Massively Multiplayer: Gaming In The New Millennium
- Thread starter RySenkari
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Well...you've already said James Gunn is doing Lobo, so my guess would be Joss Whedon or Jon Favreau.
Superman
Batman
Wonder Woman
The Flash
Aquaman
Martian Manhunter
Green Lantern
Green Arrow
Hawkgirl
Black Canary
Nightwing
Batgirl
Deathstroke
Lex Luthor
The Joker
Supergirl
Saturn Girl
Sinestro
Darkseid
Harley Quinn
Deadshot
Bane
Huntress
Lightning Lad
Ra's al Ghul
Captain Marvel
Black Adam
Catwoman
Jonah Hex
Bizarro
Battlefield 3 is likely to be multiplatform.
Jon Watts?
Peyton Reed? (iirc he tried pitching a 60s set fantastic four movie OTL but got turned down)
*Whistles innocently*
I have a cast list in mind. The actors from the original FF are returning so...
George Clooney as Reed Richards/Mister Fantastic
Christina Applegate as Susan Storm/Invisible Woman
Neil Patrick Harris as Johnny Storm/The Human Torch
Michael Chiklis as Ben Grimm/The Thing
As for the newcomers...
Mark Strong as ???
Orlando Bloom as ???
Oded Fehr as ???
Mark Strong as Dr. Victor von Doom ?
Orlando Bloom as Skrull?
Oded Fehr as Dr. Strange?
The fangirls would go nuts. Orlando Bloom in a speedo, playing a shirtless dude who's constantly covered in water? Heck, i'm (mostly) into dudes, and i'm turned on by that mental image alone.
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I thought I should address this:
Sadly, the studio may have other plans for Doctor Strange. It's still possible that Fox may cast Oded Fehr as Stephen Strange as Sir Ian McKellan played the Skull Emperor in the original FF and Justin Hammer in The Spectacular Spider-Man.
Sadly, the studio may have other plans for Doctor Strange. It's still possible that Fox may cast Oded Fehr as Stephen Strange as Sir Ian McKellan played the Skull Emperor in the original FF and Justin Hammer in The Spectacular Spider-Man.
Hey, Early-Bird Cameos are a thing. Strange is part of the same "Cosmic Marvel" milenu the FF frequent. And the Guardians, for that matter.
Hell, I'm a straight man and even I think that a shirtless Orlando Bloom in his prime has looks a Greek statue would be jealous of.
Spring 2006 (Part 3) - GameTV And G4: Where Are They Now?
February 7, 2006
The car driven by Lyssa Fielding made its way through the quiet, gated Los Angeles neighborhood. Seated next to Lyssa was one of Hollywood's most talented and famous stars, the music superstar Selena Quintanilla-Perez, while in the back was Brittany Saldita. It was past midnight, and the three women were headed home from the premiere of Suicide Squad, though they had one stop to make first before going back to their homes for the night.
"Thanks again for inviting me and Chris to the premiere," said Brittany. Brittany's husband had headed home on his own after the party while Lyssa would be dropping Brittany off after they picked up Arturo and Regan from the friend who'd been babysitting them. "We both had an awesome time and it was really cute to see Chris geeking out so much."
Lyssa laughed, turning the corner onto the street where their friend lived.
"No way I would've forgotten to invite you guys, you've been bugging me about this movie for a year and a half," said Lyssa.
"And...thanks again for the dress," said Brittany, looking down at the beautiful black dress she was wearing. "I still can't believe you got Gianni Versace to design a dress for me."
After Versace had designed Lyssa's dress for the premiere, he'd asked her if there was anything else he could do for her, and there was only one thing Lyssa could ask of him.
"He's the sweetest person in the whole world," said Lyssa. "I love working with him so much."
"I still remember the very first thing he said to me," said Brittany, putting on her best imitation of Versace's accent. "'Your friend was right, you are the most gorgeous woman in the world!' He's amazing and this dress is gorgeous."
"It makes you look like an angel," said Selena, smiling back at Brittany.
"I gotta keep my eyes on the street but is she blushing?" asked Lyssa with a laugh. "I remember when Gianni said that to her and she looked like a freaking firetruck she was so red!"
"She's blushing!" said Selena, prompting Lyssa to giggle as Brittany tried to hide the redness in her cheeks from Selena's compliment. "I agree though, you are absolutely gorgeous Brittany."
Brittany began to playfully yell at Selena in Spanish, only for Selena to continue to shower Brittany with compliments, also in Spanish, Brittany blushing intensely the entire time.
