I love the "narrowcasting" enabled by the ubiquity of television channels and the internet. But d-i-y videos can be a hit-or-miss proposition. So I'll do a little filtering for y'all. A "value add," if you will.

Hit:

A nicely done reenactment of the Halo 2 trailer using stop-motion Lego animation:

Miss:

A mixture of live action and crude stop motion to tell an original story set in the Halo universe:

If I had a few more hours a day to goof off, I could see the fun in putting something like these together. And now there's a global audience ready to consume whatever is posted for their viewing pleasure. Maybe someday...

Posted by: JohnL at 07:54 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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Saw this at Jerry Pournelle's place a couple weeks ago: apparently Larry Niven and Jerry Pournelle recently had lunch with some folks from Bungie.

If you're not a gamer AND a science fiction geek, you're probably wondering about the significance of this. Well, Larry Niven is the SF author who dreamed up and described a "ringworld" in his suitably-named, bestselling, and [Hugo and Nebula] award-winning novel. And Bungie is the software company that developed one of the greatest first-person-shooters of all time, Halo, which takes place on the surface of a ringworld.

What I wouldn't have given to be a fly on the wall at that lunch. Geek heaven.

The really cool scoop? Pournelle relates that he and Niven were talking about stories of theirs that could be adapted by Bungie for new games, especially The Legacy of Heorot. Back in college, a buddy of mine who was into film (he makes videos for a living now) thought that Heorot was a natural for adaptation to the big screen. I strongly agree. But if it can't be a movie, I would love to see it come to life in a video game medium. The rich interactivity of a well-designed game brings many more hours of entertainment to me than all but a very few movies and TV shows.

Pournelle touched on this interactivity in Halo with Bungie:

The funny thing is, at that scene in Halo, if you go back and kill the skipper, the Marines will storm the bridge, lock you in and attack you until you die. The Marines become invincible. It's kind of fun in a twisted way to see how long you can last.

In any case, I hope this project is made. I'm holding off on the purchase of an Xbox 360 until Halo 3 ships, but if this came out before then, I would upgrade in an instant.

Posted by: JohnL at 09:52 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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Many more available here.

(via GeekPress)

Posted by: JohnL at 08:59 PM | Comments (1) | Add Comment
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Be sure to check out Meme Therapy's great-looking new site.

While you're there, check out your humble author's continued ruminations in another recent Brain Parade that tackles this question: Science Fiction often presents a coded commentary on the present. What current work of science fiction do you think delivers the most relevant/poignant message with respect to our present geopolitical situation?

Check it out and let me know what you think. Let Jose at Meme Therapy know, too.

Update: Kudos to Rosie for her excellent design work.

Posted by: JohnL at 10:29 PM | Comments (1) | Add Comment
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1 Glad you liked the redesign, not bad for a weeks work (smug self satisfied smiley that is)

Posted by: rosie at August 10, 2006 03:09 PM (eV6hb)

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The most excellent Canada-based science fiction blog Meme Therapy has moved to a new address. Update your links.

If you've never checked it out, this site showcases contributions from all kinds of folks, including many greater and lesser luminaries of science fiction. One regular feature is the "Brain Parade": a collection of blurbs on a number of subjects related to SF in one way or another. Your humble author even made a minor contribution to a recent Brain Parade: When Science Fiction Attacks.

Posted by: JohnL at 10:35 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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"Sick cultures show a complex of symptoms such as you have named [i.e., violence, muggings, sniping, arson, bombing, terrorism, riots]... but a dying culture invariably exhibits personal rudeness. Bad manners. Lack of consideration for others in minor matters. A loss of politeness, of gentle manners, is more significant than is a riot."

- Boss in Friday.

Posted by: JohnL at 08:37 PM | Comments (1) | Add Comment
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