TOP 100 ENGLAND SITES
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| Shrink-wrapped arts festival Belgian-born artist Lawrence Malstaf has been shrink-wrapping people in Manchester as part of an arts festival. bbc.co.uk |
Equality watchdog: 'sandwich generation' looking after parents and children at same time Millions in the "sandwich generation" face having to look after their parents while still caring for their children, a report has found. telegraph.co.uk |
Mother of military policeman killed by sniper learned at reunion how he died Corporal shot dead in friendly fire incident as he manned observation post had been under observation for an hour Military investigations into friendly fire incidents have been criticised by a mother who lost her only son in Afghanistan in a "blue-on-blue" shooting.Michael Pritchard, a lance corporal with the Royal Military Police, died in Helmand in December. But his mother did not learn that he had been shot by a British sniper until five months later. Helen Perry said that despite requests for information she had been told little, with the army saying only that Michael may have died in a friendly fire incident. She learned the details of his death only when an army padre told her at a reunion ceremony.At a subsequent briefing from the military police's special investigation branch, it was established that what Mrs Perry describes as a "catalogue of errors" had been factors in his death. He had been watched for more than an hour, as he manned an observation tower, before he was shot and killed.Mrs Perry's concerns follow the death of Linda Norgrove, who was a hostage in Afghanistan. Initially, the government said that she had been murdered by the Taliban, though she may have been killed by a US grenade. A US-UK investigation has been opened into her death.An MoD spokesman said: "Our sympathies remain with the family of Lance Corporal Michael Pritchard. Mrs Perry has received a briefing from the Royal Military Police and we remain in contact with her regarding the investigation. It would be inappropriate to speculate on the outcome."MilitaryAfghanistanTalibanJamie Dowardguardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2010 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds guardian.co.uk |
Laser lights up tower anniversary A laser artwork is to bring a 21st Century touch to celebrations marking the bicentenary of the highest man-made feature in north east Wales. bbc.co.uk |
Fable III's epic cast takes video games to a new level Zoë Wanamaker and Stephen Fry among household names whose voiceovers appear on new British gameBen Kingsley, Michael Fassbender, Zoë Wanamaker, Bernard Hill, Simon Pegg, John Cleese and Stephen Fry are all on the cast list and the 20-track original score is performed by a national symphony orchestra. It sounds like the cinematic event of the year, yet this epic tale will never be seen on stage or screen. Instead, the ensemble cast of more than 80 actors and voice talents makes up the characters of Fable III – one of the most eagerly awaited video games of the year in an industry that is gradually acquiring some cachet among the stars.Securing the Oscar-winner Kingsley in his first video game voiceover role was perhaps the biggest coup, although the publishers have yet to reveal whether they needed a blockbuster-sized budget to bring the cast together."I'd say it was less than you would pay for an animated film," said Georg Backer, audio producer at game makers Lionheart Studios, and the man responsible for bringing the acting talent to the studio. "A lot has been spent but sales expectations are high. It took six months from start to finish and by the end more than 470,000 words had been spoken. We had a list of people who we thought would be perfect for the roles, and went to the agents to sell the story to them. Fable III is quintessentially British with its issues of monarchy, taxation, rebellion and charming humour so it was much easier to sell this to British talent."Kingsley, who plays Sabine, the leader of the mountain-dwellers, said: "This is my first experience voicing a video game, so what drew me to it was the team, how committed they are, how well organised everything is and how beautiful the game is."The Observer's video games editor, Giles Richards, said work by Peter Molyneux, the creative director at Fable's publishers Microsoft Games Studios, could be placed alongside modern film auteurs such as Michael Haneke. "The world that he has created is so rich, so believable and so gloriously detailed it's hard not to be enthralled by it. But it's also cinematic, epic and homely all at once – little wonder that Brit acting talent would want to be involved. The roles fit our actors as Ealing once did: clever, witty and idiosyncratic, they recognise in Molyneux an auteur at the height of his game," he said.Simon Pegg, who plays a soldier always looking for a fight, said it was a unique project to work on. "One of the things that is missing from a lot of video games is good writing and good voice work. I think this one has a wonderful mythology and it's witty and it's engrossing," he explained.By Friday advanced sales for Fable III, released in the US on Tuesday and in Europe on Friday, had catapulted it to the top of Amazon.com's games chart.In the past year, more A-listers have lent their voices to the games industry with Mickey Rourke leading the way. As the voice of Richard "Demo Dick" Marcinko in last year's Rogue Warrior, Rourke said he was exploring a whole new realm of entertainment.Games as big as Fable III now have launch days on a par with Hollywood blockbusters as the internet buzzes with chat. "The first Fable game was the reason I bought my Xbox," one blogger said. "It was and continues to be a groundbreaking. series."GamesStephen FrySimon PeggGame culturePaul Gallagherguardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2010 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds guardian.co.uk |