Monday, July 28, 2008

Project: Cerberus to replace Bellerophron

It was revealed on the VerTecX21 website last evening that Project: Cerberus will replace the now decomissioned Bellerophron and that more news will be available soon.

At this time we can voice a roumour that Project: Cerberus will also be a P35 based system like Maxximus but with a Wolfdale processor.

A technology page for the late Bellerophron was also added.

Friday, July 25, 2008

Bellerophron Dead - Blogging Suspended

Bellerophron, my Internet Workstation has suffered a catastrophic system failure and no longer functions.

Until such time as a replacement is configured all posting is suspended.

If anyone knows a solution to:

BIOS ROM checksum error

Detecting floppy drive A media...
Drive A error. System halt


when the system boots up I'm open to suggestions. I'll post my already attempted solutions in the comments.

Wednesday, July 23, 2008

Battlestar Galactica / Caprica

Caprica, stars Esai Morales (left) and Eric Stoltz (right), it is a prequel set 50 years before the events of Battlestar Galactica. Caprica is a "backdoor pilot", shot with the hope that an ongoing series will continue after the TV-Movie.

See the trailer below:


SCI FI has now rumouredly ordered two more Caprica scripts, for potential episodes of an ongoing series. Ron Moore continues to be involved with Caprica, along with two Battlstar writers, Michael Angeli and Mark Verheiden. They are joined by Ryan Mottesheard, a former writers' assistant on BSG. The Caprica TV-Movie is expected to air this fall.

Well Caprica is filmed and news continues to pour about the upcoming Battlestar Galactica TV-Movie, which begins filming next month. Galactica staff writer Jane Espenson will write it. David Weddle revealed that he and Bradley Thompson were originally going to write the TV-Movie, but the duo have accepted a new job on CSI which would have conflicted. As for the storyline, while the details are being kept a secret, Aaron Tyrol Douglas told his fansite that the movie will take place during Season 1 of the series and feature much of the known cast.

SCI FI was said to be considering up to three Galactica TV-Movies. Now however, the one shooting in August is likely to be the only one. What's still unclear is when it will air - though it's assumed it will be sometime before the final episodes of Galactica debut in January 2009.

IGN Preview here.


Source: SCI-Fi, IGN

Sunday, July 20, 2008

Congratulations Barry & Maggie

My good friend Barry demanded that a wedding photo I took Friday appeared on this blog, just so he could "get one over" on Darth Harrington who regularly supplies me with content.

Star Trek Poster

Source: Trekmovie.com

Thursday, July 17, 2008

Return to Return To Castle Wolfenstein

In a jaded genre filled with WW2 shooters (Call Of Duty, Medal Of Honor, Brothers In Arms, Hidden and Dangerous etc.) the extra elements of the supernatural were a welcome distraction when the original Return To Castle Wolfenstein was released in 2001 as a sequel to the ID classic Wolfenstein 3D.

It's success stemmed from never taking itself too seriously. While the other shooters had adopted a practice of oneupmanship against each other for the most realism, RTCW invited you to kill Zombies and Skeletons as well as shooting tight leather-clad female SS operatives and hideous creations from secret Nazi labs. Not to say that it was without realism- there was a sniper level that felt like you were in Enemy At The Gates at the best of times.

Now in 2008 it seems that Army Ranger B.J. Blaskowitz is back, and the Nazis hate him more than ever. Id's Todd Hollenshead was at E3 and revealed just a few details of the new game, Wolfenstein. The new game "blurs the lines" between reality and fantasy by having the Nazis working to open up a portal to another dimension called "The Shroud".

If you take a look at the trailer below, it appears there will lots of crap blowing up and blue energy etc. To help tackle the new threats, B.J. will have the help of a new Underground Resistance that seem to offer up some kind of cooperative play. More when I know, probably following QuakeCon.



Source: Gamespy, IGN

Monday, July 14, 2008

Cops Kill Woman Who Lunged at Officers With Crochet Hook - Part 13 in my "Shoot First, Questions Never" series!

A disoriented woman holed up in a minivan and repeatedly stabbing herself in the neck was shot to death by local police officers who thought the distraught woman was lunging at them with a knife or pick ax.

But the 45-year-old Maria Irma De La Torre had only a metal crochet hook in her hand, the Salinas Californian reported Monday.

Officers responding to a "woman acting strangely call" at 3:45 a.m. Sunday saw the woman "stabbing herself in the neck with a small implement." As officers tried to get her out of the minivan, she allegedly lunged at them with what was thought to be a knife or a pick ax and the officers fired. Cmdr. Kelly McMillin says the officers thought their lives were in danger. She was shot twice in the torso, and died later at a local hospital.

