Why?  Why?  Why?  No seriously… why?

Ready Player One

The year is 2044. The world has been devastated by financial ruin. The only source of sanity and self-esteem is the virtual world of OASIS. Created by a Steve Jobs-like fantasy techno-nerd, the OASIS is the ultimate in MMOs. But when this child of the 80s dies, he leaves a quest to his his riches that requires not only an intimate understanding of his childhood, but a complete understanding of the pop culture of his youth. And we are not talking baseball stats ala “Back to the Future”.

The quest means winning billions of dollars, but our hero, Wade (better known as his OASIS avatar, Parzival) is more interested in making sure the corporation IOI doesn’t finish the quest first.

In a simple summary Ready Player One doesn’t sound like any great shakes, but for a child of the 70s and 80s this was an almost disturbing rummaging through my bedroom closet set 40+ years in the future. The students of pop culture in 2044 regard Better Off Dead and Say Anything with the same regard I talk about Citizen Kane. It is disarming at first, but makes sense given the context of the world they live in: All media in history is available and accessible instantly. It just seems in the state of the world in 2044 there is little or no new media, or at least entertainment that isn’t beyond watching people do things in the OASIS.

What results is a very satisfying adventure from the perspective of a high-school student of 30+ years in the future using his encyclopedic knowledge and study of everything from Dungeons and Dragons, Atari 2600′s “Adventure”, Rush’s “2112″ album, Monty Python’s Life of Brian, Tempest, Joust, Pac-Man, Voltron, Ferris Bueller, Ultraman, War Games, E.T. … the list is practically endless.

And that is what makes this such a fun read. The grounding in reality at the beginning gets hard to hold onto at the end of the story, but that’s OK. Ready Player One is a fun (if not slightly long) read especially for anyone who has ever rolled a 20-sided-die, flipped a New Order 12″, or fantasized about flying an X-Wing. As a victim of all three, I found this a weirdly satisfying romp into my treasure chest. I look forward to seeing what Cline has next.

There will be an amazing rush for these things, so head over here if you are interested in trying to get on the order list now.  And while you are there, check out all the other amazing replicas they have to offer.  Need some authentic BSG Colonial dogtags?  They have it.  Need a nice Captain Hammer T-shirt?  They have that too.

In what maybe be another “only in Japan” moment, the tony Tokyo neighborhood of Ginza seems to have some serious Steve Jobs lovers. This is taken outside the Ginza Apple Store. (Note: Actual apples aren’t that cheap in Tokyo.)

EDIT: Apparently the first run is only 1500 pairs, which will be auctioned off. Will these eventually be released to the public. Time will tell…

Sci-Guy-John took more photos at PAX… can you find Cha Cha? And now embarrassing that the photos he took of Sci-Guy-Mike show how poorly he did at playing the new Legend of Zelda game at the Nintendo area!

The most impressive thing about PAX? The LINES! I got inside the main convention hall at about 10:15 this morning (fifteen minutes after the doors opened) and there were at least 500 people in line to play Bioware’s new Star Wars MMO “Old Republic.” Why are they willing to wait? The only way to get the free T-shirt is to play the demo!

I scouted around for my initial recon, and decided that I will save the line waiting until this afternoon! There are no lines around the tabletop gaming areas, and the Wizards of the Coast D&D play area has plenty of room. I ran through the Halo Experience and was impressed by the amount of money Microsoft shelled out to pimp the Spartans. More to come after this afternoon’s forray…

Freida Pinto began modeling and acting in her native India in her teens.  Her big international break came when she was cast in Danny Boyle’s film “Slumdog Millionaire.”  Since then, she has appeared in a Woody Allen movie and has two Sci-Guys wheelhouse films out this year.  The first, “Rise of the Planet of the Apes” is in theaters now.  Ms. Pinto plays a primatologist opposite James Franco.  The second film, the Greek mythology themed ”Immortals,” is scheduled for a November release and has her playing the role of the priestess Phaedra.

In what has to be a career benefiting blessing, Ms. Pinto lost out to Jamie Chung when she auditioned for a role in “Sucker Punch.”  Wow.  What agent told her that a good way to follow up a hit like “Slumdob Millionaire” was to get into a CGI nightmare like “Sucker Punch?” 

Silly Sci-Fact about Ms. Pinto:  she’s a Mangalorian Catholic.  And the only reason I find this interesting is that it is soooo close to being “Mandalorian,” like the famous Star Wars bounty hunter Jango Fett.