I don't think I'm inside my own mind today... there has been a tried and true argument the opposite sex employs in contrarian fashion to the art that is Professional Wrestling. That argument is "Well... it's just like a Soap Opera."
Bullshit!
Here are the realms which Wrestling and Soaps are comparable:
- They both have ridiculous "plots"
- They both involve overacting
- The quality of both products is questionable
This is where the similarities end. Let me take a moment to debunk these comparisons.
1) The Plots:
In wrestling there are really only so many realms which these plots which are used to give the actual WRESTLING more drama and supposed meaning actually work. Usually you have to try and make the plots unfold in a way that the viewers can relate to so of course the drama is going to be comparable to Soaps. There are really only so many ways that drama can be convened in a realistic manner and Wrestling is especially restricted in this. I mean when you're having a bunch of dudes fighting each other as the vocal point of your entertainment, the plots should work around that and that's not how it really works anymore which is a shame. That's another rant for another day. Wrestling is more limited than Soap Operas in the realm of what can actually be done.
2) Overacting:
This is an easy debunk. Actors are trained professionals, acting is their skill. They are paid to overact. Wrestlers are not trained actors, some are much better actors than others but really they aren't paid to act. They're paid to wrestle. As a result, the 'acting' portrayed by many professional wrestlers is bad simply because they are not good actors, not because they're over acting on purpose.
You get a rare gem like The Rock who was an excellent entertainer and could hold his own next to most any actor, in my opinion then you get guys like Hulk Hogan who's fame got him movie roles but his acting skills left much to be desired.
3) Questionable Product:
Soap Operas suck, I don't care who you are. Thing is, Wrestling sucks too. It has for the better part of a decade now. It just doesn't have the same spirit it once did. The characters aren't as interesting as they used to be and even the in-ring wrestling product is a pale force of what it once was. Soap Operas, I don't need to go there. If you like seeing the same plots re-enacted over and over again, with the same characters than clearly Wrestling and Soap Operas are for you.
Outside of these three elements, they are not even close to being similar. Soap Operas are daytime drams. Wrestling is just that. WRESTLING. It's about two dudes who have been professionally trained to fight each other without hurting each other and yet make it brutal as hell. There's a certain art to Wrestling that's always intrigued me and in my teen years I even wanted to BE a wrestler.
Mick Foley got thrown off a steel cage over ten feet high and crashed through an announcers table. Nothing fake or overacted about that. His teeth went through his face, it was something he would never do again to that extent but it looked awesome and is the kind of moment that wrestling fans will always remember. Mick Foley, and all other wrestlers put their bodies and sometimes their very lives on the line to entertain people. Do Soap Opera actors do that? Fuck no!
So yeah, it's a mute argument for the most part and I can already sense those soap fans sneering at the mere assertion that their cherished actors are insignificant in comparison to some buff dudes with a shaved chests pretending to beat the crap out of each other. Wrestling was something I grew up watching and something I will probably always love, no matter how crappy it is.
Thursday, December 16, 2010
Saturday, October 30, 2010
Sports Games... you're ON NOTICE!
I don't think I'm inside my own mind today... Thanks to NBA 2K11, ALL other sports titles are on notice, and this is a call for improvement and the thing that makes me feel so out of my mind is that a BASKETBALL game of all titles is demanding me to ask more of my sports games. This is a rant about sports games and why I love them, why they suck and what makes them great. Feel free to continue on but don't get pissy because I'm not going on about something more important...
So far this year, I've purchased Major League Baseball 2k10, NCAA Football 11 and Backbeaker as well as NBA 2k11. All of these sports games offer something the competition doesn't but only one of these games clearly rises above the rest.
I've voiced my ire toward sports games like Madden and that ire increases with each exceptional sports title that's released. With NHL 11 also earning a lot of positive buzz that only increases that desire exponentially.
