“No, father, you never did care about anything except your precious job.”

This is a line from Blood and Iron, spoken by a young woman to her father, and overheard by a nearby robot.  Given the circumstances in which the words were spoken, I originally used an expletive in place of precious.  But then I realised that as the words were being translated by computer as the young woman spoke them, and robots don’t use human expletives which tend be organically based, the sentence would probably read

“No, father, you never did care about anything except your rusting job.”

This is logical, but it wouldn’t make a lot of sense to the reader at first glance as it doesn’t sound like the sort of thing a young woman could say.  I could have put in an explanation (a common writers’ mistake, in my opinion), but that would have slowed down the action, and worse, taken the reader away from the scene and reminded them they were reading a book.

I love a complicated plot, I love hard SF, but when it comes to the writing I always like to Keep It Simple, Stupid.

Anyway, Blood and Iron is finished and should be with Macmillan now.

Follow this link to my website to see Jon Sullivan’s amazing cover for Blood and Iron, published April 2010.

Julie, a friend of mine, came up with a perfect description of the process.

She said that when you first write a story it’s like a baby:  perfect and precious in your eyes.

After a few redrafts it grows into a young child: you see that  it has its faults, but you love it anyway.

But as  you keep rereading and improving, a story becomes a teenager, lurking in its bedroom and complaining that you don’t understand it anymore. Catch it on a bad day and all you can see is its faults- everything about it irritates you.   If you’re honest with yourself, you realise that you’ve both been in each others company too long: you’ve both changed.

By that time you’re looking forward to the day when your story can go out into the world and start earning a living.  That’s when you can both see the best in one another again.

The sequel to Twisted Metal will be titled Blood and Iron.

For most of the time of writing it was known as Untitled Robot Book, and that’s the name that appears on the contract, but the title itself caused me more problems than any other story I’ve written.  Odd really, bearing in mind I’ve had the novel plotted since before I started Twisted Metal, and the characters virtually wrote the story themselves.

But I just couldn’t figure out what the title was going to be… until my agent advised me just to read through the MS.  ”You’ll find it there in the text,” he said, and he was right.  Right in the middle of Chapter 10, in a meeting between humans and robots, there was the phrase Blood and Iron.

This time, unlike with Twisted Metal, I looked up the phrase on Google.   Coincidentally, Bismark used the phrase (or almost used it: he said “iron and blood”) in a speech confusingly known as the “Blood and Iron” speech.  Further checking showed there was no “Blood and Iron” video game.

None of that mattered, really.  Blood and Iron felt right. I knew that was the title.

I’ve seen the Jon Sullivan’s black and white rough for the cover, by the way.  It looks amazing.  The plan is to have the background in blood red, the foreground character in iron grey.

I’m currently thinking about starting book 3.  To me, it will be “The Book of Robots” but that’s not a very commercial title.  I’ll let you know what I come up with.

This has nothing to do with either Robots or Accordions, but it was one of the books I took on holiday with me, and I thought it worth a mention here.

Now, there is nothing quite like the sight of an SF author lying on the beach reading a history of Britain’s railways to get the pulse racing, but let’s stick to the matter in hand…

Fire and Steam traces the history of the railways from the Liverpool to Manchester railway to the present day. (Wolmar doesn’t count the Stockton to Darlington line as a proper railway.  One reason for this is that the line was intended to be leased to any operator who cared to run a vehicle across it, in the manner of a turnpike.  As someone who grew up within the vicinity of the S&D route  I felt a little aggrieved by this, but I follow Wolmar’s reasoning).  The book is a polemic in the best sense, championing the railways and questioning the orthodoxy that they were badly run, particularly in the days of British Rail.  It’s a fascinating history, peppered with interesting facts (for example, the plan to surround London with  a circle of railway lines around which armed trains would run to defend the Capital.  If I’d known that at the time of writing, I’d have included a similar scheme in Twisted Metal for defending Artemis City)

I’d recommend the book to anyone with even a passing interest in railways, but that’s too obvious.  There seems to be a real interest for this sort of thing within the SF genre and beyond.  Think of the popularityof Steam Punk, for example.   There is something comforting about technology that we can all understand, something very satisfying at looking at a machine and knowing how it works from start to finish.  This book treats the entire railway network as just such a machine, and you might want to give it a look even if you think you don’t like trains…

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Fire-Steam-History-Railways-Britain/dp/1843546299

I was thinking the other day about what a great set of games we as PS3 owners have coming up with the likes of Uncharted 2, Assassin’s Creed II, Modern Warfare 2, God Of War 3 etc.

