Anya Stroud: The Cortana of Gears of War

The titular character of Gears of War, Anya.

So Gears of War 3 is about to hit the Xbox 360 and the other lesser platforms and I thought it would be rude to not do a focus piece on shall we say the titular character of the Gears series, Anya Stroud.

Who the heck is this Anya? you may well ask? Anya is the Communications Manager for G.O.W. She's the lady who tells Marcus Fenix and Dominic Santiago that there is a courtyard free some place for them to have a group huddle in to talk about their issues. Boom!

Lieutenant Anya Stroud was a Gears of War officer in the COG Army and the daughter of Major Helena Stroud. Our heroine Anya joined the COG army to follow in her mother’s footsteps, but unlike her mother, she did not serve as a frontline Gear soldier. Anya Stroud instead became a communications officer and served in her mother's unit during the Pendulum Wars. It was during that time she met soldier Marcus Fenix and formed a love interest with him, and also became friends with Dominic Santiago. Friends being a keyword.

Stroud is proud...

The release of the demo for Gears of War 3 showed two things. One, it looks awesome. Two, Anya looks set to break free from her communications role and break out into a combat role. Booya...

So why is this Anya character important? She's no Cortana right? Two words come to mind, Marcus Fenix. Despite his daddy issues, he's been through a shit storm. Why shouldn't he fall for one of the last remaining beauties? What's suggested in Gears 1 is intimated in Gears 2. I'm fully expecting conception in the third adventure of Gears of War 3... unless of course Marcus makes a boob of himself!

Come hither....

My pick is somehow Marcus Fenix has to rescue her and in doing so declares his undying love to Anya. Something you'll never see the Master Chief do... and in that vein, Anya is just as popular a gaming heroine as the Chief's digital love, Cortana.

It's gettin' hot in here!

Gears of War has captured the minds and hearts of many gamers around the world. Some of them have even lost their virginity. This includes those fans who like to play dress up. Of course, people who like to dress up as characters from video games prefer to call it costume play:

Anya appears to be missing 28 COG tags...

But it is not just the cosplay fans that want to keep abreast of all the Gears of War issues. Some artists just have too much spare time and are happy to come up with their own interpretations of the Anya character:

Come hither Part II......

Order your copy of Gears of War III here from Amazon. Or get the book! Here's what we thought of Gears of War 4's effort.

Is it me or is Micheal Stipe beginning to look like Billy Joel?

Is it me or is Micheal beginning to look like Billy Joel?

Here's a sweet article from Rolling Stone Magazine in which Mike Mills has a wee chat about the up coming R.E.M. album, Collapse Into Now.

When R.E.M. began recording Collapse Into Now last year they decided to throw out the guidelines they imposed on their last album, 2008's Accelerate. "On the last one we tried to make everything focused, short, fast and sharp," Mike Mills tells Rolling Stone. "We took most of the rules off this time, picking the best songs regardless of whether they were fast, slow or mid-tempo."

The disc, which is due out early next year, reminds Mills of the band's 1992 classic Automatic For The People. "The songs go from one type into another really easily and it all seems to fit as a piece," Mills says. "It makes sense as a whole the same way that Automatic For The People did."

Produced by Jacknife Lee, the disc was recorded over the past year at studios in Portland, New Orleans, Nashville and at Berlin's legendary Hansa Tonstudio—where Mssrs David Bowie and Iggy Pop recorded The Idiot and later where U2 cut Achtung Baby. "There's so many, not exactly ghosts...but vibrations in there," says Mills. "It's as very, very vibey place."

While in the city of Berlin, REM met up with longtime friend Patti Smith, who contributed vocals to the track "Blue." "Patti totally changed the song and added a whole other dimension to it," says Mills. "It was a powerful thing to watch." Another track, "It Happened Today," featured vocal contributions from Eddie Vedder from Pearl Jam

The songs are also less political than the material on the last album Accelerate. "It's more of a personal record than a political one," says Mills. "Current events do come into our mind when we write, but the themes here are more universal."

