So, seeing that <swoon> Valentines Day </swoon> is coming up soon, I’d like to take this moment to share with you some of my favorite bits of Ready Player One love out there on the interwebs.
First, is my favorite book review to date. Might be the fact that the reviewer successfully referenced Breakfast Club, Back to the Future, and Viagra all in one sentence (uh huh!!!). Check out Stimulated Boredom’s RP1 book review…
Here’s a fun video review on YouTube. Usually these things bore me to tears, but I found this entertaining. Maybe I was just hypnotized by the lovely Pac Man action in the background. But, for what it’s worth, view this RP1 YouReview by Urgo (If you were also mesmerized by the glowy Pac Man, check out Urgo’s Retro Gaming FTW)
This next link is not a review per se but I geeked out pretty heavily while reading about Apple’s Haptic vision for the future. Read the whole thing, you won’t be disappointed. Cline’s use of haptic suits in the storyline of RP1 is mentioned in the article. Now, I have to take a moment to reflect on the use of haptics in a real life application, say, in the WOW-niverse. Do I want to know what polymorph sheep feels like in real life? Ewww, Probably not. But there is something to be said for the lonely or socially inept gamer and ERP + haptic enhancements, I guess. That industry could explode exponentially, given the right media campaign. Think about it. Unfortunately, this reminds me of an obscure article I recently read about… Umm, nvr mind. Let us move along…
I’d like to close this post out with the idea for a party. And who doesn’t like to party??? It’s a Ready Player One Book Club Party to be exact. Why the hell didn’t I come up with this first?! An 80s themed party revolving around nostalgic music, games, one of the worlds greatest books (you heard it here first, folks) and action figures? Actually, I think in a future post this shall be something I need to tweak for my own sake. It’s good, but I think we can one up their ideas pretty easily. Party at Castle Anorak, anyone?. It just kind of rolls off the tongue, doesn’t it? It could be a yearly event held on the original release date of the hard back edition. Hmmmm…. I like it!
Ferris Bueller’s Day Off, 1986, starring Matthew Broderick and directed by John Hughes. In a word – Eighties-tastic.
If you are not familiar with this movie then you’ve probably been living under a rock for a few decades. It’s one of the quintessential Hughes teen-vs-the-world flicks that were so definitive of the 80s decade. Though I think I’m in the minority when I say Ferris Bueller’s Day Off is not my favorite John Hughes film. Oh, I did love it. I did see it several times. I did play it over and over and over when working behind the movie rental counter at the video store. And Yes, anytime I hear Twist & Shout, I envision a parade. But we’ll discuss favorite John Hughes films another time. Right now lets focus on Ferris for a minute.
John Hughes films get a lot of love by Halliday in Ready Player One. And deservedly so. No other set of films symbolize what is was like to be a teenager in that era quite like a Hughes flick. In RP1, our hero Wade pretty much memorizes them all. In fact, Wade uses Ferris Bueller’s Day Off as an arguing point with Aech when discussing the validity (or lack thereof) of the film Ladyhawke…
“Now you’re just being insulting! Ladyhawke‘s cast alone makes the film cannon! Roy Batty! Ferris Bueller! And the dude who played Professor Falken in War Games!” I searched my memory for the actor’s name. John Wood! Reunited with Matthew Broderick!
The last couple days the new Honda CRV commercial has gone viral. It’s intended to be released officially during the Super Bowl Game this weekend. See if this looks familiar to you…
Play this kick-butt throw back game on Ernest Cline’s website — Stacks
It’s pretty fun if you have good hand/eye coordination and timing. I’ve always sucked at both, but love the look of the old 8-bit style games.
The author has also posted a link to some new fan art for the Stacks on his site. I’ve added a link on my Fan Art page. Check it out, it’s pretty cool. The idea of the Stacks has always fascinated me. Imagining a society that lives in stacks and stacks of mobile homes, double wides, and RVs – 3 or more families/generations in one unit. The thought must makes me shudder (and makes me appreciate my personal space a lot more). Not to hard to picture a future society like this though, with expanding populations and a finite amount of resources. ::shudder::
I knew right away that Ready Player One would be chock-full of DND references, and I was not disappointed. I know there are at least 10+ references to DND and/or Gary Gygax in the book (I lost track) and I’m sure I’m missing a ton. So to keep you from reading an incredibly long winded spiel here, I’m going with multiple posts about the topic, in which this is the Introductory offering. So, welcome to All Things DND and Gygax Pt. I where I cover my personal introduction to the wonderful world of fantasy.
