Star Trek Art Re-Discovered

Written by John Freeman on May 31, 2008 – 7:38 am -

Star Trek: The Next Generation Image by \

By John Freeman

(With thanks to Frank Garcia for the link): Visual Effects artist Adam “Mojo” Lebowitz recently rediscovered an old CD of his Star Trek artwork for defunct US title Star Trek The Magazine (published as Star Trek Fact Files in the UK). He’s just posted a special re-working of this gorgeous CGI work on his blog.

“A fistful of years ago, I did a few covers for Star Trek: The Magazine,” Mojo explians, whose credits include Star Trek: Voyager and currently acts as a Visual Effects Artist & Sequence Designer for the re-imagined Battlestar Galactica. “Sadly, this slickly-produced, lovingly written periodical folded in 2003, but as I was digging through my archives (in other words, as I was finally looking to see what was on a bunch of old CD-ROMS entitled “label me”), I ran across the original, hi-res renders created for the publication.”

The post includes some fantastic art and the blog itself is well worth bookmarking for future visits: darthmojo.wordpress.com


Tags: , , ,
Posted in SF-TV & Movie News | No Comments »

Ian’s Roving Editorial: My View On Video Games

Written by Ian Cullen on May 31, 2008 – 12:11 am -

By Ian M. Cullen

It’s fair to say that like many people I’m rather partial to video games. However I am not what you’d call a hardcore gamer. Fact is I’m lucky if I can get a couple of hours in on my console per week.

Sadly I’m not a huge fan of the media tie in games that come out shortly after the movies. Have nothing against them in principal. I mean like anything else it all depends on if they live up to expectations and in my opinion nothing has surpassed N64′s Goldeneye that got a release back in 1995 shortly after the movie.

I tend to lean more toward shoot – em – ups with a fantasy or SciFi Twist to them. One of my favourite games and one that have not been able to put down since I got my Playstation 3 last year is Resistance Fall Of Man.

If ever there is a game that has the potential for TV shows, Movies and Comic Books based on a game, Resistance Fall Of Man is it. The game oozes everything you’d want for a good pulp SciFi Story and what’s more the first game is set entirely in the UK. Don’t tell those folks at Manchester Cathedral though — they may get mad!

For those who haven’t heard of the game it is set in the 1950′s shortly after World War II. An alien race of unknown origin has taken over much of Western Europe and is in the process of taking over the UK. You play the role of an American Resistance Fighter who is tasked with driving the Alien race out of the UK. Much of your storyline in this game is told from the point of view of one of your comrades who seems to suspect that something is not quite right with you. You’re different somehow. The second game of this series by Insomniac Games is due out this summer and as an already hooked fan I can’t wait to get my mits on it. Free review copies please Insomniac — we promise to be gentle. Honest.

As to media Tie in games that I’m mulling over there is always Highlander, which is being developed by Eidos. The Highlander Game is set in a brand new universe where you play the role of Owen McLeod. It promises to have many settings from Ancient Rome through to present day.

IGN’s Synopsis of the game is below.

“Owen MacLeod, born in Gaul over 2000 years ago, was the son of a tribal chieftain whose village was crushed by the Roman Empire. MacLeod was sent in chains to the gladiatorial arena in Pompeii where he faced what he imagined to be a short life of battle. However, it was in the Coliseum where he was killed, only to miraculously recover and begin a new life as an Immortal. Fighting through centuries against other Immortals in legendary battles ending in death by beheading, MacLeod now faces a mysterious and almost all-powerful Immortal who is hunting him down in New York City. With his mentor, Methos, guiding him, MacLeod learns that the only way to destroy this ultimate nemesis, is to search out the three fragments of a mysterious stone that when pieced together, yields unlimited power to the Immortal who possesses it.”

This game looks visually stunning — and it will be interesting to see if the gameplay manages to be the rare exception for media ties in games that are more often than not a hit and miss affair.

A game I got recently which I was extremely dissapointed with was Iron Man. Pretty graphics, nice visuals, and great that we have the actors voicing their roles for the game. It’s a shame about the boring gameplay. Pretty much every mission on this game is exactly the same. Fair enough the game has an interesting plot, but sadly the plot isn’t enough to make me want to complete it, and am probably very near the end.

I feel that Marvel is making a huge mistake with their approach to making games based on their movies. Why not make the games as a separate entity from the movies. I mean there are enough characters in the Marvel Universe to have a go at, and most comic book characters are far better suited for being made into games than movies.

If you want to do games then be totally committed to it by producing a few comic book stories in game form only. Take advantage of the platform fully.

