andPOP - Pop Culture With Substance

Season two of “Sanctuary” premieres tonight at 9 p.m. ET on Space and andPOP caught up with one of its stars to talk about one of the most high-speed sci-fi series. Why high-speed? Well, the series actually had its beginnings on the web but “Sanctuary” has since grown into a phenomenon of its own and moved into the small screen during its first season.

“We have a blast. I mean, sometimes we think we’re in the wrong genre, we should be doing comedy because from morning to night we’re laughing the entire time, Amanda [Tapping] leading the chart being the constant giggler,” says Canadian-born Robin Dunne who plays Dr. Will Zimmerman on the show. “If she was a superhero she’d be The Giggler…I hate to use an overused cliche but it really is like a family, that’s how it feels.”

But don’t be fooled, “Sanctuary” — which follows the adventures of scientist Dr. Helen Magnus (played by Amanda Tapping) who shelters a population of strange and at times terrifying beings with the help of Dunne’s character — is far from a comedy, although it has its fair share of tongue-in-cheek moments. This time around, things are about to get darker.

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Louis Ferreira and I share more than one thing in common: we both speak Portuguese aside from English and both of us were not Sci-Fi kind of guys before Stargate Universe — the latest entity in the space-themed franchise, which premiers today at 9 p.m. exclusively on Space.

Ferreira’s resume includes an impressive amount of TV and film work. His characters range from The Donald himself in a Trump TV-movie, to lead roles in shows like “Trinity” and “Missing,” guest spots on “24” and “CSI Miami,” among tens of other TV series and films, including a a role in this year’s “Grey Gardens” with Drew Barrymore. Still, Sci-Fi remained unexplored territory for the actor (aside from a very short stint on “Star Trek”).

So how did he wind up on one of the most successful Sci-Fi franchises of all time? It’s actually quite a serendipitous story which Fereira (formerly known as Justin Louis) shared with andPOP.

Side story: when the Portuguese-born, Toronto-raised actor kicked off his career in the late ‘80s, early ‘90s, Vancouver was a booming destination for film productions so he’d go there whenever work would dry up in Toronto. “I remember being in my twenties and being like, ‘If I could have the ultimate lifestyle, it would be the farm in Toronto, the apartment in New York’ and I said, ‘a boat!’ If you could live on a boat like “Miami Vice” you would want to do it in Vancouver,” shared the Gemini winner.

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Looks like CAPTAIN Shepard is searching for new recruits, and if this video is any indication, he’s going to have quite the gang of space ass-kickers!

It seems from the video below that Mass Effect 2 brings into effect personalities of those involved in the battle beyond just the skills and techniques of those in Mass Effect 1. Case in point is the introduction of Grunt, a blood-hungry Krogan. He is violent, he is unpredictable and he has never been truely defeated in battle. He’s dangerous, and he’s on your side.

Enjoy the video after the break as more are expected in the future before Mass Effect 2’s release. READ MORE »

Franchise Games We’d Like to See – Firefly

I’ll be 100% honest with you.  I’m totally watching Firefly right now, as I write this article.  Such a rich universe, interesting characters and amazing balance between action and comedy, the short-lived cult hit TV series Firefly and it’s cinematic companion Serenity completely blew me away when I first encountered them.  It never occurred to me whether or not they would make a good video game until just now, as I sat down to write my latest blog.  In that spirit, here is the first in (hopefully) a series of articles I like to call “Franchise Games We’d Like to See”.

**disclaimer – I realize that one of these articles may be posted after an announcement of an actual game coming out in the future.  In that case, I don’t care. READ MORE »

Paradox Interactive yesterday announced that the development of Dark Horizon, the upcoming space combat game for the PC, has been completed.

Dark Horizon is a space combat adventure game that takes space in an atmospheric universe where the player fights through 22 missions of space combat. The game also features RPG elements, such as original weapon and equipment creation, several modes of combat and advanced ship customization.

Dark Horizon is set for a North American release on September 23, and a European release for September 26.