I was 10 when Alien came out and I can remember seeing the ads for it and having a conversation with a friend of my father who had seen it. I think I saw it when I was about 12 or 13 and it freaked me out to the point that I had a recurring nightmare about the beast for the next ten years, toward the end of which it was no longer frightening, more exhilarating. I would wake up when I got cornered by the alien, then go back to sleep and start the dream again. The location of the stalking would be different most times and sometimes would be the flat I was living in. It started to resemble Tom and Jerry during some of the dreams, to give you an idea of how much jeopardy I felt in. By the time I was 18 and in art school I'd got access to a compressor and was teaching myself to use an airbrush and was creating my own lame Giger pastiches, some of which I still have.
A whole crowd of us went to see Aliens in the cinema and to give it it's fair do's it was an insanely exhilarating experience for 1986. I went to see it again and took my brother, who from about 30 mins in was repeatedly asking me how much longer it had to go because he was finding the tension a bit too much. The three girls sitting in front of us spent the entire movie with their coats over their heads!
Saw Alien3 in the cinema as well, one afternoon by myself, with a few beers. It was a crushing disappointment at the time.
Saw a press screening of Alien: Resurrection at 20th C Fox's small screening room on Soho Sq. I sat behind Barry Norman. That was disappointing as well.
I think I was 17 when I went to Alien War though, at the Trocadero. Being so much older and knowing full well that it was just a bunch of blokes in rubber suits meant I knew it was just going to be a bit a laugh and possibly a touch on the lame side.
Well, not quite, that scared the fucking shit out of me too.
I think I was 17 when I went to Alien War though, at the Trocadero. Being so much older and knowing full well that it was just a bunch of blokes in rubber suits meant I knew it was just going to be a bit a laugh and possibly a touch on the lame side.
Well, not quite, that scared the fucking shit out of me too.
Tension was nicely broken for me when the marine said 'they cut the power' and well you can guess what I said, followed by him telling me to shut up.
I say the tension was broken but I fucking nearly died when the alien popped out behind me in the lift/APC thing.
Saw Alien Resurrection by myself. Sat in the middle of the cinema, no more than five other people in there. Big bag of sweets. Perfection. I'd go to the cinema a lot more if they didn't let other people in. Although yeah, goes to shit when the newborn shows up.
Saw a press screening of Alien: Resurrection at 20th C Fox's small screening room on Soho Sq. I sat behind Barry Norman. That was disappointing as well.
Saw a press screening of Alien: Resurrection at 20th C Fox's small screening room on Soho Sq. I sat behind Barry Norman. That was disappointing as well.
Who would you rather have sat behind?
Someone with a laminated photo of davpaz glued to the back of their head.
Saw a press screening of Alien: Resurrection at 20th C Fox's small screening room on Soho Sq. I sat behind Barry Norman. That was disappointing as well.
You gone done it, Ian! It's Mortal Kombat 9 all over again!
Pretty sure we have a thread about Colonial Marines already...
But yeah, a lot of people on here have been frothing at the gash for Colonial Marines since it was announced in 2008. Unfortunately, in their infinite wisdom, SEGA decided to delay the release whilst they rushed out the slightly rubbish AvP remake (they didn't want to release two Alien games in the same year, apparently), and now Gearbox are pissing about with Duke Nukem Forever. So we might see it one day. Maybe.
A game can't just be aimed at a single audience. For the crowded shooter market in particular, you've got to be good, and you've got to appeal to a broad swath of players. Aliens: Colonial Marines might be able to pull that off. It's got four-player, drop-in co-op for the entire campaign. It's got a ton of distinctive, cool-sounding weapons. It looks like it'll have some great setpieces and intense scripted moments. The shooting seems responsive and fast.
But there's a specific audience out there that's been waiting for Aliens: Colonial Marines. An audience that knows what planet Hadley's Hope is on, that remembers the last stand in Operations. And Aliens: Colonial Marines is really that audience's game.
It's not that surprising. Every Gearbox employee I've spoken to has used reverent tones in talking about how they feel about the Alien series. After all, as Gearbox Chief Creative Officer (and former director on the project) Brian Martel put it, "I've been ripping off Aliens for my entire career. Now, I get to do it for real."
That love comes through in the little touches in Aliens: Colonial Marines. I'm not talking about the easy tugs at your nostalgia either - the old standbys are there, like the sound of a pulse rifle, the escalating whine of a motion tracker picking up... something. Developers have been using easy Aliens throwbacks for decades now, but Gearbox seems to be going for something less cheap.
