bland perhaps, but with some nice atmosphere.

If you're a big Alien geek then this could be something to really look forward to.

New and final Rage trailer online

For those of you foaming at the mouth to delve into "Rage" (the video game, not the feeling you get when someone takes the last blue M&M), the last trailer before the game is released on Tuesday the 4th, is now online.

I myself am still rather ambivalent about this game.

The graphics are definitely very impressive, but all the gameplay I've seen so far makes it look very generic.

There's nothing in this trailer that really makes me stop and go "holy shit, that was amazing" and so if I bother with this game at all I think it will be a rental.

1984 -Oldie but Goodie

Most people know what the book ”1984” is about in broad terms. A big brother society where the totalitarian government keeps an iron grip on the brain washed masses.

This was about all I knew about 1984, when I decided that I should pick up this old sci-fi classic (sci-fi because of course 1984 was way the heck in the future when this book was written).

I came into the book with the attitude that this was a book that I “should” read as a sci-fi fan, but I honestly did not have too high hopes of it being very gripping.

Fortunately I was very positively surprised. 



1984: And you thought Blade Runner presented a bleak view of the future



While the propaganda infested society is certainly the central theme of the book, it is actually a very personal story about a single mans rebellion against the system and a tale of growing hope in a soul crushing world (A lot like “Up” really, but with more torture and Gestapo-like secret police forces).

Syndicate trailer hits the web

A trailer for the new Syndicate FPS game is now online on YouTube:

Okay, so this actually does look kinda cool. 

Deus Ex may have prepped the market and left us all wanting a little more dystopian sci-fi FPS.

Let's just hope the shooting mechanics are better than Deus Ex, because I don't think the RPG part will be as prominent.

I still hope that someone will eventually make a real Syndicate remake, though.

Light Speed Gaming switching into into Warp speed -Twitter account online

Being a man of the 21st century I pride myself of keeping up with all things digital.

I hear there is this newfangled thing called "Twitter" (If you haven't heard about it don't worry. It's very cutting edge)

Anywho, Light Speed Gaming is now a part of this futuristic wonderland and you can follow by going to Twitter and follow LightSpeedGmng (Damn character limits!).

Or you can click on this snazzy button below!

5 Reasons not to invite Darth Vader to your dinner party

You may think that having the Dark Lord of the Sith, Darth Vader, to your party is a great idea.

You’ll impress your friends with your connections to people with power and in case your kitchen appliances break down while you’re preparing dinner you’ll have someone around that’s good with his hands around (even if they are strictly speaking not *his* hands).

Do not sit him at the Younglings table

However, before you make this decision I  will give you 5 reasons why this is a bad idea.

Battlefield 3 beta impressions -"Shiny!"

The Battlefield 3 beta for multiplayer started up yesterday for people that have preordered the game.

As I happen to be one of these select few couple of million individuals with more money than sense, who were willing to put down money up front for a game that has not even been published yet, I am now part of this beta.

Commuters are getting more and more aggressive these days

I have only had time to play for a few hours but I think that I have a good feel of the basics of the game, within the confines that are set in the beta (i.e. only one map and one multiplayer mode)

Below I'll share the good and bad points that have stuck with me so far:

Deus Ex game director talks about designing the game

As you may have already seen in my earlier post, I am quite fond of the new Deus Ex and its elbow sword waving shenanigans.

Today I stumbled on a really interesting interview with the game director of Deus Ex, Jean Francois Dugas.

For those of you interested in what went on behind the curtain (you know, the curtain that all game developers sit behind when they are making a game), then I think there are some interesting questions answered in this piece.

Jean explains why making choices all the time became such an integral part of the game and why there is no "morality meter", like you see in so many other decision making games like Fallout or Mass Effect.

Hello, I am Sven. I am here to crush all the fun out of this game. Starting... Now!

He also touches on the, frankly kinda FUBAR, boss fights and while he offers some explanation for their design, it basically boils down to "yeah, we f*'d that up pretty bad"

You can read the full article at Giant Bomb here.

3 Star Wars moments that George Lucas ruined

With the new Star Wars Blu Ray double trilogy pack just out, a lot of people are buying (or re-buying, or re-re-buying...) the Star Wars movies.

Sadly, in his infinite descent into lala-land, Lucas has seen fit to once again grace us with changes to the movies, to bring them more in line with his vision (or oxygen deprived fever dream as the case may be)

"Actually I'm not crazy about the yellow anymore. Can we do lime green?"

