Published Monday December 6th, 2010 Curtis Withers, The Canadian Press The developers of "World of Warcraft" wanted to breathe new life into their flagship franchise and they were willing to blow up a large part of their world to do it. (Edit - I'm no fan of WoW. Why not blow it all up?) THE CANADIAN PRESS/HO Screengrab from "Cataclysm," the latest expansion pack to the PC game "World of Warcraft." The developers of “World of Warcraft” wanted to breathe new life into their flagship franchise and they were willing to blow up a large part of their world to do it. "Cataclysm," the third expansion for the best-selling online role-playing PC game from Blizzard Entertainment, goes on sale Tuesday. As the name implies, a worldwide catastrophe has shattered the game's setting of Azeroth. Towns have been destroyed, floods and droughts have ravaged the world's landscape, and tensions between the game's two main factions, the Alliance and the Horde, are high. And the giant dragon [...]

Published Thursday November 25th, 2010 THE ASSOCIATED PRESS LONDON - Auctioneers overestimated the power of the dark side. Christie's employees walk past a Darth Vader costume from the epic 'Star Wars' movie anthology on display during the 'Popular Culture : Film and Entertainment' sale at Christie's auction house in London, Thursday, Nov. 25, 2010. The Darth Vader costume sold for a hammer down price of 150,000 pounds (US$236,700 or 177,300 euro) (AP Photo/Sang Tan An original Darth Vader costume from a "Star Wars" movie did not sell at auction Thursday when no bidder offered to pay the reserve price, Christie's auctioneers said. The outfit — a jet-black helmet, mask and armour — was expected to sell for between 160,000 pounds and 230,000 pounds ($250,000 to $365,000). The reserve price is confidential but generally it is just under the minimum expected price. Christie's said bidding stopped at 150,000 pounds. The costume is thought to have been made for "The Empire Strikes Back," the second film in [...]

Published Wednesday November 24th, 2010 THE ASSOCIATED PRESS LOS ANGELES, Calif. - Vampires, beware: Buffy is coming back. A remake of the horror comedy "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" is in the works at Warner Bros., the studio said Tuesday. A studio spokeswoman says the project is in the earliest stages of development. It hasn't even been green-lit yet, and there's no director or star attached. One thing we do know: Joss Whedon, who wrote the first "Buffy" script and created the TV series starring Sarah Michelle Gellar that became a pop-culture phenomenon, is not involved. The new script comes from Whit Anderson, a 29-year-old actress-turned-writer. The original 1992 movie starred Kristy Swanson as a teenager who learns it's her destiny to battle vampires.

It's Thanksgiving time, and time for a Chaosium Holiday Sale! We know that money is tight, so here is your chance to save Big Bucks. Starting now and lasting through next weekend we are offering a CYCLOPEAN DISCOUNT of 25% OFF on Chaosium titles and knick-knacks throughout our online catalog. It's been some time since our last sale, and we've added a number of new titles and monographs since. NEW MONOGRAPH Speaking of new monographs, we just happen to have Lords of Tarsa on-hand and in time for the sale. It is a Basic Roleplaying fantasy setting. The year is 1092 in the Age of Itania. The King of Mirensa, villified as a killer of children, schemes to bring the Nine Kingdoms under his crown. His rivals engage magi and spies to thwart this ambition. RECENT OFFERINGS The Yith Cycle: The planet Yith is the home of the Great Race, a place inspiring H.P. Lovecraft and other authors to pen classic tales of travel through [...]

(New York, NY - November 8, 2010) AMC announced today the renewal of "The Walking Dead" for a 13-episode second season. Since debuting Sunday, October 31, "The Walking Dead" has broken ratings records, with the series reaching more Adults 18-49 than any other show in the history of cable television. Today's announcement also includes Fox International Channels' (FIC) global renewal for a second season, following record-breaking premiere ratings in 120 countries in Europe, Latin America, Asia and the Middle East. "The Walking Dead" was the highest-rated original series premiere ever to air on FIC simultaneously worldwide. "The 'Dead' has spread!" said Charlie Collier, President, AMC. "No other cable series has ever attracted as many Adults 18-49 as 'The Walking Dead.' This reaffirms viewers' hunger for premium television on basic cable. We are so proud to be bringing back 'The Dead' again, across the globe." Ratings Highlights for The Walking Dead - Episode 2, which premiered on AMC Sunday, 11/7: * 10pm airing - 3.1 HH [...]