The premise fits snugly into the existing continuity between Aliens and Alien 3. You're part of the marine platoon sent in response to a distress call from LV-426, the home of Aliens' "shake-and-bake" terraformed colony, Hadley's Hope. That call came from a marooned contingent of marines from the troop transport Sulaco, and... all of this will either confuse you or get you hard.
There's not a lot more to say about Aliens: Colonial Marines right now. It's still around a year away, though it looks good and runs pretty well. It sounds like an Aliens game. There are pulse rifles, shotguns ("for close encounters"), smartguns, sentry turrets, power loaders... POWER LOADERS. You'll venture through familiar areas from Aliens after you're marooned on the rock that is LV-426 -- because why wouldn't a platoon looking for shelter make their way to the planet's only colony? You'll find Operations, home of Hudson's Last Stand TM, and you'll in turn realize the futility of human barriers to Xenomorph ingenuity.
Again, you'll either get all of that and find your anticipation for more info on Aliens: Colonial Marines' campaign and multiplayer rising, or you'll keep half an iota of attention on another possibly cool shooter. But regardless of which it is, Gearbox is pouring its heart into elaborating on a film that changed science-fiction, that's influenced video games for the entire 25 years they've existed, because everyone at Gearbox loves it. And as someone who's been right there with them since I sat cowering under a blanket on the couch next to my dad, watching a movie I had absolutely no business watching on HBO at the age of six, I'm cautiously optimistic that someone will finally get it, and get it right. Even if that developer did make marine chatter during the demo.
Aliens: Colonial Marines is out in Spring of 2012.
Wait, it's your Birthday today, right? Happy Birthday!
HEH.
Yes.
But no, not awesome stupid. Sad, sad, stupid. Almost as bad as one of the Aliens comic serieseseses that I've got. The interpretation of Sigourney Weaver is hilariously aweful
Weeell, I guess they figured "in space, nobody can hear you GNGH"
I used to be merely annoyed by this error (and it was one I used to make myself occasionally), but since writing for TUAW caused me to tighten up my written English it's now like nails on a chalkboard to me.
Weeell, I guess they figured "in space, nobody can hear you GNGH"
I used to be merely annoyed by this error (and it was one I used to make myself occasionally), but since writing for TUAW caused me to tighten up my written English it's now like nails on a chalkboard to me.
Oh, me toom, since always as words and precision of language are my living, basically. I saw a possessive "it's" in a contract recently, which I know for a fact was drafted by one of the members of my team. I can't look any of them in the face now.
Weeell, I guess they figured "in space, nobody can hear you GNGH"
I used to be merely annoyed by this error (and it was one I used to make myself occasionally), but since writing for TUAW caused me to tighten up my written English it's now like nails on a chalkboard to me.
If people can't get that right, what hope is there with less/fewer?
I've seen its' before. I think they might have been aware that it's wasn't correct in that context, then changed it to something that is completely incorrect.
The thing about "it's" is that it is perfectly logical and fits into the rules in both possible meanings, someone just arbitrarily decided that it should be the contraction. Considering that in spoken language there is no difference, and we work it out by context, I would support "it's" being both possessive and the contraction.
It's quite amusing that people get so worked up over something so ridiculous and arbitrary.
Anyway, I feel the Prometheus is on a hiding to nothing going the 'prequel of Alien' route. Every person who goes to see it will expect xenomorphs out of the wazoo, and if it doesn't happen, the film will get slated.
Yeah, but going 'Oh no, its in the same universe as Alien, but there's no xenomorphs' just makes people think 'Ah, so there are going to be xenomorphs! They're trying to trick us!'
That's why they came out and said ages ago that it wasn't really a prequel to Alien, just that it happened to be set in the same universe.
Which is clearly a load of bollocks, of course, but was probably said for that exact reason.
The suggestion that this will stop people feeling cheated may be the most charmingly naive thing said on Brex since Kissyfur invented perpetual motion.
Yeah, if it has got Xenomorphs, then you're better trumpeting them from the rooftops.
If it hasn't, or very little, don't mention the whole Alien thing, market it as a sci-fi thriller with Ridley Scott, then let word of mouth do the rest, instead of "Alien movie without Aliens" you'd get "wow, watch this movie, it has something to do with Alien!"