I just saw today that Overlord: Fellowship of Evil is coming out late September for PC, PS4, and Xbox One. I am so psyched! It does look a bit more like Diablo this time, but how can I resist the funny writing of Rhianna Pratchet, script writer for the other Overlord games and the recent Tomb Raider reimagining. I'm preordering this tomorrow even though I still don't have a current gen console. I think I might finally get a Xbox One for this though.
My friend pointed out Dragon Quest Heroes coming in October as well for PS4. A reason for me to jump on board the PS4 bandwagon too. I don't know how I'm going to work it with my friend not having the funds for a new system, but maybe it'll be back to same-screen co-op. Then it's just a Wii-U at Christmas time and I'll finally be caught up. Well see, but I'm psyched to do it all this holiday season.
And back to my 1998 fest and books. I must've started reading again in '98 because Seamus Heaney's translation of Beowulf came out and I couldn't resist picking it up. Beowulf was one of the first books I had to read in English class in High School. I liked Heaney's translation and now I'm looking up his poetry and original works too.
What I didn't realize came out in '98 was the second Harry Potter book, Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets. Yes this is the UK release date. It came out in '99 in the US. Still, I put it on my list, and since I'm just about done with Toni Morrison's Jazz. I ordered the audio book from the library today so I can start it tomorrow.
That's all folks. Onto Film and TV in '98 for tomorrow.
WOOOO FILM AND TV '98. TITANIC. lol
Chamber of Secrets was ok. I started to REALLY get into the series with Prisoner of Azkaban.
yeah Chamber of Secrets was definitely so so. People who didn't read the books and only saw the movies missed out on a lot though. She's a good writer.
The movies were all pretty much just ok to me. I've gone back and read a couple of the books, but I was pretty much done with each of the movies after one squat in the theater unless they came on TV ... in which case, I mostly still didn't care.
I still haven't seen Titanic even though it was in the theaters for like the whole year.
I've listened to the first two discs of Chamber of Secrets now and I was thinking about the similarities to Road Dahl's Matilda book. After a while I fogot about the comparison and I think that says something good about Harry Potter. The story is good enough that you get caught up in it and forget about what inspired it. It's its own world.
There are tons of references in those books to literature, ancient beliefs and mythologies, etc. I always read them pretty straightforward, but they can be dense if you're really looking.
I read Matilda recently and it really jumped out as a main inspiration. The story is very similar in a kind of basic way.
The abused kid getting magic powers thing. Yeah, I can definitely see that. To me, that's only a small part of the series though. When he's off at school is the meat.
Yea, it's mainly when he's home at the Dursleys that it's like Matilda. I hate those parts. He's treated like an animal and I want to scream.
Which is what makes him a sympathetic character. Gotta have the dark to appreciate the light I think.
It's almost as bad at school though! Drako always pestering him, and Prof. Snape trying to get him in trouble all the time. It's unbearable! At times it goes a little bit over the top and I remember it's a kind of fairy tale. Then I can put up with it.
You read the whole series, right?
I've seen all the movies but I've just read the first book. I'm about half way through the second. I know about Snape though. I'm just trying to read it without thinking about what I already know. I think I'll finish Chamber of Secrets this week and start Prisoner of Askaban next.
Titanic is from 97....
December 19, 1997, you're right. I guess I remember the hype for it coming from 1998.
Yea there's always this thing with movies released late in the year carrying over to the next year's list on wiki. Titantic was in the theaters for all of 1998 even though it released in '97. What to do. . .
Did the publisher mention cross platform play for DQH? It's coming out for PS3 too.
You may have just made my year with that bit of news.
Apparently the PS3 version isn't coming to NA :(
Now I'm going to go cry in a corner. 
Yea, I saw that it was out on PS3 for Japan and Europe but not NA. Darn it! I'd like to get a PS4, but maybe not yet.
i read that Beowulf. I remember liking it. But I can't remember a lot of it now.
I've been trying to get back into some poetry reading but I don't know the contemporary poets other than Seamus Heaney. I'm going to start with him.
Oh man!!! How on earth am I going to get two PS4s so Mark and I can play it co-op? I am going to preorder the game anyway though. The console will be around, the games sometimes get scarse, plus I want to support the series.
I am so excited for Dragon Quest Heroes! I wish I had a PS4!!!!!!
So do I. I need two so my friend and I can play it co-op. I'm not going back to couch co-op. That's so 2004.
I tried reading the Heaney translation, but I still like the Donaldson translation I had to read for my college Beowulf class better. Heaney is one of Jason's favorite poets.
oo! Prose translation. I'll have to check it out.
I saw a little bit of Dragon Quest Heroes at PAX this past weekend. I got a Slime fan and they had a wall of bubble wrap with Slime stickers that you could pop. Later this week you can check out pictures on the GamerDad.com site!
Cool! After playing DQ VIII, I'm a fan of the series and am familiar with all the characters. I really want to play it.