Some of these changes you will maybe not even notice.
A few even make sense, like swapping out the hologram transmission in The Empire Strikes Back with Ian McDiarmid, the actor who played the Emperor in Return of the Jedi and the new trilogy (The original hologram was actually a woman with the eyes of a chimp superimposed on top. That's not a joke that's what they actually used).

However most of them are just unnecessary and awkward (Han Solo meeting a super bad looking Jabba the Hut in the Tatooine spaceport) and some straight up break the whole feel of the original scenes.

I have picked out what I consider to be the 3 worst offenders:

Keeping up with current events -Personal Top 5 gaming news sites

The world of video games is a fast moving one.

As a person that has a considerable interest in video games you need to keep up on what is going on, what new game did Blizzard just announce? How did Duke Nukem Forever actually turn out? What is the latest crazy game with scantily clad women that has come out of Japan?

All this is of utmost importance to impress fellow bespectacled gaming oracles at the water cooler/coke vending machine.

New DLC for Minesweeper?! Stop the press!

The information you need is out there (somewhere just to the right of the Truth. If you see David Duchovny you've gone too far and will need to make a u-turn).

Here is my personal top 5 of gaming sites that will both inform and entertain in your quest for ever more nuggets of video gaming enlightenment.

Battlefield 3 early beta access starting tomorrow. Start polishing your guns!

I do not normally play a lot of FPS games.

Although I have played first person shooters ever since Wolfenstein 3D, I must admit that as I have gotten older I find them less and less appealing, except for ones that feature heavy story and RPG elements (like Deus Ex).

But Battlefield 1942 really grabbed me when it came out, with its vehicular carnage that gave you a feeling of being in the middle of a scene from Saving Private Ryan (sans the silly brotherhood bonding parts, of course).

Don't look now, Johnny, but half of your torso is on fire again

Therefore I am actually really looking forward to Battlefield 3 in a way that I have not looked forward to a military FPS in a long time.
And I have even installed the misshapen abortion that is Origins onto my computer and placed a preorder.

That means that I will be able to start playing the multiplayer beta with a massive two (yes, 2!) day head start on the rest of the world. Schmocks!

Anyway, should you also be interested in trying out the multiplayer war glorifying phenomenon that is Battlefield 3, then you can place your preorder and start playing tomorrow.
Or, if you have near infinite amounts of patience, you can wait until Thursday and nab it without the obligation of such preorderingness.

For more info on the beta you can check out EA's official page on it here

See you in the warzone!

5 good sci-fi video games on Steam for under 5 euro each

The economic crisis is hitting us all, even us nerds have to hold back on our extravangaze.
Some of you out there may even still be using phones that you bought more than 12 months ago!

Video games are expensive but even during hard times we must be entertained!

If you don't have a tree like this, then you may need to think twice when choosing what games to buy

I have gone through the bargain bins of Steam and picked out 5 sci-fi games for under 5 euro each that I think should keep you entertained for many hours and take your mind off how you may not be able to afford that Iphone 5 at launch...

"I just like to watch" -Dawn of War 2 casting

You may already know that I like me some Warhammer 40k: Dawn of War 2 (DoW2), as it made it into my personal top 10 video game list.

However DoW2 is a demanding game when you're playing 1 versus 1 multiplayer.
You have to constantly be on top of your game, giving orders to your units all over the battlefield and keep track of when to build what units.

Too much stuff going on... can't... keep track

Sometimes I get the DoW2 cravings, but I really just want to sit back and relax, while someone else is doing all that hard work of actually playing the game.

Old Republic officially scheduled to hit in 2011 (barely)

Yesterday saw the long awaited announcement of the release date for Star Wars: The Old Republic.

December 20 will be "lightsaber on!" time for American jedi wannabes, while Europeans will have to keep their Yoda in their pants for two more days until December 22.
Thus fulfilling my previously stated hopes of being able to go on a Jawa killing spree before New Year.

"It was like that when I got here, I swear!"

Well, at least I know how I'll be spending Christmas this year!

You can find the official press release from Bioware here

3 Sci-fi movies you may not have seen but should consider

In the sci-fi movie universe there are the behemoths like Star Wars and Star Trek, or more recent mainstream smash hits like the Matrix (or well, the first one at least).

However there are a lot of cool sci-fi movies out there that went more under the radar but are still worth your time if you are a fan of the genre.

Okay, so maybe you've seen this already..

Here are 3 movies that I would gladly recommend to any sci-fi geek: