More Star Wars stuff!!! But this time from Bioware, the people who brought us the Mass Effect game franchise.

Wow, Bioware really knows how to catch a fan’s interest with slick, hollywood-quality cinematic shorts.

The cinematics for the Star Wars The Old Republic MMORPG are among the best I have ever seen. I almost wish they would just come out with a movie instead.

Here’s the scoop:

In the years before the signing of the Treaty of Coruscant, the Sith Empire sought to crush the Republic’s morale by destroying Alderaan. See one of the pivotal battles of this conflict in our second cinematic trailer: Hope.

The Battle of Alderaan. The Republic’s gravest hour. Recently promoted to Darth, Malgus launches the first of many surprise attacks that would become his trademark during the Great War, perfectly timing the assault with a feint that pulls the Republic fleet light-years away.

Thousands of assault droids and hundreds of Sith set the heart of the Republic ablaze, and Alderaan’s few defenders are swept away with ease.

Unknown to Darth Malgus, small groups of Republic Troopers are stationed on Alderaan, some recovering from wounds, others are awaiting orders. As these brave soldiers take to the forests and mountains to fight a guerilla campaign against Malgus’s forces, the Republic fleet rushes back to repel the invasion. With time running out and Alderaan’s capitol threatened, it falls to Havoc Squad, the elite Republic Special Forces unit, to coordinate one last desperate stand against Malgus’ vastly superior numbers.

And here’s the first Official Cinematic trailer if you haven’t seen it yet.

Two years after the release of The Force Unleashed, the sequel will finally be released sometime in 2010.

I wasn’t exactly a fan of the original’s game play, but the complex storyline was what kept me motivated enough to play through the game.

Once again, the Dark Apprentice is played by Battlestar Galactica alumni Sam Witwer (Crashdown).  Even though his character was supposed to have died in the finale of The Force Unleashed in this sequel it appears that he is one of but many clones.

Hopefully, the folks at Lucasarts streamlined the frustrating, button-mashing gameplay of the original and keep the fantastic storytelling.

Coming out May 7, 2010, another big budget sequel for the marvel franchise.

Along with some new Iron Man tech, looks like a lot of new characters will be introduced too.  Shown in the trailer are Ivan Vanko/Whiplash (Mickey Rourke), Natasha Romanoff / Black Widow (Scarlett Johansson), Nick Fury (Samuel L. Jackson), Col. James ‘Rhodey’ Rhodes / War Machine (Don Cheadle) and, not shown in the trailer, Melina Vostokoff / Iron Maiden (Olivia Munn, on a roll in 2010 as she’s also in Tron Legacy).

Will introducing so many characters in one film be confusing and scattered like Spider man 3?  Hope not, but unless the film is three hours long it’s hard to develop each character enough for us to care.

Nick Fury is the man in charge of S.H.I.E.L.D. (Strategic Homeland Intervention, Enforcement and Logistics Division).  I guess we’ll be seeing how Tony Stark’s involvement with the organization ends up with the formation of the Avengers.

Now you might have noticed that the role of Tony Stark’s best friend Col. Rhodes is now played by Don Cheadle.  Rumour is that the director and producers were not very happy with Terrence Howard’s performance in Iron Man, and he was the highest paid actor in the film due to being cast first, so they offered him a drastically reduced pay that was more in line with a supporting actors rate.  He demanded more money so they just replaced him.  Such is Hollywood.

It will be interesting to see how this sequel plays out and hopefully it will be as entertaining as the original.  I, for one, love the suitcase armour.

Following on the success of Bungie’s Halo 3 and Halo wars, the long awaited Halo 3: ODST (previously known as Halo 3: Recon) is set to arrive in stores this fall.

ODST stands for Orbital Drop Shock Trooper and represent the elite special forces arm of the UNSC Marines.

