A New Home

Greetings all!

The reason there has been no update yet about the short story is because this website has moved!

It's new home is www.mgbe.wordpress.com

The reason for moving is because:
1. It has a fresh new look that blogger could not support easily.
2. It has better management and handling and supports more widgets.
3. I decided to move it.

So please, view the new site and Subscribe!

Short Story Contest Update

The short story I have written has been submitted and it will be posted on here soon.

The reason for the delay is because:

1.) The deadline for the contest has been extended to April 4.

2.) This site is currently being redesigned and moving to a new host. More info to come!

But never fear, you shall have the story before Saturday!

A Game Mod by Yours Truly

Have any of you heard of the game "Endless Space"?  If not, immediately go and buy it now.  It is a fantastic 4x strategy game that is just as addictive as Civilization.  

Anyway, I have decided to do my first mod for a game ever!  It will be titled: Endless Star Wars.  I know, cheesy title, but it might change later.

The link to the forum page can be found here: http://forums.amplitude-studios.com/showthread.php?16404-Official-Star-Wars-Mod

Later, it will be posted on my website as a page for all to see and read about.

Now go buy the game and post on the forum!

Be sure to provide me with your thoughts and questions in the comments below!

A New Short Story On It's Way

Exciting news! A new short story is on it's way to you!

That's right, Michael is entering a Star Wars Short Story Contest and the deadline is April 2, 2013! Expect to read the story as soon as he submits it.

Oh, and the winner gets a customized Star Wars novel cover for that story!

Stay Tuned!

My Rant About Star Wars

I apologize to you, the reader, in advance for this. I have tried and tried and tried holding myself from going off on a rant about Star Wars Episode VII and Disney and all that other stuff that makes me feel angrier than a Wookiee when he looses at Dejaarik. But I cannot restrain myself anymore. This is my rant on Star Wars Episode VII.

First and foremost, I will discuss Disney. Don't they own enough already? ESPN, ABC, A&E, the History Channel, the Military Channel, NBA.com, NFL.com, Pixar, Miramax, Buena Vista Studios and just recently Marvel. And that is not everything they own. That is just the tip of a very large iceberg. Google what they own, you be very much surprised as the list is very long. So this is my question: Why, why, why do they need to own LucasFilm? Don't they own enough already? There is no reason to aside from making more money. The one enjoyable part about them buying LucasFilm is how we Star Wars fans can mock the Disney purists that they Leia and Padme are now Disney Princesses. Be careful saying it though, those fights are more violent and bloody than the Star Wars vs. Star Trek ones.

Second of all, the director J.J. Abrams... *sigh* J.J. Abrams... WHO IN THEIR RIGHT MIND DECIDED TO PUT THE PERSON WHO DIRECTED THE TWO RECENT STAR TREK FILMS AND COMPLETELY RUINED THAT SAGA TO DIRECT EPISODE VII OF STAR WARS???!!! IS THIS A SICK JOKE??? Was the contractor at Disney drunk when he showed Abrams the contract? Come one! Abrams sure has gone where no one has gone before this time, he has crossed the line that no one crosses. Handling both Star Wars and Star Trek. Especially after he ruined the Star Trek movies by being lazy and creating an alternate timeline and making a Star Trek version of the Death Star... It is alright though, if he does the same thing to Star Wars what he did to Star Trek, Star Wars fans worldwide will make sure that the rest of his film career is for Miramax and only having stars like Ben Affleck or Zac Efron. And that is if he is lucky. I will admit this though, I was originally afraid that Stephen Spielberg was going to direct it. And after what he did to Indiana Jones 4 and then apologizing for it? *shudders*

And finally, why do we need a Star Wars Episode VII? Leave something for our imaginations to imagine. Let Star Wars become a legend. In the words of Obi-Wan "If you strike me down, I shall become more powerful than you could possibly imagine!" And he let himself be struck down by Vader. Why can't you do that Star Wars? Let yourself become a legend among films, even though you already are, but let yourself become a greater one. Don't let yourself be lowered by making movies just to get every speck of money you can. Although it is exciting of the prospect of the writer for Episode V be the writer for Episode VIII and the original cast return. Harrison Ford is already on board and Mark Hamill will if they get everyone else back. Even the contract between George Lucas and Disney states that if they cannot get an actor from the original movies back, that they will write out that character. That made me happy hearing that. Even John Williams might be doing the soundtrack(please Dear God, let him do the soundtrack).