And then I thought back to some of the older games I used to play and how cool it might be if some of them were re-imagined, brought into the 21st Century and onto the PS3.

So here’s the 10 franchises I’d most like to see on the PS3…

10. Kingdom Hearts

Kingdom Hearts squeezes onto the list because I feel sorry for my wife who has had to make do with Kingdom Hearts II since 2006 It’s been a while since I had to sit and watch Sora, Goofy, Donald et al jumping and hacking their way across my TV.

For such a big title, which has been a success in Japan, the US and Europe it’s surprising a next gen title hasn’t been announced, although it’s been hinted at that the upcoming PSP game will tie in with a ‘future title.’

I would imagine they’d give the graphics a lick of paint but the gameplay would stay the same and although I don’t play the games myself I do find it interesting to see which Disney characters they have included as we go through the levels.

However I expect with the PSP game yet to appear Kingdom Hearts fans may be looking at a late 2010/early 2011 release date for Kingdom Hearts III – unless those scamps at Squre Enix have been hard at work without releasing any info at all. All I’ll say is stranger things have happened!

9. The Helicopter ‘Strike’ Series 

Sega Mega Drive classic ‘Desert Strike’ and the pretty good follow up ‘Jungle Strike’ (but we’ll leave it at those two I think ) were both games that lots of people will remember.

You were in control of a US army helicopter and after choosing your co-pilot got dropped in at the deep end – with a bunch of mission objectives and a host of M.I.A’s (Missing In Action) to track down.

The gameplay was really strong and while the content (a war with the Middle East) was sensitive at the time I was too young to understand all that and just wanted to blow some stuff up.

There are plenty of games that have used flying for it’s mode of transport and the recent Tom Clancy Hawx went down the simulation route but I think with a touch of ‘Mercenaries,’ a hint of ‘GTA IV’ and a splash of ‘Battlefield: Bad Company’ a new “Strike” game could be really great.

8. Manhunt

I would imagine a PS3 version of Manhunt is in the works but we haven’t had any sort of announcement from Rockstar about a next gen title in the series.

Obviously any new Manhunt won’t have the original’s twisted story to fall back on and I sincerely hope a new version wouldn’t be relying on ’shocking’ close up kills to sell the game.

Manhunt, for me, was always about the character not the kills. The fact that this guy (or in fact, you) was being forced to kill was a real mindbender. Sure the guys he was taking out were evil thugs but still…

Perhaps the newer version could give you normal people to kill (or not, depending on your choices) although I suppose that might be taking it too far.

Manhunt is certainly a series that would sell well if another game was released but they would definitely need to come up with a great, clever story to juxtaoppose the over the top violence that most people remember the games for.

7. Chase HQ

Chase HQ for me was a brilliant little game that, though limited in gameplay, never got tired – mainly due to the fact that once you caught up with the criminal you were chasing you lent out of the car window and popped one of those awesome stick on police lights on the roof

I admit they may need to up the gameplay – as it was you were given a target, had a time limit to catch them then had to run them off the road.

On the plus side they could check out the updated versions of Out Run for how to do a good job of bringing Chase HQ into the next generation of gaming.

With a graphical overhaul, some new modes and online multiplayer this could be a good little game. Plus the siren is cool anytime

6. Football Manager

As someone who loves the PSP version of Football Manager but would like a bit more depth and interaction it would brilliant to see Football Manager make the step over onto PS3.

Obviously they released one a few seasons back on XBox 360 so I guess at some stage this could become a reality although possibly their ties with Microsoft could end up keeping it a XBox 360 console exclusive.

