Alien Isolation Nostromo: a pre order bonus is officially more interesting than the game itself.

Did you want an original cast reunion with your survival horror alien game? Well you got it now, buckko!

I love this for a few reasons, an interactive re-imagining of one the greatest horror films ever made notwithstanding, this is not something Sigourney Weaver would do for just another paycheck. Or at least I'd like to think she wouldn't. The material released so far is damn impressive, so I'm choosing to believe the actors were coaxed on board by it's merit. Instead of the franchise's cloying, desperate, need for good word of mouth. I'm still going to wait for reviews, I don't think they'd dare embargo them this time until release.

But don't get me wrong, I'm still giddy abut this. My pen may be poisoned, but I can't stop smiling. Also the whole thing takes place right after John Hurt dies so... damn.

Oh well.

Bob's Burgers has been appraised!

This is, flat out, the best show on fox. In fact, it's best animated show about a family since the golden age of the Simpsons. But enough about it's artistic merits, how much does Bob pay for that place a month?

Blogger Laura Allen crunched the numbers to figure it out. But before you scroll to the bottom and leave, know that there's much more scrumptious financial details in her origonal post. It's good reading. And yes, financial details are sometimes scrumptious.

Sometimes.

Damn that's small...

In which I eat crow about The Lone Ranger.

The Lone Ranger was not a good movie. But damnit if I didn't like it, and damnit if I didn't wind up respecting it. A film that hangs a lampshade that good on a white guy playing a native American needs a formal review. I mean Tonto winds being just as embarrassing to the other natives as he is to us. That kind of turn does not exist in completely cynical filming, and while this is a very cynical movie that hates it's own reason for existing... you know what? I'm gonna save that for the review.

Just know that I'm sorry for judging a book by it's cover, and that the critical consensus just seems political to me now. Unforgiven it ain't,  but it's better than the last 3 pirates movies combined. You forgot there was more than 3 didn't you? Well that happened, and we let it happen.

Crytek on Strike.

This is a first, that I'm aware of. A video game company has gone on strike. Long has it been known that working conditions in this industry are more than a little manipulative/emotionally abusive. But I believe this is a first. Long have the threats of bigger workloads and tarnished resume's from upper managers kept the code monkeys in their cubicles. But it sounds like Crytek UK has left the building. According to Kotaku's inside source, about 100 employees have walked out.

This probably won't end well. This is a shoe every major publisher knew was going to drop. They most likely have a contingency on top of contingency on top of a standing army of scabs. That's actually what the role of programer is, pretty much. A scab. The majority are ushered in during crunch time and let go when the project's done. It's a nifty way to side step health benefits.

The question is, will more companies file suit? The next Homefront game being canceled (probably) is one thing, but what about the next Assassin's Creed or COD? That could seriously get a union ball rolling, hopefully. But maybe not. I can't wait to see what happens next, though.

Six Seasons and a Resurrection.

Just before the clock ran out on the cast's contracts, Harmon has struck a deal with Yahoo.com. Community will officially have six seasons. Let that infromation wash over you. This is weird. Really weird. I didn't even know they did web series. What does this mean? Is the budget gonna be smaller than last year's already shaggy offerings? Is it possible for a Troy cameo, or is that asking too much?

Sh*t, I don't care, this is incredible news. Community will no longer end with the sourest possible grapes as they did a few months ago. Creator Dan Harmon had this to say: .

“I look forward to bringing our beloved NBC sitcom to a larger audience by moving it online. I vow to dominate our new competition. Rest easy, Big Bang Theory. Look out, Bang Bus!”

Sitcoms and porn. Righteous.

Snowpeircer is a modern day masterpiece... and it almost never made it to American theaters.

Modern filming is frustrating for a myriad of reasons. The latest Tranformers piece of drivel is doing gangbusters for one. For another, minor filming (just under tentpoles) is becoming extinct. The sad story of behind the scenes of Snowpiercer is a microcosm that explains what many believe to be a looming movie market crash.

 The Boston Globe just published a wonderful article on the subject. You should read it if you give a damn about movies. Any damn at all. In a word? Harvey Weinstein is a petty sum'bitch. In another word, high ranking studio heads still hold a lot of sway over not only what gets made. But even if it's done, and made bucko bucks overseas, they can still pull the plug on meaningful entertainment.

Chris Evens is the lead for Christ's sake!

Amplitude Studios does early access right.

Kickstarter and steam early access have become two incredibly contentious practices in this new wild west of crowd sourced patronage. There are successes as admirable as Star Citizen (looks amazing, but the jury's still out on how the whole thing will end up) and grotesque con jobs too numerable to mention. I'll let Jim Sterling handle that. 

But then there's Amplitude, whose Dungeon of the Endless has charmed me out of $20 and 33 hours of my life. It's wonderful and it's pretty much finished now. I say grab it. Grab it right the hell now. But even though that game isn't officially finished yet, they've still been busy on their high fantasy riff on Civilization. It's called Endless Legend, and I sit here stunned at what this modest studio has pulled off. They say you should never fight a war on two fronts; and I expected progress to slow down on DOE considerably, and wanted nothing to do with EL.

But work continued at a decent clip a few months after EL was, um... early accessed? Balance and content patches came fast and furious these last few weeks, giving me more and more confidence in the studio. So today I decided to buy the EL founder pack, and I'm more than impressed. Let's forget they're an indie studio. Let's ignore that zooming out all the way on the map turns the world into an actual cloth map. Let's just talk about how much better this looks and plays next to Godus. The crummy alleged brain child of alleged auteur Peter Molyneux. Who at this point is somewhere between M. Night Shyamalan and modern day Francis Ford Coppola. In other words, a once great director that hasn't walked the walk in 10 years.

Amplitude is selling two games that are damn impressive out of the box, and will only get better. These guys walk the walk with wit and charm to spare. The writing for both of these games didn't have to be half as good as it is, but here we are. EL has pot bellied centaurs for Christ's sake!

So I hope some of you will invest in this rising star with me. I've never seen a studio work this hard for my money, I honestly don't know how they do it.