Mark N's blog

Not being of the literary sort, my response to anything involving "Sherlock Holmes" usually begins with a yawn and ends with a nap. For that reason, I was totally disinterested in the upcoming film adaptation of the popular series. That is, of course, until I found out that it starred the man-crush power couple of Robert Downey Jr. (Holmes) and Jude Law (Watson). After that, I caught up on an apparently old story about Robert Maillet accidentally punching RDJ in the face during a fight scene.

After much chatter about the subject, Valve has finally unveiled the beta version of Left 4 Dead's authoring tools, that will allow you to create character skins, maps, models, props, and more.

The only thing louder than the hype for "Bioshock 2" is the cries of those worrying about the series being "ruined" by the 2nd game. To assuage these fears, 2k has been releasing about as much information as they can without totally revealing critical moments in the game. The latest piece in this effort is a 9 minute demo which seems to be a sped up version of the game's first moments, minus the obligatory "press this button to shoot" prompts.

I really can't get enough of this "Ghostbusters" gameplay footage. If this game plays anywhere near as well as it looks, it should be a blast.

Nazis are a pretty solid game staple these days, but the original "Wolfenstein" game and its sequels really deserve the credit for providing the gaming public's first opportunity to crush the bastards. Thankfully, the series has also shirked historical accuracy in favor of various supernatural, sci-fi, and horror elements to spice things up a little bit. Keeping in that tradition, the upcoming "Wolfenstein" title for XBOX360, PS3, and PC, slated for release in July, will feature a beast of a weapon called a "particle cannon." Guess what that does...

I'll be the first to admit that I'm not really an action movie guy. Yes, I loved "Star Trek" and "The Dark Night," but I treat most action flicks with the same indifference that I would a romantic comedy staring Dane Cook. The real standouts in the genre to me over the years have been the "Con Air"s of the bunch, who embraced the ridiculousness of the genre and exceeded everyone's standards for entertaining hyperbole. I have a feeling that the upcoming film "Gamer" might provide just the sort of action experience that I've been looking for.

Gamers of the 90's will recognize Duke Nukem as the gun wielding, strip club frequenting antihero featured in over a dozen games since 1991. I personally spent a lot of time with "Duke Nukem: Time To Kill" in middle school, but most gamers were more attached to the original PC versions. Although there hasn't been a solid entry in the series since the late 90's, there's been a game titled "Duke Nukem: Forever" that has been in development since...1997.

The original Bioshock game was applauded for sticking to its strengths as a heavily story based single player game. Even though 2K plans to stick with those strengths with Bioshock 2, it will feature extensive multiplayer gameplay. Thanks to Kotaku, there are now some vague, yet intriguing details.

Chances are, you haven't been struck by lighting. It's about the most random thing that could ever happen to a person, and tends to change that individual forever. In the upcoming film "Act of God," Sean Faughnan and Ezna Sands talk to lightning survivors in an attempt to wrap their minds around the violent phenomenon.

Everyone these days knows how to use the Internet, but the nerds of the world REALLY know how to use it, especially when called upon to display their nerd cred and Photoshop skills. Living deep within the forums of the movie site Empire is a group of individuals dedicated to the art of the "shopped" poster mashup. The one that I found particularly interesting was the Video Game poster mashup, because the worlds lend themselves to each other so well, and I'm a fanboy for both.