Well there's some new stuff coming out soon. Games, a new console (actually 3), and Ben's working on a new movie.
Zelda: Modern Warfare
Pure awsomeness? Or horrid abuse of a franchise? Probably both.
Well you may not like it, and I'm kinda iffy on this, but the next Zelda is going to be an FPS. It's called Zelda Modern Warfare. The details are REALLY sketchy but I think you play as a soldier in a war between Hyrule and the Soviet Union. Or something. The hero in green lol, an entirely different shade of green. Also there's a rumour that it'll be availible for 360 and PC as well as Wii.
Xbox 7
A new generation of gaming! Or somthing like that.
Apparently the guys at Microsoft think it's time for a new generation of gaming. Or something. They're working on a new console, the XBOX 7. The specs are pretty much cemented, it's going to be 100% PC compatible and use a Core i7 processor and ATI graphics (probably R700 based). It's going to run a custom version of Windows 7 with dumbed down interface. The word going around is that it's going to be a much more open platform. Oh and they don't seem to be upgrading the controllers much- slightly different shape and new colours but otherwise 100% compatible. Apparently it's going to be compatible with original XBOX but not 360 games. However M$ says they have some sort of exchange plan or something like that.
They're also finally entering the mobile market. The XBOX 7 will be marketed as a Gaming Handheld/UMPC/media device or something like that. With an integrated SSD, a touch AND a regular screen, an ION core, and 1GB of RAM this sucker probably isn't gonna be cheap... or cheap on power. There's this Games On SD thing where you have to put games on SD, or maybe they come on SD, or most likely they haven't figured it out yet.
The Virtuals
Valve is ripping off The Sims, because EA doesn't want it on Steam, or something.
From what I can tell, it's a Sims ripoff. But it's made by Valve, so it'll probably be good. The engine is called AMMO, but I'm 90% sure it's a Source derivitive. Here's some of the official features list (my comments in brackets).
-Massive character flexibility, in both personality and appearence. (I've seen the character creator, uses sliders instead of the stupid points system)
-Flexibility is key. Unleash your Virtuals and let them do whatever they want, or control them with an iron fist. (this is true, the amount of stuff you can alter is just a little higher than Sims 2 with cheats)
-Fully destructable environments with realistic physics! (AMMO seems to be considerably improved versus source. In fact I've heard it has water physics as well.)
-Create your own content and addons. (AMMO has Lua scripting built in, and they added a whole bunch of features.)
You can put your Virtuals in an apartment, insane asylum, normal house, whatever. There are a lot more interactions and they are NOT governed by how much a Virtual likes another Virtual. There's a lot of options too. You can play it just like The Sims if you want (but who would). And yes, you can send your Virtuals to college. You can also control them at work, and you can control more than one family at once. You can set relationships and stuff on the fly. There's a talent system but I didn't really use it. It's really open, much more than The Sims will ever be.
I've seen both demonstration cities and they are awesome. One is Chicago, the other one is some fictional city with a name I can't remember.
More incredibly, they have an expansion pack in the works too. It's called Warfare and basically lets you play war even more. You can do drivebys and basic gang fight, shootouts, and stuff like that in the stock game but Warfare takes it to the next level. The Kabul demonstration was really incredible. There were demonstrations on the streets, shootouts, tanks, it was really sweet. And seeing a house be blown to pieces alone sells me on this expansion. I'll see if I can get some pictures, it was insane.
And finally, Ben's new movie (that he doesn't want me to post about).
It's called Adventure 3: Peacemaker. I don't know how far it is along, but the plot is set in stone. Do not keep reading if you hate spoilers.
It starts with a Russian guy who hates how the Soviet Union died, blah blah blah a bunch of stuff about capitalist pigs and stuff like that. Then he goes on a sub which submerges. It cuts to Ben's character who's on a date, or honeymoon, or something like that. Then it cuts back to the sub, where he orders a drink, then something about a time drive. Then it cuts back to the date/honeymoon/vacation/whatever when that nerd guy comes up. He says something about temporal disturbances, blah blah blah TECHNOBABBLE and then says they have to leave now. So they follow him. On the sub something goes wrong and they have to adjust the time drive. So then there's a long investigation, they meet an ex-KGB guy, and trace the conspiracy. Then they intercept the big sub in a minisub and latch on just as the time drive activates. They end up in the 1980s. Then the captain launches the Peacemaker satellite, a satellite that can destroy nuclear missiles. There are 3, but the 3rd launch is stopped and the rest self-destructed after a lot of fights and shootouts. Then they go back to the future (with a reference to the movie of the same name) and the movie ends the way it started.
Ben says that this movie will be a bit more realistic but still funny. He also said that the humour is more satirical and less stupid-funny. He also told me that there would be more military in it, and better uniforms. Someone, I forget who, described it as "The Hunt for Red October crossed and James Bond something or other (I forgot) squished together"