On the flip side I fear if this actually happened I might never play anything else ever again

I’ve tried the PC version which was cool but I just can’t game on the PC – even with something point and click based like Football Manager, I just feel like I need a pad in my hand.

5. Road Rash

Road Rash was a big fixture in my gaming childhood as I spent hours racing and fighting through the wonderfully colourful terrains created for this awesome game.

The idea behind it was simple – get a bike and take part in illegal street races. The difference here being the fact that you would fight with your rival racers as you made your way through, knocking each other off your bikes.

You’d start off with a terrible bike and earn cash from races to upgrade and get better bikes. It helped that you could also grab weapons from the other racers (like clubs and chains) that were devestating to wield.

You’d obviously have to flesh out the gameplay a bit for the next gen as people expect more bang for their buck but perhaps adding some different weapons and features for the bikes, along with the option to race against other online and a graphical overhaul, might just be enough to see this brought to a new audience.

I’d certainly pick it up as an PSN game even if they just touched up the graphics and made it multi-player online. Imagine 16 or 20 racers all online – just hope I can get the chain and hang on to it

4. Speedball

Speedball has had various updates over the years as several different games companies have attempted to bring the game into 3D.

I’d love to see someone like Rockstar have a bash at this and make it a really dark, gritty game. Would be awesome to see it as a story/career based game where you have to work your way up through the leagues/teams.

Kind of like a TOCA Race Driver type of story mode, only a lot more improved and with some sinster undercurrents

Speedball was always on the dark side – a brutal undeground sport where you could seriously injure your opponents and scoring goals after racking up the points multiplier was all that mattered. Imagine the people that brought you GTA, Manhunt and Max Payne working on a PS3 version!

3. Twisted Metal

Rumours have been floating around for ages that David Jaffe’s (creator of Twisted Metal/God Of War/Calling All Cars) latest top secret project for PS3 is a new Twisted Metal.

He refuses to confirm (or deny) the rumour so this remains on the ‘ones I’d love to see’ list.

The original Twisted Metal on PSOne was a brilliant game of astute driving and absolute carnage. The weapons were well balanced and the drivers/vehicles likewise.

The amazing cast of characters also helped – everyone remembers Sweet Tooth (the psychotic clown with the Ice Cream Van) but all of them had their own back story and everyone had their personal favourites… mine were Crimson Viper and Spectre btw.

Twisted Metal Black on the PS2 continued the high standard but didn’t quite have the same impact (for me at least, the game itself was very well received) although I suspect that might’ve been because it came at a time when I wasn’t gaming all the time.

Twisted Metal will be brilliant on PS3 and I hope the fact Jaffe hasn’t denied the rumour is an indication that this could be coming in 2010.

2. Syphon Filter

Having played and loved the original Syphon Filter on PSOne and working through the PSP games as well, I’m all for a return to the big stage for Gabe Logan. With the Splinter Cell series spiking off exclusively to XBox 360, PS3 is a man down in the stealth/gadget war and Gabe could be the man to rectify the balance.

Syphon Filter has always been about the gadgets, whether it’s Thermal Googles or explosive dart ammo for your sniper rifle. And of course the trusty EDT – a brilliant device that effectively tasers your opponent. Without the need to stay within the confines of usual laws you could keep it held on until your opponent was literally smoking. Extravagant? Perhaps, but when you were out of ammo it was a god send

The comparisons to Metal Gear Solid were inevitable but really Syphon Filter plays a lot like the more action based Metal Gear Solid 4 than the original stealth classic.

I think this would be a great addition to the PS3 catalogue of games.

1. Hitman

Ah, Agent 47 – where the hell are you?!

2006 was the last time we got to use Agent 47’s skills to carry out some (and some not so) stealthy assassinations. And there is still no new word on a next gen version.

Eidos did announce Hitman 5 back in 2007 and I’m hopeful that Eidos money trouble and the take over by Square Enix won’t harm the chances of this one coming out *crosses fingers* but I would’ve thought we would have had some more info by now.

Hitman: Blood Money was the only title in the series I played but that was enough to give me a thirst for a next gen version – the way you had such choice in the assassination was outstanding.