In "Star Wars: The Force Unleashed II," you play as a Jedi warrior who can fire torrents of lightning from his fingertips, grab spaceships out of the sky and telekinetically hurl them at his enemies, and use the power of his mind to influence his weak-willed foes to attack one another. In "Star Wars: The Force Unleashed II," you play as a Jedi warrior who can fire torrents of lightning from his fingertips, grab spaceships out of the sky and telekinetically hurl them at his enemies, and use the power of his mind to influence his weak-willed foes to attack one another. Been there, done that. Sure, with such mayhem at your fingertips, the latest Star Wars game from LucasArts is fun enough to play, but the problem with "The Force Unleashed II" is that it doesn't do enough to build on its successful predecessor. If you've played the first "Force Unleashed," you've seen all the exact same gimmicks before, making these fabulous force powers [...]

The planet Yith is the home of the Great Race, a place inspiring H.P. Lovecraft and other authors to pen classic tales of travel through time and space. In “The Shadow Out of Time" (here with new, purified text) there is implicit a very different view of Homo Sapiens’ origins, derived directly from the modern mythology of the Theosophical Society. Lovecraft often mentioned Theosophy as a kind of foil and precedent for his own Mythos in his stories. This collection includes tales of Yith both famous and obscure, replete with time travel, mind-exchange, and thrilling vistas of primordial history set in context that enables new readers and long-time Lovecraftian fans alike to enjoy them. Includes short stories by H.P. Lovecraft, August W. Derleth, Richard L. Tierney and many others. RECENT OFFERINGS Soon Nyarlathotep's plans will come to fruition. Then the world will be irrevocably changed —but not quite yet. Pesky human investigators have learned much, but they must survive long enough to make sense of [...]

At last, the stars are almost right! Soon Nyarlathotep's plans will come to fruition. Then the world will be irrevocably changed —but not quite yet. Pesky human investigators have learned much, but they must survive long enough to make sense of what they know, and take resolute action. This roleplaying classic is a series of linked adventures forming one long and unforgettable Call of Cthulhu campaign. Horrifying deeds and dangerous sorcery dog those who dare attempt to unravel the fate of the Carlyle Expedition. The non-linear narrative keeps players baffled and on their toes. Action is the byword as the player-characters evade or combat cultists, magic, mad men, and the dread powers of the Outer Gods. Masks of Nyarlathotep is a Lovecraftian exercise in horror and mystery. Set in 1925, adventures begin in New York, then move overseas to England, Egypt, Kenya Colony, Shanghai, and western Australia. Such extended globetrotting requires wit and planning by the players. Their investigators must have steady finances, good language [...]

Norbert Cunningham is the Times & Transcript editorial page editor. His column appears here every Friday. Published Friday November 5th, 2010 Where has all the great science fiction gone? Or put another way, is it just me or is there an incredible dearth of truly imaginative and thought-provoking science fiction these days compared to times past, particularly in the realms of television and movies? This despite the fact that "space" themed shows seem to be all the rage, along with the obsession with vampires, zombies, ghosts/spirits and mediums, the latter two genres of which are thinly veiled American religious pablum for the most part. One ought not to expect much from that list given that the topics themselves are inherently one-dimensional and provide little room to take them further than they've already been taken. But science fiction, now there's a genre with a full range of possibilities for exploring a universe of themes while also entertaining us. Yet few appear to have taken advantage of [...]

Published Wednesday October 27th, 2010 RAY LILLEY, THE ASSOCIATED PRESS WELLINGTON, New Zealand - Two $500 million "Hobbit" movies will be made in New Zealand as originally planned, Prime Minister John Key said Wednesday, after two days of crisis talks with Hollywood studio executives. Senior executives from Warner Bros. and New Line Cinema won an agreement for a change in labour law and bigger tax breaks to keep the project in New Zealand after a dispute over pay and conditions for actors threw the production into turmoil last week. The studios had warned that unless the threat of labour action was removed, production of the two movies would be moved to another country. The dispute became a national issue in New Zealand, which received a huge boost to its tourism and film-making industries after "The Lord of the Rings" trilogy was made here. Hundreds of people marched in several cities Monday to show their support for keeping production in New Zealand. "The Hobbit" is J.R.R. [...]