Everything we have seen of this game makes us want to play the heck out of it! See the trailer below for next gen console awesomeness!

(from the ign game description)
"Exploring an original story of vengeance and redemption, the game puts players in the role of Talion, a valiant ranger whose family is slain in front of him the night Sauron and his army return to Mordor -- moments before his own life is taken. Resurrected by a 'Spirit of Vengeance' and empowered with Wraith abilities, Talion ventures into Mordor and vows to destroy those who have wronged him. Through the course of his personal vendetta, Talion uncovers the truth of the Spirit that compels him, learns the origins of the Rings of Power and ultimately confronts his true nemesis.

Every enemy that players face is a unique individual, differentiated by their personality, strengths and weaknesses. Through the Nemesis System, enemy relationships and characteristics are shaped by player actions and decisions to create personal archenemies that remember and adapt to the player and are distinct to every gameplay session. Gamers are able to craft their own battles, enemies and rewards within the dynamic world that remembers and adapts to their choices, delivering a unique experience to every player."

None of us have played it yet to give a proper review, so until then, we humbly refer you to The Nerdist's excellent review of the game.

****See this week's major new movies, books and games after the jump!****

by Lauren

Season 26 of The Simpsons started off on an oddly somber note with the death of Krusty the Clown's father Rabbi Krustofski (voiced by the legendary Jackie Mason). Krusty's dad has appeared in several memorable episodes, appearing as a voice of reason and religious temperance - even while disagreeing with his son's choice to become an 'entertainer' rather than a Rabbi (as Jackie Mason himself did.)

The opening credits had a shot of Flanders as a angel, leading you to believe that the death in the episode might darn-didley be our favorite neighbor, Ned. 

Instead, after a particularly brutal 'Roast,' Krusty turns to his father for guidance (at Bart's suggestion) about the course of his life. The Rabbi passes away in the middle of giving his son his opinion about his comedy career, saying only 'eh.'

There have been 'deaths' on the Simpson's before, most recently Edna Krabapple due to the real life-passing of Marcia Wallace who voiced her, but rarely have they focused so specifically on the different character's reactions to death.

Krusty is distraught over not knowing if his father ever approved of him, causing him to question his life choices and review his hackneyed career. He quits the show, binge-drinks (and other things) and generally falls apart before he tries his hand at charity work to 'do better' in honor of his father.

Lisa his haunted by the concept of losing a parent and begins a crusade for Homer to live a healthier and safer life. Bart turns to religion to try and help Krusty come to terms with maybe never knowing if his father loved or approved of him.

While keeping the humor, The Simpsons dug deep to find a way to show the range of ways people realistically deal with the death of a loved one and how to support grieving friends. 

Still, it was a REALLY odd choice for a premiere episode - especially in light of the cray-cray crossover episode with Family Guy that followed at 9pm...

In truth, I’ve never really wanted to come back from this universe, and prolific British author Terry Pratchett has made it possible for me to visit (and revisit) this world with a satisfying frequency.  

I would be hard pressed to pick a favorite character - perhaps Granny Weatherwax, powerful witch and head of the Lancre coven, who is (rightly) suspicious of fairy tales; or Sgt. Detritus, the troll on the Ankh-Morpork City Watch, who appears to be an idiot until he spent too much time in the Pork Futures Warehouse, which led to the discovery that trolls are quite brilliant when their brains are cold.  Quite possibly the best character, in my opinion, is the Librarian - a sentient orangutan who rules the stacks at the Unseen University with an iron fist (holding a banana, of course).   

Sir Terry Pratchett was knighted in 2009 for “services to literature”, and I salute the British crown for its acknowledgement of satirical literary genius.  He has also been awarded the British Science Fiction Award, the Prometheus Award, the Carnegie Medal, and no less than nine honorary doctorates from various universities. He is an amazing author and no doubt an amazing man, and I wish I’d been able to attend one of the annual UK Discworld Conventions, which he regularly attended prior to 2014.  It is presumably unlikely he will resume attending conventions in the future

Alas, Terry Pratchett’s story will not have a happy ending.  Neil Gaiman’s brilliant article in The Guardian this week painted a picture of Pratchett being driven not by jolly elfishness but by burning anger; it is this anger that has directed his fight for the right of terminally ill patients to end their lives on their terms.  This fight is personal for him, as he was diagnosed in 2007 with early-onset Alzheimer’s disease, which he promptly nicknamed “The Embuggerance” and set about trying to defeat.  As Gaiman noted, Pratchett will not go gently into that good night, but when he does go we all will rage against the dying of that light. 

I know we usually feature movies, books or games (see below), but this is my column and I am excited about this!!! Pentatonix is an amazing 5-person a cappella group that takes vocal music to a whole 'nother level. I've seen them live and they are as good in person as they are on YouTube and on their albums.

Vol. III is their first release since signing a deal with RCA records, so the production value is much higher than previous releases. You can tell their sound has been influenced greatly by their world tour last year with new beats and even a cover of a dance-y foreign language track, Papatoui, by Belgian artist Stromae, beautifully performed, in French, by Scott Hoying. The song also features their second collaboration with violinist, Lindsey Sterling.

