Construed

[note: the following was one of the submissions I used for a recent failed job application - I wanted to share it with you, as it still relevant]

NASA’s recently announced three-way partnership to produce a space exploration MMO, with Virtual Heroes and Project Whitecard, has now been given a slightly less-than-sexy name in Astronaut:Moon, Mars, and Beyond.

“‘Astronaut: Moon, Mars, and Beyond’ was selected because the three companies involved had a really ideal combination of qualities we were looking for,” Daniel Laughlin of NASA’s Learning Technologies Project Office said in a statement. “They have the right experience, they demonstrated their ability to engage middle school through higher education curricula, and they have extraordinary enthusiasm about working with NASA to make a fun game…”[1]

Sure, space exploration doesn’t grab the headlines or the imagination quite like it did back in the 60s and 70s. But there are high hopes at NASA that Astronaut: Moon, Mars, an Beyond, their first foray into MMO gaming, will bring a spur of interest back into the field of scientific study:

“We want to create a fun, compelling gaming experience that will give players the chance to learn about science and engineering careers while they play the game,” said Daniel Laughlin, Ph.D., project manager of NASA Learning Technologies. “NASA is committed to attracting more students to science, technology, engineering and mathematics fields of study and careers. We hope this game will inspire players to consider those careers.”[2]

So what can the player expect from NASA’s MMO? A varied choice of playable professions to choose from?

“Players will pick a profession like a roboticist, space geologist, astrobiologist or mechanical engineer and work together as a team as they explore space and complete missions, establishing bases and outposts and traveling to the farthest reaches of the solar system,” explained JerryHeneghan, founder and CEO of Virtual Heroes.[3]

Expect a demo of Astronaut: Moon, Mars, and Beyond in our solar system later this year, with full systems launch due in 2010.

DM∞

My interest in watching Heroes while season 3 has aired, pretty much died after the first few weeks. I have missed many of the episodes from season 3 but have just caught back to back episodes, Into Asylum & Turn & Face the Strange , both of which I have enjoyed in a casual viewing way.

But like you, I’ve heard the rumours about the show being cancelled by NBC. Interestingly enough, ratings may not be the main factor for keeping this show from being canned. SF Universe have an interesting take on Forbes TV’s Biggest Moneymakers:

The tale of ordinary people who suddenly become superhuman generates $4.3 million per average telecast, thanks to a largely young male demo that many advertisers find attractive. That pricey real estate puts Heroes in the top 10 most lucrative shows on TV, joining hits such as American Idol and Dancing With The Stars.

Could this be an insight into how Heroes can resist the continued loss of ratings per each season aired?

DM∞

Being swamped with ideas, products to review, job opportunities to sift, interviews requested all have gone to make this week one of my busiest of the year, so far.

So I thought to give you all a quick insight into what you can expect to see on Construed & other sites that bare a connection, very soon:

Pete from Dragonchasers hit me with a MEME. I appreciate the words of encouragement in describing my writing:

…his infectious enthusiasm from both games and (sometimes more importantly) other pop culture. It’s good to be reminded that there’s more to life than computer games: there’s comics and movies!

I know who to approach & who not to approach, once I send this MEME on it’s merry way but I feel a word of caution should also be noted when deciding what personal information to put out there, for all to see. Be careful, guys & girls.

I’ll be adding my own flavour to this MEME, later in the week.

The two sites I write for, Caught in the Crossfire & Comic Domain, have both been busy promoting themselves online. Crossfire can now be followed on Twitter while Comic Domain have set up a WordPress blog for comic book news & reviews, so expect to see my future Comic Book Reviews posted there also.

I’ve had to re-arrange the interview with Kate VanDevender, due to both our schedules & we now have a date set for 12th April. The interview itself will be conducted via Google Chat & I have a number of leading questions already worked out. I’d also like to open this out to my readers – so if you have anything you’d like to ask Kate, then feel free to leave a comment here or email me.

Cat from Carocat has asked me to take part in her Twitter based interview series, #TwitLight. I’ll be working through the questions over the next day or two – the current interviewee is @MelissaBianco, Senior Game Designer on City of Heroes. Great idea for a post series, Cat. I hope it takes off!

Game reviews, that you should see me attempting, have begun to pile up. One to add to the list is Godfather II – I recieved the review code in the post today, alongside Spawn#190 & 100 Bullets#99 comic books.

As there’s an online reviews embargo on Godfather II, until 10am on the 7th April, I’ll be posting my thoughts in the Game diary after that time with a review to follow.

How’s your week been?

DM∞

This is post  #99.

It feels the right time for me to do a quick look back just to see what I failed to follow-up on in previous posts – I don’t like to leave you all hanging!

Before I do so, I’d just want to mention that in the next Construed post up(#100), will be my first Comic Book Review. If you’ve missed out on what I’m talking about here, then go back 15 posts to read the announcement.

OK onto the loose ends…

Videogaming

A few bits to tidy up here:

My copy of Spore still remains unopened – I will get to it sometime soon, now the hype surronding this game has passed away. Anyone still playing with this toy, I mean game?

I’d love to finish both Fallout 3 & Bioshock.

Spider-Man: Web of Shadows is also crying-out to to be played – I did give this to a friend to play & his initial thoughts were bad but he did go on to complete it in the end. The more he played it, the more forgiving he was of the game’s shortcomings – this alone makes me want to give it a spin.

You can also expect a Skate 2 review by me, up at Caught in the Crossfire by the end of the month – if not before.

Music

I promise there will be more to come on this topic – I’ve even got a ticket to a gig in March which is my first for many a year! More on that soon.

Movies

I have two that I have been meaning to watch but they still remain unwatched, they are: The Fountain & Dark City. Of course, the end of this month sees the premiere of the Watchmen movie which I hope to catch at a good cinema -  maybe even at the IMAX in London.

TV

CSI & Heroes are my main catch-ups – I have yet to watch at least 8 Heroes shows before it broke at the end of last year. I have some thoughts on the new season of CSI, written down in note-form, which I want to share here on Construed but I may wait for a few more shows to air before I do so.

OK that’s all my tying up done. Just remember, if your a comic book fan like me then keep a sharp eye out for post #100, as I’m back reading monthly comic books again!

DM∞

Ah, January brings some sweet comforts…

With all 3 shows beginning new seasons(CSI = 13th Jan, NCIS = 9th Jan & ER = 8th Jan – remember I’m a UK resident) this early in the year, I feel a little spoilt by TV-land. Each show looks to have a few special milestones – it will be the last season(15th) for ER, CSI will see some significant changes to the cast.

NCIS, on the other hand, began as light-hearted viewing but has oddly griped me over time – here on terrestrial UK TV we are waiting for season 5 to begin. I’ll be interested in seeing how this & season 6 develop, I also gather there will be some noticeable changes to cast in these seasons but the show still retains the humour of the previous seasons & doesn’t try to shift gears.

I will look to cover these shows in more depth here on Construed during their runs, I hope I can keep up better than I did when the first part of season 3 of Heroes ran late last year!

What TV shows are you looking forward to watching this year?

DM∞