You play the Rookie dropped onto Covenant occupied Earth and separated from your squad. Apparently they are going for a more non-linear, open world game play experience much like Fallout 3. I hope.  As of yet I’m not sure if there will be a co-op option in the retail release.

Purchase of the game will also get you a chance to participate in the beta for Halo Reach.

Videos are courtesy of my friends at Futurelooks DOT COM who have just returned from E3 with a bunch of sneak previews. Check it out!

This meal cost me NT$180, which is roughly $6 CDN.

I find it abundantly amazing that a place with the population density of Taipei,  currently approaching 3 million people, not including Taipei County, with the relatively expensive standards of living that the food and beverage costs can be so low.

Approximately a total of 23 million people populate the island of Taiwan, which is about the size of Vancouver Island.

It would not be difficult to live life here simply and spending less than $10 CDN per day.

Cheap eats are available in a variety of roadside vendors and small, alleyway shops.

Part of the fun of Taipei is visiting the various shops and eateries which reside in the old alleyways that criss-cross this large metropolis.  The Japanese occupied Taiwan from 1895 to 1945 and the Japanese influence is still readily apparent in the design and layout of the old city and particularly in the narrow alleys.

The above pictured sugar cane is roasted to caramelize the sugars, then pressed through a giant juicer.  Fresh ginger extract is an optional addition for additional goodness. A healthy juice snack and the smell is amazing.

Hot pots are popular here in Taipei.  We visited one that gave you a choice of your own hot pot, a bowl of rice and unlimited soft drinks and ice cream for only NT$100 per person, that works out to about $3 CDN.

Let’s not forget desserts.  A Taiwanese favorite is shaved iced with various toppings.  A delicious treat especially during Taiwan’s very hot, tropical climate.  A genuine coffee from Mr. Brown is also a must, forget about Starbucks.

If you ever get the chance to visit Taipei, follow your nose, you may be pleased with what you find.

Naruwan!

I believe it means “Welcome” in aboriginal Taiwanese and the spokesperson for Tourism Taiwan is aboriginal Taiwanese singing star named A-Mei.

It’s been a couple of hectic weeks here in Taiwan, everyday has been spent with friends and family.  Life in Taiwan really revolves around the food here.

From the very simple street vendors to the very finest in upscale cuisine the goal of socializing with others is ever present.  I think that’s why Chinese dining tables are round to reflect this cultural distinction.

Chinese New Years was celebrated this year on February 26th, 2009, bringing in the Year of the Ox.  Chinese New Year is by far the most important holiday for the Chinese people and most family-based, and some larger commercial-based to a lesser extent, close shop for up to a week or more to visit family and celebrate with food and drink.

Another common pastime during the Lunar New Year is to visit Buddhist temples to pray for good luck and prosperity in the New Year.

As luck would have it, I was in the area when Taiwan President Ma’s motorcade raced by as I was strolling near a major monestary.  It is customary for the president to visit the more prominent monestaries to hand out red Lucky Envelopes to the droves of visitors.

Taiwan President Ma’s Motorcade during New Years 2009 from Leo Chiang on Vimeo.

Hello All!

I write this belated update from sunny, tropical Taipei, Taiwan.

I’ve been here for a couple of weeks already to attend my sister’s wedding and visiting family and friends for Chinese New Years. Happy Year of the Ox!

Since my flight to Taiwan left on the day of my actual birthday I decided to celebrate with my Vancouver friends over the last weekend before my departure.

Since Darla’s birthday is only a few days after mine I celebrated with the Exit Gear beauty first.

The following night I celebrated at a buddy’s house while we watched UFC!

On Sunday, the big shindig was held at The New Bohemian and stayed until closing where we finished off at a local nightclub called Republic.

I promise a few more updates before I leave Taiwan but my time has been sparse since I’ve been eating my way across the island. Free internet is available everywhere but I’m trying to travel light and keeping my laptop at home. Expect LOTS of food photos in the upcoming posts.

In the meantime, enjoy the photos from the birthday parties!

