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Is Halo The Best Video Game Brand Of All Time?

As I’ve written, and written and written, I am a ridiculous Halo fan.

I still contend that outside of Half-Life, no other game has changed the First Person Shooter genre more since the big green guy in the Mark IV MJOLNIR armor arrived. Despite the dismissive hand-waving of Sony Fanboy lifers, Halo is still the largest single platform shooter of all time (whose sales still rival Call of Duty as a multi-platform juggernaut) and a big reason that Xbox survived its embryonic stages after launch. Its 2004 follow up, Halo 2, was the largest entertainment release at the time. Considering there have been four official releases since, other Halo strategy games, merchandise, Legos, fiction novels, comic books, mini movies, etc, the canon that is Halo is strong and enduring and thick like a Jackal’s energy shield. So, is there any possible way of damaging that monolithic brand?

This question comes about because of Halo’s most recent release, the Master Chief Collector’s Edition that debuted November 11th, developed by 343 Industries. Now, this should have been a slam dunk. All the Halo games featuring the 7 foot man of few words protagonist, Master Chief (Halo: ODST and Halo: Reach don’t apply), all games that were legitimate Game of the Year nominees (and some winners), all games that had incredible sales records and all games worthy of a next gen upgrade. So the games are already great. And they were released for the 10-year anniversary of Halo 2, the series’ most ambitious and fabled entry. And a huge budget was allotted for Halo 2’s complete (and stunning) makeover with a multiplayer suite and tons of options across all 4 games. Retailers were charging $60 for this game, but Halo-stans like myself probably would’ve paid twice that for all that was included and folks, we’re talking about games up to 13-years-old. So what could possibly go wrong? Well, how about everything.

For context, the first three games of this collection were developed by Bungie, who is currently commanding this year’s biggest release in Destiny (which I’m still playing more than any other game by the way, but that’s a column for another day). Bungie left Microsoft to develop games for Activision, but Microsoft had already acquired Halo outright years before and hands it over to 343, who exceeded expectations and continued the storied legacy of Master Chief in Halo 4. It was 343’s first huge test and they passed with all skulls active, so when we finally heard about the Master Chief Collection, we trusted that 343 would deliver.

Read More from William Evans at blacknerdproblems.com

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The Reality: Fantasy Fiction Novels with People of Color Are Difficult to Find in the Local Library

In fourth grade, I was introduced to fantasy fiction through “The Harry Potter” series. I became a fan of the series when the fourth book was the latest book released. There was something irresistible about Harry’s world that I couldn’t explain. When I read the first three books, everything I read vividly appeared in my mind in bright colors. Once things got darker with the fourth books, the colors shone like stars in new characters and gave me hope for those I already knew.

I loved how Harry’s world painted my imagination with its characters and creatures. As I waited for the newest book in the series to be released, I decided to maintain that feeling by reading other fantasy series such as “Percy Jackson and The Olympians” and certain “Dragonlance” trilogies. Together with the “Harry Potter” series, these books painted my imagination into a lovely kaleidoscope and also sparked an interest in mythology and folklore.

For a while, race wasn’t an issue for me when it came to characters. I related to things that went beyond skin color, like Hermione’s brain and her being put down because of it. In high school, I realized I couldn’t find any characters of color I could relate to in contemporary teen fiction. Due to the lack of diversity in diverse characters, I looked to white characters even more.

After Harry’s adventures ended in my junior year of high school, I found one or two other series that I enjoyed. Then, I started to get bored with fantasy fiction. I was tired of the same old strong female characters and books with vampires, fairies and demons. After a while, even fantasy series I loved to reread also became boring.

I wanted something new, but wasn’t sure what it was. Then last year, I watched the animated series “W.I.T.C.H.” on YouTube and found myself relating to Taranee Cook, a Black female main character who could control fire. That’s when I realized that I wanted to read fantasy fiction with people of color.

On Goodreads, I requested fantasy fiction books written by African-American authors and ended up reading “Sister Mine” by Nalo Hopkinson. While it took me a few chapters to get into the book, I found myself experiencing the same thrill I got from reading the “Harry Potter” books. However, the lack of fantasy fiction by Black authors at my local libraries and my picky reading taste prevented me from finding more books.

Read More from Latonya Pennington: blackgirlnerds.com

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Love Supernatural Stories? ‘Daughter of Gods and Shadows’ is for You

Eden Moore is the protagonist in the first series of the trilogy (“Daughter of Gods and Shadows”) written by J.D. Mason as Jayde Brooks. Eden is a lost soul looking for her purpose in life, a shy and awkward 24-year-old individual who discovers that her destiny has been set in motion thousands of years before her existence in another realm.