Let's start this off by stating, I don't need to hear it. I've heard it all before, "sports games suck!" "They're all the same!" "Why don't you go play a real game?" I respond to those by saying I'd rather shoot a puck into a net or run a touchdown in for 6 points than play video games of pretend warfare that in my opinion reduce the seriousness of what is a very grim aspect of humanity, warfare. That's another rant for another day but today it's about Sports games.
Ever since I was a boy, I have always loved sports games. Hours upon hours spent playing NHL 95 on my Sega Genesis. Back then it was all about putting Wayne Gretzky on the Vancouver Canucks and willing a million Stanley Cup's. Now the goals remain pertinent while the stars of the past have faded from the limelight. That's part of what makes NBA 2K11 such a great game, they took one of those stars of the past, Michael freaking Jordan and based the game around him in a large part.
NBA 2K11 succeeds in aspects where virtually every other sports game manages to fail on one point or another. Lets start with just the gameplay in general.
Gameplay of NBA 2K11 is superb. It re-creates the atmosphere and intensity of professional basketball with stunning realism. The game feels, looks, and plays like a game of NBA basketball that you would watch on TV. The AI is excellent and the defense is stifling. You have to play smart to win in NBA 2k11, it's not all fast breaks and alley-oops, if you aren't using your brain and making smart shots you will get your ass handed to you by the CPU or by other players. NBA 2K11 forces you to play smart on both sides of the ball.
The games perks don't end there. "The Asociation" mode gets props for being maybe the most deep and well thought out 'dynasty' mode in any sports game. 2K has outdone themselves creating a very good game mode here, with excellent AI business sense that attempt smart trades, (though trades that don't always work with the salary cap) and a draft system that's quick, like the real thing, and you don't have to worry about getting burned on bad draft picks which is a CONSTANT piss-off with Madden.
I have yet to try the "my player" mode, where you play a single player from the NBA Draft to NBA super stardom. I have been saving that due to something else.
There's an element that makes NBA 2k11 a step above the rest and that's the inclusion of the Michael Jordan mode, more or less. This mode include 10 challenges which re-create a number of Jordan's Chicago Bulls teams from the 80's and 90's with time-appropriate accuracy as well as some classic teams from the NBA past that include great players such as Magic Johnson, Clyde Drexler, Gary Payton, Larry Bird, Dominique Wilkins, Karl Malone, and others as well. Completing the 10 challenges unlocks the "MJ Career" mode where you can put Michael Jordan in the NBA draft, and play his career through with the great players of today like Kobe, LeBron, etc.
Michael Jordan was rivaled and surpassed only by Wayne Gretzky as far as my childhood sports heroes are concerned, with Barry Sanders placing a distant third. The game mode being built around Mr. Space Jam himself was 100% the selling point of this game for me. With the Michael Jordan game modes, you have a very complete sports game which has excellent game-play, excellent dynasty mode with smart player progression and regression as well as a game mode which will entice old school fans like myself to a game they otherwise would not have bought.
It's the complete package that puts NBA 2k11 above the rest. Hockey could benefit from the inclusion of a Wayne Gretzky mode, though re-creating some of The Great One's greatest moments would probably prove to be more difficult on a Hockey Rink than re-creating MJ's on the hard court. A game mode like that though could help elevate a great game like NHL 11 which has really pushed the bar on Hockey's front move up to the next level and create a lasting appeal that most sports games couldn't dream of.
With NBA 2k11, it has managed to re-kindle the next-to-none interest level I had in the sport of Basketball but it also has manged to create a game which pays homage to the rich past of the sport while using the greatest player to play the game as a catalyst for this trip down memory lane. I don't think a 'star player' approach would work for every sport, but for games like Basketball, it's helped give NBA 2K11 a boost to a game which would have still been pretty great even without the MJ modes.
