Without a Marvel film being released this year all we can do is sit around and wait for the next batch of casting rumours or set pictures to emerge. Marvel currently have Iron Man 2, Thor, The First Avenger: Captain America and The Avengers in the pipeline with a rumoured Hulk sequel, Nick Fury film and countless other projects in line for production. A few weeks ago now we got our first pics of Robert Downey Jr as Iron Man in the second film. You can see him just chilling on a wall and hanging in the war room with his suits in the background.












It was also revealed this week the first shot of Mickey Rourke as the films bad guy Whiplash. Unfortunately you'll have to go to the Marvel website to see this shot as I can't find one to post yet. All I can say is so far he looks a lot cooler and a lot less Gimp than the comicbook version did. So far no shots of other newcomers Scarlett Johansson as super spy Black Widow, Sam Rockwell as rival business Justin Hammer or Don Cheadle as Rhodey/ hopefully War Machine.










Also in Marvel film news Thor, the Norse god of Thunder who kicks some ass with a giant hammer, has also been given the film treatement and the two main characters, Thor, and villain Loki have been cast. Aussie Chris Hemsworth who plays Kirk's dad in the new Star Trek film gets the role of Thor whilst British actor Tom Hiddleston has been cast as Loki. To wider audiences these two guys are relative unknowns and I think that is a good choice by Marvel. Thor and Loki are gods who have a certain way of speaking and overall manner and I think it's easier to see someone you aren't familiar with acting that way than a known actor like Josh Hartnett or Brad Pitt who were rumoured at one time.











The First Avenger: Captain America is a long way off at 2011 but it does have a director attached to it. Joe Johnston who directed Jumanji, Jurassic Park 3, Hidalgo and the to be released The Wolf Man has been given the reins of this film. No casting confirmed yet but the rumour mill is into overdrive. The film needs a Cap but someone who can be scrawny and then buffed up after recieving the super soldier serum and will more than likely include a Bucky his gun totting sidekick who is probably one of the least annoying and best sidekicks in comics. Leonardo DiCaprio, Channing Tatum and Brad Pitt have all been rumoured as Cap whilst wrestler come actor John Cena has been thrown in to the mix. Cena I think is too big to begin with, Cap is tiny originally then bulks up after super soldier serum. Once again they should go for an unknown here, Captain America is such an icon and was such an unknown before he got the super soldier serum that the person who plays him needs to be similar. Samuel L Jackson will probably make an appearance as Nick Fury after signing his 9 picture deal. An actor like the star of Torchwood John Barrowman could be a good choice for Captain America as he has the acting ability but not yet the expected star attached to it. He also looks like he can slim down and bulk up well.












As yet we have no real good rumours about Marvel's most ambitious project, The Avengers. The Avengers are a team of superheroes brought together when Earth is in dire straits and one hero is not enough. The Avengers roster is so diverse that just pinning down who will be on it will be hard enough. Logic would have you believe Iron Man, possibly War Machine, Thor and Captain America will be apart of it and originally super heros like The Wasp, Ant Man and The Hulk were part of it. The way the Hulk ends makes you believe that the Avengers may be teamed together to take down the Hulk. Probably most pressing for Marvel is deciding on who will direct the film and how to give all their stars equal time. Hulk, Iron Man, Thor and Cap are all being directed by different people giving each film a different feel so teaming those guys up may not result in the same Iron Man in the Avengers we are use to. Certainly an ambitious project indeed.

As a money conscious...ok tight arse university student I have to be pretty selective when it comes to buying video games. Here in lil ol Adelaide new releases can range from $79 to $119, freaking ridiculous if you ask me. So the theory goes, I check out reviews people write on games I'm interested in and check out something like MetaCritic to find an aggregrate score and then decide whether I want to buy the game or not. That's the theory but there have been a few exceptions like Turok, Army of Two and The Club which have managed to sneek through somehow. So the purpose of this entry is to detail a few games which have peeked my interest but may not make the grade.

ArmA II Xbox 360: Why I'm Interested: Checked out Eurogamer not that long ago and they had a preview for ArmA II. Basically it said I can use the games editor to make myself a cow in the middle of a warzone...that's right a cow, how freaking awesome yet pointless is that!!! The games main sell point is a ridiculously detailed editor which lets you do what you want, even make yourself a cow. Obviously it has a campaign and stuff as well but the editor is where the fun is meant to be had.

Why I'm Skeptical: The first ArmA was buggy as hell and the editor was hard to use, you had to go hardcore to grasp this baby. Also they are offering a lot, it's an FPS with squad tactics that requires ground and air vehicle piloting skills not too much out of the ordinary but also you need to master RTS army management and set up an autonomous military economy on the games island. That is a freaking lot of stuff to think about, I struggle to think about anyone except the guy infront shooting at me let alone organise the rest of my assault or set-up a defensive line.

So... ArmA II is going to be ambitious as hell. If they can really nail that editor and make it more accessible and less buggy like they've promised it certainly has potential and that's enough for me to keep an eye for the reviews. Release Date TBC.

Operation Flashpoint: Dragon Rising Xbox 360: Why I'm Interested: I remember playing the original Operation Flashpoint on my dads computer. It was a fun game, containing a version of the forementioned editor in ArmA II (they were the same game until Codemasters and Bohemia games split...they are still a little bitter) that I could vaguely use. When I heard about the sequel my interest immediately peeked and well it sounds promising. A huge map, 135 square miles, and hardcore/realistic game style make it even more interesting. Basically you don't wanna let these guys get up close and personal as you can be seen from 35 km away so half the time you might not even see where you are getting shot from. It is also claiming to be incredibly detailed in sound and appearance, bullets sound different, penetrate differently...haha penetration and plumes of smoke from rockets can choke your soldiers. Pretty intense.

Why I'm not: Everything I said in those last few sentences. Ultra realism could be really cool or it could be really crappy. There is a fine line between fun and sadistic so hopefully they err more on the side of fun. Also the control scheme, apparently it'll take at least 20 or 30 minutes for a console player to get used to it and ages to master. They are definetly going hardcore here and becoming a jack of all trades is hard, not even one can be a sniper.

So...Operation Flashpoint:Dragon Rising sounds like the closest thing to being a real soldier outside of being a real soldier and so far I'm not sure whether that is a good thing or not. Release Date Spring 2009.

Army of Two: The 40th Day Xbox 360: Why I'm Interested: You'd think after my failed experience with the first one I wouldn't even think about the sequel but I have to admit the first one had promise. Playing with a friend in Co-Op was actually a good experience and in these instances the Co-Op tactics and moves worked well at times. Hearing that they've added new co-op moves and made the game less linear (shoot, run, shoot, super awesome co-op move of death, run, wash rinse repeat) is a good sign. This one is all about choicees...or so they say.

Why I'm Not: I'm still annoyed at the first one and the terrible AI your partner had if it wasn't a real person. It just killed the entire experience and made the co-op moves and tactics such a chore. I also wasn't a fan of the Aggro system because it meant that the only way to kill people without dieing yourself was to get one guy Aggroed up and the other sneek behind. It was just too repetitive and apparently it's back.

So...I think this time it'll definetly be a stretch for me to get this game, the first one has just soured things way too much but who knows I did like those sexy face masks and their hilarious, manly banter and actions. Release Date Summer 2009.