Felicia Day

Joss Whedon and fanboy favorite, actress Felicia Day (Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Dollhouse, The Guild), just landed a guest spot on the April 27 episode of Supernatural, TV Guide reported Thursday.

The actress, known as the “geek goddess” for her real-life love of role-playing games, will play the title character in the episode, The Girl with the Dungeons and Dragons Tattoo, where Day plays a computer-savvy woman who has a run-in with Sam and Dean Winchester, the report said.

It is unknown if this episode is a stand-alone monster of the week episode or part of the year-long story arc that has been dogging the main characters of the series, played by Jensen Ackles and Jared Padalecki.

Developed by Peter Molyneux and a team of Microsoft engineers for the Xbox’s Kinect hands-free controller, Milo is more than a game – it’s a virtual friend … or child … whose personality is shaped by his interactions with you.

Last month, Molyneux demonstrated Milo – that demonstration was caught on the video below, courtesy of TED.org:

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So, Kenlon is a fabulous Game Master, and I’m not just saying that because he’s my husband. I’ve been in games where the GM, well, those games weren’t so fun. This Exalted game has been running for two and a half years. He started the game soon after our separation every other weekend but when I started visiting him it changed to every weekend by popular demand from his players. Before I joined the game I helped with the concept of one of the non player characters, a Lunar Exalted (there are different types of exalted) who are bonded to the Solar Exalted.

After helping him refine her character concept and finding a name for her I was asked to draw a portrait of Gentle Claw. She was a fighter (as all Lunars are) but she was compassionate and kind as well. Then, things did not go so well when she came into contact with the Solars, especially with the Solar she is bonded to. It ended with her running away. Then the Solars forgot about her. They didn’t look for her or do anything to help her return to them. And now, she has changed (and if I tell you what I do know about this change the GM will “kill” me as the group doesn’t know what I know. Kenlon only told me because I was not in the game and no plans were being made for me to be in the game at the time.). I was asked to draw her portrait again but with the changes in place. So I did.

First is Gentle Claw as she should be. The second is Gentle Claw as she now is. Click on each image to see the full sized image.

Before and After

I have a small light table. I used it to trace the basic features of Gentle Claw and then started to make subtle line changes. She is gaunt looking, much thinner, so her whole face is drawn in, her eyes hollower, hence the dark circles. Her small smile is gone – lips turned down instead, her eyes are narrowed instead of more open, her eyebrows are lowered, no longer up, changing her expression from an open warm one to harsh and cold. Of course she now has boy short hair, and new dark tattoos (all Lunars have tattoos but they’re silver not dark and hers didn’t come up on her shoulders and face, so these are different).

After making all these changes I was still able to see Gentle Claw as she is supposed to be. When I turned off the light table I gasped in shock. I couldn’t believe it. The difference was astonishing. All I had done was change a few lines by mere millimeters and now she looks horrifyingly different.

When I showed the final version to my husband he said, “That’s horrifying.” Which, he confirmed, meant that I did my job right. I felt so bad. This will hopefully help the group to visualize the difference and lead them to question their current assumptions.

Art is an amazing thing isn’t it? Just a few subtle line changes can so drastically change the look of a face. Let alone changing the hair and adding tattoos. A face so nice and kind looking can so easily be changed to something so cold and hard, all because of the placement of the lines were subtly altered. I have never experienced this sort of thing before as an amateur artist. I suddenly feel I have a greater appreciation for the work artists put in to achieve a particular feeling or mood in their work.

DURHAM, N.C.–Funcom announces that ‘Age of Conan’ is approved for Microsoft’s Xbox 360 console. The announcement means that the highly anticipated Massively Multiplayer Online game (MMO) has received the green light from Microsoft, and that Funcom can start official development of an Xbox 360 version of the game.

