Mattheiu S. of Buzzfeed compiled ten different versions of the Imperial March from Star Wars, some of which we've already covered here. But this one is new to our humble blog: a performance by the official band of the Buckingham Palace guards.
This image, by an artist unknown to me, is spot on. I've never had a game master that insisted on using encumbrance rules, so as long no one tried to put a horse in a fanny pack. Most video games that I've played had a limited number of inventory spots or mutually-exclusive pieces of equipment (e.g. you can't wear two flack vests at the same time). That's probably a good compromise.
Confession time: I haven't played a role-playing game since 2004. I haven't had the time, what with school, work, and kids. And most importantly, blogging. It'd be really hard to get back into it, not only because of the 3-5 hours spent in a typical gaming session, but the enormous amount of time necessary to get up to speed and be prepared for a game.
That's why I'm interested in a new development by Wizards of the Coast, which hopes to lure back busy, older people like me. They've come up with a simplified version of Dungeons & Dragons.
The new "D&D Encounters" provides all the materials needed to run a D&D game, but in a relatively short period of time. The goal, said brand director Liz Schuh, is to get those former gamers rolling the dice again.
"We wanted to try and create experiences to fit in their current time frames," Schuh said. "It is also an opportunity to learn the new rules system."
"Encounters" has premade characters and a premade adventure provided to the game's referee and storyteller, the Dungeon Master. Maps, tokens, game pieces and player aids, such as bonus cards, are all included.
The adventure is spread out over 12 weeks, but it only takes about two hours to play each week's encounter. Mark Watkins, a Dungeon Master for the "Encounters" game at Ravens Nest store in Marietta, Georgia, said the new version is simple and timely.
"It is very easy to DM. They give you everything," Watkins said. "This is really good for people to drop in and play."
Scott Edelman of Sci Fi Wire compiled a gallery of eighteen great Star Wars-themed sand sculptures. Sand seems like a good medium of Jabba, wouldn't you say? I do not know, but I suspect that this one was made by the Sand Sculpture Company.
The first snag you run into is that battery. "Although real-life battery technology is coming along great," Gluesenkamp writes, "we are a long way off from creating handheld batteries with capacities like that the ones found in the lightsaber's diatium power cell." In Star Wars, Jedi didn't have to worry about that because "diatium" is a convenient bit of fiction and are attuned to the Force, so, really, they could do anything.[...]
There's another problem in getting a focused, powerful blade of plasma with an exact length and shape, which is where the concept of a lightsaber gets "really convoluted," according to Gluesenkamp.
"There are also no crystals that can 'direct' a plasma," Gluesenkamp writes, noting that today we use magnetic fields are used, but are limited as the machinery involved has to enclose the plasma. "In fact, a plasma 'being directed' by a crystal lens doesn't make any physical sense anyway. A plasma is really just an ionized gas — a gas in which the electrons have been stripped from their atomic nuclei."
Well, yeah, he has "facts" and "science" on his side. But we look really cool when we hang out at the mall in our Jedi robes. So we have that going for us.
Artist Andrew Leipzig mashes up classic works of Western art with modern features, including those from science fiction themes. Pictured above is Godzilla in the place of Jesus from Raphael's "The Transfiguration." io9 has a gallery of some of his best works, but his entire website is worth checking out.
Created by what I gather is a taxidermy studio in the Ukraine, this rug will let extraterrestrial visitors to your home know who's boss. Also cool: the eyes glow in the dark.
This flowchart from UGO explains how a series of bad decisions leads to bad video game movies. In any event, it warns, don't make a sequel.
One video game movie that I really liked was Hitman. I played the games a lot and the movie was packed with delicious little references that only a fan would notice.
What is your favorite video game movie?
http://www.ugo.com/games/how-video-games-become-movies-an-infographic?cmpid=0101 via Digg
deviantART user gottabecarl made an enormous drawing mashing up Futurama and X-Men characters. Pictured above is one small selection from it.
A friend of mine suggested one day that it would be cool to see the characters of Futurama as X-Men and so I drew him Fry as Cyclops. For some reason I couldn't just stop there...and what came of it was a pretty extensive illustration with some of the most obscure characters from both the X-Men and Futurama universes.
This image makes perfect sense to me. Of course Batman is pregnant. And who else would be the father, but Superman? And what would be a better place to bring the child into the world than the moon? Alas, one redditor disagrees:
See, here are the problems that I have with this image (As a nerd):
1. Batman can’t lift his costume over his stomache like that. It’s made of Kevlar. 2. Batman can’t breathe on the moon. 3. The sun is illuminating half of the back side of Earth. 4. The sun is too large. If it’s supposed to be a red sun, then Superman should have retired the uniform and it should engulf Earth. 5. Superman is pressing up against Batman to hear the baby. He has super hearing and should not need to do this. 6. Batman no longer wears his logo like that. 7. Batman wouldn’t even bother being Batman if he were pregnant. Notice the lack of utility belt? He’s not prepared to do superhero work. 8. Batman is a man. 9. Batman’s breasts are not swelled.
Actually, these Russian ads are designed to sell some sort of snack food. But they pit Mario and Pac-Man against each other using very simplified animation and mouth-produced sound effects. Hilarious. You can view more ads in this series at the link.
