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Archive for January, 2008
In Search Of The Force? Try The Jedi Church!
Jan 27th
Those Brits sure come up with some fun and interesting stuff. Can you believe that in the 2001 British census 390,000 people claimed “Jedi” as their religion! Obviously Star Wars is a lot more than just a movie to some people. Not only do people claim Jedi as there religion, but they practice it on a regular basis as an official religion.Jedi also appears to be 70,000 Australians’ religion of choice as well. This means that one in 270 Australians consider the force to be their official religion. According to the BBC:
An e-mail was sent around the world in 2001 saying that if 10,000 people declared they were Jedi, it would be recognised as an official religion.
But the Australian Bureau of Statistics said it would be categorised as “not defined”.
Thousands of people in New Zealand and the UK also followed the advice of the e-mail – with Jedi Knight even being included on the list of religions by UK census authorities.
The BBC recently had an article on Jedi worshipers in Britain. In the article they interviewed. The article covered Barney and Daniel who go by the names Master Jonba Hehol and Master Morda Hehol.
According to the article both Barny and Daniel are trying to increase their numbers and want fellow worshipers to join them in worship close to their home on Anglesey. If I’m ever in Wales I’ll have to stop by and take a look.
Their church activities include sermons on “The Force,” light saber training and meditation techniques.
According to the article:
They plan to go to the official opening of a Surrey-based branch or “chapter” of the UK Church of the Jedi in April, and hope to hire an Anglesey venue for their own services.
Already six followers regularly meet in north Wales to discuss setting up the “church”.
All members are currently men, but women are allowed. Those following the dark side of the force can be expulsed from the church.
This has to be one of the oddest things I have ever heard of. 
Star Trek MMORPG Dead In Space?
Jan 13th
Captain, she gave us all she had! Many people are wondering the same thing. Is the Star Trek MMORPG still going to become a reality? The game “expected to launch in 2007″ is still not a reality. Now 2008, it sounds like the developer, Perpetual Entertainment is having its own share of problems. Apparently too many of the developers were wearing red shirts and have been pronounced DOA.
Now I can’t say for sure if things are really looking that bad, but the former Perpetual Entertainment recently had its assets liquidated and has been acquired by the newly developed Perpetual LLC. The new company claims it is taking the Star Trek MMORPG in a more casual direction. Is that code for “we don’t know what we’re doing?”
Perpetual recently canceled development of Gods & Heroes: Rome Rising to focus more time on Star Trek. This could be good if they really are trying to get the game done, hopefully with quality in mind. It could also be bad being that they are canceling projects. Could Star Trek be next on the chopping block?
The icing on the cake so far is that Perpetual is now being sued for unpaid bills by the PR Firm Kohkne for work done on Gods & Heroes: Rome Rising.
Articles on the lawsuite (Kohnke v. Perpetual):
Kohnke v. Perpetual – The Opening Round
In closing I would like to say that I am a huge fan of Star Trek. I have played MMORPGs like World of Warcraft and enjoy them. A Star Trek MMORPG is a guaranteed sell for me. Although I am still hopeful the game will turn out well, my gut feeling is that the game will either never materialize or will suck like the majority of all the other Star Trek video games. Here’s to hoping!
**UPDATE**
It looks like our dreams for a Star Trek MMORPG are dead for now. Perpetual Entertainment, also known as P2 Entertainment, seems to have closed its doors for good. You can read more here.
Mass Effect – The Best Sci-Fi Game of 2007
Jan 10th
Welcome back everyone! I’m sorry I haven’t written for some time. The holidays have taken a lot of my time, not to mention a couple of new video games I got from Santa.
I got both Mass Effect and Call of Duty 4 for the Xbox 360. I really wanted Mass Effect. Call of Duty was more of a bonus game. I had heard good things about Mass Effect for a few months leading up to my acquisition.
I unwrapped the game and put it in the 360, flipped it on and got ready for another “good” video game. I was in for a surprise.
Initially I began to create my own character. It was fairly customizable, although not as much as Oblivion. I tried to create my character to look somewhat like me. He turned out pretty good. It is funny…now that I see commercials for Mass effect I think to myself “that’s not what shepherd looks like!” You also get to pick the history of your character, which affects the way dialog is played throughout the game.
The game started out with a great story line. It was amazing how answering questions so dramatically effected the way the game played out. Often times I would save the game, re-load an older version and see what would happen if I picked a different choice. Often times the game offered upwards of six different choices.
One great aspect of the game is how much control you have during play. Not only is there a “choose your own adventure” aspect, but there is some great in-game action, shooting, control and play. The music is even good. Not soon into the game I felt the “Normandy,” the focal spaceship, was my own hangout.
You end up with the ability to pick two from a pool of six characters to attend you on missions. You get to become good friends with them and earn experience as you develop relationships. This also changes the play of the game.
You can upgrade weapons, armor and abilities. You also have the option to play the main quest or play dozens of side quests. You take on a renegade or paragon personality throughout the game based on decisions. Because the game changes so much based on your decisions, it really does become a new game each time you play it. I am already playing the game a second time and am enjoying it just as much. This really extends the shelf life and value of the game.
The acting talent is amazing. You can tell they hired voice actors who knew what they were doing. They even got Marina Sirtis to play one of the main characters.
Like I previously said, the music is good. I even picked up the soundtrack. The visuals are stunning, the story telling is wonderful. Can you tell I liked the game? I don’t want to give away any spoilers, but if you have an Xbox 360 and like Sci-Fi, this is a must-have game! Trust me.
I still love Halo 3 as a first-person shooter, and the storyline isn’t half bad, but I still have to pick Mass Effect as my favorite video game of 2007. Halo 3 comes in at a close second, especially for multiplayer capability. I give Mass Effect a 9.5 out of ten!
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