"It's a wrongful death," Diana Hernandez, De La Torre's niece, told the Californian. She added that De La Torre suffered from epileptic seizures but had no history of violence or hurting herself during seizures. She was taking medication to control the seizures, Hernandez said.

Source: Fox News

Sunday, July 13, 2008

Jesse Jackson To Cut Obama's Nuts Off??!!

Ah seriously Reverend Jackson, you can't mean that? It's a bit harsh.


If this is the kind of loyalty that Obama inspires from members of his own party; try to imagine the man leading a country...

Source: Darth Harrington, Fox

Posing With The Kill

Courtesy of Boss Jim

Saturday, July 12, 2008

John Woo's Stranglehold Review

This was a long time coming, apologies for the delay if you had been waiting for what I had to say on it before you went out and bought it.

When I first heard of Stranglehold I pretty much expected a console-heavy port to the PC of a mediocre game based on something John Woo scribbled upon a beer-mat somewhere. As I'm a big fan of Woo, especially his less "sanitised" early Hong Kong movies featuring Chow Yun Fat and a near-constant stream of bullets and death set against a broader canvas of family, brotherhood and loyalty, no matter how bad the game was; I was probably going to get it anyway just so I could be Chow. I was glad when more details were released and I was able to bring you the first news in May '06.

I was thrilled last July when I discovered the extent of Woo's involvement with the game and later it was obvious from playing it that he was the "director" although you controlled the moves, you were doing it the way he would most likely have directed Chow if this was a movie. Everything was so classic Woo, so stylised and beautiful as you spat leaden death at enemies in close-up, slow motion, with two pistols, while spinning and avoiding doves, that you almost never realised that the game is really just another crummy console port where you have only one path to take and thinking is just not really required at all. Don't get me wrong- this is a good thing. Having almost nothing to think about, or figure out lends itself to what is essentially an interactive movie, a fucking brilliant interactive movie where you are Chow Yun Fat and you're following a path laid down by John Woo!

Hard Boiled was Woo's greatest movie although it a little "tamer" than A Better Tomorrow 2 it's still my favourite. Stranglehold is a kind of a sequel to Hard Boiled in so far as you are the unorthodox renegade cop Inspector Tequila courtesy of a stunning digital scan of the legendary Chow Yun Fat. The blatantly predictable story is classic Woo as well, whatever your mission is, it can naturally only be achieved by mowing through hordes of gun-wielding Triads in a veritable orgy of violence that epitomises cool.

This may not be the most intelligent shooter out there, but it certainly has the most eye-candy. There are many other slo-mo shooters on the market but Stranglehold's fine details make it what it is. Mostly it comes down to Woo's signature “Gun Ballet”. Tequila can interact with several objects whilst still wielding his two pistols or other weapons. Among his tricks is the ability to swing off chandeliers, slide across railings, run up banisters, run along on rails, spring off walls and zip down lines. When interacting with the environment in such a way, the slow-mo function is enabled and everything bizarrely turns sepia - to make you aim better?

A diverse selection of environmental interactions is expanded even further with the ability to shoot signs and other objects to send them crashing down on opponents, lending some tactical element to what you're shooting at. Many bad guys are as obliging as to stand right next to highly volatile gas canisters that will explode once it gets a sniff of a bullet.

If you kill your enemies in innovative enough ways, you get awarded style points that clock up on the left of the screen. These points are then proportionally added to your ‘Tequila Bomb Gauge’, which the allows you to perform a variety of impressive stunts from Tequila’s repertoire. These include common console power ups - health boosts, aiming bonuses, and various special attacks. As you progress through the game these are all eventually unlocked and are useful for getting out of between a rock and a hard place.

As Stranglehold is created with Unreal Engine 3, the game is extremly good looking although there are not many graphical options to play around with, probably down to the game being an Xbox 360 game first and foremost and there's no anti-aliasing. Nevertheless world is very full and the physics engine compliments this extremely well, with walls crumbling away when shot at and tables and chairs smashing apart from explosions. The destructible environment allows for a completely immersive experience and you get a genuine sense of panic as the wall you are hiding behind is slowly eradicated by gun fire and you’re left to face a barrage of enemies with no protection.

The voice acting on the whole is very good and echoes the film extremely well. The sound is very immersive and, in collaboration with the graphics and physics engine, creates an absorbing cinematic experience. Game music veterans Jamie Christopherson and Chris Velasco composed a complimentary score to the stylised Asian action on screen.