So few sports games that come out now couldn't hope to be as well rounded as NBA 2k11, Backbreaker a game that came out earlier this year was a game I was really looking forward to. Gameplay issues which have since been picked, and an overall limited game mode overall really killed the momentum of the game. I like what they tried to deliver and I think the game succeeded at creating an alternative but overall the game will probably be looked back as a failiure.
NCAA Football is a fun football game that re-creates the rabid atmosphere of college football but ultimately it leaves me wanting to play Madden, because I prefer NFL football to NCAA football, hell I prefer CFL football to NCAA football and the great thing is with the NCAA's "Teambuilder" engine, I can re-create CFL teams pretty much to the detail. It's actually a much better team creating engine than the engine Backbreaker uses to create its teams, and creating teams in Backbreaker is one of the major perks of that game. When I have played this years Madden, it pales in comparison to its NCAA cousin. The developers got the most out of the new physics engine where as the new Madden feels like more of the same old-same old.
I always get frustrated with the little flaws of Madden's gameplay that you don't get with NCAA, and it makes me shake my head that two games with the same engine could have such vastly different quality levels. I do believe the games have different developers which makes me think that maybe Madden could use a new developing team to help breath some desperately new life into that game. The way things are going, unless Madden 12 has a trick up it's sleeve, I'm doubtful I will buy that one either. With all the excellent sports titles being released, I can do without Madden.
Now, Tiger Woods Golf did the whole 're-creating' moments in Tiger 10 and that was quite fun, you had to duplicate not just Tiger's but other golfer's moments as well and you could use the points you would earn from those performances to help boost your own personal golf avatar. And it helped make that game a little deeper having another game mode to go to as Golf games suffer from monotony a lot more-so than other sports games do. I get the most fun out of the golf game when I'm playing with my girlfriend, she gets as into it as I do which is a big plus.
I guess that leaves Major League Baseball 2k10, another 2K sports title. Baseball has been like the red headed step-child of the sports game group as of late and 2K took a lot of steps to ensure that 2k10 was deserving of their Xbox exclusive license, given that Sony's "MLB: The Show" has been a pinnacle sports title on the Playstation for years now. They didn't do anything flashy, like anything, with a sports game you have to build the foundation before you start expanding with extra game modes and themes, but 2K10 took a step in the right direction.
They put the focus on the pitcher/ batter duel, and the game is actually the most fun to play which is great for gamers like me who prefer to sim their way through the 'dynasty' modes to see how well their teams play from year to year. MLB 2k10 preferred to make their major game play statement in the ball park which was a necessary action to take. With the gameplay on the right track, they can focus on the game as a whole for next year in delivering a superior game.
It's what Madden needs to do. A "flagship" title that outsells most other games annually should not be so shitty. Sports fans have nobody to blame but themselves as they keep buying it, and the game hasn't changed. Why would it? Unless EA sees a significant drop in sales, they're not going to try to fix what, in their eyes, probably isn't broken.
I want to give kudos for NBA 2K11 for re-kindling my interest in Basketball, I miss the Vancouver Grizzlies like mad and cheering for any other team feels blasphemous. No way in hell I'm going to root for the "Memphis Grizzlies" so that's out the window.
I'm going to look forward to sports titles like NHL 11 and Smackdown vs Raw 2011. Once I get Hockey I'll have a sports game for every sport that I like, and the need to have Madden will be significantly declined. If any sports gamers have anything to add, positive or negative. I'd like this post to serve as a catalyst for discussion about the games we love, and what pisses us off about the games we wish gave us more.
So far this year, I've purchased Major League Baseball 2k10, NCAA Football 11 and Backbeaker as well as NBA 2k11. All of these sports games offer something the competition doesn't but only one of these games clearly rises above the rest.
I've voiced my ire toward sports games like Madden and that ire increases with each exceptional sports title that's released. With NHL 11 also earning a lot of positive buzz that only increases that desire exponentially.