"Twenty years ago I'm a plain-looking Nintendo loving geek girl in the AV club and now I'm being showered with compliments by the world's most famous fashion designer and the world's most famous singer, and my best friend is a Hollywood A-lister who just starred in the most awesome movie of the year...and yet I don't feel even a tiny bit different," thought Brittany as she sat in the back of the car, a warm feeling in her chest and in her face. "And I couldn't be happier..."
The car pulled into the driveway and the three women stepped out and walked up to the front door of a fairly large house belonging to Carlos Delgado and his wife, former actress turned stay-at-home businesswoman Sonora. The two lived with their five-year-old daughter Inez and were very good friends with Selena and her husband Chris, who had taken on the role of Inez's godparents.
"I hope Regan wasn't too much trouble," said Brittany as they approached the door. "I know Arturo can behave himself but Regan can sometimes be a handful..."
"Mmm, I'm sure they loved having her over," said Selena with a smile.
The door opened and the three were greeted by Sonora, who happily led them in.
"Thank you so much for watching Crystal for us tonight," said Selena.
"Oh, it wasn't any problem at all," Sonora replied, turning to Brittany. "And your kids were angels, they were no trouble at all."
Brittany gave an internal sigh of relief and walked into the living room to see Inez and Regan sitting together in the living room, playing a board game together...or rather, Inez was trying to give Regan instructions on how to play, and Regan, who was only 18 months old, just sat there looking at the pieces and occasionally trying to repeat what Inez was telling her.
"Regan!" exclaimed Brittany happily. As soon as Regan saw Brittany, she stood up and started toddling over to her.
"Mommy!" said Regan, quickly making it across the room to her mother.
"Crystal's sleeping in the other room, I'll go get her," said Sonora, smiling as she took Selena to the guest room. "Arturo's with Carlos right now I think, he's showing him some game design documents."
"Oh, sweet, maybe I'll get some inside info on the new Quixsters game," said Brittany, holding Regan gently in her arms and looking down at Inez. "Hello there Inez, did you and Regan have fun together?"
"She's a cute baby!" said Inez, giggling. "But I wish she knew how to read so we could play more games together."
"Uh huh, Regan hasn't learned how to read just yet but mommy's going to teach her very soon isn't she?" said Brittany, smiling and rubbing noses with Regan.
"Your dress is pretty," said Inez, who then turned to Lyssa and complimented her red and black dress as well. "So is yours, you both have pretty dresses!"
"Thank you!" said Lyssa, kneeling down and hugging Inez. "You're getting so big now aren't you?"
A few minutes later, Carlos had brought Arturo back into the room, while Selena and Sonora returned with Crystal, who was asleep in her mother's arms.
"Thank you both so much again," said Selena, kissing her daughter on the forehead. "I wanted to give Angeline the night off and I thought maybe the kids would have more fun if they could hang out together."
"Oh, Inez loves having other kids over," said Sonora, "and it was absolutely no bother at all."
"Bye bye Regan," said Inez, walking over and giving her a hug.
"Hey, next time I'm gonna beat you at Mario Kart," said Arturo, pointing at Inez, who laughed.
"No way!" she replied, waving goodbye at him too.
Sometime later, after Lyssa had dropped off Selena and Crystal back at their home, it was just Lyssa and Brittany with Arturo and Regan in the back seat. Both of them had fallen asleep.
"Tonight was really incredible....I know we're best friends but I still really appreciate you inviting me to all of these things," said Brittany with a soft smile. "I'm glad I wasn't too busy to actually go this time. It was a lot of fun and...I really felt like a star tonight."
"You are a star, Britt," said Lyssa affectionately. "And Gianni meant that...all those compliments he gave you, that wasn't just him being nice. He loved designing that dress for you."
"I loved wearing it," Brittany replied.
"And I could tell Chris loved seeing you in it," said Lyssa with a smirk. "He couldn't keep his eyes off you all night, and there were celebrities everywhere!"
"Mmm, had trouble keeping his hands off me too," replied Brittany, "though the feeling was definitely mutual."
The two pulled up in Brittany's driveway.
"...do you know what the best part of tonight was?" asked Brittany.
"Hmm?"
"Seeing my best friend getting to live her dream."
Now Lyssa was the one blushing, and it only intensified as Brittany leaned over and gave her a tight hug.
"You were awesome," said Brittany. "Thanks for everything."
