Bewitched, Bothered, Bewildered

For me Summer has frankly been one huge disappointment so far. Months of cold wet weather followed by a respite that had me hoping…a week of thirty degree heat, I was all set for some fun.

Then the rain came back and I realised it’s almost August, so instead of remaining disappointed at the total lack of summer I’ve chosen to check out the inevitable stream of games coming this Autumn and Winter to cheer me up. It’s quite a long list this year which is excellent, so here’s my real favourites.

Hellboy: The Science of Evil - August.
While I’ve not seen a whole lot on this one, I’m simply interested in it as a Hellboy tie-in, though I hear it isn’t related to either film.

Lego Batman: The Videogame - September.
While not the Dark Knight game that’s apparently in development (and could have done with being developed in time for the movie, however never mind) this one will be joining my collection of lego videogames (Star Wars and Indiana Jones so far…)

Silent Hill: Homecoming - September.
Just what my Halloween will be needing, along with another good bout with BioShock. The Silent Hill series never fails to leave me with the shakes.

Star Wars: The Force Unleashed - September.
We’ve been eagerly awaiting this one for a long time, finally a Star Wars game done well (That is, since Knights of the Old Republic) which will actually make the Force almost as important as the lightsaber wielding.

Dead Space - October.
Joining BioShock and Silent Hill we have a non-franchised game apparently inspired by a cross between Doom and Event Horizon as you play a nameless, faceless survivor who wakes aboard a seemingly abandoned ship in the depths of space.

Ghostbusters - Autumn.
Originally intended as the official second sequal to the popular nineties franchise, I’ve heard rumours now that we may actually be getting a Ghostbusters 3 movie. Until that materialises though we finally get to don proton packs of our own in a game written by and starring Dan Aykroyd and Harold Ramis, along with Bill Murray and Ernie Hudson.

Mortal Kombat vs. DC Universe - Autumn.
The chance to play as Batman taking on Sub Zero? Who could pass it up?

Prince of Persia - Autumn.
My favourite series of games finally makes a long overdue appearance on the next generation consoles. I’ve played Persia since the days of my Pentium 286 and always been a fan of the revolutionary control systems.

Call of Duty 5: World at War - November.
Call of Duty 4 got me through the poorly timed two week Christmas recovery from an operation last year and Call of Duty 5 will see a return to the World War 2 battlefield that I so loved from the first two in the series. This one as pretty much a given.

World of Warcraft: Wrath of the Lich King - Not soon enough.
Needless to say, my most anticipated game of the year. I truly cannot wait to dig into my new Deathknight character as he cuts a swathe through Northrend. The beta information that’s been flooding out has been mouthwatering.

I can’t remember much of Dougie Howser M.D. beyond the fact that I used to watch it regularly and that even my mother remembers it. However I do remember enjoying it immensely, then being rather surprised when Neil Patrick Harris (whose name I didn’t know back then) popped up on Starship Troopers years after Dougie Howser had finished.

Then he reappeared as Barnie and I saw that he was awesome. It seems everyone else has seen the light too, as recently we had him being cast as Dr. Horrible, an excellent short musical in three acts that was absolutely hilarious before hitting you with the kind of unexpected ending I should have expected from Joss Whedon.
Since then he’s also turned up on Sesame Street doing an excellent skit as a shoe fairy and quite frankly showing up Sesame Street’s regular talent with far superior dancing and acting.

Now…an old spice advert! You think that’s an unimpressive addition to the list?

Watch it, you won’t regret it.

When we got to the Vue last night, forty minutes before the film was scheduled to begin and the queue was already halfway to the door, a sea of Batman t-shirts were ahead of me. The staff were having to arrange the line neatly while those who were there for other films looked rather bemused at having to wade through the crowds. You could tell that even though quite a few weren’t die hard fans (”Harvey Dent? Whose that?”) there was still a heavy atmosphere of expectations and I’ll admit that as we filed in, I wondering if my expectations were likely to be met, doubting they would be. I knew it would be a good film however I wondered cynically just how much of the hype was down to the fact that Heath Ledger has died, rather than purely down to the merits of the film.

What followed was two and three quarter hours where my expectations weren’t met but exceeded in every single way, they were exceeded in ways I didn’t even think were even there. The Dark Knight left me chilled, shocked and absolutely speechless and received a round of applause as the credits rolled. It deserved all of it, it has been a long time since any film stunned me the way this did and I really don’t see anyone being capable of topping it any time soon.

In all my years as a film nut, never have I experienced such ceremony involved in buying tickets. I popped over to the local Vue just now to pick up my pre-ordered tickets early, to avoid any rush this evening and the lobby was as quiet as I expected. Swansea is currently in the midst of a very pleasant little heatwave so those who aren’t in work have no doubt taken the kiddies to the beach, apart from the odd few who have turned up to see…well I think it was Wall-E but I didn’t even know that was out.

The screen displaying film times already told me that, as expected, the Dark Knight is well and truly sold out. I turned up at the counter and handed over the card I’d pre-ordered with, then signed the receipt. All as standard so far, until the tickets were printed when the guy behind the counter turns and says;
“Now, what I’m handing over to you is a very precious commodity, guard it with your life!”

I was pleased not to be the only person getting really psyched up about tonight.
“Oh you don’t have to tell me.” I replied with a grin.

He then explained that every last ticket is now gone and I have two of the only ones and as such we should be sure to make it to the cinema at least half an hour early. Emphasis was put on the at least part. By this point as it was clear I wasn’t going to be going into the usual detail of buying food and drink I expected to be hurried on, only two people manned the ticket desk and there was still a fairly impatient queue despite the quiet cinema. I muttered how I remembered the queue for Sex and the City the Movie, the other recent blockbuster and was surprised that the conversation continued. No, he said, Sex and the City still had tickets left so I can just imagine how long the queue tonight will be and then I was warned that the queue for food and drink will likely be even longer. I was then shown where the queue would be starting and told to expect them to let us in around twenty minutes before the beginning.

Finally I asked about the other special screening bonus, the posters. I was told how the posters will be handed out to everyone as we file into the screen.

Finally he congratulated me and assured me that I can expect the film to be amazing.

Ceremony of a sort. Not even the biggest blockbusters so far have involved such a momentous handing over of tickets.