Final Verdict: If your rig can handle it then I insist you pick this up (especially as it's probably been discounted by now). Stranglehold is a lot of brain-dead fun and the ludicrous action scenes do get the adrenaline pumping in places even if they are repetitive.

Colonel Creedon Verdict: ****

Friday, July 11, 2008

MAX PAYNE TRAILER: Fuckin' - A!!!


Mark Wahlberg has among other things, faced war, a wave the size of a skyscraper and the apocalypse. Twice. But his most draining, emotionally charged role to date is a video game character.

The film-noirish, John Woo-esque Max Payne is one of the greatest PC games of the century, with a sequel and more than 7 million units sold. But its success comes not just from gameplay, but from a surprisingly adult, sophisticated, and indeed complex lead character; unusual for the medium.“I read the script and said either somebody got really creative or it’s actually more like a movie than most games,” Wahlberg said. “Max Payne is not a one-trick pony. It’s probably one of the edgier roles I’ve played but also the most layered. Here’s a very happy guy who worked a dismal job, had a beautiful family. But the beauty in his life was taken away. He just goes on a rampage. It’s all driven by emotion.” And guns — lots and lots of guns.

Co-starring Mila Kunis (That 70's Show, Family Guy) and Beau Bridges, Max Payne is scheduled to hit theaters October 17.

Source: ISEB

Thursday, July 10, 2008

G.I.Joe Comic News Leaked (And Confirmed!)


You'll recall back in February, I posted about Devil's Due Publishing loosing their licence to produce G.I.Joe? We'll that's happend now. Issue #36 of G.I.Joe: America's Elite the bookend to DDP's run had been published and the staff bid their fond farewells. At the time there were many reasons speculated for this including - Hasbro wanting a more kid-friendly book as opposed to the adult themes explored in DDP's run or even that the cost of the franchise was too much for a small publishing house to bear. Well whatever the reason, the event has come to pass and we must now look to the future of G.I.Joe in print.

The future was shrouded in complete mystery other than knowing that Transformers license holders IDW would be the new G.I.Joe publishers, until the other day when more information than they would have liked to be revealed was leaked.

The first peice of major news is that IDW will be doing a reboot. This was not unexpected as this was what was done with Transformers and it's worked out for them impressively well so far. This will still divide some fans- DDP's storyline had a lot of fans, it continued the beloved core storyline and characterisations crafted by Larry Hama for Marvel and updated everything for the new century. Others felt that DDP's efforts were weak and were so unhappy with some of the events like Jaye's death, Serpentor's resurrection, Hawk's injury and the treatment of the Red-Shadows that they'd prefer for them not to have happened at all.

IDW were obviously faced with the dilemma of appeasing both groups of fans and there seemed to be only one logical solution: which brings me to the second piece of major news. In order to reboot the series to keep half the fans happy they would have to create a book capable of rivaling the original G.I.Joe storyline for the other half, but as no one came close to rivalling the writing talents of Larry Hama- they figures they'd just have to hire him. Yes LARRY HAMA is returning to the permanent run of G.I.Joe!!!

In the IDW forums, Editor-in-Chief Chris Ryall encouraged fans to ask him questions, so he could be sure that he was getting people the information they wanted to know, but naturally not revealing any surprises he wished to retain for the book. In answer to an obvious question on the reboot- "can you confirm that a brand new G.I. Joe continuity is beginning?" he had this to say:

The answer is, we're starting at the beginning. A New Beginning. But we're doing it in a way akin to what they did with James Bond last year. The movie stripped away a lot of the things that had made the franchise feel bloated and ridiculous and started over. Not necessarily scrapping what was to come in the characters' future movies, but resetting things, losing the bloat, making the character stand out again, and reminding people why it was once great.

That's what we're doing. And doing it with Larry, where he's a two-decades-better storyteller than he was, and with the wisdom of years to think about what worked and what didn't, is immensely exciting to me. Before, he was essentially making it up as he went. Now, he know what he wants to do, and is being given the freedom to do it.

Elsewhere Ryall draws comparisons between the reboot that Superman and Batman had in the 80's and to think of this new G.I.Joe: A New Beginning (as the first 6-issue mini-series, will be known as) as more Ultimate Spider-Man than Spider-Man - we know the characters, they are the same characters, but settings and events may be a little different this time round.