I felt like I was reading a collection of miniseries biographies, as the first half of the book gave me a history lesson on Eden, the gods, demons, their powers and their purpose. A much-needed necessity as the second part of the trilogy will be titled “City of Dark Creatures.”

The book reads like Season 6 of HBO True Blood and I say that because literally anything can happen. Set in modern times, but entwined with unpredictable supernatural concurrency. It tends to flip back and forth, from reality to fantasy, then all mixed in at times.

“Eden would finally finish what the redeemer had been called to do, and Eden would succeed where Mkombozi had failed. She had no choice.”

A romantic at heart, I truly enjoyed the love story between Eden and her Guardian from the time he came into her life and the effect he had on it.

The second book should be more engaging and easy to follow for the readers, now that the first book has explained the characters and their intent. Note to audience: You should pay attention to details and be good at taking notes.

Source: Christina Angela Jeter at blackgirlnerds.com

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A Classic Fairy tale With A Delightful Twist – Princeless: Vol 1 & 2 Review

Vol 1 Princeless

Ah Fairy Tales! To many women they were a staple of our girlhood, the source of many of our romantic dreams and expectations. There is still something intrinsically attractive in them for young girls. Lucky for me my mother was partial to the Brothers Grimm as opposed to the Disney versions in my bedtime reading. So my Princesses were a bit craftier, and used smarts as well as quick thinking to outwit those pesky evil step mothers and villainous henchman.

With Princeless, we get all the wonderful essences of a classic fairytale with a delightful twist. Princess Adrienne has heard the stories a million times: beautiful princess, tall, foreboding tower guarded by a fearsome dragon, a parade of young princes risking their lives for a chance to rescue and romance the lovely princess.

However she can’t blindly accept this situation. She questions the whole process and yet upon her 16th birthday she finds herself in the same predicament. Adrienne however is not content to wait idly by for a rescuer. Finding a sword in her tower room she convinces her guardian Dragon Sparky to join her on a noble quest: rescue other Princesses trapped in similar towers starting with her sisters!

I really loved this issue. The story moves at a great pace showing us Adrienne’s formative years and her wonderful questing nature to her choice to break out of the stereotypical Princess role. Goodwin, Belton and Kim did such a wonderful job on the art. It is crisp and colorful. I was overjoyed to discover Adrienne was a racially diverse character.

Read more from Kai Charles: blackgirlnerds.com

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Lack of Minorities at Tech Conferences Spurs Action

I love tech conferences. The knowledge to be gained from attending talks, the schwag you receive from technology vendors trying to push their latest and greatest product, the incredible networking with other professionals in the tech space, and, most importantly, the exposure to the newest and latest trends in tech makes attending technology conferences well worth my while. I’ve attended conferences about Linux, FOSS, Nagios, Information Security, virtualization and quite a few others during my career in the technology field.

What I don’t love about most tech conferences is the lack of minority representation on both the attendee and speaker side. It still alarms me that I have “virtually” met tons of people of color that work in the tech field but still fail to see these numbers translate into tech conference attendance/speakers.

I think this post deserves a bit more of a set up so maybe you’ll begin to understand it more. I began attending technology conferences early in my career. Ohio Linux Fest was my first one. I went because that’s where the “geeks” were going to be and I wanted to soak up as much knowledge as possible. The experience of being around other Linux geeks was amazing. The camaraderie, the networking, the knowledge-sharing was something that really stuck with me. The absence of people of color at these conferences all stuck with me and was my main reason for starting BIT.

Read more from Greg Greenlee at blacksintechnology.net

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From Greek Mythology to Life in Washington State, Author Michael G. Munz Sits Down for a Q&A

“It takes place in modern day and features a geeky male, a strong-willed kick-ass female who gains kudos for being a pro at deflecting unwanted male attention (read harassment), the Greek gods (of course) and a whole lot of trouble.”

Synopsis: The gods are back. Did you myth them?

Black Girl Nerds: What inspired the book?

Michael G. Munz: Inspiration for “Zeus Is Dead” has come in chunks ever since the mid-1990s.
I’ve been into Greek mythology since I was a kid, and I took a couple of classics courses in college that reminded me how varied and interesting the members of the Greek pantheon are. I wanted to write a new myth (set in ancient Greece) with such characters, but I wanted to develop my abilities for a while in order to do it justice. In 2002, when I first wrote the short story “Playing With Hubris” — in which a modern man meets two people in a café claiming to be Apollo and Thalia — I realized the potential that lay in putting mythological characters into our modern world. I played with the concept in a couple more short stories until — trying to decide what to write after finishing “A Memory in the Black” (my second sci-fi novel) a number of years ago — I decided it was time to use the concept as novel fodder.

