Last-minute geeky gift ideas for your Valentine

Valentine’s Day, of course, brings with it the traditional gift ideas of flowers, chocolates, lingerie, fancy dinners … blah, blah, blah.

Let’s face it, if you’ve got a geek in your life, traditional gifts aren’t exactly going to carry the day. Romance is a state of mind and a gift from the heart means more than just another box of chocolates.

Here are a few geek-friendly ideas for you last-minute shoppers to consider:

* Tooks: Hats You Can Hear: This is my favourite little gadget of 2012 so far. Being a Canadian who has a shaved head, I can appreciate the warmth of a great touque. But you don’t need to be folicley challenged or living in the Great White North to dig this.

Tooks come in eight different styles and what makes them cool is that they have slits cut into them that you can slide the little speakers that come with them.

Yep, now you can have a warm head and listen to tunes in a stylish way. Just turn the Took inside out, insert the speakers into the slots, slip the rest of the cord into the slit at the back of the touque and plug into your MP3 player.

The speakers put out 40 mW and the cord is 48 inches long, so you’ve got plenty of give to get active in the great outdoors, making this a great idea for any snowboarding geeks out there.

The Tooks come in a variety of colours and styles, for both men and women. And there’s even a simple black band for those of you with enough hair to keep your head warm … or if you just really want to look cool.

Check these sweet lids out at www.TooksHats.com.

* Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning: This Xbox 360, PlayStation 3 and PC role-playing game is dripping with geek cred.

The culmination of the minds of writer R. A. Salvatore, Spawn creator Todd McFarlane and Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion lead designer Ken Rolston, this sprawling RPG (published by Electronic Arts) boasts dozens and dozens of hours of questing through a fully-fleshed out fantasy world.

You play as one of four races, a creature brought back to life by gnomes who rescued your soul from the ether and fashioned you a new body, all in the hope of creating a warrior who could help free the world of Amalur from a warrior race bent on wiping out all other forms of life.

Fate is a huge part of the citizens of Amalur’s belief system, for they believe you cannot alter destiny. But as one reborn from death, you have no pre-ordained destiny, and so the future is yours to fashion in whatever manner you see fit.

Like many traditional RPGs, there are main quests, secondary adventures and little odd jobs and tasks you can choose to tackle or ignore, depending on how deeply ingrained you wish to become in Salvatore’s fantasy realm.

Combat, skills, spells, character classes … everything is customizable depending on how you like to attack the problems facing Amalur.

Rated M.

Check it out at www.Reckoning.com.

* Anonymous: I love a good movie that makes you think and this bit of fanciful ‘What if?’ conjecture from acclaimed director Roland Emmerich and writer John Orloff certainly does that.

The duo deliver a drama that dares audiences to question whether or not William Shakespeare, the greatest playwright in human history, was a fraud. And there is actually scholarly debate about whether Shakespeare did author the plays and sonnets that have made him a legend.

Rhys Ifans stars as an earl, a member of the royal court who many believe was the actual author of the plays and sonnets. This is based on his education and travels, which, when contrasted against the historical record that shows Shakespeare was an uneducated, illiterate man who never once left England, makes one wonder whether there’s more than meets the eye to this fascinating political drama.

Ifans is simply brilliant in the role, surprising considering I knew him mainly for his role as Hugh Grant’s slovenly roomie in the rom-com Notting Hill. He plays the Earl of Oxford with style, grace and a sense of devious purpose that is mesmerizing.

Vanessa Redgrave is outstanding as Queen Elizabeth I, a woman slowly descending into madness and paranoid about losing power, unafraid to dispatch anyone who threatens her reign.

David Thewlis co-stars as William Cecil, while Edward Hogg is phenomenal as Cecil’s son, Robert, a hunchback. The duo are largely responsible for doing Elizabeth’s dirty work and scheming to manipulate events and people for their own gain, since they enjoy tremendous power by serving at the pleasure of the monarch.