Now I am not a Star Wars hater or a George Lucas hater. I respect George Lucas and I am probably one of the few that actually likes the prequel trilogy as well as the original trilogy. Although I admit the original trilogy is better but then again I am an old school sci fi nut. I am also probably the biggest geek for Star Wars. But that is why I am worried, I grew up with Star Wars. It is a part of me as much as I am a part of it. Star Wars isn't just a movie, it's a mythology. It isn't just a franchise, it's a legend. It's what every moviemaker wishes their movie would be as good as. I just don't want anything to happen to Star Wars, as they are too good of movies to be ruined by modern day filmmakers.

(But so help me if Disney turns Star Wars into a musical cartoon, I will personally evacuate all the innocent people from DisneyWorld and DisneyLand and destroy the entire place with the Death Star that Britain or America or Germany or whoever the hell is building the Death Star now).

Eyewitness Footage of the End of the World!

And here it is! EYEWITNESS FOOTAGE OF THE END OF THE WORLD!

Stay Tuned!

So tomorrow is supposedly the end of the world, right? Well I don't believe that, but every hour on the hour tomorrow starting at midnight, I will be recording a segment to showcase what is happening. It will be released at 1 in the morning on the 22nd. Have a merry end of the world everyone!

Reading vs Video Games

What comes up most often in the world today is whether people should either read a book or play a video game.  Remember when reading was the big thing?  How we could go on fascinating journeys in our minds?  And then along came video games and then we were the ones taking part in the stories, but there was little room for imagination as everything was laid out for us.  There was then a turning point in the world where people said the video games were better than reading.

But we have reached a problem today:  All novels seem to be the same.  There are not really any new stories that tickle the mind.  The same goes for video games, everyone is always worried about how many lines of coded Artificial Intelligence can be destroyed by a coded gun.  Nothing "new" has really come out in recent years for excite the mind.

So now we have that decision again:  Which is better?  Reading?  Or video games?

Let's analyze the two.

First up is reading.  While we previously stated that nothing new is around, there is also a plethora of "classic" novels to be read.  But a novel doesn't have to be "classic" to be good, all a novel is is a story. Everyone has different story tastes, but all have something in common: imagination.  When reading stories, we picture the story in our minds, the characters, the places, the people.  We imagine it all.  Everyone who reads it imagines something different, which is a joy of reading.  A person can be taken on fascinating journeys, across time, space, or even the Earth.  We can be a detective solving crimes, a space-farer discovering new planets, anything.  You name it, it can be done.  What we as a people need to find is what excites the mind now.  In the 50s and 60s, the most read stories were science fiction.  We now need to find the genre that people like now so that people will want to read again, as there is not really a greater joy.

Then we have video games.  Video games have so much potential, which I believe now can be taken up on.  What defines video games nowadays is how many people you can kill, or how lifelike the graphics are, or how good the gameplay is.  Very few games revolve around story anymore.  Thus, every game now seems the same to us, and we become easily bored with games.  What we need now is a game that revolves around story.  Grant it, video games leave little to imagine, as we said.  The landscape is laid out for them, the character progress is straight forward, the only thing left to imagine is a different story.  What we need to find today is find those games which also intrigue the imagination with a story.  Bridge both story and games together.

So, what would you rather do?  Read a book, or play a video game?  What are your thoughts on how we can change the world in imagination?

Updates on 9/22/12!

And so, here is our first batch of updates!

   - More short stories added to the Short Stories page!
   - Another novel added to the Novels page!
   - A brand new page entitled The Great Star Wars Trek, dedicated to posting the web-series right here!  (More episodes to be added soon.)

And also, a question!  What would you, the viewer, like to see added to this site to make it more enjoyable for you?