New Star Wars game looks like Battlefield 4 goes to space. Can't wait!

A scene from Star Wars Battlefront amid the battle for Hoth

Years ago (like back in 1994), I used to be pretty good at a PC game called X-Wing. It was about the only computer game I ever played then, and I haven't played anything else since. (Except for Ingress, but that's a completely different kettle of fish. Make sure you join the green team!)

X-Wing: cutting edge gameplay circa 1994

Last Christmas, that changed with a gift of the PC game Battlefield 4. Crikey, computer games sure have come a long way! I've sunk almost 400 hours into that game since, and progressed to Level 58 so far. But the reality is I'm not that fast anymore and my kill/death ratio is still pretty sad.

I'm better at the reconnaissance strategy and long long distance sniping than the frantic running around everywhere mode that seems to be the MO of most good players.

When a friend posted a link for a teaser video of the upcoming Star Wars Battlefront game, I could tell immediately it was by EA and DICE—the makers of Battlefield. It looked so much like BF4, but with different uniforms. And ray guns. And jet packs. And space. See for yourself:

Second Elysium trailer reinforces the feeling of HOLY-CRAP-LET-ME-SEE-IT-NOW

District 9 was a real sleeper for me. As it started, it felt like I was watching some other trailer, that the movie itself hadn't started. A bit like that surreal feeling at the beginning of The Gods Must Be Crazy...

But the slow-burn continued, and I soon realised that I wasn't just watching a great science fiction movie—itself a rare, rare event—but I was also watching a social commentary that was laying out a profound disgust for how we treat refugees in this world, particularly relevant here in the poll-driven era of Julia Gillard and Tony Abbott.

And now director Neill Blomkamp is readying his next big sci-fi Elysium. We saw the first trailer back in April and I thought that was totally freaking awesome...

They've released a second trailer now, and my sentiment is utterly unchanged. Enjoy:

Holy crap! This trailer for the movie Gravity will scare the bejesus out of you...

So you've got your application in for the MarsOne one-way trip have you?

Watch this trailer for the upcoming movie Gravity, and tell me it doesn't make you pause for a moment...?

Go full-screen and turn it up!



Sandra Bullock, George Clooney, the International Space Station, October.

I can't wait. I think...

Elysium trailer looks the honest to dog goods!

After the horrible letdown that was Prometheus, one can be forgiven for being wary about getting excited about awesome scifi trailers. So this one about the upcoming movie Elysium has really really hoping that the movie goes close to the promise of the trailer. Because what's in the trailer looks totally freaking awesome...


Matt Damon, Jodie Foster, and direction by Neill Blomkamp, who did that amazing surprise package District 9.

Such a cute short video about a robot casting interview: Gumdrop

Cute, whimsical, a little funny. Just because:

Remember the "Press to add drama" ad campaign? It's baaack...

A year ago, the Dutch TV station TNT had a viral video hot with their campaign featuring a big red button in the middle of a crowded street. Hanging over it was a sign "Press to add drama". Then they waited for the inevitable press, upon which all hell broke loose. Well, they've done it again:



Here's the original:

Could Brian Cox by the next David Attenborough? He's launched a new nature series with help from Eric Idle.

We love the Wonders of the Universe and other astronomy and cosmology documentaries hosted by astrophysicist Professor Brian Cox (@ProfBrianCox). He has some unusual pronunciations, but then so did Carl Sagan, and it never stopped us loving him (remember "youmans"?).

Earlier this year, Cox was busy filming a new BBC series called Wonders of Life, including a couple of visits to Australia. You can already buy the book and an (expensive) iPad app has been out for several months.

And this week, BBC2 released a trailer for the series, to be aired in the UK early in the new year. It's a lovely clip too, with funny out-takes by Cox and overlaid with a rewrite of Eric Idle's (@EricIdle) great The Galaxy Song, performed by Idle himself and with lyrics focussing more on Earth than the cosmos:

"Orphan Black" trailer looks good. From BBC America. We need the ABC to lock this in for Australia!

The folk over at the very cool io9.com have posted this short trailer for a new series from BBC America about a woman who starts running into identical hers, and falls into a rabbit hole of intrigue and danger.

Sci fi, clones, suspense, looks like a strong female lead (there are getting to be many more of those lately—a good thing), BBC pedigree, the ingredients are stacking up for show with promise.

And let's face it—TV needs some quality sci fi...

We SO need to lobby the ABC's Mark Scott to make sure when it opens on March 30 in the US, we get it here too.

NASA Johnson Style - rocket science meets Gangnam in a brilliant video.

Oh this is wonderful: a whole bunch of the crew at NASA's Johnson Space Centre get in on the act in this Gangnam parody, including astronauts  Tracy Caldwell Dyson, Mike Massimino and Clay Anderson, and even the Chariot Moon Rover that Keri Bean did some work for.

Enjoy:


I love how for such a funky effort, the description goes all trad NASA agency-speak:

NASA Johnson Style is a volunteer outreach video project created by the students of NASA's Johnson Space Center. It was created as an educational parody of Psy's Gangnam Style. The lyrics and scenes in the video have been re-imagined in order to inform the public about the amazing work going on at NASA and the Johnson Space Center.

Some things won't change...

(Hat tip to Keri Bean. Go to the link above and listen to her interview now—it's great. Now. Go on...)

My readings over the last month or so...

Another catch-up of my readings via various sites and social media forums, for anyone interested (but mainly just for my own record), through the Paper.li automatic magazine tool.