Lyssa nodded, managing a faint 'you're welcome' as Brittany slid out of the car to walk to the back door. She opened it up and took Arturo and Regan out of their car seats, then lifted Regan up and turned to head to the front door. Lyssa had gotten out of the car by now, and the two were standing in the driveway together.
"Bye bye Aunt Lyssa," said Arturo, hugging Lyssa's legs tightly.
"See you soon kiddo," Lyssa replied, bending over and giving Arturo a smooch on the forehead. "Let me know how I did as Harley Quinn when mom lets you see the movie in ten years."
"You know I'm gonna take him to the theater to see it when it comes out next week," said Brittany with a smirk.
"You are a terrible mom," joked Lyssa, prompting both women to laugh. "Arturo, don't say any of the bad words that Aunt Lyssa says in the movie, okay?"
Lyssa walked up to the door with Brittany.
"Wanna come in for a bit?" asked Brittany. "Have a snack or something?"
"I'd better get home, I've been up since five this morning," Lyssa replied, yawning. "But thanks though... and thanks for coming to the premiere, it's way more fun going to them when I've got my best friend to hang out with."
"I wouldn't have missed this for anything," said Brittany. "I'm so happy that you're doing so well. Actually...seeing you doing so much acting kind of...well, my contract at KABC comes up next year, and I....I've kind of been thinking about doing voice acting full time. I've been having a ton of fun with Thrillseekers, and Avatar, and... I still love doing the news, but... I'm actually having more fun with these side projects, you know?"
"Britt, if that's what your true passion is, then go for it."
"I know, but journalism is my passion too, I mean, it was my first passion..."
"Sounds like you've got a while to decide though, right? I mean, your contract doesn't come up until more than a year from now, right?"
"Yeah, that's true..."
"Do what makes you happy, Brittany. You know that's what you should do."
Brittany just smiled and nodded, and remembered that she did indeed have more than a year left to make her decision. She knew her family would support her no matter what she did, and her friends would too, especially Lyssa.
"I'm sure I'll be talking about it with you later," said Brittany. "I'd better get inside and get Arturo to bed, he's got preschool at 10 tomorrow..."
"Yeah, poor kiddo looks like he's about to fall asleep on his feet! Well, I'll see you later, I'll be flying out to New York soon for all the press stuff, so I'll give you a call when I'm in the city."
"I'll look for you on Letterman and Leno, have fun!"
After the two said their goodbyes, Lyssa walked back to her car. She sat down in the driver's seat and let out a sigh, smiling warmly.
"She really is the most beautiful woman in the world."
Lyssa had dated some of the most handsome men in Hollywood, but none of them made her feel anything like Brittany did. She thought back to just a few moments before, when Brittany had told her how happy it made her to see Lyssa living her dream.
"If she wasn't married... and straight, I'd have kissed her right there."
Lyssa sighed again and shook her head, turning the key in the ignition and pulling out of the driveway.
She was just happy to see Brittany happy.
As for herself, there were plenty of men, or maybe women, that could be that special someone.
"Oh Orlando," said Lyssa to herself, recalling the actor she'd broken up with a few months back, "if only you had Brittany's sense of humor..."
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Opacity
Opacity is an adventure/RPG dungeon crawler type game that can best be compared to Soul Blazer for the SNES, though with 3-D graphics. Opacity is the second title and first console game to be relased based on an idea originated on the G4 television show The Pitch, in which teams of aspiring game designers compete to pitch their ideas to game companies in the hopes of being published. The first game to be published from the show was a card-based puzzle title that sold about 50,000 copies on PC, but Opacity is the most ambitious game to be launched from the show to date. It starts with a single character trapped in a series of dungeons, and it seems for a while that the first protagonist is the only such character in the game. However, after beating the first couple of bosses, you discover that there is another person, a girl, also trapped, and soon you take control of her for another dungeon. Then, another person is discovered, and another, for a total of four playable protagonists in the game. There are a total of eight dungeons in all, with the first two being played by the first protagonist, the third played by the second, the fourth played by the third, and the fifth played by the fourth, with the sixth dungeon being played by the first protagonist again, who must unite the others, and then the final two dungeons allow players to alternate between the four to complete different parts of the dungeon. Combat is fairly simple, though each of the four characters has their own weapon and special moves, with the protagonists assuming the traditional elements of earth, fire, wind, and water. The protagonists are:
Cadin: An earth-based sword fighter and the first protagonist of the game, Cadin is a spelunker who fell into the underworld and has a brave heart.
Myria: A water-based staff fighter who specializes in magic, Myria is a princess who was taken prisoner, she starts out as shy and meek but gradually gains courage.
