Sony have unveiled their new motion controller, the ‘bright lite’. Smash hit or a low bl0w?

Catching up with nintendo’s wii remote, sony will be aiming to release some games compatible with the new controller this year.

The coloured balls may look a bit tacky, changing colour when you make certain movements but it may also bring an original colour aspect to the modern games controller.

Sony’s Scott Rhode had this to say about it:

“There’s something magic when that controller is in your hand and the ball changes color,” he said “That’s another thing that games can do and start to exploit more over the upcoming months.

If you’re about to cast an ice spell, it could turn white. Let’s say you’re firing a gun in SOCOM. It might flicker between orange and red and yellow.

There’s a lot we can do.”

Source: Kotaku

b.

Format: PS3, Xbox 360
Release Date: 09/03/2010
Publisher: Square Enix
Developer: Division 1 (Square Enix)

As all Final Fantasy fans will know already, the next instalment to the franchise is released tomorrow! If you do happen to not like video games (which is nobody, right?) or you live in a cave you should have heard something about FF13, but do not fear… here’s the rundown.

This title has been on the top of everyones list for the past few years, ever since it was first leaked as being in development. Not just wanted by the gamers, this title has sparked interest from every corner of the media, mainly down to how beautiful this game is.

Graphically… It’s outstanding. There won’t be anything coming close to this title for a while, years of development time has been put in to just the graphics alone. I’m not saying that the game mechanics has slipped in light of this fact, anything but, it’s your first impressions of a game (and most other things in life) that tell you what’s the pleasing feature and for FF13 it’s most definitely the visuals.

Like all Final Fantasy titles, Final Fantasy 13 has no such relevance to its predecessors, so you don’t have to play the back-titles to understand whats going on at all. It is the flagship title of the upcoming series of Final Fantasy games named “Fabula Nova Crystallis”.

The story lines have not been as good as they were back in the days of Final Fantasy 7 and 8, the lust for high end visuals has taken the demand for a gripping storyline to an all new low it seems. FF12 was a bit of a let down, characters had none of the that certain ‘edge’ to them, story left you a little ‘bewildered’ at times and the combat system took a good few hours to get used to. The characters, gameplay and battle system from FF13 however look a lot more exciting, which i good!

I will obviously be uploading gameplay videos upon launch to the ‘Silver Fox Foxy’ Youtube Channel.

b.

The second issue of a wonderfully exciting, landmark collaboration between Domino and Faber – a twice-yearly journal dedicated to engaging, intelligent and diverse writing about music.

Issue 2 of Loops, the biannual journal dedicated to music writing from Faber and Domino, hosts essays from Andy Miller (Est-ce, est-ce ce bon?: on Serge Gainsbourg’s flirtation with Nazi chic on Rock Around the Bunker), Dan Franklin (Extremely Loud and Incredibly Fast: on Napalm Death and the Possibility of Life’s Destruction) and Frances Morgan on Red Square’s Thirty Three and the resonance of re-discovery after the event.

And then there’s An Awfully Big Adventure, Paul Morley’s spectacularly honest and exposing portrait of Michael Jackson and his debated legacy. Book shelves and tabloid columns have been blasting the ears of fans and critics alike since Jackson’s death, yet very little has been heard. Morley corrects this by unravelling and indulging the myth to ask just who he was, how we came to piece him together through our collective desires and fears, and why his destiny so inevitably reflected the dysfunctionality of the culture. This expansive essay takes a refreshingly imaginative perspective on a story that too often focused on the apocryphal fantasy rather than the magic of the man himself. Morley’s fascinating essay inclines us not just to look at Michael Jackson but to look at ourselves – the very forces implicit in making the man The King of Pop.

Morley sits alongside Simon Reynolds, Nick Kent, Lavinia Greenlaw, Owen Hatherley, Dan Franklin, Matt Thorne and Rob Chapman in Loops’ second outing.

Loops is edited by Lee Brackstone and Richard King. Lee Brackstone is Publishing Director at Faber and Faber for pop culture titles and fiction. The Faber pop culture list has published such influential works as Jon Savage’s England’s Dreaming, Simon Reynolds’s Rip It Up and Start Again and Greil Marcus’s Lipstick Traces.

Richard King has worked at Domino, the UK’s leading independent music label for 15 years. In that time he has seen the label release records by Arctic Monkeys, Bonnie ‘Prince’ Billy, Franz Ferdinand, Pavement, Sebadoh and Robert Wyatt and build an incredible history and reputation.   He is currently working on How Soon Is Now?, an access all areas history of the UK independent music business 1975 – 2005.

Paul Newman’s film career spans more than half a century and secured him the status of a true

screen icon. This April, BFI Southbank will celebrate his illustrious career with a season of his films. Born in 1925, the son of a successful Ohio entrepreneur, he served in the navy during WWII, studied drama at Yale on the GI Bill, and found a foothold in New York in the early 1950s, putting in time at the Actors Studio, appearing on Broadway and in live television dramas.

