by Bret

The Middlest Day

Its’ 9.23, in the curious space betwix work and sleep. I’ve decided to blog more, because as the French say, I don’t do it often or vigorously enough.

Of course with my busy (ish) life (ish) I don’t get to go out and absorb amazing events to blog about. My time is spent at work monitoring bingo harridans, writing Sleepwalkers, or wishing I had the money to be absorbing amazing events.

Nonetheless, blog I shall, if only to keep my fingers sharp.

Sleepwalkers is at a great stage where it’s taking days and days just to re-read what I’ve already finished. It must be done though because I keep a) finding faults and b) changing things. The search for illustrators continues in the meantime, and I have made a rudimentary character sheet. I may do an open invite to an RPOL session at some point to drum up some interest.

I have decided to expound and entertain the virtues of Vista Sidebar. When first I got Vista on my pc, I shut it down, proclaiming: I dont need this vertical shit. Frankly, I don’t. However, the gadgets are nice little asides and I have come to find some in particular most worthy of my time.

The first and foremost is notepad; or more accurately, a customised longer notepad I found be searching the Live site. You just click on it, write some crap, and then it stays there. This is immensely useful for someone as forgetful and scatterbrained as me. The second two are simple twitter and facebook updateathon things. They give you new statuses and you can alter your own remotely with them. This is very handy for quick updates and knowing what Simon Pegg is up to at any given moment. Lastly; RSS feeds, on the desktop, giving you ample chances to see bits of news, which is important to a journalist, I’m told. I have BBC worldwide and Reuter’s Oddly Enough piping directly into my face 24/7.

So.. yeah. It’s quiet at the casa del Bret, noisy PC fans notwithstanding. I think I shall watch a film, using my virtual hat, which is a notepad file with several films I feel like watching listed numerically. Upon rolling a dice, I have two hours of entertainment selected for me by the whimsy of the Fates. My life is as crazy as CRAZY BARKING.

Peace,

The Worded Beardsmith

El Ahrairah says so:

Chandler in Fallout 3: NV! And a load of other, cooler people!

Forgive me for just copy-pasting this press release but it’s hard to blog while you’re at work and some news can’t wait!

In this case, the voice acting cast for New Vegas!

Celebrity Roles to Include Ron Perlman, Matthew Perry, Wayne Newton, Zach Levi and More!

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August 10, 2010 (London, UK) – Bethesda Softworks®, a ZeniMax® Media company, today revealed the star-studded voice over cast for Fallout®: New Vegas™, the follow-up game to the critically acclaimed Fallout® 3.  Fallout: New Vegas features Golden Globe-winner and two time Emmy nominated actor Ron Perlman (“Hellboy”, “Sons of Anarchy”), Screen Actors Guild-winner and Emmy and Golden Globe nominated actor Matthew Perry (“Friends”), Mr. Las Vegas himself, Wayne Newton, William Sadler (“Shawshank Redemption”), Zach Levi (“Chuck”), Felicia Day (“The Guild”), Michael Dorn (“Star Trek:The Next Generation”), Kris Kristofferson (“Blade Trilogy,”), Danny Trejo (“Machete”, “From Dusk Till Dawn”), John Doman (“Mystic River”, “The Wire”) and Rene Auberjonois (“Boston Legal”, “Star Trek: Deep Space Nine”).

“The Fallout franchise has taken narratives in interactive entertainment to the next level, and we could not be more excited about the all-new celebrity lineup for Fallout: New Vegas,” said Pete Hines, Vice President of PR and Marketing for Bethesda Softworks. “The voice acting provided by these actors helps drive the compelling and immersive story of Fallout and further adds to the overall gameplay experience.”

Ron Perlman returns to voice the narrator in Fallout: New Vegas, a role he has played in every major Fallout game to date.  Matthew Perry plays Benny, a smooth-talking, two faced gangster, and Wayne Newton takes on the role as “Mr. New Vegas,” the radio DJ of the Mojave Wasteland.

Three celebrities take on roles as playable companions in Fallout: New Vegas: Danny Trejo is Raul the Ghoul, a mechanic and former gunslinger; Zach Levi is Arcade, a member of the Followers of the Apocalypse who hides a mysterious past, and Felicia Day is Veronica, a sarcastic Brotherhood of Steel scribe.

