Last night in my guild chat window, I referred to the Fantastic Four trailer as grotesque - which I believe puts me in the running for biggest Goddamn nerd ever. It's a post whose rigors I plan to take very seriously. One of the responsibilities I've inherited is the creation of smart-alecky comic strips, which impugn the motives of potentially noble people.

Every film conversion of a beloved property - even the one most people consider a largely successful enterprise - engages in confounding deviations from canon. It doesn't really do to act startled by it anymore. Let us charitably stow away the notion that Jessica Alba could, in any coherent universe, represent the person of Sue Storm in any way. Even when one withdraws the easy targets, this trailer looks like it was made on a dare during second lunch.

A Fantastic Four movie seems like sort of a sure thing, which is why I don't understand the stingy production values. But then it's like, oh, right. It's a sure thing. And we can be reliably expected to sit in front of any moving picture. Indeed, we will pay! So, I guess that's one mystery solved.

Darwinia: You probably recall Uplink, or at any rate you should, because it is an interesting game which evokes truly authentic hackings. I've been expecting an Uplink 2 any day now, with full 3D graphics, because that's just sort of how it works. It was decided that they would instead simulate a digital universe and give you dominion over it. I like it. I don't think they've made it very easy to get into. I think that a level introducing the concept thematically, one which created the basic skills in a person, would go a long way toward attracting gamers who do not happen to be omniscient.

Colonel John Antal, U.S. Army (Ret.): We have done two projects for Brothers In Arms now: a soldier's journal, and a side story that I think is probably the best project we've ever done. Part of the reason these projects turned out the way they did is because we knew this guy might see them eventually. He's written several books, but the ones that drew him to the attention of Gearbox were called Armor Attacks, Combat Team, and Infantry Combat - they represent a kind of military "Choose Your Own Adventure" series, which led them to believe that he was essentially a tactical game designer and got a hold of him. At any rate, he's answered two rounds of World War II questions from their forums, which I found interesting. Mostly, I just wanted to talk about being intimidated by a man I've never met.

(CW)TB out.

the law says we're murderers