You could make it look like an accident – rig a BBQ to explode etc or just get in and carry out an old skool hit. Alternatively you could resort to trying to blast your way in and blowing your target away but you were unlikely to succeed.

Also the fact you got the front page of a newspaper reporting on the murder as an indication of how well you performed was a stroke of genius.

I dread to think of the options and advanced AI the power of the next gen consoles could provide and I think Hitman could be a real stand out title if they nail it.

It would be a real shame if my last memories of Agent 47 were from the mediocre ‘Hitman’ film of a few years back

So, I’ve been away for a while. I know, I know, but work has been hectic, money has been tight (thus throwing the option of internet cafe’s out the window), and the flu (no, thankfully not that flu) was shitty (to say the barest minimum about my utter hatred of that evil virus), but I am back! Eventually!

First off, let’s get into announcing the winners of the Twisted Metal giveaway! I’m posting the books off on Monday (this coming Monday), so the winner’s will be receiving the books soon!

Without any further a-do, the SA winner of the Hard Cover copy of Twisted Metal is Noelene Botha, and the UK winner of the ARC-softcover of Twisted Metal is M.E. Staton! Congratulations, you two! I hope you enjoy the book as much as I did!

And now, time to announce the beginning of my next giveaway!

There have been a host of giveaways running for this book, and with good reason! I’m reading Book 1 of the Iron Elves Trilogy at the moment, A Darkness Forged in Fire, and I’m pretty much hooked! Chris Evans is definitely going to be a force in Epic Fantasy – his style is easy and flowing, the action scenes are great, the characters memorable and the humor sharp! Look out for a review of that soon!

But back to the giveaway! Thanks to Sheryl at Sneak Attack I have TEN, that’s right, TEN copies of the book to give away! And folks, this giveaway is open WORLDWIDE!! How do you enter?

Just send an email to my Gmail account: davebrendon (at) gmail (dot) com ! That’s it!

The giveaway will be running for a week, so next week Saturday the 8th I’ll be drawing the winners, and I’ll announce them on Sunday the 9th. That gives you all a week to get your entries in, more than enough time! And with TEN copies, there’s definitely going to be some very happy readers out there.

Let’s recap: I’ve got TEN copies of The Light of Burning Shadows to give away; the giveaway will close on the 8th of August, I’ll announce the winners on the 9th, the giveaway is open to entrants WORLDWIDE, and you can enter by sending me an email at davebrendon (at) gmail (dot) com

Star getting those entries in!

To order your copy of A Darkness Forged in Fire, click here for South Africa, here for the US, and here for the UK,

and

To order your copy of Light of Burning Shadows, click here for South Africa, here for the US, and here for the UK!

And be EPIC!

Australian band Jet: before and after ... unfortunately ...

PREVIEW: Jet “She’s a Genius” MP3

While stumbling across the Myspace page of Australian alt-rock band Jet, I couldn’t help but notice a bunch of dudes that looked as if they were from a Chanel cologne ad posing together. To my horror, I looked at the bottom right-hand corner of the image and saw the JET logo in its trademark white and bold capital letters.

What happened to the dirty-looking Aussies who wore “fuck-you” aviators and were too in-your-face to cut their hair? They’re all gone now, replaced by a new faux-mature look and an album cover that looks like something that Blink-182 would release. The real travesty is that their sound is no different from what they have already done for the past two albums.

Although their first single “She’s a Genius” has a good guitar riff in the beginning, that’s all it has going for it. Once Nic Cester’s screaming vocals come in, I pretty much have an idea of what the song is all about. It’s a shame they had to draw this song out to last nearly three minutes when 30 seconds would have been enough to get the point across.

It’s a shame too, since I once saw this band upstage Oasis when they opened for them at MSG in 2005.

– Charlie Weeks

It’s time for games 80-71 in GregHorrorShow’s Top 100 Games!

A quick recap on how I decided who came where:

I decided, as so many games mean so many different things to me, I should come up with a fair way to judge them. This is what I came up with:

Time Spent Playing

Storyline

Difficulty

Fun

Ground Breaking?

