Monday News Roundup 12/21

Posted by Matt at 10:35 am Geek Speak

Dec 212009

First off, a happy Winter Solstice to everyone. We have kind of a short news post today to go along with this being the shortest day of the year.

Before we get into the news I wanted to throw out a quick review of DJ Hero on the XBox 360. The game has been out for a while now and I finally got around to picking it up while we were out doing some unrelated shopping the other day. In the interests of full disclosure I should confess that I am pretty much a sucker for any kind of remixes, mash-ups or any other DJ business so I was inclined to give this game a favorable review just from the music alone.

The controller looks deceptively simple. Three buttons on the turntable, a cross-fade slider and an effects knob but even those familiar with the Guitar Hero games will want to play through the tutorial level in order to pick up on the different mechanics of the turntable. I was astonished by how complicated some of the elements were. Fortunately the game has very generous difficulty settings that allow you to build up your skills before it adds in some of the more difficult elements. I’ve been rocking the house on “Easy”, one up from the lowest level of “Beginner”, and having seen some of the advanced techniques in the tutorial I’m almost afraid to move up. The lower settings are still fun and satisfying if you aren’t interested in pushing yourself and there is still plenty of challenge for people blessed with lightning reflexes or maybe an extra set of hands at the higher settings. The only complaint I have about the controller is that the cross-fade slider is a little loose making it easy to overshoot if you are moving it back to the center position from one side or the other.

One of the especially nice elements in the game is the inclusion of several tracks with a “guitar part” so you can plug in a guitar controller and play two player. You can, of course, also play two-player with two turntable controllers but since we only have one I can’t really say anything about how that side of the game works.

If you are a fan of the Guitar Hero/Rock Band style and are looking for something a new spin (har har) on the genre I highly recommend DJ Hero.

And now on to the news!

Boardgames

Fans of rail games will be pleased to hear that Lookout Games and Mayfair Games are re-releasing Francis Tresham’s 1853 in honor of the game’s 20th anniversary. 1853 is a railway building game using the 18XX game system and set in imperial India. The new edition will feature new graphics and revised rules using a popular variant. It has a suggested retail price of $75 and should be in stores now.

Movies

The LA Times is reporting that Warner Bros. and producer Alcon Entertainment have a feature length Marvin Martian movie in the works. The names attached to the project so far do not inspire confidence. For a director they have Alex Zamm, who’s main claim to fame seems to be that is also set to direct a movie version of Hong Kong Phooey. Writers Paul Kaplan and Mark Torgove, who are also working on a CHiPs movie, will be responsible for the script and just to top things off they are looking to have Mike Meyers do the voice of Marvin. The thought alone is enough to make my ears bleed.

Variety, along with numerous other sources, is reporting that Bryan Singer will be returning to the X-Men franchise to direct X-Men Origins: First Class. Singer directed the first two X-Men films but passed on X-Men: The Last Stand. He has also reportedly tossed out the first draft of the script and brought in Jamie Moss (who wrote the first draft of the upcoming live action Ghost in the Shell movie) to write a new version. Singer’s schedule is fairly busy over the next couple of years with Jack the Giant Killer set for release in 2011 and Galactica and Excalibur set for 2012 it isn’t clear when or how he will make time for a new X-Men.

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