Books

♦In a shocking oversight we totally forgot to talk about the Philip K Dick awards on our Norwescon wrap up show. Even though we did post some video from the ceremony in our short Norwescon Friday post I thought it deserved another mention. The result this year was a tie with the award being shared by Emissaries from the Dead by Adam Troy Castro (Eos) and Terminal Mind by David Walton (Meadowhawk Press).

♦Out today in hardback – Genesis by Bernard Beckett. I’m a sucker for post-apocalypse dystopian robot evolution stories so this is one I may have to add to my reading pile. Book Browse has a very good summary and review.

More news under the fold

Movies

♦The zombie apocalypse comedy Zombieland starring Woody Harrelson and Emma Stone has wrapped and is on track for release in October. Geek Tyrant has a couple of cool stills showing the aftermath of the zombie attack on downtown Hollywood and Sci Fi Wire has a short interview with Emma Stone about making a zombie comedy.

TV

♦Just in case you didn’t have enough reason to be upset with Fox for the way they have treated Joss Whedon and his various shows, Wizard has an interview with the Dollhouse creator in which he talks about how far ahead he had the story arc planned. As I’ve mentioned before, I was very skeptical of Dollhouse and was maybe one more bad episode away from giving up on it but the last half of the first (and what is increasingly likely to be the only) season really turned me around.

Boardgames

♦Wasn’t sure whether to file this under games or anime/manga but either way it is mighty cool. New publisher Trofé is releasing a Death Note card game from designer Giacomo Santopietro in early May. Based on the popular Death Note manga and anime series, play centers around trying to identify which character possesses the death note. You can find some artwork from the game here (site in Italian). The game is initially going to be released in Italy but hopefully it will also come to the U.S.

♦For those who just can’t get enough Axis and Allies, Avalon Hill (aka Wizards of the Coast, aka Hasbro) is putting out Axis & Allies: 1942 Edition which is scheduled for release in August. There are also rumors that the Axis & Allies Anniversary Edition is going to be re-released for the 2009 holiday season.

MMO/Video Games

♦Mere moments after I posted this news roundup Bethesda Softworks announced that Fallout: New Vegas would be the next installment in the award winning game series. Not many details of course. It seems that this will not be a direct sequel to Fallout 3, but will be set in the same universe.

♦The latest update for super hero MMORPG City of Heroes included their “Mission Archetect” system that allowed player created content to be included in the game. The update was released earlier this month and within 24 hours players had uploaded more content than the developers had created since the game’s initial launch. Seems like this has the potential to be a model for other MMOs to follow.

♦A new Batman game, Batman Arkham Asylum is coming in August to Xbox and PS3. In addition to a regular release there will also be a collectors edition which will include a 14″ Batarang with stand that matches the Batarang’s in-game design, Arkham Doctor’s Journal with 48 pages of notes on Arkham’s inmates, a 2 Sleeve Digi-pack with the game disc and a behind-the-scenes DVD, a code for an exclusive downloadable “Crime Alley” Challenge Map and a full-color manual.

♦Seattle Geekly is seeking more information on the Xbox Live Arcade version of the Zombies!!! boardgame. The project was confirmed back in October of last year by both Twilight Creations (the publisher of the boardgame) and Big Rooster (the company set to develop the XBLA version) but nothing more seems to have come of it. Big Rooster was also the developer of the ill-fated XBLA version of Talisman so we’re all keeping our fingers crossed that Zombies!!! will fare better. We’ll keep you informed.

• Update – After digging a little more it seems that Big Rooster is no longer developing the game and, in fact, seems to have kind of fallen off the face of the earth. As of March Twilight Creations was still looking for another developer. Still hoping to get a bit more current information.

• Updated update – Official word from Twilight Creations regarding the status of the project
  

  Big Rooster dropped the ball on this one after we signed the contract. But it’s turning out to be a good thing as we have some bigger companies seriously interested. So… Hopefully, we’ll be able to announce something soon.