“This is a groundbreaking leap forward for Funcom. The fact that we now get the chance to develop ‘Age of Conan’ for the Xbox 360 means access to a potentially whole new and large MMO market,” said Trond Arne Aas, CEO of Funcom. “The fast-paced and innovative combat system in ‘Age of Conan’ will suit the demanding console audience perfectly. We believe the amazing online capabilities of Xbox 360 will be a great match for MMOs like ‘Age of Conan’, and as one of a handful of officially approved MMO games for the console we aim to create a unique, brutal and powerful online gaming experience.”

The Windows version of ‘Age of Conan: Hyborian Adventures’ is a Showcase title for Windows Vista, and the game won ‘Best MMO of E3’ awards from IGN, GameSpot, GameSpy and Yahoo. The game was a runner-up to the ‘Most Innovative Game of Show’ E3 award from Gamespot, and PC Gamer US named it as one of their top 10 most anticipated PC games. More information, screenshots, newsletter sign-up, forums and a welcoming community portal can be found on the official website www.ageofconan.com.

Information about publisher, release date and potential console specific features will be revealed at a later stage as Funcom starts production of the Xbox 360 version of ‘Age of Conan’.

ABOUT FUNCOM – Funcom is an independent developer and publisher of online games for PC, consoles and mobile platforms. Funcom has provided outstanding entertainment since 1993 and continues to expand its track-record of more than twenty released games. Recent titles include ‘The Longest Journey’, ‘Anarchy Online’ and ‘Dreamfall: The Longest Journey’. For corporate information please visit www.funcom.com. For information about Funcom games visit www.anarchy-online.com, www.dreamfall.com or www.ageofconan.com. Funcom is listed on the Oslo Stock Exchange under the ticker FUNCOM.

ABOUT AGE OF CONAN : HYBORIAN ADVENTURES – In Conan the players will encounter a mature, brutal and barbaric world, presented with fantastic graphics and stunning 7.1 surround audio. In a world filled with cruel gods, mythical creatures, lost civilizations and a struggling human race, the mighty barbarian has finally seized the throne as king of Aquilonia. But Conan’s rule is on the brink of chaos, spiraling towards the doom of ancient evils. In this twisted fantasy world, dark magic and brutal combat lurk around every corner, and each man and woman must carve their own unique destiny under Conan’s reign. In the true vision of Robert E. Howard’s dark universe it’s now time for you to become a messenger of death.

ABOUT CONAN PROPERTIES INTERNATIONAL – Conan Properties International, a wholly owned subsidiary of Paradox Entertainment Inc., controls all rights to Conan, associated characters and the Hyborian world, as created by Robert E. Howard and expanded upon by acclaimed authors and artists for decades. Conan is considered to be the world’s best-known fantasy character. For more information about Conan Properties International, visit www.conan.com. For information about Paradox Entertainment Inc., visit www.paradox-entertainment.com.

The names of actual companies and products mentioned herein may be the trademarks of their respective owners.

Details of the first expansion of the popular GuildWars MMPORPG were announced Tueday. To be called GuildWars: Factions, the expansion pack will bring in two new professions: the Assassin and the Ritualist.

The expansion also will bring in new skills, new lands and a major expansion of the player-versus-player (PVP) part of the game.

A new web site launched that may be of interest to role-playing fans of Marion Zimmer Bradley’s Darkover series of books.

Called The Red Sun, the fan-crafted site launched over the weekend. The RPG uses a blend of in-character message board posts and fan fiction to build the player-generated storylines.

The game is open to the public to create user accounts and join in on the fun. Since it is still in its rough starting stages, The Red Sun may be more malleable in its plot direction (a boon to creative new players) than more established BBS-based RPGs.

The Red Sun describes itself as a “game is set in the Recontact era – Terra discovers Darkover for the first time … again. Shattered Chain, The Winds of Darkover, Spell Sword and Forbidden Tower are books set in this time. Terrans think Darkovans are a primitive, violent people while Darkovans feel pretty much the same things about Terranans.”

In the same introductory message, the main site administrator (with the board nickname of Zandru) warns MZB purists that the “game does not always follow MZB canon. Rather, just like MZB herself did in her work, I’ll make minor changes to allow for the best stories and game balance.”