If you’ve been reading this geeky-content-rich blog, I probably don’t have to explain what Dungeons & Dragons is or who Gary Gygax was. But, just for the sake of being thorough, I’ll do the stock info intro here by saying: Dungeons & Dragons (aka –DND or D&D) is a fantasy role playing game (RPG for you gamers out there) that was created by Gary Gygax and Dave Arneson in 1974. It utilizes traditional war-gaming themes in a fantasy setting. You, the player, are a character which you create and mold to your hearts content through interactive game play between your party (usually 4 or more characters) and a Dungeon Master (DM or GM – game master).
A planet named Gygax in Sector Two seemed like the obvious place to start looking. Halliday had coded the planet himself, and he’d named it after Gary Gygax, one of the creators of Dungeons & Dragons and the author of the original Tomb of Horrors module.
I came to the DND RPG later in life. I’d always wanted to play when I was a teen, I just didn’t hang out with anyone who wanted to play with me (awww…). To be historically factual, I ‘m not entirely sure if the geeks from my small hometown even knew that I enjoyed gaming like I did. Maybe there was a troop of giant slayers at my highschool, but if there was, I did not know them. I was kind of a shy kid.
Anyway, I was first introduced to the fantastic world of DND when our first born came into the world. As older 20-somethings with a new baby on board, we realized our social life (which usually consisted of drinking and dancing at the industrial clubs, playing games at coffee houses, or going to hockey games) was going to look seriously different than it did prior to our venture into new-parent-dom.
We decided to get together a group to play DND at our place while the baby slept. That was in the late summer of 1998, and as the saying goes, the rest is history. I am trying to rack my brain to see if I can remember what my original character was. I think she was a human cleric. I painted my very first DND figurine for her and that started my geeky obsession for painting miniatures (even ones I don’t intend to play with, just paint them for the sake of painting).
We’ve had three incarnations of that gaming group since then. In our current Friday night’s 4.0 campaign, I’m a lvl 7 Deva Invoker, with a Covenant of Wrath focus (so watch out beotches!!! I’m one angry lady). I sometimes find it a bit odd that I’m a Deva because it’s not the sort of character I see myself embodying very well. I’m short in real life, and Deva’s are quite tall. They usually seem to be quite graceful, stoic, insightful, and a tad bit stunning (quite literally, HA!). I, on the other hand, am pretty clumsy and oafish in real life, but I do have to say that I can be insightful when given the proper amounts of gin and good literature, or maybe even an indie film or two to watch. Most of the time I feel like I’d be better suited as Mistress Dwarf of the Flailing Tankard lvl -9. But, as the name suggests, DND is a ROLE PLAYING game, so role play I shall.
Bubaben’s Female Dwarf on Deviant Art
And that, in a nutshell, is how I came to find my love for Dungeons & Dragons. Where did you find yours? How long have you been playing? Do you still run campaigns? What was a favorite DND character that you created?
That’s all for now. For Part II, we’ll chat about Online DND, 3.5 vs 4.0, DND’s influence over other RPGs, and what a world without Gygax might look like. Until then, put on your robe and wizard hat, and have fun!
NOTE: Want to know what D&D character you are in real life? Take this online quiz to find out your dungeon alter ego. Are you an elf wizard lvl 99? Or an impish warlord lvl 2? Find out now. I took the quiz and it said I am a Lvl 5 Human Rogue, Neutral Good. Hmmm. Am I really only lvl 5?
For you fine folks in the Denver metro area, Mile Hi Sci Fi has added another showing of Wrath of Khan on Friday night at 10pm. So now, you too, can have fun on Friday, just be sure to wear your best Trek-ume and win some prizes! I can’t wait until my inflatables arrive (costume bling, of course). Yeeeps!
Details as follows:
Star Trek II:
The Wrath of Khan
January 27th @ 7:00 pm SOLD OUT
January 27th @ 10:00 pm JUST ADDED!!!