BGN: Because you have used a mythological tone, yet set in a modern time, is this book your revelation of how you see today’s world?

Michael G. Munz: Only in a sense. My primary goal in writing “Zeus Is Dead” was to create something that would make people laugh, but a fair bit of satire did creep into the novel as it developed. I often found myself using the gods (and their massive egos) to make observations about the real world, our celebrities and our leaders.

BGN: What do you want the readers to take away after reading your novel?

Michael G. Munz: Muscle aches from smiling and laughing, a heightened interest in the characters of Greek mythology, and maybe even the idea that, once in a while, people can surprise us.

BGN: In the book, Thalia is a scatterbrained muse of comedy and science fiction. Why did you pick those two genres as her purview?

Michael G. Munz: Oh, now “scatterbrained” might be just a bit unfair. Granted, if she had a spirit animal it would be a caffeinated hummingbird, but she IS a muse. Inspiration flows through her veins due to her very nature, and she likes to think out loud. But to answer your question, I figured that if I was going to write a comedy that included a muse as a character, I’d do well to make it the muse of comedy. (Thalia is named as the muse of comedy in the original mythology.) But I also figured that the nine muses would have to take on new duties when the modern genres came into being. As a sci-fi geek, I thought it would be fun to give her that responsibility as well. Douglas Adams got his ideas from somewhere, after al l…

BGN: “Apollo, a compulsive overachiever with a bursting portfolio of godly duties, risks his very godhood to help sarcastic TV producer Tracy Wallace and a gamer-geek named Leif — two mortals who hold the key to Zeus’s resurrection.” Is this conflict a subliminal history of your personal experiences with life?

Michael G. Munz: Oh, I certainly hope not! I try my best to AVOID responsibility as much as possible. (That’s why I’m a writer and not a doctor or an air traffic controller.) Apollo has always been my favorite of the Greek pantheon, though. He seems to be one of the more decent gods, at least in most cases. But he’s also got so many responsibilities in the traditional mythology: He’s the god of the sun, healing, archery, truth, light, prophecy, music, literature, etc. (He’s also picked up gelatin desserts at the start of “Zeus Is Dead.”) It seemed like he’d be a pretty busy guy, especially if the entire world was looking to him for favors in all of those categories, which could swiftly lead to some massive internal conflict for the poor guy.

BGN: In your bio, it states you were born in Pennsylvania but moved to Washington state in 1977 at the age of 3. Unable to escape the state’s gravity, you spent most of your time studying writing. What was the state’s gravity?

Michael G. Munz: Oh, 9.8 meters per second squared same as anywhere else on Earth. But, really, that line in my bio is just me being figurative and trying to say — in what some generous individuals might consider to be a clever way — that I like it here and haven’t found cause to leave. Western Washington is a nice mix of forests, oceans, mountains and sky, with some pretty interesting cities scattered about. Having friends and family here helps keep me around, too.

Read more at: blackgirlnerds.com

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6 Insults Most Blerds Have Heard at Some Point in Their Lives

Being Called an ‘Oreo’

The term “Oreo” is defined as a Black person who is regarded as having adopted the attitudes, values and behaviors thought to be characteristics of middle-class white society, often at the expense of his or her own heritage.

Although Black culture is part of what defines Black people, the idea that the culture is static is completely ludicrous. The term “Oreo” completely discounts the fact that no matter how different a Black person acts in comparison to racial stereotypical images, that can never change his or her skin. So that person still has to deal with the day-to-day racism or injustices that are geared toward Black people.

‘Why Do You Sound/Look White?’

This insult is closely related to the “Oreo” insult. Not only is it offensive for not realizing the dynamics of Black people, it goes a step further in perpetuating the myth that white people somehow have a monopoly on looking, sounding and being intelligent.

‘The Only Reason You Got Into a Good College is Because You’re Black’

This stems from a lack of understanding of how affirmative action works, and believing that it has something to do with filling quotas. The truth is that Black youths have to be quite exceptional to get into a good school, especially when compared to their white counterparts.

Ironically, as many as 15 percent of freshmen at America’s top schools are white students who failed to meet their university’s minimum standards for admission, according to Peter Schmidt, deputy editor of the Chronicle of Higher Education. These kids are “people with a long-standing relationship with the university,” or, in other words, the children of faculty, wealthy alumni and politicians.

According to Schmidt, these unqualified but privileged kids are nearly twice as common on top campuses as Black and Latino students who have benefited from affirmative action.

‘You’re So Articulate …’

This is the ultimate backhanded compliment. Often, the people uttering the phrase truly believe they’re being nice when saying this. However, it is quite an ignorant statement. First, it assumes that the average Black person is dumb and inarticulate, and that the person they’re “complimenting” is so rare it’s like they’ve come into contact with a unicorn. It also assumes that there’s only one acceptable way for smart people to talk.

