Posts Tagged “Fantasy”

Earlier, zohner posted on the hierarchy of geeks from an old chart created by the Brunching Shuttlecocks. While it mainly centered on items that typically might identify geeks, it did leave a big one out: video games.

Gone are the days when playing video games in your basement was a sign of social rejection. In today’s world, there’s something WRONG with a child who has no interest in gaming. Men play video games in social settings in the same manner as their fathers would have poker night. Teenagers use them as their way to pretend they are someone else (and actually try and convince other people over voice that they really ARE as badass as they claim).

Tags: action figures, brunching shuttlecocks, comic con, comics, conventions, Fantasy, geeks, Halo, hierarchy, manga comics, Nintendo, otaku, playing video games, playstation 1, poker night, social rejection, social settings, soundtracks, video games, wall scroll, Zelda

Planescape: Torment. Baldur’s Gate. Icewind Dale. Neverwinter Nights.

Each of these games is a link in a long chain of popular Dungeons & Dragons-based CRPGs (or “computer role-playing games,“ for the uninitiated). If you’re not familiar with the D&D genre, the premise is fairly straightforward. You start out by creating your main character, like an elven wizard or a dwarven fighter. Then you are immediately immersed in the fantasy world of the Forgotten Realms, where your character has all sorts of extraordinary adventures.

The latest iteration of this genre, Neverwinter Nights 2, came out in Fall 2006. At first, this game didn’t seem all that different from its many predecessors — the same character creation, the same great fantasy adventures, just with better graphics. Then in 2007, came Mask of the Betrayer, NWN2’s first expansion, which added a new superbly-written plot, and several cool new features. While it was a superior expansion, Mask of the Betrayer wasn’t exactly innovative.

Tags: character creation, computer role playing games, Fantasy, mask of the betrayer, neverwinter nights 2, obsidian entertainment, zehir

Kevin J Anderson may be known to some fans as a Star Wars author.  I’ve enjoyed his works with Brian Herbert in the Dune universe (The Prelude to Dune series is one of my favorites) .  Kevin and Rebecca have released several other novels as well.  The Crystal Doors is a young-adult fantasy trilogy and the authors are sending free signed copy (you only cover the shipping and handling).

http://www.wordfire.com/news/crystaldoorsoffer.html

I’ve picked up a copy for my family (I love being married to a geek and raising geek kids).

Tags: Fantasy, Novel