What is also promising is that Hasbro appear more relaxed about the content in the books as they were during Larry's original Marvel run. I'd find it unlikely that he could be enticed back to G.I.Joe on a permanent basis if he didn't make sure that Battleforce 2000 or the Eco-Warriors crap were well and truly off the table. I'm also rethinking my earlier speculation that Hasbro want a more kid-friendly book than what DDP were offering as they realise through the sales of their 25th Anniversary toys, geared at older collectors and their greenlighting of a new PG-13 Adult-themed animated series entitled G.I.Joe: Reslolute that their core audience are much bigger kids :)

G.I. JOE issue #0 hits stores in October with the full series starting in January.

Read the full IDW forums thread on the news here.

Source: ISEB, IDW Forums, Hisstank.com

Sunday, July 06, 2008

Wanted Not Wanting

Wow! What's better than a movie scene where the hero shoots a bad guy through the mouth and uses the exit wound to shoot through at like, 20 more bad guys as he uses the body as a human shield?
I'll tell you: Angelina Jolie lying on her back in a skimpy white dress spread legged out on the bonnet of a car firing pistols akimbo at an oncoming bad guy while steering the car with her foot!
This is Wanted!

James McAvoy has come a long way since his appearance at the tender young age of 22 in Band Of Brothers. Among other things; he's recently been nominated for some of the most prestigious acting awards- BAFTA's and Golden Globes for roles in Atonement and The Last King Of Scotland. It would be a shame if I lumped Wanted in with these films as that would reduce it to the yawning award-hunting pretentious nonsense that they represent, no, Wanted is guns, Wanted is bullets, Wanted is blood, Wanted is Death and McAvoy has hit the A-list. If he can do all this? Then I welcome him.

Along with McAvoy, there is of course appearances from Angelina Jolie who guaranteed the movies DVD sales to the sweaty palm brigade with the glimpse of a bath scene in the Red-Band trailer. Morgan Freeman who seems to have decided to take a leaf out of Sam Jackson's play-book and start using the word "Motherfucker". Terence Stamp trying his damnedest not to be General Zod (give up Terence- you're General Zod) and Thomas Kretschmann who has played small but significant parts in Hollywood movies and television since 2000 including U571, Blade II, 24, Resident Evil: Apocalypse and Next.


The plot is utter nonsense, (adapted from a comic book written by one of the leading talents in the industry, Mark Millar) a 1000 year-old fraternity of ruthless assassins who take orders from a magic loom (you heard me - a magic loom) but the production values, stunt work, special effects and direction are top-notch. Timur Bekmambetov, the Russian director of Night Watch and its sequel Day Watch was at the helm and much of his style was translated perfectly into this western blockbuster. Danny Elfman one of the worlds leading score composers also lent his talents to craft this work of art.


This movie is unrealistic and pure fantasy, so one cannot hold it's "faults" against it. These fantastical elements include the ability to increase your heart rate to 400 beats per minute, thus producing more adrenaline, apparently empowering you to slow your perception of time like Max Payne allowing you to shoot the wings of flies, curve bullet trajectories or leap from the window of one building 20 floor up and land unscathed in another building 100yrds away. So provided you can suspend your knowledge of physics for a while (or just like stuff like The Matrix), you'll enjoy it. Also the idea of inputting your name into an internet search and not yielding any results at all is impossible - try it.

Final Verdict: While it's superbly stylish, has an abundance of blood, bullets and mayhem there could have been more or better explosions and pyrotechnics for the class of movie it was.

Colonel Creedon Rating: *****



Warning: US Red-Band trailer below (contains spoilers) Not for the feint of heart!


Saturday, July 05, 2008

Vader Escapes Prison Sentence!

I'm sure you remember the vicious attack by Lord Darth Vader against Jedi Master Jonba Hehol in Hollyhead earlier in the year.

It emerged recently that Arwel Wynne Hughes the 27-year-old who dressed in a black bin-bag and Darth Vader's black helmet and leapt over a garden fence in Holyhead and proceeded to attack two Star Wars fans with a metal crutch, was given a suspended sentence at Holyhead Magistrates Court.

"Darth Vader! Jedis!" Hughes shouted as he approached the Jedi church founder Master Jonba Hehol who was hit over the head and his 18-year-old cousin, Master Mormi Hehol who suffered a bruised thigh in the March 25 attack.

Hughes claimed he couldn't remember the incident, having drunk the best part of a 10-litre box of wine beforehand. But the incident was recorded on a video camera that the cousins had set up to film themselves in a light saber battle. District Judge Andrew Shaw sentenced Hughes to two months in jail but suspended the sentence for one year and ordered Hughes to pay £100 to each of his victims and £60 in court costs.