Let's start this off by stating, I don't need to hear it. I've heard it all before, "sports games suck!" "They're all the same!" "Why don't you go play a real game?" I respond to those by saying I'd rather shoot a puck into a net or run a touchdown in for 6 points than play video games of pretend warfare that in my opinion reduce the seriousness of what is a very grim aspect of humanity, warfare. That's another rant for another day but today it's about Sports games.
Ever since I was a boy, I have always loved sports games. Hours upon hours spent playing NHL 95 on my Sega Genesis. Back then it was all about putting Wayne Gretzky on the Vancouver Canucks and willing a million Stanley Cup's. Now the goals remain pertinent while the stars of the past have faded from the limelight. That's part of what makes NBA 2K11 such a great game, they took one of those stars of the past, Michael freaking Jordan and based the game around him in a large part.
NBA 2K11 succeeds in aspects where virtually every other sports game manages to fail on one point or another. Lets start with just the gameplay in general.
Gameplay of NBA 2K11 is superb. It re-creates the atmosphere and intensity of professional basketball with stunning realism. The game feels, looks, and plays like a game of NBA basketball that you would watch on TV. The AI is excellent and the defense is stifling. You have to play smart to win in NBA 2k11, it's not all fast breaks and alley-oops, if you aren't using your brain and making smart shots you will get your ass handed to you by the CPU or by other players. NBA 2K11 forces you to play smart on both sides of the ball.
The games perks don't end there. "The Asociation" mode gets props for being maybe the most deep and well thought out 'dynasty' mode in any sports game. 2K has outdone themselves creating a very good game mode here, with excellent AI business sense that attempt smart trades, (though trades that don't always work with the salary cap) and a draft system that's quick, like the real thing, and you don't have to worry about getting burned on bad draft picks which is a CONSTANT piss-off with Madden.
I have yet to try the "my player" mode, where you play a single player from the NBA Draft to NBA super stardom. I have been saving that due to something else.
There's an element that makes NBA 2k11 a step above the rest and that's the inclusion of the Michael Jordan mode, more or less. This mode include 10 challenges which re-create a number of Jordan's Chicago Bulls teams from the 80's and 90's with time-appropriate accuracy as well as some classic teams from the NBA past that include great players such as Magic Johnson, Clyde Drexler, Gary Payton, Larry Bird, Dominique Wilkins, Karl Malone, and others as well. Completing the 10 challenges unlocks the "MJ Career" mode where you can put Michael Jordan in the NBA draft, and play his career through with the great players of today like Kobe, LeBron, etc.
Michael Jordan was rivaled and surpassed only by Wayne Gretzky as far as my childhood sports heroes are concerned, with Barry Sanders placing a distant third. The game mode being built around Mr. Space Jam himself was 100% the selling point of this game for me. With the Michael Jordan game modes, you have a very complete sports game which has excellent game-play, excellent dynasty mode with smart player progression and regression as well as a game mode which will entice old school fans like myself to a game they otherwise would not have bought.
It's the complete package that puts NBA 2k11 above the rest. Hockey could benefit from the inclusion of a Wayne Gretzky mode, though re-creating some of The Great One's greatest moments would probably prove to be more difficult on a Hockey Rink than re-creating MJ's on the hard court. A game mode like that though could help elevate a great game like NHL 11 which has really pushed the bar on Hockey's front move up to the next level and create a lasting appeal that most sports games couldn't dream of.
With NBA 2k11, it has managed to re-kindle the next-to-none interest level I had in the sport of Basketball but it also has manged to create a game which pays homage to the rich past of the sport while using the greatest player to play the game as a catalyst for this trip down memory lane. I don't think a 'star player' approach would work for every sport, but for games like Basketball, it's helped give NBA 2K11 a boost to a game which would have still been pretty great even without the MJ modes.
So few sports games that come out now couldn't hope to be as well rounded as NBA 2k11, Backbreaker a game that came out earlier this year was a game I was really looking forward to. Gameplay issues which have since been picked, and an overall limited game mode overall really killed the momentum of the game. I like what they tried to deliver and I think the game succeeded at creating an alternative but overall the game will probably be looked back as a failiure.
