“WeeWorld has elements of both social worlds and social networks, with the player’s homepage similar to MySpace or Facebook, but also featuring a room for the player’s avatar, which the player can decorate with objects. Players can take their WeeMee into the WeeWorld and visit locations (largely to chat with other users) or can interact with other users socially via other methods (forums, messaging, etc.) and can also play a variety of games — most of which star the player’s WeeMee.”

I have a WeeMee as a result of this article (you can visit him here, if you so wish) but I don’t think I’ll be checking on him that regularly. Unless I finally get around to signing up for Facebook and all that jazz (and thus intergrate my WeeMee into my social networking… for whatever reason).

“Wow! Weird. Apparently we didn’t review Mister Lonely, even though we saw it at the Toronto International Film Festival last year. Why didn’t we? Who knows. Still, at least we get a chance to talk about it now, as it’s getting released this week (well, in the Cumberland, anyway).”

A review of Mister Lonely and some cussing of Sex and the City. Sounds about right!

“Mabinogi is (for the most part) a classic MMORPG, with players exploring dungeons, defeating monsters and purchasing weapons and armor. However, the title is also advertised as a way to ‘live your fantasy life’ and diverges from many other MMORPGs by not featuring a class system. Players can level up in any skills, which include ‘life skills’ such as fishing, cooking and playing instruments, and also age. Players are encouraged to go to school/take jobs, and to socialize by hanging out with other players around campfires.”

As I say in the piece, I don’t have a huge amount of interest in continuing to play Mabinogi. It’s still kind of an interesting world, though, and the first Korean MMO that I’ve spent a significant amount of time with, so there’s that!

“The only news this week is the return of Indiana Jones with Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull. We’re not really sure what we can say about it that you haven’t heard before from numerous sources (trepidation about how good it’ll be after such a long gap; goodness isn’t Harrison Ford old now; Shia The Beef = Jar Jar LOL etc.) but we’ll at least note that even if it does disappoint, Indiana Jones & The Fate of Atlantis will always be a canonical sequel to us, anyway.”

I went to see Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull only a couple of hours after this was published.

I can’t exactly say I was disappointed – all round, it was fairly enjoyable, and after a while you forget how old Harrison Ford looks – but it didn’t drive me wild. It was a pleasant sequel in a franchise I care for very much, not something I’m going to strike down as “non-canon” in my head (like I’ve had to do with the Star Wars prequels) but probably not something I’ll return to again and again – the way I’ve done with (yes) Indiana Jones & The Fate of Atlantis.

“Gamasutra talks to studio head John Kavanagh about the launch of the developer’s first American presence, the Wii casual market and his own return to the industry: Kavanagh began his career as a programmer at Atari, and later worked with Eidos as publisher, working with brands including Deus Ex, Hitman and Thief, and ran their US studio, Crystal Dynamics.”

This is a really neat little interview, I think, with the man who was sent to Ion Storm to clean it up. We don’t talk too much about it (or rather, I cut most of that out of the finished piece) but if you have any interest in reading more about it, I think Geoff Keighley’s piece is pretty unbeatable – Kavanagh turns up here.

“Oh, man! It’s a quiet week in film for some reason! It’s almost like there’s a huge film festival halfway across the world that all of the critics and film companies are distracted by, so they forgot to release anything notable this week. After all, Iron Man can take care of itself, right? (If you haven’t seen it, it’s definitely the kind of summer blockbuster we’re happy to recommend, so go for it.)”

Iron Man was completely great. That is all!

“In Dizzywood, players can create, customize and name a character to explore an enchanted wood.

Players can co-operate with others to solve the mysteries of the wood, and can earn rewards, such as items, achievement badges, e-motes and powers for successful completion of events, or they can just relax, chat with friends, take part in games, and explore.”

Another location filled in the atlas!

“With in-game advertising a much-hyped but not entirely proven concept, Gamasutra talks to Exent Technologies CMO Yoav Tzruya about how it’s using its AdMuse technology to place ads in existing games like Call of Duty 2, taking the pulse of the still nascent business.”

Yep – another Q&A!

“It’s an interesting week for film, with direct competition between two kinds of films—one that wants to make you feel like a kid again by bludgeoning you with special effects and nostalgic licence, and another that wants to make you feel like a kid again by simply recalling, well, what it was to be a kid.”

You should see Son of Rambow.

“Bay Area-based Planet Moon (Giants: Citizen Kabuto, Battle Of The Bands) is one of the quirkiest devs out there – Gamasutra talks to COO Aaron Loeb about the struggle to debut original IP in the game biz, why interest in the PSP from publishers is ‘definitely coming back’, and an upcoming story-led ‘huge, super-secret project’.”

Yep, I’m doing a lot of interviews! This is another great one, though. A refreshingly honest (and amusing) fellow, this Aaron Loeb.