Anonymous is a brilliant film, not at all what you’d expect from the guy who brought the world 2012, Godzilla, Independence Day, The Day After Tomorrow and 10,000 BC.

* Nintendo 3DS Circle Pad Pro: This little peripheral is a slick add-on that serious handheld gamers are going to appreciate.

The 3DS slips into the pad, which features an additional circle pad on the far right of the unit to give gamers more control, making the handheld feel and play more like a console gamepad, which features two stick controllers.

As well, there are additional shoulder buttons built into the pad.

* Resident Evil: Revelations: This Nintendo 3DS game, from Capcom, is the latest chapter in the zombie franchise.

Set between the events of Resident Evil 4 and Resident Evil 5, the action unfolds on an abandoned cruise ship, giving gamers more of the creepy atmosphere they have come to love from this series.

The game features two-player online and offline co-op, as well as a single player campaign.

Rated M.

* Star Wars: Darth Plagueis: This latest novel, from writer James Luceno, is garnering heady praise from fans of the Expanded Universe, thanks to a detailed plot that explores the relationship between Darth Sidious, the evil Emperor of the Star Wars films, and his master, Darth Plagueis.

Plagueis was alluded to in Episode III: Revenge of the Sith, used by Sidious to further draw Anakin Skywalker to the dark side because it was said Plagueis could use the Force to prevent those he loved from dying.

But there’s a lot more to this novel than that. Luceno weaves a broad, decades-spanning tale which fits neatly into many of the gaps in the timeline and more fully explores how a young man named Palpatine was recruited to become a Sith apprentice and eventually became a master and ruler of the galaxy.

* Good old reliable gift cards: Whether it’s iTunes, Chapters/Indigo, Future Shop or Best Buy, or any other establishment of your choice, these are always a solid idea. Not really romantic, but if you don’t know what geeky novel, album, piece of hardware, DVD or video game is on his/her most-wanted list, this is better than nothing.

Wayne Chamberlain is an editor at The Sudbury Star, who has covered the gaming industry and reviewed games since 2003, as well as a film school graduate who majored in writing and directing. He is also the co-host of Star Wars Book Report, a bi-weekly podcast available on iTunes. You can follow him on Twitter.com @ChamberlainW or @JediAragorn. Join his blog at jediaragorn.blogspot.com. 

Geeky news and notes from the past week

Some weird, wacky and wonderful tidbits from the past week for you to chew on:

* The 11^th annual NAVGTR (The National Academy of Video Game Testers and Reviewers) will be announcing the final nominees for its awards on Feb. 15. The event, which honours the best of video game art, technology and production, will be presided over by actors Tom Sizemore and Tara Platt. Not sure if this qualifies as community service for Sizemore, who has had a few run-ins with the law, but as a game reviewer (though not a member of this group) I am always keen to stay on top of what’s going on in the gaming industry.

http://navgtr.org

* Feb. 28 marks the day that PlayStation 3 users who are members of the Call of Duty Elite Premium service will be able to get their first two DLC (downloadable content) packages.

Liberation and Piazza are their names.

Liberation, a militarized Central Park in the heart of NYC, features a vast landscape ripe for long-range sniper and LMG kills. Mounted turrets on opposing ends of the map offer overwhelming firepower to anyone brave enough to man them, says game publisher Activision in a release.

Piazza, meanwhile, is set in an idyllic seaside village, an Italian getaway gone rogue, where blind corners and a complex network of branching pathways pose danger at every turn. Visceral close-quarters combat dominates in Piazza, and attacks from above and below are an ever-constant threat.

www.callofduty.com/elite.

* I attended my first Fan Expo Canada in 2011 and enjoyed it, despite some rough spots with some of the overly aggressive and uninformed volunteers.

Patrick Stewart has been announced as one of the headline guests for 2012.  The Brit thesp is best known for his roles as Capt. Jean-Luc Picard in Star Trek: The Next Generation and as Professor Charles Xavier in the X-Men films.