I’d love to see a game where you get the origin story of a character, but that characters choices during gameplay effects how difficult or how easy any given mission is. For example as iron man you accidentally kill a scientist who could have made a mission go much easier had you not chosen to kill him. Let your actions in game determine the outcome. This can be done by maybe giving the player 3 choices while in game at vital points during the games story. Make the superhero games a genre, which combines adventure with action. I mean even Spiderman has to solve a mystery as Peter Parker now and then. Even Dan Dare has a life outside of his adventures where he sometimes has a eureka moment that helps solve his dilemmas. Why not incorporate elements like that into these games so the overall experience becomes more rounded out. I mean it would make you feel more like you were living the life of that hero.

The best game have played in recent history has to be Drakes’ Fortune, which blends action and adventure seamlessly. You play a treasure hunter who happens to be a descendant of famed explorer and privateer Sir Francis Drake. Your task is to get to the hidden Drake’s Fortune before the bad guys do. The game has a really cool plot, which would probably be able to give most action adventure games a run for there money. The acting performances our very tongue in cheek and the game play is engaging and totally fluid and most importantly fun. Though this plays out like a movie, I hope that it never gets to become a movie, because I just can’t see them topping it.

You will probably see game reviews on this site in the coming months from our resident reviewer Steve Dunlop. Though our policy for games is that it must have a SF element to the plot. Anything that has Zombies, Genetically altered characters, superheroes and space adventure, we will try to review it, or preview it.

Just to remind you all. scifipulse.net is currently holding a great competition for both Indiana Jones and Batman fans. Due to the fact that the Batman merchandise for most part is not available as of yet we have decided to extend the competition up to the 10th June. So if you haven’t entered already do so by clicking here and mailing your answers to the questions along with a contact address to the E-Mail provided on the competition page. Also look out for future competitions and give aways in our competitions section.


Tags: , , ,
Posted in Games and Gaming, Ian’s Roving Editorial, Merchandise | No Comments »

BBC Announce Cast of Survivors

Written by Ian Cullen on May 31, 2008 – 12:10 am -

Freema Agyeman as Martha Jones in Doctor WhoBy Ian M. Cullen

Back in the 1970′s writer Terry Nation was a virtual powerhouse for writing some of the most demanding BBC Science Fiction dramas. Among these was the cult favourite Blake’s 7 and the critically acclaimed Survivors.

It comes as no surprise that both of these series are being remade, and though the new Blake’s 7 is early into production and will eventually find its way onto UK Satellite Channel Sky One, we can all breathe a sigh of relief that the BBC will be showing the new series of Survivors, which has been in development for quite some time.

Late yesterday the BBC Press Office announced the cast for their retooling of the classic Terry Nation series, with starring roles for Doctor Who and Torchwood star Freema Agyeman as Jenny, a character who had a major role in the original, and Paterson Joseph (Jekyll, The Beach, Peep Show) as Greg, another key character in the 1970s version. Julie Graham (whose credits include Bonekickers and William and Mary) plays another major character, Abby Grant, while Nikki Amuka-Bird (Torchwood, No.1 Ladies’ Detective Agency; Five Days) is Samantha Willis and Max Beesley (Hotel Babylon, Bodies) plays Tom Price in Adrian Hodges’s new version of the show, which is being produced by BBC Drama.

Also in the cast are Shaun Dingwall (Doctor Who) as David, Phillip Rhys (24; Nip Tuck; Flatland) as Al, Zoe Tapper (Twenty Thousand Streets Under The Sky; The Last Van Helsing) as Anya and newcomer Chahak Patel as 11-year-old Najid.

The BBC’s Doctor Who web site describes Freema’s role of Jenny Collins as a bright and lively young teacher in a primary school who must face choices beyond anything she could have imagined.

As with the original series, this update takes place in the present day and tackles the dark subject matter of a deadly pathogen, which virtually wipes out most of the human race. The story follows a small group of survivors and their daily struggles to come to terms with the devastating events and their own personal losses while they simultaneously try to rebuild and start over.

The series asks some extremely deep philosophical questions such as what would we do if we were to find ourselves in such a horrible situation and how would we cope without the most basic of our technologies such as running water, electricity and telephones or the Internet.

“What would you do if you were faced with the unimaginable?” says Kate Harwood, BBC Head of Drama Series & Serials.

“Survivors is an exciting new drama series which asks the most fundamental of questions. How would the human spirit endure when faced with the most exciting and terrifying adventures.

“We have managed to assemble a magnificent cast in a series set to take audiences on an emotional rollercoaster ride.”

“Survivors is about what it means to be human,” adds writer and executive producer Adrian Hodges, whose credits include Ruby In The Smoke, Shadow In The North, Charles II and Primeval.

“It asks questions about our nature and confronts us with our deepest fears. When everything else is stripped away, would we band together and find the best in ourselves, or would we fall apart and retreat into barbarism and savagery?

“Survivors is about adventure, fear, love, loyalty and friendship. But above all, it’s about new hope.”

The series is currently filming in Manchester until September for transmission in autumn 2008 on BBC1.


Tags: , ,
Posted in SF-TV & Movie News | 4 Comments »
« Older Entries