West Karana

I almost — ALMOST — bought Guitar Hero: Aerosmith this weekend, for the PS3. And I probably would have, if I’d gone there Sunday instead of Saturday. Games for the PS3 are $60, the new price point, and I’d have had to buy a guitar controller for the PS3 as well.

I have two guitar controllers for the Xbox 360 and two more for the PS2. My desire to invest in more guitar controllers is precisely zero.

And yet, I wanted to find a game to play for my PS3. It’s great for watching Doctor Who on the big screen (”The Stolen Earth” — AMAZING.) but I feel really frustrated that I haven’t been able to find even one game for the PS3 worth the $60.

I thought Guitar Hero: Aerosmith would be the one. But it wasn’t for sale when I went. I played the Guitar Hero demo system they had set up near the Aerosmith display, thinking it was a preview for the new game. I realized, though, as I worked through the set list, that this was Guitar Hero III, a game I’d played through once on the PS2, but was so turned off by the awful boss battles that I never played it again.

I went home, plugged the PS*2* in, and played Guitar Hero III again. I was AWFUL. Absolutely HORRID.

What followed was at least an hour or two of calibrating the game for the new widescreen TV. Ahhhhh…. I could play again.

I mean, when you can’t even hit the notes at the very slowest speed in practice mode — it’s not you.

Anyway, I wanted the game for the PS3, but it’s the exact same game as for the PS2, and I already have the controllers for the PS2 (and they remain my favorite of all the controllers). The picture was a little fuzzy but the music was just as loud.

I WANT to believe. I WANT to believe that the $400 lump of metal and plastic beneath my TV is worth more than just a REALLY GOOD media controller to someone who isn’t into shooters and war games. (PS3 fans go WTF? What other kinds of games ARE there?).

My search for a game that I can show people that will justify the PS3 continues.

Ah, I think I found the problem…

I haven’t written about the Fires of Pompeii episode or Planet of the Ood because, well, who cares. I’ll never watch either episode again. Scratch that; I watched the Pompeii one twice. That was good Who. Planet of the Ood will be sent to the psycho-recycler by armies of gray-clad, tentacly-faced Ood.

This week, the Doctor rehearses a goodbye speech, Donna visits her Uncle Ben and Aunt May, Martha Jones takes a crash course in effective minion management, the people of Britain forget how to roll down their car windows, and Evil Wesley Crusher helps an army of ugly hobbits take over the world, in part 1 of the Sontaren Stratagem.

Spoilers follow!

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Last night, millions of Britons (8.4 millions to be exact) sat down to the first episode of the latest series of Doctor Who, the first with Catherine Tate (who co-starred in the 2006 Christmas special). And today, millions of people outside the UK downloaded it and watched it as well. I watched it on my television via my Vista laptop running the media center extensions for a show I’d downloaded on my Linux desktop computer. The wonders of a home network :) As I watched it from the couch with my morning waffles and Diet Coke, I thought how wonderful it will be when BBC makes some sort of deal with some US network so we can see it the SAME DAY.

I mean, it’s the same thing going the other way. People around the world watch our Lost and Battlestar Galactica; I bet they’d love to see it same day as well. I faithfully watch Jericho, Lost, BSG and so on, on the television, as they are broadcast, with commercials, because I want to support these programs and see more like them. I would gladly do the same for Doctor Who if I could get it on Saturday evening like the do in London. So, speaking of London, on to the show.

I don’t know much about the UK aside from what I learned in school — the king, mad with lead poisoning, puts his onerous taxes on us until we elect George W. Bush who cuts them and then we declared independence and gave them Canada or something. I’m not sure on the specifics. Apparently they no longer even have a king! Maybe they lost him in a poker game with France? Battle of Hastings… William of Orange… I dunno, I’m an American. Reformation. Are they still doing that? But I’m pretty sure that Cardiff must be the Vancouver of England, though. A nice city in another country which you can claim is New York, Los Angeles, or London.

Anyway, past here is all spoilers. So if you want the episode to be deliciously unspoiled, stop here. Otherwise, click on through.

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It’s a new year and time for all the shows that left us hanging last year to finally get around to rescuing us from that cliff. Read on for spoilers, rumors, speculation and rabid fangirl-ism for Avatar: The Last Airbender, Battlestar Galactica, and Doctor Who. Tomorrow I’ll finish up with Heroes, Lost, Robin Hood, and Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip.

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Yesterday was June 6th, 2006 - 6/6/6 - and naturally, the entertainment industry was full of devil love for the day. The entire pointless remake of the Omen came out; Slayer kicked off their Unholy tour; and Doctor Who woke Satan.

The Doctor and Rose interview Sauron to replace Rose’s ex-boyfriend Mickey, left in a parallel universe in “The Age of Steel”

The Doctor and Rose found themselves stranded on a planet suspended above Hell. The TARDIS is lost, you see - and doesn’t it seem like the TARDIS is about as reliable as the original Star Trek transporters? Anyway, they are stuck with a group of good, ordinary, working-class Brits (in Doctor Who, working class accent = not evil) on a planet hovering over Hell. Yup, just them. And their demonic slaves, the Oud. Who start chanting that the beast has awoken, all will serve him. There are deaths; one woman is sucked straight into Hell.

I am sure the Doctor will point out next episode that he defeated Satan way back when he was Tom Baker…

“No! I’ll talk! Just don’t shine that green light in my face again!”

Screen grabs from the “The Impossible Planet” and “Pyramids of Mars, Part 4″. Look how much nicer the high definition NEW Doctor Who is than the muddy broadcast version from the 70s.