The Sea - Horizon Scanning

The Sea

Horizon Scanning

News


Deep Sea Diving.

DeepSeaWater. (2011).
There is advancing technology being developed that will allow manned and unmanned submarines to dive to even deeper levels than before, allowing us to discover new areas and species.
AUV's (Autonomous Underwater Vehicles), much like UAV's are being developed and tested is coastal areas, where they patrol endlessly taking readings of temperatures and pressure, aswell as being used for video surveillance.  These AUV's are partially controller by AI (Artificial Intelligence), and a pilot at this time, but further development will allow them to be completely AI controlled.
DivingLore. (2010).

DeepSeaWater. (2011).
The REMUS AUV is completely self reliant, and does not need to surface for over a week.  It is unmanned and surveys the ocean bed.


DeepSeaWater. (2011).
There is also many advancements in the scuba diving area.  Many companies are working on scuba diving gear that will allow the diver to dive deeper and for longer.
"The next generation of cutting edge dive masks will have head-ups display (H.U.D) of water temperature and depth readouts." ... "the possibility of an internal digital compass. The latest scientific next generation development is Dive Masks with night vision. Thus allowing an image intensifier to 'see in the dark'." ... "even thermal Imaging may become viable." - DivingLore. (2010).



PictureNewsletter. (Unknown).
Other possibilities are oxygen tanks that re-oxygenize the used air, making diving times endless in theory.  There are also developments of a wet/dry suit hybrid, that gives the diver the warmth of a dry suit, but the better protection and movement of a wetsuit.  This will allow the diver to dive deeper into colder and more pressurized depths.
DivingLore. (2010).


These changes have attracted alot of attention from the media and people interested in possibly starting scuba diving, aswell as recreational scuba divers.  The changes make scuba diving safer, easier and more successful, but also more expensive.

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Games

RebGaming. (2011).

Reel Fishing Paradise 3D.
This game is out in late January of 2012.  It is by the the family-oriented developer and publisher Nasume Inc.
The previous fishing games avaliable have done fairly well with sales, but have never been largely popular, but now with the 3DS being a handheld console that mainly young children aswell as older adults have, this fishing game may do much better than expected.
I genuinely believe that this game is going to do well.  I understand why fishing games for the playstation and xbox haven't done well, because those consoles are mainly owned by teenages and young adults, and fishing games aren't what people of those ages would buy.  Whereas the 3DS is owned by people of all ages, and I know many parents that own one, and I see this fishing game to be more appealing to an older audience.

TheHut. (2011). Captain Morgane and the Golden Turtle PS3 .

Captain Morgane and the Golden Turtle.

This game is a simple point and click game for the ps3, psp, 3ds, pc and Wii.

It has very nice artwork and the story line is meant to be very entertaining, but my opinion after reading information and watching the trailer, this game is aimed at a younger audience.  The protagonist is a woman pirate, and the trailer emthasizes that, which makes me think it is a game that is trying to target a female audience.

I honestly didn't imagine there to be any point and click games for consoles, and I am curious to find out how well it sells.

GameSpot. (2011). Curse of the Skeletons' Island.
Curse of the Skeletons' Island.
This game looks absolutely beautiful.  It isn't going to be release until 2013, but it is a very aesthetically appealing game, from the current screenshots.

The game is planned to be an action adventure game, where you play as a pirate captain roaming the caribbean and its islands for treasure.  It is planned to have an intense story line, aswell as allowing players to free roam the large island heavy world.

There are very high hopes for this game, based on the initial game summary and screenshots.   There are already many keen fans awaiting more sneak-peeks at how the game is coming along.  I can see the hype for this game growing quite significantly.

GameSpot. (2011). Captain Blood.
Captain Blood.
This hack n slash RPG Pirate game is planned for release at some point in 2012.  It is by the creators of Sea Dog's, which I mentioned in my past research.
From watching the trailers, you play Captain Blood, who is a big beefy hero character.  There are some damsel's in distress, and boss fights.  You fight at sea and on land.  It genuinely looks like a good game, and the trailer are getting alot of very good feedback from the community. 

TheHut. (2011). Tomb Raider Xbox 360 .

This new installment of the Tomb Raider series is technically a prequal to the previous games.  This one looks absolutely amazing, the visuals are almost realistic, and the animation is very smooth.  The story is really appealing to me and seems like a huge improvment on the previous games.

I hadn't looked into this new Tomb Raider game, as I wasn't a huge fan, I enjoyed the original Tomb Raider (1996), but after that, I lost interest.  But this new game looks brilliant and it a huge change to the normal Tomb Raider style.

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Films

IMDB. (2011). Alvin and the Chipmunks: Chip-Wrecked.

Alvin and the Chipmunks: Chip-Wrecked.

Yet another installment of the chipmunk fanchise... I have never been a fan of these characters, mainly due to their whiney voices, but even a fan of these characters would know that the creators are going to far by releasing another film.  But little children will still be asking to see this film and I can see it bringing in just as much money as the previous ones.

The thing about this film that I don't understand, is that it is released on december 16th 2011, so two weeks from today, and it has listed itself as a christmas film, but it set on a tropical island.

These films are solely aimed at young children, which is why, they could endlessly release films about these chipmunks, and they will continue to do well.

IMDB. (2011). Big Miracle.

Big Miracle.

"In small town Alaska, a news reporter recruits his ex-girlfriend - a Greenpeace volunteer - on a campaign to save a family of gray whales trapped by rapidly forming ice in the Arctic Circle." - 

IMDB. (2011). Big Miracle.