NCAA Football is a fun football game that re-creates the rabid atmosphere of college football but ultimately it leaves me wanting to play Madden, because I prefer NFL football to NCAA football, hell I prefer CFL football to NCAA football and the great thing is with the NCAA's "Teambuilder" engine, I can re-create CFL teams pretty much to the detail. It's actually a much better team creating engine than the engine Backbreaker uses to create its teams, and creating teams in Backbreaker is one of the major perks of that game. When I have played this years Madden, it pales in comparison to its NCAA cousin. The developers got the most out of the new physics engine where as the new Madden feels like more of the same old-same old.
I always get frustrated with the little flaws of Madden's gameplay that you don't get with NCAA, and it makes me shake my head that two games with the same engine could have such vastly different quality levels. I do believe the games have different developers which makes me think that maybe Madden could use a new developing team to help breath some desperately new life into that game. The way things are going, unless Madden 12 has a trick up it's sleeve, I'm doubtful I will buy that one either. With all the excellent sports titles being released, I can do without Madden.
Now, Tiger Woods Golf did the whole 're-creating' moments in Tiger 10 and that was quite fun, you had to duplicate not just Tiger's but other golfer's moments as well and you could use the points you would earn from those performances to help boost your own personal golf avatar. And it helped make that game a little deeper having another game mode to go to as Golf games suffer from monotony a lot more-so than other sports games do. I get the most fun out of the golf game when I'm playing with my girlfriend, she gets as into it as I do which is a big plus.
I guess that leaves Major League Baseball 2k10, another 2K sports title. Baseball has been like the red headed step-child of the sports game group as of late and 2K took a lot of steps to ensure that 2k10 was deserving of their Xbox exclusive license, given that Sony's "MLB: The Show" has been a pinnacle sports title on the Playstation for years now. They didn't do anything flashy, like anything, with a sports game you have to build the foundation before you start expanding with extra game modes and themes, but 2K10 took a step in the right direction.
They put the focus on the pitcher/ batter duel, and the game is actually the most fun to play which is great for gamers like me who prefer to sim their way through the 'dynasty' modes to see how well their teams play from year to year. MLB 2k10 preferred to make their major game play statement in the ball park which was a necessary action to take. With the gameplay on the right track, they can focus on the game as a whole for next year in delivering a superior game.
It's what Madden needs to do. A "flagship" title that outsells most other games annually should not be so shitty. Sports fans have nobody to blame but themselves as they keep buying it, and the game hasn't changed. Why would it? Unless EA sees a significant drop in sales, they're not going to try to fix what, in their eyes, probably isn't broken.
I want to give kudos for NBA 2K11 for re-kindling my interest in Basketball, I miss the Vancouver Grizzlies like mad and cheering for any other team feels blasphemous. No way in hell I'm going to root for the "Memphis Grizzlies" so that's out the window.
I'm going to look forward to sports titles like NHL 11 and Smackdown vs Raw 2011. Once I get Hockey I'll have a sports game for every sport that I like, and the need to have Madden will be significantly declined. If any sports gamers have anything to add, positive or negative. I'd like this post to serve as a catalyst for discussion about the games we love, and what pisses us off about the games we wish gave us more.
Friday, October 8, 2010
An open letter to love
I don't think I'm inside my own mind today... then again... maybe I am? Allow me, if you will, to tell you all a little story.
The boy liked that…
The girl had boyfriends, this stopped the boy from persuing his interest in the girl. The first boyfriend she had was an angry metal-head who postured aggressively and was threatened by the boy’s presence because the boy was simply awesome. The girls second boyfriend was an old friend of the boy so he didn’t want to disrespect the boyfriend by making a move for his girl.
