The Hollywood Reporter broke the news last night (amid all the JJ Abrams Star Wars foofaraw) that Warner Brothers has signed commercial director Nic Mathieu to the post of director for their long in development live-action conversion of Robotech.

Many names have been attached to the script, most excitingly Lawrence Kasdan, and Tobey Maguire is still set as a producer.

If this movie gets made, I’ll be able to die a happy man. Robotech is one of my favorite cartoon series’ from my childhood and it holds up in a way that people don’t seem to believe. It’s epic, it’s heartbreaking, it’s fantastic. And this could put Warner Brothers on the map with another massive geek franchise. It has the potential to beat the pants off of Transformers and be like a sci-fi Lord of the Rings for them.

From the Hollywood Reporter:

The project is a coup for Mathieu, a commercials director whose spots are known for their inventive CG effects but who has yet to make his feature debut.

But Warners already has shown it has plenty of faith in the burgeoning filmmaker: He is attached to direct The Wind, a David Keopp-written sci-fi project that the studio picked up in spring 2012 after being dazzled by his impressive presentation.

Mathieu also is attached to direct The Story of Your Life, an alien drama being produced by Shawn Levy’s 21 Laps.

There’s still no word on when the movie would happen, but it’s still exciting to hear and see it moving forward.

It seems possible.

His name has been on every short list and every wish list since it was announced that there was going to be a seventh film in the Star Wars saga. Last month, news came out that Abrams had turned down the gig because he was too busy with Star Trek. If a report from The Wrap is true, then he must have changed his mind.

J.J. Abrams will direct the next “Star Wars” film for Disney, taking stewardship of one of Hollywood’s most iconic and lucrative film franchises, an individual with knowledge of the production told TheWrap.

There’s no reason to believe or disbelieve at this point. I’ve put in requests for confirmation or denial and have heard nothing back yet. If this is true and the news is broken, I’d expect official confirmation in a day or two, as had happened with Michael Arndt.

If it’s not true, well, then, we’re back where we started.

Abrams is not a displeasing choice to me. I loved the last Star Trek film, Super 8 was brilliant, and I’m one of the few people who loved LOST all the way through.

The more interesting news in the article, though, was that Ben Affleck was high up in the running to direct. If Abrams really is taking center stage for Episode VII, I’d love to see Affleck take up the middle, traditionally dark portion of the trilogy, with Episode VIII. He’s an excellent, taut director, and I have no doubt that he loves Star Wars as much as the rest of us.

As for this news, though: until it’s official, it’s still a rumour.

UPDATE: The Hollywood Reporter is confirming from their sources that Abrams is negotiating. That’s still nothing official. Plenty can go on in negotiations.

UPDATE 2: Variety is reporting it as fact. Between The Hollywood Reporter and Variety, it’s hard to argue with this. It’s looking like it’s a reality.

GONK brings us the questions and answers session with the cast and crew of Star Wars: The Clone Wars in San Diego from last Friday’s USO screenings. Part I is the first Q&A session, after the screening of ‘The Gathering’. (more…)

On January 19, Nehemiah Griego, age 15, shot and killed is mother, father and three siblings. He then planned to go to the local Walmart to randomly shoot some more people in order to eventually be killed in a hail of gunfire by the local authorities. While the killing of his family is tragic, it’s fortunate that his plans to take a firearm to a crowded Walmart never came to fruition and he is now in custody being held without bond.

Authorities have stated that Griego had been “annoyed” with his mother and had been harboring homicidal and suicidal thoughts. He stated specifically that the reason for his plan to shoot up a Walmart was to commit suicide by law enforcement.

Fast-forward ahead a few days to January 22, and you will find headlines like “New Mexico teen accused of killing family ‘involved heavily’ with violent video games, sheriff says” on news outlets such as FOX News, MSNBC and Associated Press. Much like how rap music received blame for inciting violence in young people, video games – most notably first-person shooters such as Call of Duty, Halo, and Battlefield – are now seeing themselves under the spotlight as the scapegoat for inciting violent tendencies in kids, teens, and young adults.

I don’t know about the rest of you gamers out there, but I am already tired of it.