I meant to get this post out a lot sooner but the UFC/housewarming party didn’t end until quite late and I had to be up early for work the next day. Also, had to pick up my father from the airport after work and I’m STILL cleaning the mess at my place.

I’m also on the new television series “Samurai Girl” as Yakuza boss Tasuke‘s bodyguard and Sato‘s henchman. I’m working on the show all this week and into next week. Busy times

We broke in my new condo by watching UFC 84 in high definition on my 50 inch widescreen. This was my first time watching UFC in hi-def and it will be hard to go back. The picture was extremely clear, which makes the blood, sweat and tears all the more real.

Machida beat Ortiz, who may be retiring from the UFC.

Jardine got whooped by Silva. Jardine was out of it for a while even after the ref stopped the fight.

And my man BJ Penn took out Sherk, who is significantly smaller now that he’s off the roids.

Great fight card with essentially three main events. All viewed in crystal clear high definition!

With the booze flowing, the stupidity increased and some silliness ensued. I only hope my new neighbors don’t hate me already.

Here’s a little video that gives you a quick tour of my new condo and some highlights of the night’s festivities. I’ll make another video showing the exterior of the building and the amenities in another post.

I’m not a fan of Apple. I am a solid supporter of all things PC. However, after this party my conviction is waning.

Microsoft decided to make their Canadian launch of the iPod beater by holding a series of parties, advertised as Six Cities, Six Bands, with their tour starting in Vancouver.

It sounded like a great concept and I was eager to participate, especially when I was told there would be free booze.

From left to right in attendance, we have Michael Kwan, John Chow, Ed Lau, Stephen Fung, myself and Marina from Highroad.

I was invited by Highroad Communications to attend the Microsoft Zune launch at a indoor skate park called The Sweatshop. As you may recall, Highroad are the good folks who invited Stephen and I up for the LG Chocolate flip phone launch, which was an Epic Success.

We all got there around 9pm, as per the invitation, but to our surprise we were the only ones there. Apparently the staff were still inside setting up. At 9:30pm, the doorman finally let us inside to . . . an empty room. Seriously. Nobody was inside except us and some of the staff. After a little searching we found the DJ and the two promo girls standing by their little Zune display stand. From first looks, the Zune seems impressive, it looks like a modified iPod. It was far too dark in there to get a clear look and the music was way too loud to properly hear the sound quality.

After Downing a couple beers (Red Stripe from Jamaica), we got bored so we headed across the street for some Chinese food. This was easily the highlight of the night and the food wasn’t even very good. Marina got a great fortune from her fortune cookie. We added “in bed” to all of our fortunes. Yes, we were that bored

After filling our tummies we headed back to a very packed Sweatshop. The crowd was very much a rockabilly-type crew and did not fit into the demographic of a Zune user. I think the marketing boys and girls at Microsoft made a boo-boo. As it turns out, only about 12 media were invited (including us) and the rest were friends of the band and the skate park who were there to get free beer.

I felt truly out of place as flannel-plaid shirts were the going style and I found out what happened to all my sister’s old jeans from the 80s . . . these dudes were wearing them. I have not seen so much moose knuckle in one room in my entire life. I hope it NEVER happens again! Check out this dude!

Overall, I can’t really blame Microsoft for throwing a crappy party. They obviously lost control of the location. Microsoft should have had at least a location manager to retain control of the party and limit the number of moochers who were there to do nothing but drink the free booze. Even companies with lots of money should be aware of how they are spending it. The Sweatshop was clearly very happy to take the money and hold their own party. There were no giveaways for any Zunes. Maybe the Sweatshop owners used them to pay for the volunteer staff?

When I went back for more booze, the two female bartenders literally were demanding tips from everybody. Very classy. I had already left them a $5 tip from my last trip and they still wanted more. It turns out the girls weren’t getting paid for their services, I left them another $5 tip in pity, but who volunteered in the first place!? Dumbasses.