These are the Voyages
Star Trek Online
The Open Beta for Star Trek Online is finished. Here are a few collections of screen shots I've taken while playing. To end the Open Beta, Cryptic invaded Federation Space with a bunch of Borg! Lot's of fun.
I'm very excited for the upcoming Head Start that begins at 1PM EST on Friday, January 29, 2010.
I'm thinking about going Tactical Officer for my captain in an escort class ship. Full DPS at first. I did Science Officer in an escort in Open Beta and it was a lot of fun. Having the extra DPS in away missions when I'm in a full team of players might be good though!
Free iPhone Games!
It looks like the folks over at the Appvent Calendar hit it big with their promotion. This time they're not associated with any holiday, just making an app free for a day, each day.
This is the second day of the promotion and they've started out strong. The first day was Rope'n'Fly which was pretty popular for a while and today Zombie Pizza. Both are games I've wanted to try in the past but that didn't rank high up enough in my interest to warrant a purchase.
Go take a look at freeappaday.com every day to see what gift is waiting for you!
Crunchyroll – Anime on Your iPhone
Crunchyroll
Wow. Thankfully I was checking out Anime 3000 while listening to my friends over at Reverse Thieves. A3K happens to be hosting their new podcast. Go give it a listen!
Anyway, this is an amazing development and I can't believe I hadn't heard about it till now. For those who don't know, Crunchyroll is a a legal streaming site for anime and live action drama from Asia(Japan and I think Korea). Before Netflix had their streaming, I used Crunchyroll a lot.
Spiderman 4 Cancelled!
Sony has decided to shelve Spiderman 4. Apparently Sam Raimi had some differences with Sony which resulted in him leaving the project. Instead of replacing him, Sony decided to crap the whole film and opted to continue with their planned reboot for the franchise. I grabbed this info from deadline.com
Why is this good? Creative differences between Raimi and Sony is why we ended up with Spiderman 3. *bleh* This also means that he's freed up to work on his next project. One of two planned projects for Raimi is the World of Warcraft movie. Another benefit? The empty space in the release schedule means that the Thor movie is being moved up earlier in the release calendar. Look to see Thor in theaters May 6, 2011.
Player 2 Has Entered the Game
Charging Star!
My friend Ryan Fuerstenburg, the owner of Charging Star Comics, will be joining the blogging "staff" here at SANO. The plan is for a monthly post about the comics of the past month. Look forward to the inaugural Charging Star Comics Update! in the first week of February.
CHARGING STAR!
Another Free iPhone Games Review
The New Years Blowout
Another batch of iPhone Appsters has gotten together for a combined iPhone App Store promotion. Unlike the Appvent Calendar, most of these are discounted instead of free. Let's take a quick look at the games that have been discounted for this New Year's sale:
Steam Holiday Sale!
There's an amazing sale going on right now at Steam. Here's my current shopping cart:
- Zombie Driver $4.99
- Lucasarts Adventure Pack $2.49
- Time Gentlemen Please! and Ben There, Dan That! Double Pack $2.49
- Evil Genius $1.99
- AI War: Fleet Command $9.99
- Warhammer 40k: Dawn of War II $19.99
- Borderlands: The Zombie Island of Dr. Ned $6.69
- AaaaaAAaaaAAAaaAAAAaAAAAA!!! $7.49
- Bookworm Adventures Volume 2 $7.49
- Trine $7.99
- Killing Floor $4.99
Killing Floor is one of today's specials so I'll have to pick that up today if I want it. The others I'll wait until the 3rd to see if they become daily specials.
The Sky is Crawling with The Sky Crawlers
The Sky Crawlers
Directed by Mamoru Oshii, this movie is definitely more cerebral than the typical anime that becomes popular here in the US. I find it hard to review movies after just one watching but I'm going to to my best.
As you can see on the cover art there to the left, Oshii is credited with bringing us Ghost in the Shell. In his works, the viewer is transported to another world like our own but different in a few key ways. At first glance The Sky Crawlers could be taking place in one of the theaters of World War II. The opening features a beautifully rendered dogfight between a wing and a solo planes of a nondescript make and model. As the story progresses, the viewer is treated to unfolding layers of secrecy that both the audience and some of the characters are unaware of.
With the exception of the motherly mechanic, most of the characters are flat and undeveloped. They have the bare necessities required to get their role in the story across. If you want a movie with interactions between complex characters you will probably be disappointed. That's not to say that there isn't character interaction; the relationships between the key figures in the fighter squadron is integral to the story. The blank expressions on the box art inform us of the mood that Oshii strives to display on the screen.
iPhone Appvent Calendar in Review
It looks like Blacksmith Games is done with their free iPhone game a day promotion. Today, December 23, and tomorrow are reserved for their own promotions and contests. Today is a character design contest for their new game Plushed.
So how did we fare? I definitely came away with a few games that I'm going to keep on my phone. The two big winners that I really enjoy are Green Thumbs and MiniSquadron. They're a lot of fun and fit my gaming preferences. iBlast Moki I already owned and that is a blast! There are a few that I'm going to keep to play once in a while but I may not have actually spent money on. iPharaoh, Blimp, Totemo, Samurai, and polyhedra all fit the bill there.
Be sure to check out the post for my impressions on the full list of games offered during the appvent calendar event!
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