While the tragedy at Sandy Hook Elementary (and the planned violent media burnings that followed) seems to have re-sparked this discussion, it isn’t a new one, but this time around it does seem to be gaining more traction. Wrath.o.Tron covered this topic in an excellent way, and I’d encourage you to read what he had to say; myself and the other members of the Big Shiny Podcast also discussed this in our latest episode, which you can listen to here.

The media is starting to paint a picture of gamers that is that of an unstable and violent class of people, and while I take personal issue with this as being a fan of these games myself, I more take issue with the fact that there is no supporting evidence for this. Instead of labeling a person like Nehemiah Griego as being unstable and violent with some mental health issues that went untreated – and oh, by the way, they played first-person shooter video games, a person seems to be labeled as someone who is unstable and violent with mental health issues because they play first-person shooter video games. The simple fact is that Griego is a 15 year old boy who specifically cited “Call of Duty: Modern Warfare” as one of his games of choice to authorities. Last year, “Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3” sold 8.8 million copies in its first month of release and the population of kids ages 12-17 in 2012 was estimated to be 25.4 million. Chances are, if you ask any 15 year old boy who owns an Xbox 360 or Playstation 3 they probably own this game, or have at the very least played it – the fact that this game is rated as suitable for ages 17 and older and how appropriate this is is another story, and a much longer one.

I understand that for some of those out there who are not familiar with video games or the culture, to see a game in which people are shooting each other and to hear kids – some perhaps too young to be doing so – are playing these can make for an easy jump to think “This is what’s ruining America’s youth”. Well, I have news for you: The United States is hardly the biggest consumer of video games out there, but our gun violence is far and above the highest. I’ll refer you to this chart from Wrath.o.Tron’s previous story:

So, how to those out there who are ademently positive that violent video games are turning our young adults into a bunch of mass murderers argue this? To me, this is the biggest problem, and the thing that bothers me the most; they argue statistics and facts with personal thoughts and feelings on the matter. Two personal encounters with this come to mind to illustrate my point.

Shortly after the Sandy Hook Elementary tragedy, I was listening to my afternoon radio broadcast of choice, Talk of the Nation. The host, Neal Conan, was taking calls to talk about violent media and what effects people thinks it has on our youth. A woman called up and began to rant about how “shoot ’em up” games were desensitizing children and making them think it okay, and just a game to go shoot people in real life. Neal Conan calmly noted that there have been many studies done on this subject, and statistics out there show that there is little to no correlation between these two. The woman then began her next statement with “Well,studies aside…” She didn’t care about the facts or figures, she had an agenda in her head and there was no changing her mind.

Another instance of this sort of behavior happened to me personally at my place of work. I was discussing my holiday break from work with a co-worker and since the Sandy Hook tragedy happened over this time, the conversation turned to this. We were casually chatting about how awful it was (and how poorly the media reported on it), when she just blurts out, “I’ll tell you, if kids didn’t play those games like Halo where you shoot everyone, these types of things would not happen!” Again, no amount of graphs or pie charts would ever convince this individual otherwise.

For those out there that may not be familiar with the gaming culture: We are not all a bunch of unstable sadists, locked up in a basement somewhere playing a shooting game fantasizing about how it would be to act these scenarios out in a local department store. I have been playing video games since I was a teenager and have never once had a desire to pull a gun on another human being, and I firmly believe that people like me are the rule, not the exception. We are not disillusioned to the fact that death is real, guns can kill people and war is an awful thing. We are able to separate the fact that what is on our television screen is simply a form of entertainment, created by people for that simple fact – there is no agenda to glorify anything. We are well-adjusted people who work hard and contribute to society. Unfortunately as of late, it seems that any time violence occurs and a young adult is the perpetrator, the media begins digging for the connection to video games.

Just like with many things, don’t depend on the Government to ban something just because you take issue with it. Be responsible and talk to the young children in your house about these games. The Entertainment Software Rating Board (ESRB) provides a handy rating guide for every game, so if it has a rating of MATURE stuck to the label you may want to educate yourself on the content of that particular game before you buy it for your 12 year old because, yes, killing people over and over in a video game may not be the best thing for them – but that responsibility rests on the parents of the child, not the rest of society, not on the Government, on you, the parent. Just like any form of entertainment out there, not everything is going to be suitable for all ages.