Fan Expo Canada 2012 is also going to play host to writer/director Kevin Smith and his actor/pal Jason Mewes. They will be performing their show Jay and Silent Bob Get Old on Friday, Aug. 24, at 8 p.m. Tickets for the show are $39 for general admission, or a $69 (hey, it’s Kevin Smith) priority package that nets you better seating, a limited edition 8x10 autographed photo of Kevin and Jason and a complimentary one-hour preview of Fan Expo Canada.

Fan Expo Canada 2012 takes place at the Metro Toronto Convention Centre from Aug. 23-26.

www.fanexpocanada.com

* Good news for Star Wars gaming fans this week as The Old Republic looks to be a success out of the gate.

The Massively Multiplayer Online game, from Canada’s BioWare Corp. and LucasArts, has sold more than two million copies and publisher Electronic Arts says in a press release that there are more than 1.7 million active subscribers playing the story-driven title.

“We’re truly honored and humbled by the incredibly strong support from our players who are enjoying Star Wars: The Old Republic,” said Dr. Ray Muzyka, co-founder of BioWare and general manager of EA’s BioWare Label, in a release. “Our entire team worked very hard over the holidays to deliver a smooth experience at launch and the resulting response to the game from our fans and critics has been exceptionally gratifying.”

Added Dr. Greg Zeschuk, co-founder of BioWare and general manager of the BioWare MMO Business Unit: “We’re actively listening to our community for ongoing feedback to help us ensure the game and service continue to improve, and we’re working to deliver spectacular new high quality content on a regular cadence going forward.”

According to EA, there have been more than 239 million in-game hours, or more than 332,000 months and 27,000 years of in-game time played in the first month. There were over 20 billion NPCs killed and more than 148 billion credits spent.

I’ve had some time with the game and it’s definitely enjoyable. I plan to publish a review when I’ve spent a bit more time with it, so stay tuned.

www.StarWarsTheOldRepublic.com

* In the mood for some arcade titles? Well, Xbox Live has launched a new campaign called House Party.

Starting Feb. 15, 360 gamers can access a new downloadable game every Wednesday through to March 7. As a reward, if you buy all four of the games, you’ll receive 800 Microsoft Points, Xbox states in a press release.

Up first on Feb. 15 is Warp, from Electronic Arts, which costs 800 MS Points. You will play as Zero, an alien with a big score to settle in this puzzle-based stealth action game. Captured by the villainous Commander and imprisoned in his underwater facility, Zero must plan his ultimate escape using his arsenal of alien abilities — warp, frag, echo, swap and launch.

On Feb. 22, Alan Wake’s American Nightmare goes on sale for 1200 points. In this stand-alone game, novelist turned action hero Alan Wake fights the evil Mr. Scratch.

On Feb. 29, THQ delivers Nexuiz for 800 points. An arena-based first-person shooter, the game explores a reality TV show where you can alter the rules of the match and the laws of physics while dominating opponents in ever-changing hostile environments.

And then on March 7, Ubisoft launches I Am Alive, for 1200 points.

One year after a worldwide cataclysmic event wiped out most of humanity, a man struggles for survival. Faced with an insecure, decaying and hazardous world, he scours a desolate city, searching for his long-lost wife and daughter. Survive the suffocating, murky streets covered in dust. Climb the teetering remains of last-standing skyscrapers to reach breathable air and find untouched resources. Explore the crumbling ruins of a once-thriving metropolis. Discover a changed human condition, punctuated by distrustful survivors, dangerous armed gangs and victims in need. 

Sounds fun.

* Capcom confirmed that Resident Evil 6 is a go. It will be releasing Nov. 20 this year. Can’t wait.

* And finally this week, if you like some arcade action before or after you take in a movie at the theatre, Canada’s Cineplex Entertainment announced it has merged its New Way Sales Gaming with the amusement game and vending assets of Toronto-based Starburst Coin Machines. 

