A videogame that finally makes you cry

I came across this comic strip from a link on Penny-Arcade.com's site. See it here first before continuing. Though it could all be exploitatively made up, but even if it is, it's still a stroke of dramatic genius, giving example of how videogames can transcend its role as being merely a brainless button-mashing apparatus, and also how it's not always all about f***ing killfests Halo or Grand Theft Auto. And as games become more social and open-ended in nature, it creates avenues for completely unique, personal and sometimes even heartfelt experiences for each gamer, like the one purportedly experienced by the comic artist.

To those not familiar with the game pictured above, yes, the game does allow you to do all the stuff shown in the comic, so they're not made-up story devices to lure out the eye juices.

Check out Penny Arcade's funny response to this comic here.

See other people's comments here.

Hardcore Star Wars merchandise!

Check this out! A projector shaped like R2-D2, with a remote embedded in a Millennium Falcon, and if I didn't read it wrong, accompanying sound system with TIE Fighters as the speakers! Got this pics from Aintitcool.com here. Rich geeks, get more infos here.

DVD Watch #2

Christmas is just around the corner, and what better time to drop some hints onto your friends about what you're hoping to see most in your X-mas stockings! (Preferably those that'll be too big to fit into said feetwear; refer to pic, ahem!)
DVD highlights for the month:

• Live Free or Die Hard (Unrated Edition) - the full R-rated version, yippee-ki-yay!
• The Jason Bourne Collection (The Bourne Identity/ The Bourne Supremacy/ The Bourne Ultimatum)
• Blade Runner (Five-Disc Ultimate Collector's Edition) - the final, final, FINAL director's cut plus other not-so final versions in one package!
• Ocean's Thirteen (Widescreen Edition)
• Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (Widescreen Two-Disc Special Edition) - just for that awesome wizards fight scene!
• The Simpsons Movie (Widescreen Edition)
• James Bond Ultimate Collector's Set - from Dr. No to the new Casino Royale with Daniel Craig, sans the old Casino Royale and Never Say Never Again. Older Bonds' video are remastered, while a bonus disc is included for each movie. Gotta catch 'em all!
• The X-Files: The Ultimate Collection - cost-effective if you want to own the entire series and leave no stone unturned!
• Star Trek: The Next Generation - Complete Series - to boldly buy what no jock has bought before!

Tuya's Marriage and Blind Mountain are kicked off the Golden Horse! (Part 2)

Stupid me for not doing a more thorough research before putting up the recent Golden Horse post. Apparently, the two scrapped contenders depict rural China in less than flattering ways. I'm sure that has got absolutely nothing to do with their removals from the Golden Horse nom list.

More info on Tuya's here, and Blind here.

Tuya's Marriage and Blind Mountain are kicked off the Golden Horse!

Some belated news: Golden Horse contenders, Tuya's Marriage and Blind Mountain, both PRC productions, have been withdrawn from this year's Golden Horse competition. The reasons for this are vague, something about being "pressured" by China's State Administration of Radio, Film and Television (SARFT). You can read the Variety article here to derive your own conclusions. The Golden Horse committee's statement on this wasn't really enlightening either, promising to "have a discussion after this year’s award ceremony to come up with a solution for new rules of submission". Whatever happened to selecting movies for competition because they happened to be just plain good? If you're able to decipher the BS, please feel free to share it here.
Big winners for these omissions include drug-themed thriller Protege, now getting nods for Best Director and Original Screenplay, while The Sun Also Rises director Kiang Wen and Kidnap star Rene Liu were added into the Best Director and Actress categories respectively.