‘You Look/Remind Me of Urkel/Carlton Banks’

Because of the gross misrepresentation of Black people in mainstream media, characters like Urkel from Family Matters and Carlton from The Fresh Prince Of Bel-Air are the only archetypes many people have of a Black nerd. However, equating someone as being a Blerd for simply wearing large glasses and “preppy” clothes undervalues the intelligence of true Blerds

‘Being a Sellout’

This insult is particularly offensive because it usually comes from another Black person. While there are many people who have betrayed the Black community, being smart and successful does not automatically make you a “sellout”.

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9 Blerd Celebrities Who Are Taking Over Pop Culture

blerd tyson Neil deGrasse Tyson

Neil deGrasse Tyson is an astrophysicist, author and advocate of science literacy. He is currently the Frederick P. Rose director of the Hayden Planetarium at the Rose Center for Earth and Space, and a research associate in the Department of Astrophysics at the American Museum of Natural History in New York City.

From 2006 to 2011, Tyson hosted the educational science television show NOVA ScienceNow on PBS, and he has been a frequent guest on other TV shows, including The Daily Show, The Colbert Report, and Real Time with Bill Maher. Since 2009, he has hosted the weekly radio show StarTalk.

In 2014, Tyson began hosting a TV science documentary series, Cosmos: A Spacetime Odyssey, an update of late astrophysicist Carl Sagan’s Cosmos: A Personal Voyage, a 1980s television series.

Tyson has also appeared on television episodes of sitcom The Big Bang Theory and sci-fi series  Stargate Atlantis.

blerd rhimes

Shonda Rhimes

Shonda Rhimes is a screenwriter, director, and producer, who is best known as creator, head writer, and executive producer of the medical drama television series Grey’s Anatomy, its spin-off Private Practice, and the political thriller series, Scandal.

In May 2007, the popular Hollywood writer was named one of Time magazine’s 100 people who help shape the world.  Rhimes has a new legal series on ABC, How to Get Away with Murder, which will air in the 2014-15 season.

Rhimes, who describes her self as a “nerd” says one of her favorite activities is to watch the Scripps National Spelling Bee and to “nerd out” while blogging about the competition.

“I’ve been watching the bee forever. Way back, when it was first on ESPN is when I first started watching. I’ve been watching forever. I’m a nerd that way, but I was very into it and a bee nerd in school,” she said.

Rhimes attended Dartmouth College, where she earned a bachelor’s degree, and the University of Southern California where she received a Master of Fine Arts from the School of Cinema-Television.

blerd glover

Donald Glover

Donald Glover is an actor, comedian, rapper, writer and proud Black nerd, who first became popular for his work with the Internet comedy sketch group, Derrick Comedy.

From 2006 to 2009, he was a writer for the NBC comedy series 30 Rock. He was also cast in the role of Troy Barnes in the television series Community, and in 2010, he starred in a stand-up special on Comedy Central network.

Glover released his debut album as a hip-hop artist the next year,  followed by a second release in 2013. The young star graduated from New York University with a degree in dramatic writing.

Melissa Harris-Perry

Melissa Harris-Perry is a professor at Tulane University, television host and political commentator with a focus on African-American politics. Harris-Perry hosts a weekend news and opinion television show on MSNBC.

Before working for MSNBC,  she taught at Princeton University and the University of Chicago. Harris-Perry is also a regular columnist for the magazine The Nation, the author of Sister Citizen: Shame, Stereotypes, and Black Women in America, and founding director of the Anna Julia Cooper Project on Gender, Race, and Politics in the South.

Harris-Perry attended Wake Forest University where she received a bachelor’s degree in English, and Duke University where she earned a doctorate in political science.

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8 Black Female Inventors You Might Not Know

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Dr. Shirley Jackson is an American physicist.  She received her Ph.D. from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1973, becoming the first African-American woman to earn a doctorate at MIT in nuclear physics. Currently, Jackson is the 18th president of Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in Troy, N.Y.

In addition to her academic achievements, she also has an impressive list of inventions to her credit. Her experiments with theoretical physics are responsible for many telecommunications developments, including the touch-tone telephone, the portable fax, caller ID, call waiting and the fiber-optic cable.

Marie-Van-Brittan-Brown

Marie Van Brittan Brown received a patent in 1969, making her the first person to develop a patent for closed- circuit television security. Brown’s system was designed with four peepholes and a motorized camera that could slide up and down to look at each one. Her invention became the framework for the modern closed-circuit television system that is widely used for surveillance, crime prevention and traffic monitoring.

 

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