The new venture, Cineplex Starburst Inc., will form the largest distributor and operator of arcade games to the amusement industry in Canada.  The deal is worth approximately $4.5 million.

Starburst has supplied and serviced the arcade games located within all of the original Famous Players brand theatres for many years.  They also supply equipment to numerous arcades, amusement centers, bowling alleys, amusement parks and theatre circuits, in addition to owning and operating Playdium, the Family Entertainment Centre in Mississauga.

New Way supplies and services the equipment located within Cineplex Odeon and Galaxy Cinemas in addition to a number of other businesses. Following the merger, Cineplex Starburst Inc., will supply and service all Cineplex Entertainment theatres across Canada and continue to supply and support numerous other third parties.

Cineplex is the largest motion picture exhibitor in Canada and owns leases or has a joint-venture interest in 130 theatres with 1,352 screens serving approximately 70 million guests annually.

www.cineplex.com

Strong vocal cast to be a highlight of Mass Effect 3

Hey, hey, hey. It ain’t Fat Albert in da house, but rather Jedi Aragorn. Back from seeing a loved one become one with the Force (thank you to my friends and family, readers, listeners and followers who offered condolences across the spectrum of social media outlets I use to spread the good word) and ready to embrace all those geeky things that make life worth living here on this third rock from the big, burning ball of gas we circle.

So, let’s get down to business, shall we?

The countdown is on and console gamers like me are eagerly awaiting the third installment in the Mass Effect trilogy.

Mass Effect 3, available on Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3, ships in North America on March 9, while the demo moves on both consoles Valentine's Day.

Developer BioWare looks set to deliver a triumphant finale to this remarkable role-playing game franchise, set around the adventures of Commander Shepard, the first human Spectre agent, as he helps defend the galaxy against an invasion by a terrifying race of machines.

Mass Effect 3's demo hits Feb. 14,
while the game launches on consoles March 9.

ME3 should continue the Canadian company’s legacy of delivering one of the most cinematic gaming experiences around. BioWare goes all out in securing outstanding voice talent for its projects because the good doctors who founded the company – Ray Muzyka and Greg Zeschuk – are big believers in a truly artistic product being delivered to its appreciative audience.

You can see that commitment in games like the previous Mass Effect titles, where Martin Sheen was hired to voice the enigmatic human-centric character, the Illusive Man, as well as BioWare’s latest PC opus, Star Wars: The Old Republic, which features the likes of Jamie Glover (Malgus), Catherine Taber (Padme on The Clone Wars and Vette in the game) David Hayter (the male Jedi Knight, as well as Metal Gear Solid’s Snake), Grey DeLisle, Lacey Chabert, Tom Kane, Deborah Kara Unger … the list goes on and on.

Well, ME3’s voice cast is equally impressive. Sheen returns, as does Mark Meer and Jennifer Hale as the voices of the male and female Shepard, respectively, as well as Adam Baldwin, Seth Green, Tricia Helfer, Keith David, Carrie-Anne Moss, Lance Henriksen, Shohreh Aghdashloo, Freddie Prinze Jr. and Michael Hogan (Battlestar Galactica).

“We are absolutely thrilled with the passion and emotion the entire cast brought to their performances in Mass Effect 3,” said Casey Hudson, executive producer of the Mass Effect series, in a press release.

“In a story where Earth and the entire galaxy are at war, we needed to take the performances to a level of dramatic power and intensity that we’ve never previously attempted. This extremely talented cast delivered.”

Sure, it’s easy to be snarky about someone like Prinze Jr. joining the cast. Hey, it’s Fred from those lame live-action Scooby Doo movies trying to sound like a bad-ass space marine … but cut the guy some slack. First off, it’s his voice you’re going to be hearing and the guy does have some decent pipes. So at least wait and hear what his character, a guy named Vega, sounds like before you draw the long knives, folks.

