News and Opinions

Losing a Head, Having a Heavy Barrel and WIIIIIIIIII! - Welcome to the old wooden roller coaster with a missing set of tracks known as Dare to Play the Game.

Welcome to another edition of Dare to Play the Game. May you never experience what it is like to have your house half full and your heart empty. Anyhow, just fixing up the old house; painted my back door and it actually looks decent; just needs another coat. Replacing all my light bulbs with those CFL's but slowly a...

If you take $17,000 from your company and you leave without any form of punishment or prosecution, can your resignation really cite “personal differences?”

You know where your Cedia is? It’s one of the other big electronics shows that helps announce and introduce new technologies. One of the more remembered announcements was Toshiba’s announcement of a 2nd generation HD-DVD player. These newer versions include shorter load times, HDMI 1.3, and in one case, full 1080p resolution. There are two models, look f...

With The Curse of Frankenstein in 1957, Peter Cushing and Christopher Lee became the new kings of British horror, and their frequent co-starring roles made them a tandem the likes of which the industry hadn’t seen since the heyday of the Karloff-Lugosi double-threats of the late-30's. Their films for Hammer and Amicus have long been fan faves, but the film I’m going to sing the praises of here doesn’t have quite the same profile as the likes of Horror of Dracula. Most horror fans of a certain vintage no...

Amazon has a well deserved reputation as a (generally) excellent retailer and purveyor of leading edge business models. Their new movie download server - Amazon Unbox - however, is according to Cory Doctorow at Boing Boing, rife with awfulness.

From a software client that borders on malware, to TOC's that sign away your right to your purchased content, the service is plaugued by the typically heavy handed legal stylings of the MPAA. <a href...

Nintendo's Japanese conferences have announced some Wii details; more than likely they will not change with today's US conference, but here's what we know so far:

* Wii will retail for $250 and release on Nov. 19th. Will include a pack-in game (been a while since we've seen that) - Wii Sports.

* The system will include a web browser, digital photo viewing and a connection to news and weather 'channels'. Hopefully what the 'channels' are will be clarified soon.

* Virtual Console...

Discussing the old school DVD’s that still sound and look great in the era of Blu-Ray and HD-DVD technology.

With the recent news of MGM green-lighting Terminator 4 as a future tent-pole release in the near future, I thought it would be appropriate to go back and revisit Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines on DVD.

The Terminator and T2: Judgment Day were sci-fi/action marvels anchored by James Cameron’s expansive imagination and eye for detail. While ...

PS3 Shipments, Moonwalking to the beat of a different drummer, and the Devil May Cry in joy - Welcome to the broken nose job of game columns known as Dare to Play the Game.

Welcome to another edition of Dare to Play the Game. I'm your host that had a really strange week. Those of you who are close to me probably understand more than the general populace reading this column. But lets just say I got some me time and will have a lot more me time in the upcoming ...

We all know what today is, so let’s skip the tagline.

Well, for all the news (interesting and otherwise) that the Blu-Ray camp made last week, Universal announced their round of November titles for HD-DVD release. Among them are Waterworld (I met Kevin Costner on the set of that film when I was in the Army, true story), The Hulk (a better movie than people give it credit for and one that should blow out a subwoofer or two) and the granddaddy of them all, King Kong. Release for all three...

Remaking cult movies is a risky proposition. By their nature, they are going to have a rabidly loyal fan base, and therefore the people most likely to be interested in the remake are also the people most likely to be hostile towards it. This is the lesson being learned the hard way by Neil LaBute. His remake of 1973's The Wicker Man is in the theatres now. He faced a barrage of criticism from the fans even before he’d finished his work. He’s unlikely to hear anything different now. Both films tell a similar st...

A Full Roster, Forgotten Worlds & A Good Hard Drive crash - Welcome to the 2 bit processor in a 64 bit world known as Dare to Play the Game.

Welcome to another edition of Dare to Play the Game. I'm your host that hates hard drive crashes. My hard drive of 6 years or so crashed on Friday. (I love beeps). However, my fairly new (less than a year) hard drive is just fine. So all the really important stuff was really on that drive anyhow. I however had to restor...