There's something in here for everyone...

Week to 26 November
Week to 19 November
Week to 12 November
Week to 5 November
Week to 29 October
Week to 22 October
Week to 15 October

"Dumb Ways To Die" has gone totally postal...

When this gorgeous little twist on the old-fashioned public safety advisory message by Melbourne rail company Metro popped up on tweets from overseas friends last week before virtually anyone in Australia had heard of it, I knew it was going to be a big viral hit.

Just how big I don't think anyone quite expected. It was posted on YouTube on 14 November, and has already blasted through 15 million views!


There has been a lot of talk lately about how the media industry is (not) coping with the incredible rate that the community is embracing new media. But there's been very little talk about how it's also changing the face of marketing. This is a pearler of an example of an advertising agency and a client that both "get it".

Big up to them!

I wonder what's this red button do...?

Christmas is getting close—and that means...Dr Who special! Here's a sneak peek.

Just over five weeks until Christmas, which means those of us feeling a little short-changed by this year's very short Doctor Who series don't have long to wait until Great Britain once again finds itself the epicentre of the potential end of humanity, courtesy of the now obligatory Doctor Who Christmas Special.

And just to tease us along this time, they've released just that—teasers.

The first is a prelude mini-episode—minisode, as they call it:


The second is a standard trailer, commensurate with risk of spoilers:

Look out Battlestar Galactica fans! Blood and Chrome BSG prequel launches this Friday

And it isn't going to be locked up on some inaccessible pay television site—it's going to be released on the web.

OK, so it may not therefore end up being full production quality. But let's face it—we are starved of decent scifi (looking at you Prometheus!), so we'll take it!

Here's the trailer:


As it says on the box:

Follow young pilot William Adama in the First Cylon War and his first adventure aboard the Battlestar Galactica. 

To add a subscription to your YouTube account, click this:
http://www.youtube.com/subscription_center?add_user=machinimaprime

Good hunting!

UPDATE 10/11/2012: It's geoblocked. Grrr. But thanks to @DebraAtkinson42 I can point you to an alternative that doesn't require a VPN subscription: http://www.tvweb.com/shows/battlestar-galactica-blood-and-chrome/episodes.
And the first two episodes seem pretty good. Still, 10 minute chunks can be a bit annoying, so maybe allow a bunch to build up and watch them in one hit?

Woah! So much incredible rolled into one video...

Break out the superlatives! You'll need them...
There is something in this jam-packed video clip for everyone.

For mine, it was the little girl on the bike, the cartwheel ping pong, and the finger stand. Oh - the finger stand...


Via Mamamia.com.au

ACT grant to the National Folk Festival much needed

The ACT Government has provided the National Folk Festival with $134,000 to ensure the event can go ahead in 2013 and beyond.

They say that the NFF asked the Government for an urgent meeting and advised that they would experience cashflow difficulties by July if they were not able to secure financial assistance.

Treasury looked at the NFF financial reports for the past five years, and recommended that $134,000 be given to give the NFF time to undertake a detailed business plan to support a return to sustainable operations.

I for one am glad to see this support. The National Folk Festival is an important event on the region's cultural calendar and does indeed bring a lot of money and cash to town, not to mention fantastic musical talents.

A Hot Wheels Mars Curiosity? Want!

You have the Fridge Rover, but where's the toy tribute to our favourite 1-tonne, nuclear-powered, laser-toting Mars robot?

Your wait is over - and for once it isn't Lego that is first out of the blocks (Olympics cliché).

It Mattel's Hot Wheels. And isn't that kind of appropriate?

Maybe Curiosity should be nicknamed Hot Wheels? But then that would be a nickname for a nickname wouldn't it? A bit like that other famous NASA crime of acronyms within acronyms...

George Michael woke from a coma with a different accent.

No more baby face either...

Say what? George Michael was in a coma, you ask?

Yes - three weeks, due to a pneumonia bout. And with survival apparently touch-and-go. (That's why those flu vaccines are so important each winter.)

Anyway, back to the topic du jour.

This is a weird phenomenon - but not unheard of. According to CBN News, it is known as Foreign Accent Syndrome.

Funny thing the brain. We have so much to learn about it.

Meanwhile, seems he's fully recovered - a tour of Australian venues is booking now for November. Tickets aren't cheap though...

Construct this origami Yoda you must.

Very cool - origami Yoda.

And here is how to fold it.

May the fold be with you.

Via Inhabitat.

Dear ABC we are sick of the loud ads on your kids' channels!

Have you noticed that since the ABC started their addition digital children's television channels, they've started the same stupidity of really loud ads between the shows? It's hardly fair, but the kids regularly cop cries of "TURN IT DOWN!" from us. But they haven't actually turned it up...

As shouting at the television isn't seeming to work, I wrote to the ABC to complain about this:

We are sick of the higher volume of ads now on ABC channels. While we are familiar with this practice on commercial stations, until recently we've be able to rely of ABC to not do it.
Unfortunately this seems to have changed in recent months and now all ads on ABC channels are extremely loud.
Given the children watch so much of ABC 2 and 3, this is becoming a real problem.
Please reinstate a regular volume across your content.

To their credit, they replied. To their discredit, they've done nothing about it:

What happened to the Star Wars that I used to know?

If you liked the original Star Wars but cringe at the "prequels", 3D and endless remakes, then this Gotye spoof is for you.

Make sure you turn the captions on (the CC icon) to fully appreciate the witty lyrics.