Three years later...

Three years. Three. Years.

Fair enough, it's been a while.

What you'll be watching this time next year...

This is the time of year that the big American telly networks start showing off what their big shows for the new season will be.

Old favourites (of mine, at any rate) like Lost, Pushing Daisies and Medium will be coming back, so yay for that. But probably more interestingly, this year will see the launch of a US version of Life On Mars. Here's the trailer...



First impressions suggest it's everything you'd hope it wouldn't be. But take away the annoying voiceover man and it looks like it could be pretty faithful. But, it'll be interesting to see how they extend the well-paced UK storyline into a 24 part series (and potentially five years worth at that). It could be worth a look. Plus the guy is quite fit.

Best of all though is the return of Joss Whedon to television. Buffy, Angel and Firefly are three of the best TV shows of recent years, and Joss Whedon is one of the best writers working in television. Dollhouse is his new show, and I'll spare you the premise and instead link you to this page - which has all the details you'll need. I'm VERY excited about this show. Here's a trailer...



Apologies if the video doesn't work. Fox seems to be taking down all the trailers from You Tube today... Try a Google search.

DOCTOR WOOF!

Yeah yeah, it's been a while, and it'll probably be a while before the next post, but after a couple of lovely messages about this blog over the last few days, I thought I'd pay lip service and write a little update.

It also seems like a good time to write something, because for a geek like me, it's been a particularly interesting week. Some interesting announcements from the US TV networks about their new shows... a fine week for gaming... and the appearance of a You Tube video that has a fleeting appearance from yours truly. So let's start with that, shall we?

DOCTOR WOOF & THE HAIRY SCREAMER



Working for a gay charity can be a lot of fun sometimes, and one of the real highlights of the year for me is working with Manbears in Manchester on their publicity material for The Great British Bear Bash. This year I got involved even more (outside of work) by taking part in one of their fantastic video projects - in this case an affectionate tribute to Doctor Who. The video was shown during the Bear Bash, and (thank God) everyone seemed to laugh in the right places :-) It was great seeing the effort that everyone puts into these videos - especially Gerard from Manbears, and Jonathan Robinson, the camera man (check out his fantastic You Tube channel here). The results of their hard work is in obvious in this video. I can't wait to get involved in more. And in case you're interested, I appear as the 'Bear Runner' (and occasionally the WereWookie) in this one :-) Oh, and my other half - Barry - makes an appearance as 'Leeloo' during the brilliant 'Fever' at the end of this video (red wig... bandages...)

Next post: Life On Mars gets a US makeover, and Joss Whedon returns to telly!

Woo, and in a very real sense, hoo.

GAME REVIEW: Lost Via Domus (Ubisoft) - Xbox360

Ach, this could have been SO good.

Ever since the Lost video game was announced a couple of years back, I've been looking forward to crashing on that island and discovering just what the hell is going on. Perhaps as Jack, perhaps as Sawyer, preferably as John Locke. What a shame then, that instead you play nothing but a bystander to the established Lost storyline. A bystander with a pretty non-descript and (by Lost standards at least) by-the-numbers back-story.

It starts well. The initial plane crash on the island is very well rendered and plays from a much more personal viewpoint than we've seen before. It's genuinely exciting. With the crash leading into the TV show opening titles, establishing the player as a part of the shows mythology is very well played and promises much.

What follows though, are seven 'episodes' (complete with "previously on Lost" recaps, opening titles and the closing 'boom' from the TV show) comprising of little more than rudimentary exploring, infuriating logic puzzles and pointless conversations with poorly voiced versions of the established cast. Sadly only a few of the original cast have lent their voices to the game, and the actors hired to play Jack, Kate, Hurley etc. are very poor. Unlike the, er, likenesses, which are pretty much spot on.

It's not all bad though. The graphics are actually very well executed - especially in the forest sections of the game, and - arguably - look even better than similar environments in Uncharted: Drake's Fortune on the PS3. And, yes, for fans of the show there's no denying the thrill to be had from encountering the smoke monster, entering the numbers into the computer in the hatch, and stumbling upon the Black Rock deep in the forest. You'll even find yourself exploring a couple of locations that we've not (yet) seen on the TV show.

Your character's flashbacks are also implemented fairly well into the structure of the seven episodes, and pick up towards the end, developing into an interesting enough story of twists and fractured memories. Nothing better than we've seen on the TV show, though.

But these moments are not enough to rescue some annoying game play faults. You'll find yourself throwing the controller to floor in sheer frustration during the long (long!) and winding cave sections, and the fuse-based logic puzzles that crop up far too often. The dynamite carrying section is a particular lowlight and if you get passed it without more than a few harsh words, then you'll deserve the achivement points you'll rack up for completing that episode.

So, who should buy this game? Hardcore Lost fans will find enough to keep themselves amused. Casual Lost fans would be best to rent the title. As for everyone else - steer well clear. For a TV show which - especially during the current Season 4 - has never been better, this game does nothing but validate the cry's of "confusing!", "they're making it up as they go along!" and "what the hell is happening?" frequently levelled (incorrectly, in my opinion) at the TV show.

Truly, a wasted opportunity. (5/10)

THE GOOD:
- Succesfully captures the 'feeling' of the TV show.
- Impressive visuals.
- Well structured - if pedestrian - storyline.
- A quick way to grab an easy 1000 Achievement points.

THE BAD:
- Confusing logic puzzles.
- Poor character voicing.
- Very short.
- Adds nothing new to the Lost mythology.

Ignore this

This post is merely to test if I can submit blog posts via iPod Touch.

"Sitting at home in my pants."

In further proof that machines are taking over the planet and will one day rule over us in a tyranical mecha-droidal type way, my Xbox360 has now developed the capacity to produce its own blog.

I shit you not.

Over there on the right hand side of this blog you'll see the 360voice.com Latest Entry badge. The facts are these: everytime I fire up my 360, it will remember what I've played, how long I played it for, and - if I'm lucky - how many achievements I've racked up. It will then publish it to its very own blog - which you can see in full here. And also, obviously, to this blog right here you're reading now.

Confusing? Yes, frankly.

Nevertheless, all of this serves to show you that I can no longer tell little white lies about not being able to come out for a drink tonight "because I'm off to a fabulous party", because my 360's blog will quite blatantly tell you that I was in fact sitting at home in my pants kicking three shades of poop out of the Evil Overlord Zorg.

And yet, still I add it to my blog, because I'm such a bloody geek.

Me, eh?

Going back.

It's been a while, but with a New Year comes a renewed interest in updating my blog. Let's see how long it lasts...

This past couple of weeks, I've spent a lot of time back home in Scotland celebrating Christmas and New Year with friends and family. I took the opportunity while I was there to visit the old council estate I grew up on. It's a bit more run down than I remember, and it certainly feels a lot smaller than it did, but revisiting a place that meant so much to me evoked some vivid memories.

I've posted the video I made while I was there. Hope you like it.

More posts to follow...

Probably.

Thanks for the add...

Like almost everyone I know, I've gone all Facebook.

Not that I want to be a 'friend collector', but feel free to add me as a friend.

The name? Grahame Robertson.