“I have always loved science fiction and I have always loved games and Mass Effect is really the first time both come together successfully,” said Prinze, Jr., in a release.

“It is a completely immersive game where you really feel like you’re part of this journey inside this universe. It will make you think, you will care about the character you are playing and you will care about the characters that you bring into battle with you.”

In Mass Effect 3, players will be thrust into an all-out galactic war to save the galaxy from an ancient alien race known only as the Reapers, the release states. Players will assume the role of Commander Shepard, a war-torn veteran who’s willing to do whatever it takes to eliminate this nearly unstoppable foe. With a team of elite, battle-hardened soldiers at your side, each player decides how they will take Earth back, from the weapons and abilities they utilize to the relationships they forge or break. Gamers can get their first taste of the galactic war when the Mass Effect 3 demo launches worldwide on February 14.

For more information on Mass Effect 3, please visit http://masseffect.com, follow the game on Twitter at http://twitter.com/masseffect,  or "like" the game on Facebook at http://facebook.com/masseffect.

Me, I can’t wait to get my hands on this baby. BioWare is a master group, like the Pixar of video games, and it’s going to be fun to see what they’ve got up their sleeves for Shepard’s last ride. 

Seeing Red ... Tails, that is

There are times that I just have to sit back and look at the pop culture world and shake my head. Call it disbelief, sadness, disappointment ... what have you. Sometimes, the hate out there is so hard to understand.

Which brings me to Red Tails, a film George Lucas personally financed and helped usher to the big screen despite bigotry (at the least, outright racist attitudes at the worst) in Hollywood that saw studio executives decline to green light the movie because they didn’t think a ‘black’ movie with a predominantly African-American cast could be successfully marketed, or turn a profit.

Wow. Hearing Lucas say that on The Daily Show was a real shock, as money typically is colour-blind. I mean, selling a feel-good, patriotic war movie in the U.S. should be about as idiot-proof as it comes.

At the time of this writing, according to the website rottentomatoes.com (http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/red-tails) the movie has made about $33 million in just over 10 days of release. The movie has an abysmal 39% rating as far as the critics go, but the audience ‘like’ number comes in at a more respectable 69%.

OK, so that’s the politics at play here. What about the movie?

Well, I think some of the backlash being directed at this movie is because simpleton audiences truly believe this is a George Lucas movie and there are haters out there who want nothing to do but crap on the man, his films and his legacy no matter what he does.

The fact is that this film is directed by Anthony Hemingway and written by John Ridley and Aaron McGruder. According to their IMDB.com pages, Hemingway and McGruder are African-Americans. Ridley doesn’t have a photo up, so I’m not sure about his cultural heritage, not that it particularly matters.

What does matter is that Lucas didn’t write or direct this movie, but he’s being criticized like it’s his work. McGruder’s history as a director stems largely from doing second unit work, as well as working on TV series. And you can certainly feel that when you see Red Tails because the film does come off in many ways like a feel-good TV movie of the week.

Is the writing clichéd? Yep. Is the dialogue clichéd? Yep. Are the performances clichéd? Hell, no. Could the directing have been stronger? Possibly. It’s not always easy to overcome a hackneyed script and there’s no doubt this reads like a piece of 1940s propaganda, viewed through the lens of the political correctness of the modern era .

But the performances in this movie are quite engaging and are at the heart of this film. I was actually shocked at how character-driven Red Tails was. I went in expecting high-flying, gut-twisting dog fights. I knew that Lucas had said the film wasn’t a history lesson, nor a look at what negro airmen went through in order to fight for their country. Those films are already out there if you want a serious look at battling 1940s racism in the military.

Or, as Cuba Gooding Jr., who plays Maj. Emanuelle Stance, put it in a recent TV interview in Canada, they wanted to make a movie about heroes, not victims.

Well, mission accomplished.