This film, due for release February 10th 2012 instantly makes me think of Free Willy (1993), but I'm sure it is different in it's own way.  I think that the similarities to Free Willy will help bring it up more than down; there will the people saying this film is terrible because it is just a Free Willy rip-off, but there will also be people saying 'I loved Free Willy, so I am going to see this film'.
There is apparently more whale to person contact in this film, compared to Free Willy, which is a step forward in the right direction.

Riviello, A. (2011).
Bait 3D.
This film, planned for a late 2012 release, is another 3D shark film.  The plot is about the flooded aftermath of tsunami that washed in a pack of hungry great white sharks.  It sounds a little ridiculous, but similar events with bull sharks and flooded towns have been heard of.
The film had a very early promo trailer out, but it received alot of bad press as it wasn't well edited, but the film has quite a well known cast and reasonable budget.
Franklin, G. (2011).
Now that 3D cinema is very popular, I can see many more shark based films being released, and possibly more 3D remakes being done of past shark films.

Reeves, C. (2010).
Salmon Fishing in the Yemen.
"A fisheries expert is approached by a consultant to help realize a sheik's vision of bringing the sport of fly-fishing to the desert and embark son an upstream journey of faith and fish to prove the impossible, possible." - IMDB. (2011). Salmon Fishing In The Yemen.

This film puzzles me, it doesn't make sense and I really cannot see the appeal.  But that may be because there isn't enough information about it, and I haven't read the book.

There has definately never been a film like this before.  Which is why I think it will either do very well, or very bad.

Gallagher, B. (2011).
Pirates of the Caribbean 5.
This film is planned for a 2013 release and will be filmed during the summer of 2012.  There are plans for the 6th film also, which proves that there is a strong interest in this pirate story.
Gallagher, B. (2011).
There isn't much information about what the story-line may be about, but you can be sure that it is going to be fun, amusing and action-packed.

IMDB. (2011). The Pirates! In an Adventure with Scientists.

The Pirates! In an Adventure with Scientists.

To be released in March 2012, this film is aimed at a young audience, and is expected to be just as popular as previous animated films by sony.  It has big actors such as Hugh Grant and David Tennant doing voice acting.  It is a high budget film and with good advertising, I predict it will do very well.

Animated films seem to heading towards a more realistic look from the cartoon style.  A good example of this is the new TinTin film:

Trailers. (2011). The Adventures of Tintin: The Secret of the Unicorn - Official Trailer 2 [HD].

This film which was released very recently was animated in a very realistic way.  You can tell the environments and characters aren't real, but the facial animation and overall look does confuse you and sometimes it slips your mind that it is animated.  I think it is a great style (cartoon-realism), but I believe that it shouldn't be used in films like 'The Pirates!' as it lessens the idea that it is a cartoon kids film.

IMDB. (2011). Battleship.

Battleship.

"A fleet of ships is forced to do battle with an armada of unknown origins in order to discover and thwart their destructive goals." - IMDB. (2011). Battleship.

This film is quite original in a way, as there haven't really been any films about battleships.  There is a great scene in the newest Xmen film with battleships, which may help this film do well.

Due to the amazing CGI effects that can be created, this film is surely going to have some epic moments and explosions, which will be key to its success.

IMDB. (2011). Ice Age: Continental Drift.

Ice Age 4.

"Manny, Diego, and Sid embark upon another adventure after their continent is set adrift.  Using an iceberg as a ship, they encounter sea creatures and battle pirates as they explore a new world." -

 IMDB. (2011). Ice Age: Continental Drift.

Yet another Ice Age film.  I mentioned before about the Chipmunks new film, that the creators have gone to far by making another film, but with Ice Age, it isn't too far.  Ice Age is a film targeted at all audiences, and it is one of the only films that manages to entertain all ages successfully.  There is humour, drama, emotional scenes, tension and suspense, and it doesn't feel like they are dragging the franchise out to make money.  The films seem to be getting better and better.

I feel that if the newest Ice Age film was similar in anyway to the previous ones, then it would have been a waste of time.  But this new one is nothing like the new ones.  The story writers must genuinely be trying hard to keep the audiences interested.

I am looking forward to July 2012.

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Books

Waterstones. (2011). Search Results: 'The Sea'.

From doing a simple search on the Waterstones website, I have found that in the next year and a half, there are around 107 books related to the sea coming out.

There are more factual books about the sea coming out than novels, which is strange as my previous searches showed that the majority of books related to the sea (currently avaliable) were novels and story books.

I believe that this is because we have discovered more about the ocean in the last 5 years, then we have in 100 years prior, and all this new knowledge is featured in numous books, more and more of which are being published each year.

There were definately not as many results as I expected.  Based on the present and past research on books, I predicted at least 400+, which makes the 107 seem quite minimal and lacking.  But this could be due to books not giving a publishing date in advance, or maybe because some books related to the sea are not listed in the correct categories yet and didn't come up in my search.  If not those reasons, then it seems that popularity to do with The Sea is not as large in books as it was in the past.
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Toys

Amazon. (2011). Happy Feet 2 Huggable Mumble Soft Toy.

Happy Feet 2 is released into cinemas tomorrow, and the new Happy Feet toys will be in stores at the start of next week.  It is well timed being near christmas, as all the young children who see the film will want a cute penguin toy.

New toys nowadays are just always cuddly and soft.  Aswell as the new cuddly Mumble toy seen above, there are battery powered penguin toys, that do a kind of dance when turned on.

IceAge4Movie. (2010).

Whilst searching for toys for the new Ice Age film coming out in July 2012, I noticed that no where at all was selling or giving any information about Ice Age 4 toys.  This could either be because there are no new characters and the old characters are exactly the same, so there is no real need to make new version, or because it is too early to know.  The film doesn't come out for another 7 months, so maybe they will make and release the toys nearer or after the release of the film.