Here’s a sneak preview of Avatar 2. Following on from the hugely successful, record breaking blockbuster movie, that we all enjoyed in 3D this summer. Avatar 2 promises even more action and special effects than its predecessor! It is only matter of time before Avatar 2 is released, watch the world of Pandora…

Do you like Harry Potter, Darth Vader, The Matrix or the Lord of the Rings? You will certainly enjoy watching this trailer, I hope it amuses you and keeps you entertained…

Click here to view the embedded video.

Sorry if you thought that this was a more serious version of Avatar 2 trailer… you have to admit that it is well done though!

I thought this would be a good cure for all the Avatar suicidal fans and their Avatar suicidal thoughts… that more glimpses of Pandora would alleviate their Avatar suicidal tendencies… humour the only cure for the Avatar suicidal depressed!

Don’t worry I am sure that you wont have to wait to long before the next release of Avatar and you can immerse yourself in the beautiful perfection of the world of Pandora.

The reviews for James Cameron’s Avatar: The Game in  both XBox & PS3 have not been that complimentary. Not that the game is bad, its just that there is nothing that extraordinary about the game.  You would think after all the hype about the movie, that developers would have jumped on the bandwagon.  Perhaps they have sacrificed creativity for speed to market.  My rating for the game is an average 6/10.

Click here to view the embedded video.

There is not enough creativity around the action and after playing the game for a couple of hours you will become bored.  A lot of effort has gone into the design to create Pandora.  Even if  you change between being with the RDA and being an avatar on the side of the Na’vi, there is not enough of a storyline.

The graphics of Avatar: The Game are brilliant, taking you into the alien world of Pandora.  The alien creatures are really well done and you may just run through the lush alien landscape to experience as much of Pandora as you can.  Others will enjoy the more destructive part of the game, blowing away alien creatures!

But heh dont get me wrong, its still a good game and will keep you occupied.  It just didn’t grab me and make me go WOW!

Avatar toys bring you the future in kids entertainment with augmented reality allowing the interaction with surroundings, to make it a more life-like experience.

When Star Wars action figures came out in the 1970s, they were considered to be revolutionary. The small representations of the movie characters sold by the millions, and changed the face of movie merchandising forever. Children played with these figures for hours and hours, even though they had relatively little detail and few points of articulation compared to action figures of today. Toys like this have endured and evolved for many years; however, even George Lucas probably could not have imagined where the future of action figures would take us.

Avatar and Augmented Reality
James Cameron and Mattel bring us that future now, with action figures and toys tied into his latest mega blockbuster, “Avatar.” The film, designed for IMAX 3D, is about creatures on a far-off world called Pandora and their relationship with humans, who visit Pandora and interact with its inhabitants safely through the use of proxies called “avatars.”
What makes the Avatar toys so revolutionary is that they are integrated with augmented reality, a new term for technology that interacts with one’s surroundings to produce real time, real-life results. In the case of Avatar, each toy is equipped with a 3-D web tag.

How the iTAG Works
This “iTAG” can be scanned by any computer webcam. When it is scanned, the toy produces exclusive, special content that can be accessed on your computer screen. This content includes not only static content like biographical information and images, but also 3-D renderings of your action figure in action. What’s really cool is that if you scan two iTAGs at the same time, you’ll be treated to 3-D animation of the two toys interacting with each other onscreen.

The Future of Augmented Reality
Augmented reality is a concept that doesn’t just apply to toys. It can be used with anything from map applications to social media, but integrating augmented reality into such a popular and widespread item as a line of movie tie-in toys probably means good things for this type of product. Expect to see much more from the world of augmented reality in the future, both in your children’s toys and in your adult life.

Avatar fans are seeking the perfect planet, Pandora and getting depressed because it compares to nothing on earth.  Avatar forums are clogged with depressed fantasy seekers, searching for somewhere to go that will resemble Na’vi land.

My suggestion is a Virtual Reality machine that takes you to the 3D lush landscape of the utopia, Pandora.  Do you remember Virtual Reality machines?  You put on a headset and entered a 3D land that you could move through and interact with objects.  Virtual Reality games, never really took off though.

We could plug people into flight simulation machines, like the ones where you fly an F-14 Tomcat, except program them for “Life on Pandora”.  Put them into a “Pandora Simulator” for a few hours at a time to relieve their depression and suicidal tendencies.  Let Avatar fans experience the 3D Virtual reality life on Pandora, through the real life movement of a simulator.

Or maybe just buy them a plane ticket to the Amazon, Papua New Guinea or the Congo… I’m sure that rare minerals are being mined, at the expense of the local tribes, in all of these places. Travel agents and psychiatrists could book Avatar fans on trips to these places, organise tours to mingle with the locals – heh I’m sure they could even fall in love and help save them too.

Any more suggestions?

Have you seen the Avatar movie yet?  The record breaking blockbuster 3D science fiction movie that has become the highest grossing film of all time, even beating Titanic, that held the record for 12 years!  Avatar has grossed over $2 billion – Wow!!

Without giving too much away… it is set in the future, humans are mining a precious metal on Pandora, a lush moon orbiting the planet Polyphemus.  Pandora is occupied by a peaceful local tribe called the Na’vi, which the humans clash with. Humans have created avatars to interact with the blue skinned Na’vi on Pandora because the atmosphere is poisonous to humans.  The avatars are controlled by humans with a similar genetic makeup, through mental telepathy.

Jack Sully a former marine, who is now in a wheel chair, becomes an avatar and is sent on a mission to infiltrate the Na’vi.  But he falls in love and … aghh I am afraid I cant tell you more… if you are one of those people that haven’t seen it, I advise you to go.

They are now talking about a sequel because of the huge success of Avatar. And there is even an iPhone game developed by Gamesloft.

Apparently people are even feeling depressed and suicidal because they cannot visit the beautiful planet, Pandora. What? Yes, indeed, it is called the “Avatar Effect”.  Will this go down in the medical books as a clinical disease? James Cameron created such a beautiful, perfect world that fans cannot cope with the dullness of the real world and their own lives.

People have been going crazy on the internet and in forums, discussing the Na’vi and their world.  Is this escapism at its extreme?   Will we need these sort of fantasy worlds and lives, to travel to and experience in the future, because Earth is not good enough?

I hope your hobby is not this extreme and brings a healthy balance to your everyday life!