Ocean's 11 (movie)- A fun, stylish heist movie. The plot was weak at times, but the cool-ness of it made it hardly noticeable. Also, while most Heist movies keep a few of the crook's plans a secret for a suprise twist, in Ocean's 11 you have little idea what the plan for the heist is until the day of the actual job, which really keeps you guessing. It's nothing deep, but these movies never are.
Heroscape (board/mini game)- This is a mini game where players play warriors taken from all throughout time who were chosen to fight in Ragnarok. Samurais and Cyborgs fight Dragons and Roman Centurians. I haven't played it yet but the pieces are very nice and the modular terrain could come in handy for players of any mini game. The minis are in the same scale as most mini games, have nice sculpts and are pre-painted with paint jobs that are a similiar quality as the Mage Knight figures being produced these days (although not as nice as the newest D&D mini set or Star Wars). The game rules very simple and easy to teach or learn. The basic rules remind me a lot of the classic Heroquest boardgame. The game is on sale a lot of places for only $30 (normally $40) and comes with 30 minis, a ton of the terrain pieces and everything you need to play. It's a very good deal. Four (non-random) boosters are out for it already that include new minis and the new minis look very cool as well.
Midway Arcade Treasures 2 (Video Game, PS2)- It's a great collection of mediocre games. The first Midway Arcade Treasures included all the greatest hits including Joust, Gauntlet and (my favorite) Smash TV. This game has many of the lesser known (and lesser quality) sequels like Spy Hunter 2 and Gauntlet 2, some well-known games that did not stand well against the test of time such as Wizard of Wor or NARC, and a few really obscure games like Crazy Kroozer. The games emulate pretty well and it is a really fun collection to play with and is well-worth the $20 price tag. It just isn't as good a collection as the first set. They menus are much better than the first MAT and there are a lot more options for settings on the games (including my favorite new addition: being able to turn off the infinite continues in games like Gauntlet 2).
I was going to post a Wednesday Weird last week on the topic that was also the thing that had been keeping away from the blog: moving into a new home (or HQ as the case may be). However, un-packing was not leaving me with much energy for the blog, so I delayed it until this week.
Then, I got sick Tuesday and spent the last couple of days at home with the worst cold I've had since.....maybe this time last year.
I'm on the road to recovery and have the perfect topic for this belated Wednesday Weird.
A character has taken ill. At first, all seems normal....but then it gets weird.
My answer for this edition of the Weird if for a Sci-Fi setting. After landing on a newly discovered planet, a crew-member becomes ill. At first it appears that the crew-member has a common cold but further research shows something rather strange. There is something growing inside the lungs of the crew-member that the med-computers can not identify. At first, it is thought to be bacteria but it resists most of the cures known so far. The only thing the crewmember did different while on the planet was when he deeply inhaled the scent of a native flower. Checking that, it does not appear to be anything from plant pollen. Further analysis reveals it as a microscopic civilization, complete with buildings carved out of the tissue of the lung walls and some form of technology.
The Madrosians are a society of bacteria-sized creatures that live their lives are enhanced speed. While on the surface of the planet, the crew-member enhaled a scouting ship of Madrosians while kneeling down to sniff a strange flower.....a flower that the Madrosian ship was exploring.
Since the crew-member enhaled the ship, the Madrosians have lived through a hundred generations and the descendents of the Madrosian scout ship have learned to survive and thrive in their new environment despite the great winds that threaten their society every day or so.
The crew-member may die if the Madrosians continue to live in his lung. They are using up the "resources of their new land" and destroying his lungs. Can the crew find a way to communicate with the microscopic, super-speed society or a way to transplant them before it is too late?