The answer isn’t ban violent video games, question the moral integrity of game developers, or hold a violent video game burning. Video game retailers, stick to those ratings. If you need to be 17 or older to purchase a certain title, make sure you see some ID. Parents, if your kid wants a violent video game and you feel he/she is too young to be playing such a game, then be the parent and don’t purchase it for them, but have a conversation about why. As someone who was a young teenager not terribly long ago, I know if my parents told me “No” to anything I was always more apt to obey when they had an open dialogue about why with me.

But for hell’s sake, let’s all stop trying to find that one mythical, single scapegoat to why tragedies like these happen and placing all the blame there.

Yes, you read that headline correctly.

According to Latino Review, Marvel is courting some big time “comedy” actors for Guardians of the Galaxy, and they have reached out to inquire about Jim Carrey’s and Adam Sandler’s availability. For which character they may be inquiring for, no one knows, but I would place my money (with the rest of those speculating right now as well) on one of the CG characters, Rocket Raccoon or Groot – and I would even lean more towards Rocket Raccoon.

That all said, I would take this with a grain of salt. My head just can’t wrap around Adam Sandler having anything to do with a Marvel movie, and even Jim Carrey would be a stretch; however they are both very animated actors who may lend a great voice-over to one of these characters. I like to think all of us geeks out there learned a lesson with the casting of Heath Ledger as the Joker in The Dark Knight, but still, Carrey and Sandler? In any case, if these sources prove to be correct it sounds like Marvel is just putting some feelers out there. There hasn’t been any offers, any discussions, just rumored inquiries lending themselves to some interesting speculation.

Guardians of the Galaxyis set to start filming this Summer, and slated for an August 2014 release – and I am quite anxious to see the casting lineup we get for this film.

What are your thoughts on the rumored possibility of Sander or Carrey voicing/playing a member of the Guardians of the Galaxy? Sound off in the comments below!

This Month’s Podcast Features:

Zombietron (Tom), Kill-tacular-tron (Lucas), Arse-Bot (Tyson), Mexicus Prime (Jimmy), and Vagatron (Kiley)

It’s the first episode of the Big Shiny Podcast of the new year!

In this installment, the guys list off their favorite geek gifts they received over the holidays and their favorite movies released over the same time.

On a more serious note, over what was many people’s holiday vacation, the tragedy at Sandy Hook Elementary occured. The guys touch on the fallout from this horrific event that has once again started the conversations about violence in video games and movies, and even sparked some planned burnings of violent media.

In the second half of the podcast, Zombietron chats a little about CES, Arse-bot gets angry that he can’t play Ingress on iOS, Vagatron and Kill-tacular-tron talk some Amazing Spider-Man #700, and Mexicus Prime talks about inappropriate topics as usual.

Thanks for listening and watch for a new episode every month! If you like what you hear, rate the Big Shiny Robot Podcast Family on iTunes!

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Welcome to another edition of The Gamemaster. For those who may be new, my brief explanation: I’m new to the world of game (or dungeon) mastering. I hadn’t played any RPGs in 15 years at least and am now getting back into it. I’ve begun a campaign in a setting of my own creation using the Pathfinder rules.

This column is a way for me to explore what I’m doing, what’s working, what’s not working, what I can do better, and I hope it will be of interest to others as well.

Today, I’d like to talk about the importance of taking notes and providing a continuity.

I know many GMs like to “just wing it.” I hear and read both wonderful things about them and horror stories. Personally, I’m not the sort who could just wing it. Everything for me in the world has a reason and I’ll explore that reason in writing before the game even starts. Before our first session, I wrote a 250 word piece on the world, and in concert with the players, 200-300 about each character. Then I made a list of cities and towns. I drew a map of the kingdom and the spatial relationship between the towns and the world. Then I made a massive list of names. Each lord in a keep in the kingdom has a name. Major generals they might encounter. Mayors. Officials. Police. Tavern keepers. I just made lists of names that fit into the tapestry of the world.

I keep that list with me when I’m GMing because it’s so much more engaging to have a name right there, ready for your NPC, than talk to the players about “this guy” or “that girl” or whatever.