Other songs on the album include the piano driven ballad "Walk It Back," a rocker called "All The Best" that features Mills and Michael Stipe sharing lead vocals and "Everyday Is Yours To Win"—which Mills describes as a "slow, beautiful song built around a guitar riff."

Mills says the group didn't always see eye-to-eye while recording the album. "This one certainly has its share of difficulty—but I don't think that's necessarily a bad thing," he says. "It just means you have creative tension, which is what happens when three strong-willed people manage to find a consensus."

Update: REM released Discoverer as a Free MP3. 

Transformers Dark of the Moon Teaser Trailer

The Optimus Prime Experiment happily spied that the internet is full of joy about the new teaser trailer for the new documentary about the history of the Transformers. This doc, the third in a series put together by renowned historian Micheal Bay tells of a major cover up about what actually happened when Mr Neil Armstrong went to the moon...



Optimus Prime said to me over a meal of dead cat that he thought Mr Bay's footage looked to be bang on and appeared to be a faithful reconstruction of the actual events.

The Cortana Pictures - Halo's AI

"Fancy a look?"

The Evolution of Cortana: More Than Just Holographic Code

Everyone's favorite purple (and sometimes blue) Smart A.I. might have sat out Halo 3: ODST - leaving us with the Superintendent who just wanted to "Keep it Clean" - but Cortana remains the undisputed heart of the Halo franchise. 

If you've played the games over the years, you've likely noticed that Cortana's appearance changes drastically from title to title. While it's easy to chalk this up purely to developers catering to the 13-year-old demographic with increasingly stylized designs, the truth in the lore (and the game engine tech) is actually a lot more fascinating.

The Lore Behind the Hologram

In the Halo universe, Smart A.I.s choose their own avatars. Cortana wasn't just programmed from scratch; she was created by flash-cloning the brain of Dr. Catherine Halsey, the brilliant (and highly controversial) creator of the Spartan-II program. Because she is a Smart A.I. born from a human mind, she possesses a deeply human personality, immense processing power, and unfortunately, a strict seven-year lifespan before succumbing to a terminal condition known as Rampancy (essentially, an A.I. thinking itself to death).

Cortana's shifting appearance isn't just a graphics update; it reflects her mental state. As the series progresses, her avatar becomes increasingly detailed, emotive, and human-like. This mirrors her growing attachment to Master Chief and her desperate grip on her own humanity as she approaches the end of her operational lifespan.

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A Visual Timeline of Cortana

Let's take a look at how advancing graphic engines and shifting art directions altered her look.

The mind boggles at what this abstract Halo 3 cutscene was all about, highlighting her fragmented mental state.

Contrast is key... literally holding the fate of the ring.

Captured by the Gravemind. The ultimate digital headache.

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The Appeal of Cortana: Cosplay and Art

Why is she such a big deal? Let's face it: she's the real hero of the original Halo trilogy. If it wasn't for her processing power and tactical genius, the Master Chief would have accidentally unleashed the might of the first Halo Ring on the universe in Combat Evolved.

Because of her iconic status, she is a massive staple in the cosplay and fan-art communities, perhaps second only to Princess Leia's Return of the Jedi outfit.

Cortana cosplay at its finest.

Detailed bodysuit construction.

Capturing the digital aesthetic in real life.

Expanded Universe and Concept Art

Cortana's design has also been heavily explored in the expanded universe media, from anime anthologies to graphic novels.

Cortana's anime-inspired look from Halo Legends.

Fan artwork interpreting her digital form.

When the owners of the Halo IP call in the big guns for official print media, like the Halo Graphic Novel, we get highly stylized interpretations of her dynamic with the Chief.

More art from the Graphic Novel era, showing a distinctly different artistic approach to her hard-light avatar.

Finally, to see where the games eventually headed, look at the concept art by Isaac Hannaford, who did foundational design work for Bungie. These sketches show a much more militaristic and grounded approach to how she interfaces with Chief's Mjolnir armor.

Isaac Hannaford's brilliant concept work defining the scale and presence of the Chief/Cortana dynamic.