A few provisos before we hit the next ten games…

Firstly this is my list of my Top 100 games. I certainly don’t expect you guys to agree with it (though hopefully you’ll agree with some of the choices  ) and would welcome any comments.

Secondly, I’m not planning on putting the scores or totals up, just listing the games in the order they came out in.

Lastly, I never owned a Nintendo or Microsoft console so my experiences on these games were limited to friend’s houses etc – bite me

So here’s number 80!

80. WARHAMMER 40,000: FIRE WARRIOR (Playstation 2)

I was never really into Warhammer as a kid. I had the Space Crusade board game they put out but made up my own rules and that was as far as I went. However I was quite excited by the prospect getting into Space Marine gear and… Oh you’re not a Space Marine Despite that disappointment the game was great fun and it made a refreshing change to blast people with lasers as opposed to bullets. A good game with some nice shootouts as the story progresses.

79. DONKEY KONG (Arcade)

The game that made Mario famous. Donkey Kong was really difficult. Trying to get the little plumber up to the top without being hit by the numerous barrels thrown by Donkey Kong was a major challenge. Add in fireballs and elevators and it becomes nigh on impossible. One of the first real platform games and a real coin eater in the aracde.

78. SUPER PUNCH OUT (Arcade)

Another arcade classic – I’ve got lots of happy memories of this gem. In particular my nan playing it on one holiday and doing pretty well! This was a great game that put you squarely in the shoes of a boxer trying to win the world title. Your opponents were a ragtag bunch of cartoon-esque characters – after Glass Joe the rest stepped up the difficulty and kept you coming back for more.

77. FINAL FIGHT (Arcade)

One of my favourite games EVER. Final Fight was absolutely brilliant… limted but brilliant. The mayor’s daughter has been kidnapped and her friends Cody and Guy set off to rescue her. Oh, did I forget to mention her Dad is MIKE HAGGER He also goes along to rescue her. You had the choice of controlling either of the three men before dishing out some vigilante justice on the streets of Metro City. Awesome, just awesome.

76. MICRO MACHINES (Sega Mega Drive)

Man, the hours I piled into this game are never coming back Stonking multi-player racing, especially with the Mega Drive cartridge itself housing two extra pad ports for four player mayhem! Everyone always picked Spider but we all know if he was angry enough Walter probably could’ve taken him Seriously good racing, very well thought out courses and the hazards were brilliant.

75. MANIC MINER (ZX Spectrum)

Manic Miner was a mainstay of my young gaming life as we had it for the ZX Spectrum when I was a kid. Boy was this a toughie! I think I only made it a few screens in. This was the ultimate in hardcore gaming for me for a long time. Frustrating but fun and it was a real challenge to see who could get the furthest.

74. DONKEY KONG COUNTRY (Super Nintendo)

I used to get to my mates house early before school every morning to play this at one stage. The comic style 3D graphics were like nothing else at the time and some of the gameplay was brilliant. This was one of those games that everybody was playing and it was one of the few decent games to do 3D properly.

73. WWE LEGENDS OF WRESTLEMANIA (Playstation 3)

All your favourites from the WWF era (excluding Macho Man Randy Savage) come together to battle it out in WWE Wrestlemania. What I love about this game is the fact it’s so easy to play and the quick time events for bigger moves/finishers is a brilliant addition. The best wrestling game in years.

72. TWISTED METAL (Playstation)

Rumours abound that Twisted Metal will be making a return to PS3 in the next year or so and I welcome it. The first game saw you enter into a competition against other drivers with the mysterious Calypso, who promises the winner whatever they desire. Vehicles are armed and it’s a fight to the death. Remembered for demonic ice cream van driving clown Sweet Tooth, my favourite was Crimson Fury or Spectre – brilliant characters.

71. KANE AND LYNCH (Playstation 3)

I know Kane and Lynch got a lot of stick upon it’s release but for me, while it was broken in terms of camera and controls, it had enough great moments to see it through. Some of the levels were brilliant – the bank robbery, the jail break etc. I really liked the storyline and the online mode Fragile Alliance was one of the best concepts I’ve encountered for online multiplayer gaming. Essentially there is a pot of money for your team to rob from the building. Facing off against the police is one thing but only surviving members get a cut of the cash. So if there are three of you left when the police are dealt with do you split the money three ways? Or try and take out the other guys and keep it all for yourself? Absolutely fantastic.