Sai: A fire-based shuriken throwing ninja girl, Sai is somewhat rude and mean but she means well and is very knowledgeable about the underworld.
Vole: A wind-based axe wielding half-mole half-man, Vole uses the winds to blast his big body around, and is the physical brute of the team despite his elemental suggesting something more delicate.
The four protagonists don't formally meet each other until after the sixth dungeon (though they are in verbal contact with one another starting just after the second), but their bond still shines through their dialogue and their actions toward one another. Despite occasionally clashing personalities, they come together to defeat a powerful threat, in this case the evil dark mage who originally trapped Myria in the dungeon and who has been tormenting the people of the underworld for many years. After the mage is defeated, the heroes all go their separate ways, though Cadin does take Myria back home to her kingdom and it's implied a romance is kindled between them after the ending is complete.
Opacity is a fairly low-tech game, with graphics that call to mind early sixth-generation games rather than the cutting edge RPGs of 2005 and 2006. It also doesn't feature any voice acting, all of its dialogue appears as text on the screen. Despite this, the dungeons are all well designed, and the combat is fun, really bringing back memories of the old-school 16 bit adventure titles. The music, composed by Tommy Tallarico, is also considered outstanding. Overall, the reviews for Opacity are excellent. The process of how the game was created and conceived was shown in the 2003-04 season of The Pitch, so G4 viewers have been following this game for quite some time and are eager to play it upon its release. It's released for the Xbox and the Wave in April 2006, and the G4 connection is heavily promoted, with "as seen on G4's The Pitch" printed on the game's cover. Sales are mediocre, but because the game's budget was quite low, it's considered a financial success, and even contributes to viewership for the most recent season of The Pitch.
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G4 Still The Network For Gamers
When Charles Hirschhorn, along with business partner Ted Crosley, created the G4 TV network in 2001, they intended to create the first network for video gamers, a network that would be a one-stop source for game news, reviews, and strategy information, and possibly even break new ground for the times of programs that could be shown about video games. Now in its fifth year on the air, G4 hasn't succeeded in all of its goals, but it's well on its way. The network has seen its ratings hold steady and even increase as it's gained subscribers, and has recently passed the milestone of being in 50 percent of all homes subscribing to cable. Not only is it a success as a premium cable network, it's being added to numerous basic cable packages, with more homes signing on daily. Among the highest rated shows on the G4 network are a pair of reality shows: The Pitch and The Crunch, shows chronicling the struggles and creative processes of game developers in the industry.
The Pitch, which has been G4's highest rated show since 2003, recently launched its first console game: the adventure title Opacity. Created by a team of five young developers led by Abe Stockham, Opacity features four adventurers trapped together in a dungeon who must discover each other and escape. It's already been acclaimed as one of the year's best games, and if it proves to be a sales success, The Pitch could become what series creator Ted Crosley stated that he hoped it would become in a 2003 interview: "the American Idol of video games". Whether or not Opacity will be the Carrie Underwood of the gaming industry has yet to be seen, but so far, it's getting a better reception from game critics than Underwood has received from the music industry.
Then there's the more controversial but also most acclaimed of the two shows: The Crunch, which is a slice-of-life reality show that brings cameras into the game development studio and follows the work of the teams that put video games together. The original season of The Crunch followed the development of the game Invisible Soul, a sort of Devil May Cry-inspired hack and slash being developed for consoles by the independent studio Malthus Games. The show started out following only indie studios, but as the show's success has grown, The Crunch got its first chance to look behind the curtain of a larger studio, profiling the development of Rare's VeloCity in 2004. The show is named after and has brought attention to the practice of "crunch", where developers are required to put in long hours to finish up a game for a deadline. It's a controversial practice that, as the program has shown, has proven to be detrimental to the physical and mental health of the developers who work under it. Crosley has stated that "showing the practice of crunch has brought to light the true cost of gaming, and just what these big tentpole games are demanding of the people who make them". While the program has yet to lead to any meaningful change in the game industry, it has gotten a few large companies, including Activision, to speak up on the practice, with Activision CEO Bobby Kotick stating in a November 2005 interview that: "we are re-examining some of our game development practices, in the hopes of maintaining a developer base capable of producing quality games in the future".