Red Tails is certainly a heroic war film. Following the story of the Tuskegee Airmen, an all-Negro fighter group, during the final year of the Second World War in Italy and over Europe, Red Tails follows a group of pilots as they try to prove their worth to the military brass.

Using hand-me-down planes that are patched up with spit and elbow grease, the men are assigned secondary and tertiary sorties over Italy. They spend their day flying patrols over the coast and blowing up the odd German train or vehicle convoy.  It’s a far cry from being all that you can be.

In Washington, Col. A.J. Bullard, played by the always engaging Terrance Howard, is fighting to get his fellow African-Americans some decent equipment and real missions that will help in the war effort. They get their break due to a political play that blows up in the press, in which some racist members of the military brass leaked a report that says the fighter group couldn’t pull its weight because of skin colour.

So, the group gets a chance to fight, flying cover for a ground invasion that goes well. They shoot down eight planes and four of the pilots go off and lay waste to a German air base.

This earns them a shot at flying cover for the bomber missions over Europe. It seems white pilots were leaving the heavy bombers in order to try to shoot down German decoy fighters, leaving the bombers vulnerable to attack by other German pilots.

The fighter group is told that they are to protect the heavy bombers at all costs and the men are given new equipment, as well as a chance to prove just how disciplined and capable they are.

And that’s basically the action-based plot of the movie. There are character-driven subplots, largely surrounding David Oyelowo’s pilot, with the call sign Lightning, and his friend and flight leader, Marty ‘Easy’ Julian, played by Nate Parker. The duo clash over Lightning’s risk-taking in the skies and Easy’s drinking on the ground, which he claims helps him battle his nerves.

There’s also a subplot with Lightning romancing a white Italian woman (played by NCIS: Los Angeles’ Daniela Ruah), as well as Lightning battling white pilots at an officer’s club.

So, there is more than a passing nod to the racist attitudes these men had to overcome. But – refreshingly – this isn’t a film that ruminates about the racism. We’ve seen those films. There are myriad options out there if you want to look at the African-American experience, be it from the 1800s up to present day. So I’m not going to crap on these men for opting to make a movie about the actual work and performance of the men.

I will say, however, that I still find many of the character plots to be very movie-of-the-week-ish. The film has a somewhat amateurish feel to it. But the cast still manages to make you care about these men and see them as more than the somewhat cardboard caricatures the script foists upon them. They rise above and manage to put more meat on the skeleton, so they deserve kudos for that.

The film does tend to go for the easy moments, the clichéd moments, which harkens back to a lot of other Second World War movies. And I suppose there is some merit to criticize the filmmakers on this front if you are expecting more of a Saving Private Ryan instead of something akin to Raiders-esque portrayal of the Nazis and their war machine.

But I wasn’t looking for a historical documentary here. Nor a docudrama. I just wanted to be entertained and the film certainly succeeds on that level. The characters are memorable and interesting despite the clichéd writing and the aerial sequences are spellbinding. It’s some of the best aerial combat footage I’ve seen since Top Gun.

If you’re looking for a good time at the movies, a true park-your-brain, feel-good, popcorn flick, Red Tails is definitely worth a look.

And leave George out of it.   

Check out the Red Tails trailer by clicking on this link: http://youtu.be/BpA6TC0T_Lw

Hear Drew Karpyshyn speak about The Old Republic and more

Our conversation with exception video game writer and novelist Drew Karpyshyn is available now on iTunes and through our website,starwarsbookreport.com. Please be sure to give it a listen and hear Drew address several topics related to his career, Star Wars, writing novels, The Old Republic and upcoming projects, including a new Old Republic novel set to release later this year. And don't forget to visit our Facebook  page - facebook.com/starwarsbookreport.com. Please give us a like.
I'm on the road in Toronto this weekend with my kids, so going to be a quiet time as far as updates, but pleas e keep checking back for more and give us a like.
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MTFBWY!