This girl never quelled her interest in the boy. They grew close together as friends. The girl remained a comforting ear for the boy who had a lot of anger, a lot of sadness, and a lot of other emotions that he couldn’t quite understand himself.
The boy wished the girl would dump her boyfriend, because she wasn’t happy with him. He dreamed of the day she would be available and he would be able to sweep in as the prince charming on his epic steed, ready to take the princess to his castle for a happily ever after.
If you haven’t figured it out… I am that boy.
I waited for the girl, for years. She eventually broke it off with her boyfriend and afterward had said she did not want a boyfriend. I respected the girls wishes while my own feelings for her continued to grow strong.
The girl went off to college, while I remained in the small town. I moved out of my mom’s house as we were evicted from our home. Moved in with a friend. I worked two jobs, smoked a lot of weed and blew my money on unimportant things. College, to me, was not worth while because I did not wish for debt due to student loans, and I did not feel that my true passion, Writing, held a profitable future. I want to go to college for a career, this is something I still struggle with but I digress.
The girl was coming home and I knew my time to let my feelings known was nearing. Every day that came closer my fear grew.
Throughout my childhood, growing up, my feelings for the girls I liked always seemed to leave me cold. Backfired, I thought, maybe I was undesirable, maybe I was too loud. I often talked of how teenage girls infuriated me. Of course, in the coliseum of teenaged debauchery that is High School, the teenage girls probably were put off by my rather negative attitude.
Anyway…
After an evening that involved much alcohol, and much weed. I decided to take my chances. I had to make my move because the fear that I would never had taken that leap of faith overshadowed the fear that she might not feel the same.
She felt the same way. The girl I had loved, for years, had liked, and maybe even loved me too at that point.
Of course, due to my intoxication I was confused the next day. Did I fuck up? Was she revolted by the disgusting level of cowardice that was involved with my approach to let forth with literally years worth of feelings forward to her?
No.
In fact, it worked out the exact opposite. She was overjoyed, and it wasn’t long before we began dating. In fact, it wasn’t long at all before we decided to move away together.
I’ve followed that girl across the province of British Columbia, and now I’ve moved with her across the nation of Canada.
My love for her was something I felt that was worth the wait, and it’s a love that I would fight to keep. Time is irrelevant.
Though times aren’t always perfect, the fact that I am spending them with her outweighs any of the lowest lows of my past. Even the worst moments, or those that could be perceived as “the worst” are still amazing compared to the past. I would never change a thing.
Natasha. I love you, I always will. Nothing will ever stop me from feeling the way I do about you.
I will do anything in my power to give you the things you want, the things that you deserve and the things that maybe you even don’t want.
I would give the world to you if it were a possibility. Because my love for you makes me feel like I am never doing enough.
Love is a fickle mistress, but if you have it. True love, in your grasp, you know it’s the kind of power that you would do anything for, and that it’s the kind of feeling that you never want to let go of.
I know I’m not perfect, far, far from it in fact, and I know that I can be a better man.
I just want you to know, and I guess the world to know, that there’s nothing I wouldn’t do to see the smile on your face. It makes even the darkest skies turn blue. And if there’s anyone out there that feels the same way about a girl. They can steal this open letter for it’s not my story. We’ve all got stories of love that has been found and stories of love unrequited. It just so happens that my story is, at least to this point a victorious one.
The story of our love is just beginning. There are many chapters yet to be told. I hope that you will always feel the same way, and that we can one day close the story on this chaotic romance and know that it was all worth it.
You’re worth it, and you always will be. If I hadn’t taken that chance, and if I was still waiting, I would continue to wait, knowing that I would not sabotage my next chance to tell you that I love you, and that I always have, and I always will.
Another chapter ends, another begins, but our story continues. I’m glad that I’m sharing this story with you.
Once upon a time there was a boy… He was young, shy. He was angry and he was dissatisfied with things. Sixteen years young, dreams already crushed and an undetermined future. All that seemed true was one person.