G4 has garnered a fandom not unlike that of MTV's GameTV, which aired from 1995-2000 and is considered to be a cultural touchstone of the late 1990s. While no G4 show has yet garnered the viewership that GameTV has, the network has gotten similar praise for some of its programs, including the oddball news/variety show Focus, the Saturday Night Live-esque sketch show Gamerippers, and Multiplayer Mode, a reality competition show that sees teams of gamers participating in a series of challenges in order to win a $500,000 grand prize and the title of Gamer Gods. As a reflection of G4's recent success, Multiplayer Mode's grand prize started off as $200,000, but more than doubled for the most recent season. G4 has also acquired the rights to a few classic video game cartoons, including the Ruby-Spears Mega Man cartoon. The biggest prize on that front, however, has alluded the network thus far: "We tried to get the late 90s Zelda," said Ted Crosley, "but that one's owned by Disney and they're airing it on their Toon Disney channel, which I can't really blame them for."
G4 is one of the fastest growing premium cable networks, and its streak of success doesn't seem as if it'll be ending anytime soon, which will open the doorway for more acquisitions, bigger names, and bigger budgets. No matter what success comes G4's way, Crosley says that he hopes to keep it true to its roots, and the #1 place for gamers on television.
"As long as I have a say, we'll be the network for gamers," said Crosley. "We're bringing in plenty of them so far."
-from an article in the June 2006 issue of Electronic Gaming Monthly
The car driven by Lyssa Fielding made its way through the quiet, gated Los Angeles neighborhood. Seated next to Lyssa was one of Hollywood's most talented and famous stars, the music superstar Selena Quintanilla-Perez, while in the back was Brittany Saldita. It was past midnight, and the three women were headed home from the premiere of Suicide Squad, though they had one stop to make first before going back to their homes for the night.
"Thanks again for inviting me and Chris to the premiere," said Brittany. Brittany's husband had headed home on his own after the party while Lyssa would be dropping Brittany off after they picked up Arturo and Regan from the friend who'd been babysitting them. "We both had an awesome time and it was really cute to see Chris geeking out so much."
Lyssa laughed, turning the corner onto the street where their friend lived.
"No way I would've forgotten to invite you guys, you've been bugging me about this movie for a year and a half," said Lyssa.
"And...thanks again for the dress," said Brittany, looking down at the beautiful black dress she was wearing. "I still can't believe you got Gianni Versace to design a dress for me."
After Versace had designed Lyssa's dress for the premiere, he'd asked her if there was anything else he could do for her, and there was only one thing Lyssa could ask of him.
"He's the sweetest person in the whole world," said Lyssa. "I love working with him so much."
"I still remember the very first thing he said to me," said Brittany, putting on her best imitation of Versace's accent. "'Your friend was right, you are the most gorgeous woman in the world!' He's amazing and this dress is gorgeous."
"It makes you look like an angel," said Selena, smiling back at Brittany.
"I gotta keep my eyes on the street but is she blushing?" asked Lyssa with a laugh. "I remember when Gianni said that to her and she looked like a freaking firetruck she was so red!"
"She's blushing!" said Selena, prompting Lyssa to giggle as Brittany tried to hide the redness in her cheeks from Selena's compliment. "I agree though, you are absolutely gorgeous Brittany."
Brittany began to playfully yell at Selena in Spanish, only for Selena to continue to shower Brittany with compliments, also in Spanish, Brittany blushing intensely the entire time.
"Twenty years ago I'm a plain-looking Nintendo loving geek girl in the AV club and now I'm being showered with compliments by the world's most famous fashion designer and the world's most famous singer, and my best friend is a Hollywood A-lister who just starred in the most awesome movie of the year...and yet I don't feel even a tiny bit different," thought Brittany as she sat in the back of the car, a warm feeling in her chest and in her face. "And I couldn't be happier..."
The car pulled into the driveway and the three women stepped out and walked up to the front door of a fairly large house belonging to Carlos Delgado and his wife, former actress turned stay-at-home businesswoman Sonora. The two lived with their five-year-old daughter Inez and were very good friends with Selena and her husband Chris, who had taken on the role of Inez's godparents.
"I hope Regan wasn't too much trouble," said Brittany as they approached the door. "I know Arturo can behave himself but Regan can sometimes be a handful..."
"Mmm, I'm sure they loved having her over," said Selena with a smile.
The door opened and the three were greeted by Sonora, who happily led them in.
"Thank you so much for watching Crystal for us tonight," said Selena.
"Oh, it wasn't any problem at all," Sonora replied, turning to Brittany. "And your kids were angels, they were no trouble at all."
