Entertainment Round-up Summer 2007
As I continue to work on my draft there’s not much new to report so I thought I’d rundown the various entertainment that’s caught my attention.
Books
A bunch of geriatrics trade in their old bodies for new ones from the military, the catch being that they can never return to Earth and have to go fight in the Colonial wars. Interesting and humorous, I’m starting to see why this won the Hugo.
Ender Wiggin is recognized as being special from a very young age. He is recruited by the government to go to battle school, where his intelligence and aptitude are proven in mock battles with other boys his age.
It soon becomes apparent that nobody can beat Ender, and the military advances Ender to become the youngest military commander ever. But young Ender is still a child, and often laments over the fact he is not allowed to enjoy his childhood. He soon grows to despise his military benefactors.
Can Ender ever escape the hero’s burden placed upon him? How can he, when mankind needs him to save the universe from the evil Bugger threat?
Don’t forget, you can always find out what I’m reading in the Quantum Reading section.
XBOX 360 Games
Wild West shooters don’t usually do too well among the 18 - 35 demographic. Which is too bad because this one is quite fun. Play alternates between two main characters Billy Candle and Reverend Ray. Ray mistakenly views Billy as responsible for the deaths of Billy’s parents, and you spend a majority of the game alternating between Billy escaping the wrath of the Reverend, and playing as the Reverend chasing down Billy.
You often get to see levels from these two different perspectives which makes progress through the game interesting. How is the gameplay? Quite fun. Firing dual six-shooters in slow motion while playing as Ray is very rewarding, if not reminiscent of Max Payne. While playing as Billy you get to use the whip for some Indiana Jones navigation across hazardous terrain. Given there aren’t many games to play this summer, this one will keep you busy for a while.
I had played the original Far Cry on the PC, and with a little bit of spit and shine it could have given Half-Life a run for its money. I’m playing the 360 versions for gamer points, and again because game publishers seem to hate the summer.
Speaking which, there are a ton of games coming out this fall like BioShock, Assassin’s Creed, Army of Two, and Grand Theft Auto IV. I fear I won’t have time to play all of those, and some of them will have to wait til the cold months of winter. Silly publishers and their Xmas deadlines. If they’d only spread some out in the summer they could make just as much if not more money for filling the dead space.
Hollywood learned this many years ago, as movie primetime used to be during the holiday season, and now we live in the era of the summer blockbuster. The game industry needs to wake up and follow suit.
As long as we’re on the topic of the 360, for those of you who are also gamers you may find me on Xbox Live as Redchurch77. All I ask is that if you request to have me add you to the friends list, that you send me a message letting me know who you are. There’s nothing more confusing than getting a friend request from some random nickname you’re not familiar with.
Movies
While I wait for crowds and my busy weekends to die down a bit so I can go see Die Hard 4, I’ve been enjoying the steady release of HD DVDs on my Xbox 360 add-on HD DVD player. One must-have release for July is The Untouchables. There’s nothing like seeing Robert DeNiro as Al Capone smack someone in the head with a baseball bat in full HD glory.
Later this month HD DVD will see the release of The Bourne Identity. This is how I know.
What’s in your queue this summer? Got any entertainment plans?
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