But it’s important to remember that at this bar, the bartender was named Bertram instead of Roderick. Not because the characters care, per se, but if that remains consistent throughout the campaign, then maybe they will care. Maybe that barkeep, who’s character and name have been consistent will play a larger part in the world. Perhaps after talking to him a few times and interacting with him, getting good information, asking about his kids, etc. they come into the bar and he’s gone, having been abducted by the soldiers while the heroes were on their last adventure?

Do you think characters would be more or less invested in the plight of that character if I maintained him as a consistent personality through their many encounters with him?

For my money, I write up and prepare just about everything I can think of that the characters might decide to do (along with a few things I can’t even imagine them doing) in the next game beforehand. I write down things that are going on in the world around them, and I prepare statblocks, dungeons, and other encounters they might come across. One thing I’ve learned, too, is that you can multi-purpose this stuff. If I build a dungeon of the Orc overlord and they decide to go attack the Ratfolk instead, well, they coincidentally have the dungeon layout I designed for the Orcs.

After each session, I try to keep detailed notes and every scrap of paper and map layout I can from the session. In those notes, I recount which characters did what (at least the major actions, anyway), I put down the names and demeanors and personalities of all the NPCs they encountered, I put down what the characters seemed to think they were headed, and where the session ended. It gives me a reference document that allows me to go back to any session we’ve played and know what went on, who said what to whom, and I can look back to old story hooks I might have left that haven’t yet been followed up on.

I’m not sure if this is common practice for GMs. Maybe it is, maybe it isn’t. I know it’s a lot of work but it’s so incredibly fun for me as a writer that I can’t imagine others wouldn’t do the same.

But what this does is it establishes a world of continuity for the players so they feel as though they’re coming back to a specific world every session as opposed to “Generic Dungeon Crawling Game #4.” I’ve had one player tell me that because of the way I’ve been telling the story, and the way his character is, he spends most of his free time thinking about my game and the story and the world that we’ve created together.

Another player got so into the story, he created the most amazing map of the kingdom and brought it to our last session:

 It’s been the most amazing experience to watch the players, in character, explain to each other what they know of the world and use the map as a tool to share that information.

And if I hadn’t made my cheesy, colored pencil map in the first place to keep things consistent and written down in my notes the name of every town and what was where, we wouldn’t have had this.

And each of those cities on the map have, at the very least, a loyalty and the name of the lord of the keep. For the cities we’ve been playing in, they’re much more fleshed out. But when it seems likely they’ll head to another city, then I’ll worry about figuring out what’s there. And once that’s been done, that’s it. It’ll make it into my notes and every time they come back the same things will be there…

…or at least the smoking remains of the same things…

Be sure to check out other columns in the Gamemaster series!

Well fans, we have just over two months until season 3 starts and the folks over at HBO have given us this two minute production video. Interviews with the cast and crew and just a bit of a look into what making the show is like. Check it out and tide yourself over until 3.31.13

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It seems like a distinct possibility that the iconic poster artist will be back to work on the new Star Wars films.

Struzan has provided some of the most iconic work for many films in the world of posters and book covers, but his work on Star Wars stands head and shoulders above a lot of the rest of it.

He told Jenna Busch on Fanhattan that he’d been approached to do posters for the new films:

Oh, well, never say never, [laughs] because…in fact, I got a couple calls already this week on Star Wars from Disney. Oh my god, I’m trying to be retired! You know, I spent 35 years painting Star Wars. [laughs] I painted Star Wars before most of you were born!

For fans of movie posters and of continuity, this is great news. Struzan is an incredible artist and his work will be long remembered.

When the announcement was made, I wondered how much of this continuity would be able to be maintained. Would John Williams be able to do the score? Would the films be accompanied by the Fox Fanfare? Would the posters be the same? Well, I think we have an indication that we’re not the only ones thinking about such things.

I can’t wait to see Episode VII shape up.

This past Friday, cast and crew members of Star Wars: The Clone Wars visited Miramar Marine Corps Air Station and hosted a USO screening of The Clone Wars, including the US premiere of the episode ‘Eminence’. GONK was on hand at the screening and has this exclusive event report. (more…)