Brittany gave an internal sigh of relief and walked into the living room to see Inez and Regan sitting together in the living room, playing a board game together...or rather, Inez was trying to give Regan instructions on how to play, and Regan, who was only 18 months old, just sat there looking at the pieces and occasionally trying to repeat what Inez was telling her.
"Regan!" exclaimed Brittany happily. As soon as Regan saw Brittany, she stood up and started toddling over to her.
"Mommy!" said Regan, quickly making it across the room to her mother.
"Crystal's sleeping in the other room, I'll go get her," said Sonora, smiling as she took Selena to the guest room. "Arturo's with Carlos right now I think, he's showing him some game design documents."
"Oh, sweet, maybe I'll get some inside info on the new Quixsters game," said Brittany, holding Regan gently in her arms and looking down at Inez. "Hello there Inez, did you and Regan have fun together?"
"She's a cute baby!" said Inez, giggling. "But I wish she knew how to read so we could play more games together."
"Uh huh, Regan hasn't learned how to read just yet but mommy's going to teach her very soon isn't she?" said Brittany, smiling and rubbing noses with Regan.
"Your dress is pretty," said Inez, who then turned to Lyssa and complimented her red and black dress as well. "So is yours, you both have pretty dresses!"
"Thank you!" said Lyssa, kneeling down and hugging Inez. "You're getting so big now aren't you?"
A few minutes later, Carlos had brought Arturo back into the room, while Selena and Sonora returned with Crystal, who was asleep in her mother's arms.
"Thank you both so much again," said Selena, kissing her daughter on the forehead. "I wanted to give Angeline the night off and I thought maybe the kids would have more fun if they could hang out together."
"Oh, Inez loves having other kids over," said Sonora, "and it was absolutely no bother at all."
"Bye bye Regan," said Inez, walking over and giving her a hug.
"Hey, next time I'm gonna beat you at Mario Kart," said Arturo, pointing at Inez, who laughed.
"No way!" she replied, waving goodbye at him too.
Sometime later, after Lyssa had dropped off Selena and Crystal back at their home, it was just Lyssa and Brittany with Arturo and Regan in the back seat. Both of them had fallen asleep.
"Tonight was really incredible....I know we're best friends but I still really appreciate you inviting me to all of these things," said Brittany with a soft smile. "I'm glad I wasn't too busy to actually go this time. It was a lot of fun and...I really felt like a star tonight."
"You are a star, Britt," said Lyssa affectionately. "And Gianni meant that...all those compliments he gave you, that wasn't just him being nice. He loved designing that dress for you."
"I loved wearing it," Brittany replied.
"And I could tell Chris loved seeing you in it," said Lyssa with a smirk. "He couldn't keep his eyes off you all night, and there were celebrities everywhere!"
"Mmm, had trouble keeping his hands off me too," replied Brittany, "though the feeling was definitely mutual."
The two pulled up in Brittany's driveway.
"...do you know what the best part of tonight was?" asked Brittany.
"Hmm?"
"Seeing my best friend getting to live her dream."
Now Lyssa was the one blushing, and it only intensified as Brittany leaned over and gave her a tight hug.
"You were awesome," said Brittany. "Thanks for everything."
Lyssa nodded, managing a faint 'you're welcome' as Brittany slid out of the car to walk to the back door. She opened it up and took Arturo and Regan out of their car seats, then lifted Regan up and turned to head to the front door. Lyssa had gotten out of the car by now, and the two were standing in the driveway together.
"Bye bye Aunt Lyssa," said Arturo, hugging Lyssa's legs tightly.
"See you soon kiddo," Lyssa replied, bending over and giving Arturo a smooch on the forehead. "Let me know how I did as Harley Quinn when mom lets you see the movie in ten years."
"You know I'm gonna take him to the theater to see it when it comes out next week," said Brittany with a smirk.
"You are a terrible mom," joked Lyssa, prompting both women to laugh. "Arturo, don't say any of the bad words that Aunt Lyssa says in the movie, okay?"
Lyssa walked up to the door with Brittany.
"Wanna come in for a bit?" asked Brittany. "Have a snack or something?"
"I'd better get home, I've been up since five this morning," Lyssa replied, yawning. "But thanks though... and thanks for coming to the premiere, it's way more fun going to them when I've got my best friend to hang out with."
"I wouldn't have missed this for anything," said Brittany. "I'm so happy that you're doing so well. Actually...seeing you doing so much acting kind of...well, my contract at KABC comes up next year, and I....I've kind of been thinking about doing voice acting full time. I've been having a ton of fun with Thrillseekers, and Avatar, and... I still love doing the news, but... I'm actually having more fun with these side projects, you know?"
