wait… what?

Real life intruded on my schedule to a sufficient degree yesterday that I just didn’t have time to post the news. I hope you can forgive me.

This week’s podcast is going to be about H. P. Lovecraft. Very few authors have had such a wide reaching influence of geek culture in general. Lovecraft’s writings have inspired authors, artist, game designers and film makers for a century. We’ll be talking with Eric Morgret, director of the film Strange Aeons, K. L. Young, editor and art director for Planet Lovecraft magazine and Jenna Pitman, contributing writer for Revenant magazine about their Lovecraft fandom and why they think his ideas continue to hold our imagination.

The Monday news (Tuesday edition) is under the fold

Books

Everyone expected the announcement that Guillermo del Toro and Chuck Hogan’s vampire novel The Strain was going to be adapted to some other medium but Geek Tyrant is reporting the somewhat surprising news that it is being developed not as a movie but as a TV series.

MMO

Back in June Turbine announced that they were going to be releasing a free-to-play version of Dungeons and Dragons online this month. Massively is now reporting that the game, called DDO: Eberron Unlimited, has been pushed back until September.

Teh intarwebs have been abuzz with rumors of a Twilight MMORPG that was supposedly in development. There IS a twilight video game in the works but it is by no means either an MMO or, it turns out, even a licensed adaptation of the books. Game developer Brain Junk Studios clears things up on the Twilight the Video Game web site.

The information being reported that we are developing an MMO is incorrect. This game is being created for academic purposes and as such is a non commercial venture for everyone involved in the project. Once the game is well polished and of the highest quality all materials related to the game will be surrendered to Summit Entertainment. WE DO NOT OWN THE RIGHTS

Movies

In news that I’m pretty happy about, Variety has confirmed the rumors that have been flying around about the upcoming Alien prequel movie. Ridley Scott is on board to direct and Jon Spaihts will be writing. There has been some talk about potential complications with having humans involved in a story that precedes the Nostromo’s discovery of the alien vessel. I confess its been a while since I watched the original Alien but I think I might have an idea of where they’re going with this. Only time will tell.

TV

io9 is reporting some potentially disturbing news. John “Captain Jack Harkness” Barrowman may start having scheduling conflicts that would reduce his availability for season 4 of Torchwood. Barrowman has landed a role in *shudder* Desperate Housewives that has the potential to turn into a regular gig. If he was working full time for ABC, Torchwood producers would be faced with the choice of delaying season 4 or trying to push forward without Barrowman.

Video Games

EA has announced the first expansion for The Sims 3 – The Sims 3 World Adventures.

“We’re thrilled with the global success of The Sims 3 over these last few months and are looking forward to expanding on the gameplay experience with one of the most robust expansion packs to The Sims yet,” said Scott Evans, General Manager of The Sims at EA. “Players will be able to take their Sims on the adventure of a lifetime and explore lands outside of Sunset Valley and Riverview, pursue thrilling new life destinies in locations around the world inspired by famous destinations, and immerse themselves in the open-ended gameplay where they’ll discover new cities in China, France and Egypt and share new stories.”

New activities will include visiting famous landmarks in other countries, searching for secret treasure and even learning martial arts. The World Adventures will be in stores this November.

Adventure Classic Gaming has an interview with indie game designer Chris Tolworthy about Enter The Story, a game project that aims to produce video games based on classic literature. “Have you ever sat there reading a book or watching a movie, and thought, ‘I wish I was there, I’d like to talk to those people, I’d like to explore that world.’ Well, now you can,” Said Tolworthy of the project. A good idea, but I have to confess that their first choice of a book to adapt is kind of puzzling to me. Les Misérables: The Game of The Book was released this January.