Welcome to Deep Space

After getting over the diversity of costumed characters wandering round the ExCel Centre (if it's good enough for the G20, it's good enough for the fanboys..), I decided to check out some of the stalls.

Unlike many of these autograph shows, the video games industry had quite a showing. As well as a new RPG called Borderlands, where you're some sort of mutant rampaging round a post-Katrina style lawless terrain, they also had the video game to accompany Avatar, the new creation from James Cameron.

Depending on which games console you have, can lay down which storyline you can take in the game. From what I saw, you are exploring the same fantastical universe as the movie. However, the rep told me that both storylines are different from the movie, so if you haven't seen the movie before playing the game, the movie isn't ruined, and there are two versions of the game. Also, the game is available to be played in 3-D, if your TV allows it. Using the same Real 3-D glasses as the ones used to watch 3-D cinema movies these days, you can play this shoot 'em up. Whilst I didn't get my mitts on a gun or anything, watching the demo in 3-D was pretty impressive.

They also had a 'design your own Manga character' area. Manga is, as has been previously noted, a style of Japanese cartoon. There was also an area that at times, had a demo of drumming. If you recall the opening ceremony at Beijing, they had a few thousand of these drummers. Here they had 2-3. They went for it! They appeared to be doing demos during the day, as the room was filled with the not so distant sound of drums quite often.

Ok, now for the autographs...

On the website, the organisers had helpfully divided those folks being paid to attend by their tv network, and thus promoting a show/film or whatever, and thus signing stuff for free.. Those being hosted by a third company, so still charging, but there to promote company X, Y or Z. The most common category of guest were those who were charging to be there themselves. However, on the Sunday, there were only 3 guests in this category.

Ronny Cox was the bad guy in Total Recall and Robocop. He played Arnie's nemesis in Total Recall, the guy Sharon Stone worked for. In Robocop, he plays Robocop's enemy, Dick Jones. Despite Robocop and Jones both being cops, it seems Jones, played by Ronny, is actually the mastermind behind Robocop's demise in human and (so Jones hopes) Robocop form. He was very gracious and welcoming.

Next to Ronny were two stars from the Star Trek Universe. Both played different generations of the same character. Nicole de Boer played the younger version of 'Dax', and Terry Farrell played Jadzia Dax. I recall at the time, the angst the Trekkies were having about Nicole taking over the role of Dax from Terry, and would it work. As far as I was concerned.. yep.. LOL!

Since her stint in Star Trek Deep Space 9, Nicole has moved on to headline the long running Sci-fi channel show, Dead Zone. She was pretty easy to talk to, and we talked, as you do, about flight lengths, the silly rules the folks at Paramount Craft Services had to work by (NO Tuna sandwich to be made or eaten publicly at 10am or earlier, it might encourage your fellow thespians..), and stuff like that. Yep, world politics and the World of Miley Cyrus were forgotten temporarily. Nicole was cute as Ezri Dax, and remained cute.

Terry Farrell was pretty stunning as the Jadzia incarnation of Dax, which made Nicole's playing of her incarnation important in the Trek Universe. She's still pretty stunning now, a few years later. She moved onto another long running show called Becker. No, it's not a reality tv show following the life of 'Britains favourite German', but a show about a Doctor, and his environs. It starred Ted Danson of Cheers and 3 Men and a Baby fame.