The epic cast continues with Kris Kristofferson as Chief Hanlon, a grizzled solider at the end of his career, and Rene Auberjonois as the enigmatic and reclusive Mr. House. Michael Dorn reprises his role as Marcus, an intelligent super mutant, who was last seen in 1998’s Fallout® 2; John Doman is Caesar, the charismatic and powerful dictator at the head of Caesar’s Legion. William Sadler plays Victor, a friendly robot with the personality of an old fashioned cowboy.

In addition to this star-studded cast, players can expect to hear even more celebrity cameos throughout the world of Fallout: New Vegas.

Worms: Reloaded arrives! Tiny violent nostalgia ensues!

2D is making a comeback thanks to the arrival of something not anticipated but certainly welcome; a brand new old school Worms game for the PC!

Released on Thursday 26^th of August, Worms: Reloaded is a true homecoming for a game series that sold 25 million copies over 15 years of sequels and reinventions. Ten years since Worms: Armageddon, the series is returning to its roots with a 2D approach to the game; something veteran gamers will most likely be pleased to see. Worms thrived on simplicity; two or more teams of soldiers on a 2D battlefield, able to dig or climb around each other and aim weapons based on power and wind speed to pull off amazing moves. Make the soldiers into worms, fighting over places like Hell and the desert, with weapons like the Concrete Donkey and you have a comedic masterpiece with startling strategic complexity.

Naturally the features of the previous games will be kept intact. It wouldn’t be Worms with the Holy Hand Grenade and the Sheep. This is not just a re-release though; plenty of new features are being introduced to every facet of gameplay. 47 is the weapon count being given so far by Team 17, with 14 brand new weapons such as the Super Bunker Buster, Ferrets, Poison Strike, Worship, Sentry Gun, Electromagnet and Buffalo of Lies! Information released so far also boasts ‘HD visuals’ but quite that that means regarding cartoon worms is hard to say; nevertheless it does mean that this is going to be optimized for modern resolutions and will be up-to-date (playing the old Worms on a new machine can look quite unpleasant). There will be new and old landscapes; exactly which is unknown but we have seen a London cityscape and cheese world as well as true classics like the low gravity moon. The physics have been updated as has the AI, with seven settings that vary both difficulty and style of play.

One aspect that always pleases in the Worms games is customisation. Individual Worms will still be customisable with voice packs, helmets (70 of them!) and the like. Worm skin and victory dances are two of the new customisation options. The voices were always key to the humour and that will certainly not change, with 50 of the old voices being re-mastered and 20 new ones being introduced; information is limited but one of them will be called ‘Cheese’. When you read a sentence that ends with ‘Cheese’, you know that Worms is back in your life. Level customisation promises to be more detailed than ever and level types with much more vertical space promise to be amusing. Levels for death matches will be randomised as with previous instalments, to give a huge variety of games.

We can look forward to 35 single player missions and 30 advanced missions in the Warzone Campaign, plus a Bodycount Mode that sees one worm last as long as possible against waves of enemies. More options for Worm customisation can be unlocked with currency won in these single player modes. Naturally many players will be looking forward to multiplayer, which will be done with up to 4 players, locally or online with Steamworks support.

Worms: Reloaded is going to be released on Steam, the perfect vehicle for this kind of easily accessible spare time gaming. Some would say that Worms has had its day but a return to its roots should be something to get excited about. This will be fun, easy to pick up and play and if it has the luck of its predecessors, be the source of many an inter-friend feud. Frankly it’s good to hear from older PC developers and great to see this kind of game still being made. Team 17, fire when ready…

Worms fans will be able to pre-order Worms: Reloaded from Thursday 29^th July, with bonuses including a 10% discount, 24 hours early access to the game and exclusive in-game items to enhance your chosen team. Unfortunately a £17.99 price tag may put some people of what is essentially a classic 2D game, but the new features and visuals should still attract a crowd of wriggly homicidal veterans.

To pre-order Worms™ Reloaded, go to http://store.steampowered.com/app/22600