His big breakthrough came with his second film, Somebody Up There Likes Me (1956) where he played the role of middleweight champ Rocky Graziano. Rocky is a social menace, a petty criminal with a violent anti-authoritarian streak. But he shows us the strength too, the pride and the fury, the longing for respect. After playing Billy the Kid in The Left-Handed Gun (1958), Newman’s next big success was with Richard Broooks’ adaptation of Tennessee Williams’ Cat on a Hot Tin Roof (1958), as Elizabeth Taylor’s alchoholic husband. As the heat rises, so does the sexual tension, as Newman portrays the troubled former sports hero, for which he earned his first of nine Oscar nominations. The Hustler (1961) proved Newman’s acting capabilities as he took on the role of Fast Eddie Falcon, the cocky pool player, a role that he reprised in The Color of Money (1986) as a mentor to the young Tom Cruise, a role for which he finally won the Academy Award for Best Actor. Despite his good looks, Newman often played the outsider; a drifter who uses a woman to advance his situation in Sweet Bird of youth (1961), the immoral womaniser in Hud (1963) or the western outlaw in The Life and Times of Judge Roy Bean (1972). But it was as the rebellious prisoner in Cool Hand Luke (1967), and as one half of the outlaw duo with Robert Redford in Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (1969), that cemented his reputation as one of the greats. As he aged, the rebels took up causes, his heroes lost some of their antagonism – he might even give us a wink now and then. That was Newman the superstar. Charisma on wheels. But many would argue he saved the best for last: in The Verdict (1982), The Hudsucker Proxy (1994) and Twilight (1998) we see the man in full, the stubborn charm and braggadocio seasoned with doubt and regret.

Go to the BFI website here to see the full schedule.

Photo Credit: Daniel Muhindi

Photo Credit: Daniel Muhindi

Photo Credit: Daniel Muhindi

Thanks to Peter Tweedie, Roshni Aggarwal and Daniel Muhindi for photos over LFW.

My last show of the day and Dutch designer, Maaike Mekking definitely had a presentation with a difference. It was an intimate view into a model trying clothes on from the collection, like you would in your room before you went out.

When inside at 20 Beak St, you were captivated – a homemade film was projected onto the wall of everyday things, such as tying shoelaces and pulling on jeans. A guy was playing a synth adding an atmospheric feel – giving it the idea that you were looking through a window into someone’s room, with a fluffy rug where a girl was playing with her clothes. A bit voyeuristic, but nice nonetheless.

The palette was dull copper, black and cream; a cream boucle skirt with mustard lining, grey jodphurs with mustard inner legs, buttery leather crop top and skirt, a sheer dress that looked like it was made of air, a chiffon blouse with neat pussy bow detail, a brocade dress, and nude, mesh and tribal print bodysuits. The model herself was wearing an incredible tribal print unitard with ‘M’s – for Maaike Mekking.

The presentation was amazing, and I ran into Maaike outside, who was wearing one of her pieces from her AW09 collection, which was just as stunning.

It was exactly the kind of thing I’d been looking for, and a great end to LFW.

Photo Credit: Peter Tweedie

Thanks to Peter Tweedie, Daniel Muhindi & Roshni Aggarwal for photos over LFW.

Follow me on twitter.com/thisisthebang for my updates throughout the day and my own blog, The Science of Style for more details on the day’s shows and ongoings.

Things I have learnt this week

• Strong, Star Trek style brows are the face framing trend for AW10.
• Sophie Anderton is still masquerading as a model, even though she’s a lady of the night and overly fond of Bolivian marching powder.

(I do apologise for the sources linked above, but who else cares enough to report on Sophie Anderton?)

I was in love when the first model walked out onto the catwalk. And it was because of the spikes. Spikes as I’ve mentioned before, are a bit dangerous for everyday wear but spikes on tights? Too, fucking awesome is what they were.



The spikes ran as seams down the leg, in zigzags and around the legs. Highly impractical, as I doubt you’d be able to go a half hour without laddering them, or stabbing a child inadvertantly in the back of the head, but for something that’s so obvious, it was so unreal I couldn’t take my eyes off them. The tights, not the metaphorical injured child.



Footwear of choice was black patent Chelsea boots or high heeled spiked loafers. Gabardine long wool dresses had cutout and movement, black and silver chevron stripes were everywhere, which were toned down with matte black studs rather than the previous silver studs on the legs.

Chest detail was studded, Lurex dresses clung to models with derriere, capes and leggings were also given the spike treatment, with a lycra, spiky jumpsuit being one of my favourite pieces of the collection. Shoulders were structured, but not exaggerated, adding a hint of softness.



I don’t think I’ve ever felt this way about a jumper before.



I know I’m against dangerous fashion, but Alice Palmer’s collection was absolutely fabulous.

Photo Credit & Copyright: Peter Tweedie

Follow me on twitter.com/thisisthebang for my updates throughout the day and my own blog, The Science of Style for more details on the day’s shows and ongoings.