Source: Sith Apologist, Daily Telegraph

Thursday, July 03, 2008

Diablo III Controversy

All is not well in the world of Diablo III! Following my intal announcement earlier and after reviewing the gameplay footage myself, I see that there has been some strange changes to the world of Diablo and I'm not alone; Thousands of fans think it's a bit too bright and cartooney for most peoples tastes. Already, they have organised an online petition to encourage Blizzard to return to the more adult-oriented dark and gothic atmosphere and away from the cartoonish and coloured lighting of World Of Warcraft.

The petition contains links to screenshots from the game as they have been released and also photoshop edited versions more in keeping with the style of the original games as seen in the picture on the right.

Diablo III's lead producer Keith Lee has responded saying: "One of the things that we considered when we were working on the visuals for Diablo III is the fact that colour is your friend," he said to MTV. Despite justifying the changes, Lee did say that Blizzard would listen to fan response. "We spend a lot of time actually iterating on the game, and so in terms of the next phase, what we'll try to do is a proof on concept on lot of different gameplay aspects."

I myself agree with the demand for more realistic art but I think a demand for abolishing coloured lighting is a little too much, it's hardly gaudy and neon. I think people who want a less colour-saturated world can simply adjust their display settings. Nevertheless, in order to be sure that Blizzard make some changes, your voice must be heard, go to the petition now and help evil rise again!!! (So that I can vanquish it).

Source: Computerandvideogames.com

Wednesday, July 02, 2008

Quantum Of Solace Teaser

Could this be even better than Casino Royale? Quantum Of Solace, Bond #22, opens Oct 31st in this part of the world. The US a week later....



Source: Darth Harrington

Hammond of Texas passes on

I regretfully announce the passing of Donald Sinclair Davis, the American character actor known for his roles on Stargate SG-1 and Twin Peaks. He had a massive heart attack on Sunday morning and died. He was 65.

Davis was best known for his portrayal of military characters, among them Major Garland Briggs in David Lynch's surreal series Twin Peaks, General Harlan Ford in Atomic Train, guest appearances as Captain William "Bill" Scully on The X-Files, an Army General on an episode of The Outer Limits, and provided the voice of G.I.Joe's helicopter pilot Wild Bill in the Valor vs. Venom series, but he'll no doubt be most remembered as the officer in command of the SGC during the first seven seasons of Stargate SG-1, Major General George Hammond.

Davis' ability to portray military officers and authority figures is no doubt due in no small part to his real-life experience as a Captain in the US Army who served in Korea before turning to acting. He was also an accomplished painter and woodcarver and his work can be seen on his official website.

One of his final filmed appearance will be as Lt Gen Hammond in the forthcoming Stargate: Continuum, the next Stargate DVD movie available in August.

Tuesday, July 01, 2008

Diablo III announced!

One of the worst kept "secrets" in gaming history was officially revealed at the weekend in Paris of all places at a special event organised by one of the greatest interactive entertainment houses in the world- Blizzard.

The creators of the StarCraft and WarCraft franchises including the overwhelmingly popular World Of Warcraft MMORPG revealed that they had been working for the past three years on the third installment of their dark hack & slash fantasy series...

They unveiled a pretty extraordinary website packed with features, but there are still many more to come. One of the most interesting is a 19 minute gameplay video wich showcases two of the revealed character classes. In it we discover many improvements over the not too dissimilar previous installments which used practically the same engine. In this game health potions have been replaced with the ability to pick up life essence from fallen enemies keeping the pace of combat quick and simple - the more you kill: the more you heal. We will have very destructible environments which can be used to your advantage such as dropping a wall on a crowd of zombies or it may work against you as do insidious traps. While Blizzard suggest that quests, story and events far more abundant than previous incarnations of Diablo I'm sure that the core hack & slash game mechanic will remain intact.

I played the original game in 1995 on a friends laptop (Where are you now Master Lo?) and it was one of the first games I played when I got my own PC shortly thereafter. Unfortunately I felt I had grown beyond the limited hack & slash model by the time the sequel came around in 2000 as I had been lured into more epic true RPG's like Baldur's Gate; Diablo II was forgotten. However times change and now with such limited time on my hands, the prospect of having to spend literally months on these expansive RPG's like the Neverwinter Nights saga often fill me with apprehension, so perhaps it is time to return to a "simpler" life for want of a better term? Hopefully they have a Paladin or some sort of Holy-empowered warrior so I can play it!