That person was a girl who, at first, the boy didn’t go out of his way to know. Not because he wasn’t interested but because he was too shy to really think she could even find the time to like him. That girl ended up being spectacular. She shared common interests, she liked things that he liked, she liked to listen to his unfiltered stream-of-consciousness rants. She liked to be around him.
That person was a girl who, at first, the boy didn’t go out of his way to know. Not because he wasn’t interested but because he was too shy to really think she could even find the time to like him. That girl ended up being spectacular. She shared common interests, she liked things that he liked, she liked to listen to his unfiltered stream-of-consciousness rants. She liked to be around him.
The boy liked that…
The girl had boyfriends, this stopped the boy from persuing his interest in the girl. The first boyfriend she had was an angry metal-head who postured aggressively and was threatened by the boy’s presence because the boy was simply awesome. The girls second boyfriend was an old friend of the boy so he didn’t want to disrespect the boyfriend by making a move for his girl.
This girl never quelled her interest in the boy. They grew close together as friends. The girl remained a comforting ear for the boy who had a lot of anger, a lot of sadness, and a lot of other emotions that he couldn’t quite understand himself.
The boy wished the girl would dump her boyfriend, because she wasn’t happy with him. He dreamed of the day she would be available and he would be able to sweep in as the prince charming on his epic steed, ready to take the princess to his castle for a happily ever after.
If you haven’t figured it out… I am that boy.
I waited for the girl, for years. She eventually broke it off with her boyfriend and afterward had said she did not want a boyfriend. I respected the girls wishes while my own feelings for her continued to grow strong.
The girl went off to college, while I remained in the small town. I moved out of my mom’s house as we were evicted from our home. Moved in with a friend. I worked two jobs, smoked a lot of weed and blew my money on unimportant things. College, to me, was not worth while because I did not wish for debt due to student loans, and I did not feel that my true passion, Writing, held a profitable future. I want to go to college for a career, this is something I still struggle with but I digress.
The girl was coming home and I knew my time to let my feelings known was nearing. Every day that came closer my fear grew.
Throughout my childhood, growing up, my feelings for the girls I liked always seemed to leave me cold. Backfired, I thought, maybe I was undesirable, maybe I was too loud. I often talked of how teenage girls infuriated me. Of course, in the coliseum of teenaged debauchery that is High School, the teenage girls probably were put off by my rather negative attitude.
Anyway…
After an evening that involved much alcohol, and much weed. I decided to take my chances. I had to make my move because the fear that I would never had taken that leap of faith overshadowed the fear that she might not feel the same.
She felt the same way. The girl I had loved, for years, had liked, and maybe even loved me too at that point.
Of course, due to my intoxication I was confused the next day. Did I fuck up? Was she revolted by the disgusting level of cowardice that was involved with my approach to let forth with literally years worth of feelings forward to her?
No.
In fact, it worked out the exact opposite. She was overjoyed, and it wasn’t long before we began dating. In fact, it wasn’t long at all before we decided to move away together.
I’ve followed that girl across the province of British Columbia, and now I’ve moved with her across the nation of Canada.
My love for her was something I felt that was worth the wait, and it’s a love that I would fight to keep. Time is irrelevant.
Though times aren’t always perfect, the fact that I am spending them with her outweighs any of the lowest lows of my past. Even the worst moments, or those that could be perceived as “the worst” are still amazing compared to the past. I would never change a thing.
Natasha. I love you, I always will. Nothing will ever stop me from feeling the way I do about you.
I will do anything in my power to give you the things you want, the things that you deserve and the things that maybe you even don’t want.
I would give the world to you if it were a possibility. Because my love for you makes me feel like I am never doing enough.
Love is a fickle mistress, but if you have it. True love, in your grasp, you know it’s the kind of power that you would do anything for, and that it’s the kind of feeling that you never want to let go of.
