SoapOpera
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Wings Over Atreia: Daevas of Our Lives
Like sand through the hourglass, so are the Daevas of Our Lives... The lovers sat under the trees in central Sanctum, purple leaves drifting about them, lost in each other's eyes. "Oh Pwnzoo, you are my hero!" coos the cleric, fingers resting lightly on her companion's +8 pauldrons. "For you, my darling, I will slay Vile Judge Kromede a thousand times over!" The gallant knight puffs out his chest a little more. "I will fly to the ends of the Abyss, I will..." "Ooh, darling, hold that thought, I have to log... " [logs to character select, then back on] "Ooh, there you are, my sweet prince Castfast!" The ranger leaps into the arms of the sorceror waiting at the Mystic Spring of Anathe. "I have dreamed of the moment we can be together... Oh, whoops, I'll be right back." [logs out again, then back on] The lithe spirit master peeks around the columns in Eltnen Fortress. "I have been awaiting our time together breathlessly, Ninjaarrow," she drawls as she bats her eyes at the dashing ranger across the way. "But our time is short, I am needed for a run at Kysis soon..." For any who dare to deny that MMOs (Aion included) are drama-laced soap operas in-and-of themselves, I propose that they A) have never played in a guild/legion/kinship/corporation, B) have played in a very special solo bubble all of their online days, or C) are just plain delusional. Even those who eschew drama to the very core of their being see it around them like generator plasma balls in Dark Poeta and must employ superior evade skills to dodge it. Stay tuned past the cut for some amusing episodes of Aion's own prime-time drama, along with some strategies for dealing with it.
General Hospital prescribes itself a daily dose of 720p
It's been three years since we wished for General Hospital to deliver us some medical melodrama in HD, and in a couple of weeks it'll be coming. Just in time for the May sweeps that are now only partially screwed up due to the delayed DTV transition, the longest running soap in the biz -- 46 years and 11,500 episodes -- will be getting a 720p makeover on April 23rd. ABC has spent a tidy $3 million to equip the production facilities for HD, including seven HD cameras and five Panasonic professional plasmas that keep our hearts warm. ABC is hoping the jump to HD will help increase the realism of the show, and while we're never ones to underestimate the power of HD picture quality, we suspect the story lines might need a little more than 720p to get us to suspend our disbelief.
THQ Superstar Challenge in Chicago tonight [update 1]
WrestleMania 22 may still be 3 days away, but that isn't stopping WWE Superstars from taking to the virtual squared circle tonight in Chicago.The fourth annual THQ Superstar Challenge will begin in less than an hour at 6 PM at the House of Blues. It'll be SmackDown vs. RAW on SmackDown vs. RAW with reigning Challenge champ Shelton Benjamin defending his gamer title in a 16-player bracket-style tournament.If it's too late to snag $20 tickets to the opening WrestleMania weekend event, perhaps you can hang around until tomorrow, when THQ will "announce the next addition to the WWE video game family." Would a next-gen announcement be too much to hope for before E3? And will the Undertaker continue his undefeated WrestleMania streak? Answers to your manly soap opera questions will be coming at ya this weekend.[Update: It turns out that the new game's already been confirmed--WWE SmackDown vs. RAW 2007 will hit the PS2, PSP, PS3, and even (a non-Sony system for once on) the Xbox 360. 10 "next-gen" screens of the game to hit later this year are also available via the Update link. Thanks, Master X 24!]See also: Official WWE page for WrestleMania 22 Load time from HELL! PSP game takes its sweet time [SD! Vs. RAW] WWE sues THQ Rumble Roses XX promises hot girl-on-bear action
Desperate Housewives to despair on PCs
If all goes according to plan, fans of the desperate housewives on Wisteria Lane will be able to live out their soap opera dreams on their PCs before the TV show's canceled.Disney (which owns the ABC television network that distributes Desperate Housewives in the States) has set its Buena Vista Games division to publish a PC-based adaptation of the sudsy Sunday-night staple this fall.While negotiations are underway to secure additional cast members to represent themselves in-game (they've only gotten the deceased housewife narrator on-board so far), we hope this license works out better than the recent video game adaptations such as 24: The Game, Alias, and Dark Angel (where the DA game actually came out after the show was canceled). The screenshots revealed seem to display more suburban architecture than gameplay, but the game will involve taking on the role of a new neighboring housewife. It has not been disclosed, however, whether you can take prisoners in your basement as of yet.[Thanks, riffgod, bandersnatch, Nick, & GunForHire; via Yahoo! & the BBC]See also: Mark Green discusses 24: The Game Metacritic metascore for 24: The Game (on the PS2): 61 out of 100 Metacritic metascore for Alias (on the PC): 55 out of 100 Metacritic metascore for Dark Angel (on the PS2): 48 out of 100
Shocking DualShock case still not going Sony's way
Sony's attempt to overturn the 2004 ruling on Immersion's haptic technology patents and receive a new trial was denied in court recently.The Wall Street Journal tells quite a tale concerning another force-feedback inventor, originally a paid consultant of Immersion, who allegedly received advance royalties from Sony in exchange for testimony against his former client. There's enough drama in this case to fill a television soap opera--or, better yet, a police or crime-scene procedural.For the full contents of the article, you'll need to log in as a subscriber to the Journal through the picture above or the Read link below. We don't know to what extent this courtroom drama will affect the "boomerang" PS3 prototype controller design, future DualShock 2 availability and compatibility, or any possible delays to the new system itself, but Sony's separate appeal in federal court has yet to be ruled on, leaving the company one more crucial legal avenue to pursue in this matter.[Via Joystiq]