"Britt, if that's what your true passion is, then go for it."
"I know, but journalism is my passion too, I mean, it was my first passion..."
"Sounds like you've got a while to decide though, right? I mean, your contract doesn't come up until more than a year from now, right?"
"Yeah, that's true..."
"Do what makes you happy, Brittany. You know that's what you should do."
Brittany just smiled and nodded, and remembered that she did indeed have more than a year left to make her decision. She knew her family would support her no matter what she did, and her friends would too, especially Lyssa.
"I'm sure I'll be talking about it with you later," said Brittany. "I'd better get inside and get Arturo to bed, he's got preschool at 10 tomorrow..."
"Yeah, poor kiddo looks like he's about to fall asleep on his feet! Well, I'll see you later, I'll be flying out to New York soon for all the press stuff, so I'll give you a call when I'm in the city."
"I'll look for you on Letterman and Leno, have fun!"
After the two said their goodbyes, Lyssa walked back to her car. She sat down in the driver's seat and let out a sigh, smiling warmly.
"She really is the most beautiful woman in the world."
Lyssa had dated some of the most handsome men in Hollywood, but none of them made her feel anything like Brittany did. She thought back to just a few moments before, when Brittany had told her how happy it made her to see Lyssa living her dream.
"If she wasn't married... and straight, I'd have kissed her right there."
Lyssa sighed again and shook her head, turning the key in the ignition and pulling out of the driveway.
She was just happy to see Brittany happy.
As for herself, there were plenty of men, or maybe women, that could be that special someone.
"Oh Orlando," said Lyssa to herself, recalling the actor she'd broken up with a few months back, "if only you had Brittany's sense of humor..."
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Opacity
Opacity is an adventure/RPG dungeon crawler type game that can best be compared to Soul Blazer for the SNES, though with 3-D graphics. Opacity is the second title and first console game to be relased based on an idea originated on the G4 television show The Pitch, in which teams of aspiring game designers compete to pitch their ideas to game companies in the hopes of being published. The first game to be published from the show was a card-based puzzle title that sold about 50,000 copies on PC, but Opacity is the most ambitious game to be launched from the show to date. It starts with a single character trapped in a series of dungeons, and it seems for a while that the first protagonist is the only such character in the game. However, after beating the first couple of bosses, you discover that there is another person, a girl, also trapped, and soon you take control of her for another dungeon. Then, another person is discovered, and another, for a total of four playable protagonists in the game. There are a total of eight dungeons in all, with the first two being played by the first protagonist, the third played by the second, the fourth played by the third, and the fifth played by the fourth, with the sixth dungeon being played by the first protagonist again, who must unite the others, and then the final two dungeons allow players to alternate between the four to complete different parts of the dungeon. Combat is fairly simple, though each of the four characters has their own weapon and special moves, with the protagonists assuming the traditional elements of earth, fire, wind, and water. The protagonists are:
Cadin: An earth-based sword fighter and the first protagonist of the game, Cadin is a spelunker who fell into the underworld and has a brave heart.
Myria: A water-based staff fighter who specializes in magic, Myria is a princess who was taken prisoner, she starts out as shy and meek but gradually gains courage.
Sai: A fire-based shuriken throwing ninja girl, Sai is somewhat rude and mean but she means well and is very knowledgeable about the underworld.
Vole: A wind-based axe wielding half-mole half-man, Vole uses the winds to blast his big body around, and is the physical brute of the team despite his elemental suggesting something more delicate.
The four protagonists don't formally meet each other until after the sixth dungeon (though they are in verbal contact with one another starting just after the second), but their bond still shines through their dialogue and their actions toward one another. Despite occasionally clashing personalities, they come together to defeat a powerful threat, in this case the evil dark mage who originally trapped Myria in the dungeon and who has been tormenting the people of the underworld for many years. After the mage is defeated, the heroes all go their separate ways, though Cadin does take Myria back home to her kingdom and it's implied a romance is kindled between them after the ending is complete.
Opacity is a fairly low-tech game, with graphics that call to mind early sixth-generation games rather than the cutting edge RPGs of 2005 and 2006. It also doesn't feature any voice acting, all of its dialogue appears as text on the screen. Despite this, the dungeons are all well designed, and the combat is fun, really bringing back memories of the old-school 16 bit adventure titles. The music, composed by Tommy Tallarico, is also considered outstanding. Overall, the reviews for Opacity are excellent. The process of how the game was created and conceived was shown in the 2003-04 season of The Pitch, so G4 viewers have been following this game for quite some time and are eager to play it upon its release. It's released for the Xbox and the Wave in April 2006, and the G4 connection is heavily promoted, with "as seen on G4's The Pitch" printed on the game's cover. Sales are mediocre, but because the game's budget was quite low, it's considered a financial success, and even contributes to viewership for the most recent season of The Pitch.
