Many people seem concerned about how the video adaptation will turn out. I personally am not too concerned. There have been some great adaptations (IMHO) such as Resident Evil and Doom.

Cliff Bleszinski, the creator of Gears of War was quoted saying this about the movie:

“Hollywood needs to take the source material seriously, win over the avid gamers and make it work for an audience that is young and old, male and female.” But he also admitted that that plan is easier said than done.

“Disney made a great movie out of a theme park ride, and somebody is sooner or later going to make a great one out of a video game,” Bleszinski said. “Having someone like Len really helps the odds. I think we’re going to create something special here.”

I still haven’t heard about a release date. All I can say is that I am glad this movie isn’t going the way of Halo (RIP).

This is unfortunate news for Sci-Fi geeks like me who consider themselves Trekkies and would love a Star Trek MMORPG. The Perpetual Entertainment site no longer features any of their projects and appears to display a static page.

Hopefully somebody else will take on this project. We need to have a Star Trek MMORPG!

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!

Recommended Sci-Fi TV Seasons:

1. Star Trek the Next Generation (TNG)
2. Star Trek the Original Series (TOS)
3. Firefly
4. Stargate SG1
5. Stargate Atlantas
6. Futurama
7. Babylon 5
8. Doctor Who
9. The X-Files
10. Battlestar Galactica

Recommended Sci-Fi Movies:

1. Star Wars Movies
2. Galaxy Quest
3. Chronicles of Riddick
4. Star Trek Movies
5. Planet of the Apes
6. Dune
7. Blade Runner
8. Terminator Movies
9. Alien Movies
10. The Matrix Trilogy

Recommended Sci-Fi Video Games (For Current Generation Systems):

1. Halo 3 (Xbox 360)
2. Unreal Tournament 3 (PS3)
3. Mass Effect (Xbox 360)
4. Call of Duty 4 (Xbox 360)
5. BioShock (Xbox 360)
6. Gears of War (Xbox 360)
7. Resistance: Fall of Man (PS3)
8. Metroid Prime 3: Corruption (Wii)
9. Crysis (PC)
10. Galactic Civilization II: Dark Avatar (PC)

Recommended Sci-Fi Books:

1. Dune
2. The Hitchhiker’s Guide To The Galaxy
3. The Time Machine
4. 2001 – A Space Odyssey
5. Fahrenheit 451
6. Ender’s Game
7. 1984
8. Foundation Trilogy
9. Starship Troopers
10. Do Androids Dream Of Electric Sheep?

Good luck! I’m sure any true Sci-Fi fan would be happy with any of the above listed movies, TV shows, games and books. The games may be a little more difficult as you need a specific console to play them. The books, movies and TV shows are a pretty safe bet. Merry Christmas!

So what is the status of this movie? It appears to be scheduled for a 2009 release, according to the IMDB, but many rumors are circulating around the Internet that Gears of War the movie may be going the way of the Halo movie. Enormous budgets, fears of lost money and other issues seem to be plaguing the movie. I’m happy to say that I think the movie will still become a reality, and here’s why.

It all started with the announced back on March 10, 2007 that New Line Cinema had purchased the rights to the movie. Stuart Beattie, one of the best writers in current cinema, was hired to write the movie script. Stuart Beattie has written scripts for movies such as Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl, 30 Days of Night and more. I should also mention that he is currently writing the script for Spy Hunter and G.I. Joe. You can read a lot about what Stuart Beattie has to say about Gears of War here.

Watch what Cliffy B has to say about the movie:

Len Wiseman was to direct the movie, but this appears to still be in limbo. He is a genius, directing Underworld, Underworld: Evolution and Live Free or Die Hard. All three are great movies and are highly recommended. He was going to also direct the remake of Escape from New York, but was recently replaced by Brett Ratner. Perhaps this will free up more time for Gears of War.

LatinoReview managed to get their hands on a 22-page draft of the movie written by Stuart Beattie. They have since leaked the draft and have posted it on their Web site. Be aware that there are spoilers. The ultimate draft will more than likely change quite a bit. You can read the draft here.

When talking about Len Wiseman being replaced as director, IESB.net had this to say about the future of the Gears of War movie and Len Wiseman:

Does this mean Len Wiseman will now be moving forward with the highly anticipated Gear of War film? Nope, the IESB has been informed Wiseman is off Gears as well*** and that New Line Cinema will most likely not move forward with the film at all. Our source is saying that the studio has concerns with ballooning budget of the film.

Video game adaptations are not proven blockbusters the way comic book films have become in the last 10 years. Studios have a hard time gambling $100 million dollars plus to a genre that has not been able to break out of the “Uwe Boll” stereotypes.

The best hope that future video game films may have, and this is totally IMO, is to have Michael Bay make Prince of Persia after he is done with Transformers 2 and prove that a video game movie can make $300-400 million in worldwide box office receipts.

Until then be prepared for less than mediocre video game films with hacks as directors.”

I’m not entirely sure where these guys are getting the idea that video game adaptations are not proven blockbusters. I don’t believe there have been enough video game adaptations to warrant this view. It is also false that Wiseman is “off Gears as well.” Although his position as director appears to be in limbo, it looks like he may still with the project.

According to Cineplex.com, Cliffy B seems to still be optimistic that the Gears of War movie will become a reality. He says in an interview posted on the site:

Slamming the lid on the rumours to the contrary, Clifford Bleszinski (alias ‘CliffyB’) wants fans to know that the ‘Gears of War’ movie is still alive and well. It is in the development phase and moving ahead on all fronts.

“We are currently at the point where we have had a couple drafts of the script and now we are talking to different directors and trying to feel out who would be the best fit for it,” Bleszinski told Cineplex Entertainment while he was in Toronto promoting the Windows PC release of ‘Gears of War’.

I certainly hope this movie becomes I reality. I will try to keep you all posted on the status of this movie as information becomes available.

I was in line with two of my fellow Halo buddies. It was pretty fun! Gamestop had a single-elimination competition with Halo 2 while we waited in line. I had signed up a few weeks earlier for inclusion in the tournament. I consider myself to be a pretty decent Halo 3 player, but at the last minute (yes I was ahead) the guy got the sword and the rest is history. We were playing 5 minute timed rounds. It was still fun.

I haven’t been that excited since Christmas as a kid waiting around for Santa Clause. I had pre-ordered the Legendary edition of Halo 3 that came with the helmet. I heard that it was a limited edition release, so I jumped on that bandwagon fast!

After midnight hit, we all counted down to zero. I know that is pretty cheesy, but again…it was fun! I hurried and drove home and opened up the Legendary box. The helmet turned out being pretty cool!

I ended up conquering the game that same day on normal. It was very fun! I would rate it at a 9.5 out of 10. I love listening to the in-game AI commentary.

This is my Gamer Card.

You will probably see me online a lot playing Halo 3. I love playing multi player and they now offer the option to play Halo 3 campaign over Xbox live. It is very nice!

Now to my second bit of news. Many of you may have wanted to play Halo 3 but can’t because you don’t have the mula required to get an Xbox 360. There are several sites out there that offer an Xbox 360 for free. Some require that you sign away your life, but some aren’t as bad. There are many YouTube videos out there with information on how to do this.

I have found a site that has some pretty simple step-by-step instructions on how to get your free Xbox 360 Elite. You can find the site here: Free Xbox 360 Elite. Good luck! Let me know how it goes. I may go ahead and try it out myself!