science fiction news, views, and stories

CCP Games have released the EVE Online Fanfest 2008 videos on YouTube, with higher quality videos on their own site. With twenty-five videos, you’ll be able to get a great taste of what it would have been like to be in Iceland for the festivities as well as some information on what you can expect from EVE Online in 2009.

The videos include an updated look at what walking through stations will be like when it is finally released. The most impressive thing to me was the mini-game demonstration, and the best moment was when EVE crashed for the demonstrator.

You can see the rest of the EVE Online videos on the CCP Games Youtube section. If you are interested in playing EVE Online, sign up today.

Tagged as: Alt Sci-fi Video, eve online, fanfest 2008, iceland, mmorpg, space moo

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I used to love watching the quasi-Japanese Anime, Dragonball Z. I didn’t really enjoy the silly antics of Dragonball, or Dragonball GT, but Dragonball Z was enjoyable, though I would wait and watch a dozen episodes in a row because of how slow moving the stories were.

Now, in 2009, we will have a live-action Dragonball movie. Will it be any good? If the below trailer is any indication, then the answer is “no”, though I wonder if it is more because I have outgrown the franchise, than that the movie will be crappy.

I have to admit though, James Marsters as Piccolo should be interesting.

Dragonball Evolution is due out on April 8th, 2009 in North America.

Tagged as: dragonball, goku, james marsters, piccolo

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If you are interested in the Star Trek Universe, you’ll no doubt be watching the upcoming Star Trek MMO, especially their story-line posts where they fill us fans into what happened between the last movie, and 2409, the year that the game will start in.

On the eighteenth, they released a new update encompassing everything notable that happened in 2383 in the Star Trek Universe.

Some interesting points:

• Romulans are leaning towards a civil war.
• Cardassians are leaning towards a religious war, or a total change in racial personality.
• Federation and Klingons are at odds.
• Voyager’s EMH, “the Doctor”, is not Federation property and will keep his mobile emitter.
• The Soong Foundation is on the verge of releasing their own, lower tech, mobile holographic emitter.

We already know that the two main playable factions in the game will be the Klingons and Federation, and that they will be at odds and maybe even at war.

This update has brought with it a series of questions though, as the Federation helps the Cardassians rebuild their city, will they become allies much as we understand the Klingons and Federation to be today? Will the MMO feature holographic crew?

For me, I would love to hear more about how technology is progressing in the universe. Other people would like to hear how the characters they know and love are doing. These updates can’t provide everything for everyone, but they are a nice tidbit of what is going on in the Star Trek universe, and I would love to see some accomplished novelists take a concept or two from these updates, and run with it to fill in more of the blanks.

If you are interested in The Path to 2409, check out Star Trek Online.

Tagged as: 2409, cardassians, civil war, federation, klingons, romulans

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In 2009, 2010, and even 2011, we might see a great number of video game properties become big Hollywood movies. Most will probably fail, and a few will start franchises of films.

The Video Game Examiner recently put together a great post of video games that are being made into movies which includes some sci-fi related titles I wanted to mention here. Of course, there are others in the list, but these are the ones I found most interesting.

Mortal Kombat (2010) - Another Mortal Kombat movie. I didn’t enjoy the second one, though the first is still fun to watch from time to time. Will another Mortal Kombat movie attract any attention? Well, with the Mortal Kombat versus D.C. game gaining press here and there, I think it might be time for them to reboot the franchise.

Halo (2009) - I will be surprised if this project gets a movie out in 2009. There have been numerous problems, and the popularity has long since started to diminish. If the Halo Wars game does well though, it could help boost the attention garnered by the movie when it is finally released.

Bioshock (2010) - I think this game is totally set up for a great movie adaptation, and not only that, but if the second game and first movie does well, this could be the start of a new franchise that does well on multiple mediums of entertainment.

Will 2009 and 2010 be the biggest years for video game movies ever? I am not certain, as many of these projects will probably never see the big screen, but I am excited to see how some projects convert. Out of the entire list, I believe that Bioshock, if done correctly, has the biggest chance to do well as a movie.

Here’s hoping…

Tagged as: 2009, 2010, 2011, bioshock, halo, mortal kombat

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