January 28th @ 9:30 pm SOLD OUT
“It is on!” Aech shouted into his comlink. ”It is on like ‘Red Dawn’!”
So my husband and son sat down last weekend and watched Red Dawn from 1984 with Patrick Swayze, C. Thomas Howell, Lea Thompson, Charlie Sheen, and Jennifer Grey.
Now, you know how I love me some retro movie viewing, but I just could not get into this one. I saw it way back in the day and LOVED it. I remember renting it on video a lot too (those big giant beta machines, remember those??? oh yeah!)
I actually opted to take a nap instead of finishing this film out to the end. I feel kinda bad (but not really). The acting was gawd-awful, the plot was definitely a non-translatable 80s Cold War theme. But the rest of the family seemed to be entertained, so maybe it was just me. But I don’t think I’ll be trying re-watch #3 anytime soon.
What scares me more is this: Red Dawn (2012). Yep, apparently a remake was made in 2009 but it was shelved because China would find it offensive (I’m guessing we’re invaded by China instead of Russia and Cuba, right?). The studio keeps waffling on whether or not to release it. My initial thought – Oh, hell no! But the more I think about it, why not? MST3K might be able to throw some good heckling its way!
Red Dawn ala MST3K
Wow, do I sound grumpy today?
Actually, what I might be willing to see is a battle over moon colonization. That could work. Possibly. Someone should tackle that project. And be sure to add a killer soundtrack! Just in case.
What about you, would you look forward to a remake of Red Dawn? If so, what is the most compelling reason, in your mind, to see it. I’ll admit, a really good soundtrack just might make me change my mind. Then again, I can always download a good soundtrack on itunes and save the $10.
You have been recruited by the Star League to defend the frontier against Xur and the Ko-Dan armada.
Identity Verification Successful.
Welcome to the OASIS, Parzival!
Login completed: 07:5:21 OST-2.10.2045
READY PLAYER ONE
The Last Starfighter is not necessarily an epic movie when set next to such films as The Empire Strikes Back, Back to the Future, or E.T. But, if you were a kid in the 80s, then this movie probably holds a dear place in your heart, if only for the fact that it gives one the (false?) sense of hope that being really good at video games just might be the magic quality that makes you the one and only person who can save the universe from complete and absolute destruction. So take that, losers, haters, and disbelievers!
And if anyone can get me one of these nifty automatic eye monocle helmet thingys – I’d be so pumped….I’d wear it to work like I had some kind of monster SEO vision with that thing. Google, prepare to die. lol, jk srsly
You have to admire The Last Starfighter for what it is — a really fun(ny) movie that points out the merits of being a gamer waaaay before it was cool to be a geek. So thank you Last Starfighter, for paving the way for us all, I suppose. And everyone get back to honing your skills at saving the Universe! One Azeroth unmensch at a time.
Sidenote: IMDB trivia notes that Wil Wheaton is in some scenes from this movie (forgive the inevitable Star Trek inuendo here) but he’s the kid in the red shirt. Kid you not. I feel like I should go play 6 Degrees of Wil Wheaton now.
What could be better than listening to Wil Wheaton reading the audio book version of Ready Player One on your smart phone? Well, nothing really. But what about when you’re done? How do you relive the fun, and the easter egg bombardment, hidden between the proverbial covers?
The iTunes store has an iPhone app just for fans of Ernest Cline’s book. It’s called
Ready Player One – Tidbit Trivia By Brain Rice Games, LLC
according to Apple’s app store…
Test your knowledge of the best-selling book phenomenon Ready Player One by Ernest Cline!
Answer more than 250 questions ranging from pretty easy to very difficult, and see how much you know about this pop-culture sensation.
In addition, many of the questions unlock Trivia Tidbits that provide a wealth of information about Ready Player One and the pop culture references that populate the book, from classic videogame information to ’80s movie references and more!
Features:
** More than 250 Ready Player One questions, ranging from really easy to incredibly hard!
** 22 unlockable trivia tidbits about the book, its author and the plethora of ’80s pop culture references!
** Compare scores with friends and unlock achievements through Game Center!
NOTE: This is an unofficial Ready Player One trivia game. It is not endorsed by or affiliated with Ernest Cline or the Crown Publishing Group.