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G4 Still The Network For Gamers
When Charles Hirschhorn, along with business partner Ted Crosley, created the G4 TV network in 2001, they intended to create the first network for video gamers, a network that would be a one-stop source for game news, reviews, and strategy information, and possibly even break new ground for the times of programs that could be shown about video games. Now in its fifth year on the air, G4 hasn't succeeded in all of its goals, but it's well on its way. The network has seen its ratings hold steady and even increase as it's gained subscribers, and has recently passed the milestone of being in 50 percent of all homes subscribing to cable. Not only is it a success as a premium cable network, it's being added to numerous basic cable packages, with more homes signing on daily. Among the highest rated shows on the G4 network are a pair of reality shows: The Pitch and The Crunch, shows chronicling the struggles and creative processes of game developers in the industry.
The Pitch, which has been G4's highest rated show since 2003, recently launched its first console game: the adventure title Opacity. Created by a team of five young developers led by Abe Stockham, Opacity features four adventurers trapped together in a dungeon who must discover each other and escape. It's already been acclaimed as one of the year's best games, and if it proves to be a sales success, The Pitch could become what series creator Ted Crosley stated that he hoped it would become in a 2003 interview: "the American Idol of video games". Whether or not Opacity will be the Carrie Underwood of the gaming industry has yet to be seen, but so far, it's getting a better reception from game critics than Underwood has received from the music industry.
Then there's the more controversial but also most acclaimed of the two shows: The Crunch, which is a slice-of-life reality show that brings cameras into the game development studio and follows the work of the teams that put video games together. The original season of The Crunch followed the development of the game Invisible Soul, a sort of Devil May Cry-inspired hack and slash being developed for consoles by the independent studio Malthus Games. The show started out following only indie studios, but as the show's success has grown, The Crunch got its first chance to look behind the curtain of a larger studio, profiling the development of Rare's VeloCity in 2004. The show is named after and has brought attention to the practice of "crunch", where developers are required to put in long hours to finish up a game for a deadline. It's a controversial practice that, as the program has shown, has proven to be detrimental to the physical and mental health of the developers who work under it. Crosley has stated that "showing the practice of crunch has brought to light the true cost of gaming, and just what these big tentpole games are demanding of the people who make them". While the program has yet to lead to any meaningful change in the game industry, it has gotten a few large companies, including Activision, to speak up on the practice, with Activision CEO Bobby Kotick stating in a November 2005 interview that: "we are re-examining some of our game development practices, in the hopes of maintaining a developer base capable of producing quality games in the future".
G4 has garnered a fandom not unlike that of MTV's GameTV, which aired from 1995-2000 and is considered to be a cultural touchstone of the late 1990s. While no G4 show has yet garnered the viewership that GameTV has, the network has gotten similar praise for some of its programs, including the oddball news/variety show Focus, the Saturday Night Live-esque sketch show Gamerippers, and Multiplayer Mode, a reality competition show that sees teams of gamers participating in a series of challenges in order to win a $500,000 grand prize and the title of Gamer Gods. As a reflection of G4's recent success, Multiplayer Mode's grand prize started off as $200,000, but more than doubled for the most recent season. G4 has also acquired the rights to a few classic video game cartoons, including the Ruby-Spears Mega Man cartoon. The biggest prize on that front, however, has alluded the network thus far: "We tried to get the late 90s Zelda," said Ted Crosley, "but that one's owned by Disney and they're airing it on their Toon Disney channel, which I can't really blame them for."
G4 is one of the fastest growing premium cable networks, and its streak of success doesn't seem as if it'll be ending anytime soon, which will open the doorway for more acquisitions, bigger names, and bigger budgets. No matter what success comes G4's way, Crosley says that he hopes to keep it true to its roots, and the #1 place for gamers on television.
"As long as I have a say, we'll be the network for gamers," said Crosley. "We're bringing in plenty of them so far."
-from an article in the June 2006 issue of Electronic Gaming Monthly
AeroTheZealousOne
Monthly Donor
The timing couldn't be better or even more coincidential on these quotes. Nevertheless, great update, seeing where the crew is now.
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