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. [...]

After much gnashing of teeth and some guidance from Ray, my modern day neanderthal fingers have FINALLY figured out how to load a gallery. Muchly apprecaited Ray for the boot in the right direction. Check out the new gallery here and on our Facebook page. Always more to come. In addition plans are moving forward for March To Oblivion in March 2011. Expect to here a call for GM's shortly.

Greetings Darklings, A mere two months after Nox Arcana released the haunting Theater of Illusion, we have a brand new CD for the Halloween season. Joseph Vargo of Nox Arcana teams again with Jeff Hartz of Buzz-Works to produce the creepy horror soundscape House of Nightmares. Dark things dwell in the old house by the cemetery, lying in wait for anyone who dares to enter. Unearthly sounds echo from the shadows of the abandoned mansion as sinister incantations unleash ancient horrors to haunt the realm of the living. The CD delivers 19 tracks of spine-tingling sound effects and dark cinematic music to create an eerie atmosphere of lurking terror. Read the full story and view the video for "The Forgotten Crypt" at FEAR.net Check out the new video for "Devil's Night" at You Tube CDs are available at: http://monolithgraphics.com http://noxarcana.com http://buzz-works.com Amazon, CD Baby, and iTunes lisitngs will be appearing soon. Hope your Halloween is wicked fun!

Hi everyone. It's been a crazy two weeks for me. New classes starting, a whole world of sick rolling through the house, and getting flash drives mailed in from photo sources from the event. I'm hoping tonight to upload a new gallery of everything I've got so far. Thanks for being so patient!

Published Friday October 1st, 2010 The Associated Press SAN DIEGO - San Diego will be inundated by comic book collectors, celebrities and superheros every summer for at least five more years, following Comic-Con International's decision to stay where the event started 30 years ago despite competition from other cities wanting a piece of the sci-fi pie. San Diego city officials and the company that puts on the huge pop-culture event will announce a five-year contract Friday morning. The San Diego Union Tribune reports the contracts that Comic-Con negotiated for discounted hotel rates through 2015 were key to the decision. Other cities that tried to woo the company with offers of cheap hotel rooms and convention space included Anaheim and Los Angeles. "It's never been a secret we'd hoped to stay here, but the real challenge was that those who want to attend the event can afford to attend, in terms of size and space and cost," said Comic-Con spokesman David Glanzer. Comic-Con started in San [...]

Group vows to fill vacuum in space tourism market with orbiting facility Published Thursday September 30th, 2010 THE ASSOCIATED PRESS MOSCOW - A Russian firm announced an ambitious bid to fill the vacuum in the space tourism market by stationing an orbiting hotel in the cosmos yesterday. The Moscow-based Orbital Technologies has sky-high hopes that its planned Commercial Space Station can serve as a tourism hub for well-heeled travellers and offer overspill accommodation for the International Space Station and workspace for science projects. But it's unlikely to come anytime soon - the company wants to launch a seven-room station by 2016 but may increase or decrease that capacity based on customer demand. It also remained unclear whether the state-controlled RKK Energia company, named as the general contractor for the project, would have enough funds and capacities to carry out the plan. Energia builds Soyuz crew capsules and Progress cargo ships to deliver space crew and supplies to the International Space Station that would be the [...]