They have the standard amazing PTX cover arraignments of recent pop songs such as Problem by Arianna Grande (Ft. Iggy Azalea), and _Rather Be by Clean Bandit (ft. Jess Glenn) which is absolutely crushed by lead vocalist Kirstie Maldonado.

But the real stars of the EP are the original tracks. On My Way Home has a wicked smooth groove backed by an unexpected African-style chorus back beat- an excellent driving track. See Through is a club-style dance track featuring the soaring falsetto of Mitch Grassi, and held down by the flawless beatboxing and bass of Kevin Olusola and Avi Kaplan.

The crowning jewel of the album is the final track, Standing By. Written by Pentatonix while on tour, this slow then surprisingly uplifting song is performed beautifully by the group's bass, Avi Kaplan, on lead. It gave me goosebumps. I wish they would play music like this on the radio - it is better than most of the crap out there.

****See this week's major new movies, books and games after the jump!****

by Jen

Each year, libraries across the United States receive requests to remove books from their shelves for a variety of reasons.  The exact number of these challenges is unknown, but in the past decade more than 5,000 have been reported to the ALA, which defines a challenge as “a formal, written complaint, filed with a library or school requesting that materials be removed because of content or appropriateness.”  

The most challenged books in 2013 were:
·         Captain Underpants (series) by Dav Pilkey
·         The Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison
·         The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian by Sherman Alexie
·         Fifty Shades of Grey by E. L. James
·         The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins
·         A Bad Boy Can Be Good for a Girl by Tanya Lee Stone
·         Looking for Alaska by John Green
·         The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky
·         Bless Me Ultima by Rudolfo Anaya
·         Bone (series) by Jeff Smith

Celebrated annually since 1982, Banned Books Week was the brainchild of Judith Krug, Director of the ALA’s OIF.  Krug, who passed away in 2009 at the age of 69, firmly believed in the OIF’s mission to “protect the right of individuals in the U.S. to have comprehensive availability of information, regardless of those who disapprove of the material itself.”  She was inspired to create Banned Books Week in response to a surge in challenges to library materials in 1982.

Two of the series that appear on the Most Challenged Books List fall into this category (Pilkey’s Captain Underpants and Smith’s Bone), while Alison Bechdel’s Fun Home and Marjane Satrapi’s Persepolis have been the center of controversy in public school and university libraries in recent years.  

So what can you do to celebrate Banned Books Week?  Check out the ALA’s lists of most frequently challenged books by decade - you will get a good laugh out of some of the titles on these lists, and you may even find some titles you haven’t read yet that you want to pick up!  The Comic Book Legal Defense Fund also has great information on banned comics and graphic novels.  And last but not least, visit your local library to find out more about Banned Books Week and how to support your librarians in the fight against censorship!

by Heather

I’m taking Fan Girl Friday to the next level for me. We are discussing Garrett Wang (last name is pronounced "Wong”). Most famous for Star Trek: Voyager, the convention circuit and being a mega geek himself. Garrett Wang was the first Star Trek actor I ever met at a convention and my first autographed photo. He was kind, warm and enthusiastic the first time I met him, and every time since. I know this has a lot to do with how I see him now. In one way, he ruined me for future fan meetings with other actors. As most of us know who have been to conventions, not all the actors we meet are actually pleasant.

From the multiple conventions I have attended, I can tell you he is a great voice impersonator. There hasn’t been a single time I have seen him where he hasn’t busted out with an impersonation of George Takei, Kate Mulgrew, Robert Picardo or William Shatner.

Unfortunately, his passion for science fiction and his need to offer honest opinions did limit his career on Voyager to only acting. He has stated publicly about Rick Berman “If there is a Hell in this existence that we have that people can go to, he's first on the list.” Garrett has told many fans that the direction while on Voyager was for all the actors playing humans to act more wooden so the alien characters will seem more alive.
He was the first actor in Star Trek history to be denied the chance to direct based on things he said during interviews. This is something he says haunts him today. He is such a fan of Star Trek and sci-fi in general that he just wanted a chance to make the show the best that it could be

***Contains spoilers if you haven't caught up - after the break***

***Contains spoilers if you haven't caught up - after the break***

It is no mystery that Arrow is a favorite among many of the GG Inc. staff. We LOVE this show - it is simply the best super hero TV show ever made, and the best DC media product out there right now. Plus, Stephen Amell is amazing as Oliver Queen and even more amazing as a righteous, fan-loving, charity fund-raising Facebook hero.

Even though season 2 should be available on Netflix for streaming any day now, do yourself a favor and OWN this.


****See this week's major new movies, books and games after the jump!****

Here we are - in the TV in-between. The limbo that lingers between summer television shows ending and the bounty of Fall television premieres. 

Our recommendation is to set your DVRs to record finale reruns to catch-up on returning TV shows over the next week or two. It will help you remember where each show left off and get you hyped up for the series premieres in a week or two or three <grumble.>

But there are more than returning shows to be excited about - in fact there is a pretty great crop of new genre shows hitting the airwaves this Fall, The Flash, Gotham, Constantine - just to name a few.

In fact, Jen has written a great article about the new shows to look forward to here. 

What shows are you looking most forward to returning? How about new shows? 
Sound off in the comments!