In keeping with the Batman-themed subject lines, I figured I'd pass along to the two of you who don't already know that the DK teaser trailer will be playing in front of regular I Am Legend screenings, and seven minutes of Dark Knight will be playing in front of I Am Legend screenings. I'll be at the IMAX one, most likely. How about you?

Activision, Vivendi Games [Blizzard Entertainment, Inc.] Merge!

For Auld Grump and those who want some other links, here you go...

Activision and Blizzard Parent Merge in $18 Billion Deal

Blizzard and Activision Merge in $18 Billion Deal

I'll say that again. $18 Billion.

Sweet Zombie Jesus. I remember when Warcraft was a cottage brand.

I saw this on www.frothersunite.com (warning - bad language!) recently, and I still can't really see how a Dr Who RPG would work? Torchwood would be easy enough, but Dr Who?

Because of the time travel or because of the Mary Sue condition? Both are surmountable problems with the right approach. The first thing I'd do is pull the focus back so the action was spread across the whole of the continuity rather than just the Tardis and the Doctor's personal journey. Set it up so you could play any of several different kinds of games with many different kinds of characters in any number of "settings." That opens it up so you can do time- and place-hopping Tardis games, Earth-based UNIT games, political or wartime Gallifreyan games (pardon the mild pun), or pretty much any other game on any planet at any time you can envision - with a beloved gallery of villains, critters, and plots already in the can. Forgive the Spycraftian thinking, but if you made it less about the "Doctor Who story" and more about the "Doctor Who toolkit," you'd have a recipe for success, IMO.

The most interesting Tardis campaign to me? The one in which all the players take the role of companions to the Doctor, or another pre-extinction Time Lord, and dealing with all the other stuff that happens, as well as the fallout from the front man's (or woman's) eccentric actions. That offers the same kind of adventure structure as the default Spycraft game, where the plot and conditions are set before the characters become involved but they have a wide open field in how to deal with the situation. Heck, you could even have all the elements of a "home office" in the Tardis itself. There's miles of resources in there for the characters to sift through, which could pose an adventure all on its own.

Ho-lee crap! I'd assumed that no company that actually wanted the license, and could do it justice (i.e. none of the mid- or high-tier operators) would have the cash to pull this off. Based on my limited knowledge of British TV licensing (including some first-hand involvement with the companies there), the advance must have been insane!

Well, kudos to them! I hope it's as great as the new show.

http://www.deusex3.com/

Has this been mentioned yet? If nothing else, the trailer gives me hope that they might be making it with the right sort of attitude... The original Deus Ex is one of my favourite games of all time (and the sequel is what I consider to be the biggest flop in gaming history)... so really looking forward to what these new guys can manage to do with it!

I read a blurb that came across the wire a few days ago but hadn't seen the trailer yet. Nice. I'm glad they're posing one of the important storyline questions out the gate. Hopefully the game will live up to the first outing, as the second one was largely meh.

This will do for a start. Hurting Scott's brain is a good thing and should be done with great regularity.

I prefer dull, poky things - because I like the sound they make. When I first met him they were squishy, but they're starting to sound like dried leaves in yogurt. Is that a bad thing?

Ain't It Cool just broke - or helped to break - a bunch of new Dark Knight photos. These two are definitely my favorites...

That introduction vid is awesome. And the Crafty partners tell me my ad copy is overblown! LOL!

I've never heard of this device before but it sounds pretty cool. I'm curious what the quality's like, though. Personally, I'll probably wait for the HD version as I don't have a great desire to swap between platforms just now.

Here are some reviews...

CNET

PC Magazine Online

Gizmodo

New York Times

As a note - the Variety site is the most power hungry website I have seen in a long time, with adverts that ad-block will not touch. It slowed my machine to a crawl.

Sorry. I sometimes forget my home machine is rather butch, though I don't have much trouble at work either and that machine is downright archaic.

I'm as yet unfamiliar with submitting products to Amazon (as that was all handled by a different department at AEG), but it's apparently a rather difficult proposition - for publishers at least. Their customer end is rather nice, and their Shorts and other small press offerings seem to be filling a vital niche with minimal fuss.

Anyway, we'll keep you posted. Thanks for your understanding as we sort it all out.

Checked with Mongoose and they confirm that both books will wind up on Amazon U.S. eventually, though there are some hurdles to jump through first. We don't have an ETA now, but as soon as we do we'll let you know. Recognize that it's entirely possible you'll see the listings before we say anything; that's often how these things come together.

Natalia shows up in one of the last pieces of fiction I wrote while I was at AEG. It was one of a handful that dealt with the post-Kholera storyline and focused on what's left of the Banshee HQ and a controversial social experiment concocted by Stephen Century. We'll be releasing all of the AEG-era fiction in one big freebie PDF sometime later this month, so you'll have the chance to catch up with Natalia there. She'll also see some expansion in the follow-on PDFs, which take the story to the default launching point for the RPG.

Latest from the front: Writers Rebuff AMPTP' "New Economic Partnership"

Seems like we're in for reruns for a while longer.

The news writers appear to have managed a preliminary agreement, though. That's almost a shame to me. I was kinda looking forward to seeing which Democratic candidates reneged on their promise not to cross the line. Or what the Republicans would do/say if none of the opposition showed up.

I had to retrieve mine from my spam folder as well.

This?

LOL!

No.