So another lot wrapped up, we’re edging towards the Top 50!! Games 70 – 61 up next…

Whether it’s a new Twisted Metal or not, apparently the world is about to learn what God of War designer David Jaffe has been working on since Calling All Cars. On Twitter, Jaffe responded to a comment directed at him regarding God of War III, asking the follower to purchase his new game, which would be “announced soon.”

The popular speculation is that Jaffe has been working on a next-generation take on his beloved Twisted Metal series, a franchise that’s taken a backseat since the critically acclaimed Twisted Metal Black (a sequel was in development but eventually scrapped) and Twisted Metal: Head-On for PSP.

With the vehicular combat genres currently dead in the water, a new Twisted Metal could be exactly what the industry is looking for right now.

You wont see the review here.

But you will see it over at Liz & Mark’s blog, My Favourite Books. Liz asked me to do a guest review on her blog -in fact, the review happened as a repayment of many favours Liz has done for me- and then something else happened that made the review even better, but more on that at the end of this post.

Suffice it to say that Twisted Metal is an excellent SF book, a worthy addition to the already-great lore of Robots, and a surprisingly original take on robots themselves. If you’ve been overloaded with robots of all kinds in the past while (what with Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen & Terminator Salvation), don’t worry, Twisted Metal doesn’t emulate them in any way. Trust me when I say that you’ve never quite met robots like those that populate the world Tony has created in Twisted Metal.
Do head on over to Liz and Mark’s excellent blog and read my review.

Next up, I’m also announcing the new giveaway here – it’s already been announced by Liz. Here’s the info, and how to enter.

There are TWO copies of Twisted Metal up for grabs: 1 paperback and 1 hardback.

Good luck!

Check out Tony Ballantyne’s website here, and if you’d like to order the book, click here for SA, here for USA, here for UK.

Be EPIC!

David Jaffe, criador das famosas franquias Twisted Metal e God of War, descartou que vai anunciar seu novo jogo na E3 deste ano.

“Vou dizer agora, porque algumas pessoas estão especulando: nós não vamos mostrar nosso novo jogo na E3,” disse o desenvolvedor, em um vídeo.

“Eu vou estar lá, e o Scott Campbell também deve estar, mas não vamos mostrar nada.”

No entanto, Jaffe espera que em 2010 a história seja diferente.

“No próximo ano, eu realmente espero que nós estejamos lá. Uma parte de minha adoraria anunciar na E3, então você entra na sala da conferência da Sony e, pronto, lá está o nosso jogo.”

Especula-se, e isso deve ocorrer, que o novo jogo do estúdio seja Twisted Metal.

bueno ya regresando a este mundo dado a unas cosas que tuve (el estar con mi girlfriend, la escuela, la hueva) volvi a este espacio y ahora con una cancion que me gusta y ademas con un gran videojuego!

paint it black – rolling stones (twisted metal black)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n2-D3yWUMwY&feature=channel_page

y otro video de TMB

I’ve included this entry in the Interviews category to make up for the fact that I forgot to mention Pat Mills…

Let me explain.  Interviews usually include a question along the lines of “Who are your biggest influences”, but it wasn’t until I was reading this weeks 2000AD I realised I hadn’t been mentioning one of my biggest: Pat Mills.  Now, its not within the scope of this blog to write biographies (its scope is Robots and Accordions, as I’ve mentioned before), so follow the link if you want to know more about him, but I’m including this entry to make up for Mills’s omission from recent interviews.

So why Pat Mills?  Well, his stories Robusters, ABC Warriors and Metalzoic all featured robots and were an undeniable influence on me, but there is more to it than that.

I grew up on three great comics writers, Alan Moore, John Wagner and Pat Mills.  Mills was always my favourite:  for the breadth of his imagination (Nemesis book 4 is surely the birth of Steampunk), his attention to detail (the research that went into Slaine spawned many imitators), but mostly for his depth of character.  Fitting real characters into SF or Fantasy settings can be a challenge, Mills manages it better than the others, to my mind.