There are no ratings for this app yet, but it looks and sounds promising. If you’ve had the chance to try it out let me know what you think! I’d be downloading it in a heartbeat, but I don’t see an android version of the app in my phone’s marketplace. FML.
If you’ve used the iPhone app, or if you know of a droid compatible RP1 app you’d like to recommend, post your comments below!
Dr. Peter Venkman: This city is headed for a disaster of biblical proportions.
Mayor: What do you mean, “biblical”?
Dr Ray Stantz: What he means is Old Testament, Mr. Mayor, real wrath of God type stuff.
Dr. Peter Venkman: Exactly.
Dr Ray Stantz: Fire and brimstone coming down from the skies! Rivers and seas boiling!
Dr. Egon Spengler: Forty years of darkness! Earthquakes, volcanoes…
Winston Zeddemore: The dead rising from the grave!
Dr. Peter Venkman: Human sacrifice, dogs and cats living together… mass hysteria!
Mayor: All right, all right! I get the point!
Ok, tell me straight. You wanted to be a Ghostbuster when you grew up, didn’t you? If you were a product of the 80s then I know the answer to that question is probably a resounding “YES!” Even if you were a kid in the 90s or the oughts, as my tots are, Ghostbusting as a profession still has it’s charm. Once you see this film all you can think about for months is the need to round up a mighty proton pack and zap the nearest bag of marshmallows you can find. (Just remember – don’t cross the streams!)
But I digress…
What I love most about Ghostbusters as it relates to RP1 is this. When first listening to Wil Wheaton read the audio version of Ready Player One, I was driving around town, running errands, zoning out and not really in the moment of the book. Oh, I was engaged in the story. And I knew I’d get a kick out of catching all the references to the decade in which my hair poofed. But I wasn’t really *there* yet. Then I heard it. The “..dogs and cats..” reference right there, smack out of the gate, right on page 1… and I KNEW this was going to be one kick ass book.
After all, the people of planet Earth had other concerns. The ongoing energy crisis. Catastrophic climate change. Widespread famine, poverty, and disease. Half a dozen wars. You know: “dogs and cats living together…mass hysteria!”
And that’s when I first fell in love with Ernest Cline’s book! I got excited. It was the beginning of the game. The challenge to see if I could find ALL of the obscure 80s and 90s references in this book, and in turn remember a little speck of my childhood, or teen-dom, and that’s when the RP1 experience moved up to the next level.
I’ve been selling others on reading the book ever since. Both my kids have read it. My husband has read it twice. I’ve read the audio book and the hardback. We’ve loaned it out to countless friends and neighbors over the last three months. And now I’ve even got this website. So yeah, I guess you could say that I kind of enjoyed the ride that Ready Player One took me on.
Personal tid-bit — I got to meet Ernie Hudson (aka Winston Zeddmore of Ghostbusters fame) on a business trip to Las Vegas. It was actually a video business convention and he was there signing autographs for the movie The Crow that had recently come out (in which Jason Lee was killed in the filming — ** author’s note, it was Brandon Lee who died in the filming, not Jason Lee. See comments below, and thanks for the correction!). I remember he was gracious and kind when he signed an autograph for me. All I could think about was …”That’s a big Twinkie.” How many times do you think he’s heard that one? :-/
But I don’t feel right about closing the post on that quote, so how about this…
As the venerable Dr. Venkman would say — “Let’s show this prehistoric bitch how we do things downtown… THROW IT!”
According to /Film, Eric Eason has been hired to “re-write” Ready Player One for Warner Bros. filming. Is is just me, or does that statement make you nervous? I’m sure Eric’s a nice and talented guy, but the reason we are fans of the story is, after all, because of what Cline did with it.
So, I strongly advise you now Eric Eason, tread lightly, or you’ll have a mob of unruly gamers on your hands. And that’s Never Pretty.
Don’t get me wrong, the guys got some street cred. but I just can’t say I’m a fan of what he’s made to date. What’s your take? Will Warner Brothers hack the story to death? Or will they tweak it to perfection? We won’t really know ’till we see it, but I’m leaning toward “I’ll cyber-bash in WBs shins if they screw this up!”