I could go on, in fact I think I will  in another entry some time, but for the moment, here are some recommendations:

Marshall Law

Charley’s War

Nemesis Book 1 

As far as I can remember, only one robot in Twisted Metal has a nose, and she uses this to sniff petrol.  Although all the robots on the planet Penrose have the capacity to install a nose, very few of them choose to do so.  The robots of Shull, in particular, live in a place with very few organic compounds, and so have little reason to smell things.  They prefer to use the metal to make something else.

It probably wouldn’t surprise anyone who has ever been on a writing course to discover this made writing the book (and the sequel) something of a challenge.  Would be writers are always advised to make use of all five senses when describing things, and this is good counsel.  The sense of smell is particularly evocative (the smell of the sea and sun tan lotion always makes me think of holidays, for example) and to remove this sense from the book was a great wrench.

But I had to do it.  The novel is written from the point of view of robots, and the robots in the book have no need to smell things.  

Did it make a difference to the reader of the book?  Did anyone even notice?  I’d be interested to hear what people think…

The Falcata times interview me here:  http://falcatatimes.blogspot.com/2009/04/interview-tony-ballantyne_30.html

Mark Chitty, over at Walker of Worlds, has just posted this interview with me, if you’re interested in that sort of thing.

http://walkerofworlds.blogspot.com/2009/04/interview-tony-ballantyne.html

I’ll be signing copies of Twisted Metal at Forbidden Planet, London

http://upcoming.yahoo.com/event/2132099/

Saturday 2nd May, 2-3pm

Please note the slight change of time.  This will be followed by a panel at Sci-Fi-London, 

Apollo Piccadilly Circus

Saturday 2nd May, 5.15pm

‘Robots and Reality’ discussion with Oisin McGann

The Bramble Briar, sometimes known as Bruton Town, is a  folk song that dates back to the 14th Century.  In it, a young woman’s lover is murdered by her two brothers because they feel he is too low born for her.  They hide the body in a ditch filled with the briars of the title.

You can find the lyrics here: http://www.traditionalmusic.co.uk/folk-song-lyrics/Bramble_Briar.htm.  My favourite versions are by Martin Simpson  and Bert Jansch.  Bellowhead offer a nice twist on their recent album “Matachin”

Now, I’m currently in the middle of the still untitled Twisted Metal 2, and The Bramble Briar keeps running through my head.  This is probably because TM is partly inspired by old ballads (there is a good reason for this which I’ll probably talk about another time),  but it’s also because a couple of weeks ago I was stuck on a plot point and I was struck by the following …

In the ballad, the young woman dreams that her murdered lover comes to her and tells her about his death.  She goes out next morning and finds his bloody body in the ditch.   Now you couldn’t get away with that sort of a development nowadays.  The woman’s lover is gone.  How is the writer going to get her to find him and thus advance the plot?  Will she ask around, look for clues, think about his likely behaviour, question her brothers motives further?   All that would take time and would involve a lot of thought on the writers part to make it work.  So no, she just has a dream and it all gets explained.

Don’t get me wrong, I’m not having a go at all those men and women who contributed to the ballad’s present form, after all things were very different then and writing was still developing.  But writers today fall into the ‘explain everything by having a dream’  trap.  I do it myself. 

But lets be honest, it’s lazy.  And I really don’t think there is any excuse for this nowadays.

Al menos eso indica un mensaje oculto en Twisted Metal Head On de Playstation 2 (port de la versión de PSP), que dice asi ” Twisted Metal is on PSTHREE”. Dicho mensaje aparecia en un documental, donde al sustituir por las letras correspondientes de los numeros de flash nos revelaba este mensaje.

Además David Jaffe admitio que habia insertado un video en su ultimo videojuego, que nos dejaria ver que pasaria con el futuro de la serie, a pesar de no confirmar que el titulo llegara al PS3.

A partir de esto se cree que el juego podria llegar antes de que termine este año.

[Fuente:IGN]