I know I’m not perfect, far, far from it in fact, and I know that I can be a better man.
I just want you to know, and I guess the world to know, that there’s nothing I wouldn’t do to see the smile on your face. It makes even the darkest skies turn blue. And if there’s anyone out there that feels the same way about a girl. They can steal this open letter for it’s not my story. We’ve all got stories of love that has been found and stories of love unrequited. It just so happens that my story is, at least to this point a victorious one.
The story of our love is just beginning. There are many chapters yet to be told. I hope that you will always feel the same way, and that we can one day close the story on this chaotic romance and know that it was all worth it.
You’re worth it, and you always will be. If I hadn’t taken that chance, and if I was still waiting, I would continue to wait, knowing that I would not sabotage my next chance to tell you that I love you, and that I always have, and I always will.
Another chapter ends, another begins, but our story continues. I’m glad that I’m sharing this story with you.
Monday, October 4, 2010
Its already October? Jeebus! (General rants and updates)
I don't think I'm inside my own mind today... we might as well be at Christmas Eve, once Halloween comes and goes get ready for the two entire goddamn months of Christmas!
Don't get me wrong, I love Christmas. I love the majesty of it, I love how it enthralls children and strokes their little, budding senses of entitlement but I ESPECIALLY love how retail stores eat the shit up too. You can't get ready for Christmas too early in that line of work, if it was up to retail, Christmas would probably go half the year round.
Yeah, fuck that. Why can't we just get pumped for Christmas 12 days before it's supposed to happen. You know, like in the stories and stuff. No that's too much to ask.
It just bothers me, I hate the pressure of the Christmas season. I've never really been the kind of person who's into gifts. I like to give them, but they cost money and I'm cheap. I never ask for gifts because I never know what I want. The things I want are usually expensive, so I don't ask people for them. Makes sense that I try my hand at maybe getting what I want myself.
People ask me what I want, I don't feel comfortable asking for things. It's never personal or anything like that. It's just awkward for me.
In a sense, the whole entire Christmas season is awkward for me.
Just wanted to get that off my chest I guess, let's move on to something else.
Holy shit the Cleveland Browns won a football game! Now 1-3, the talk from Browns fans of an 0-16 season can be quashed. I am not sure how many more football games this team can win but I really hope they can win at least a few more. As long as they keep playing decent football and keeping games close that will ultimately be okay with me, win or lose. This year is about re-building and establishing a team attitude and all of that fun stuff.
With Baseball coming to a close, Hockey season starting up, Football in full swing, it's a good time to be a sports fan.
Work is... work. We'll just leave it at that. I'm still truckin.
I haven't seen many good movies lately. The last movies I watched were Prince of Persia, Hidalgo, Apocalypto and Date Night. Apocalypto was good, but Hidalgo and Date Night were both movies I was left wanting more.
Date Night was a rather by-the-books comedy with some truly genuine laughs but overall a ridiculous plot and a real sense of grasping at straws. The pairing of Steve Carrell and Tina Fey had so much potential but overall the movie left me wondering why Hollywood keeps making these movies which seem like half of a story idea and then they're just like "Lets but X actress with Y actor and it will be a classic!" Date Night was no classic. 6/10.
Hidalgo was okay. I love Viggo, he's one of my favorite actors. I'd always heard this movie was good so I was excited to see it. Upon seeing it, I realized why I never went out of my way to see it before now. The movie was rather general drama. Man out of his element, a challenge with overwhelming odds, No respect, etc, etc, etc. They tried to kill that horse so many goddamn times that HAD they killed the horse (The horse survives the movie.) it wouldn't of had any impact! 6/10.
Prince of Perisa, well, it was garbage. Period. We turned it off probably half way through, right around when all the drama with the dagger was starting off. The movie just had no spirit and felt as soulless and unmotivated as they came. All the English accents in the middle of the desert? Please fuck off with that! 2/10 (The movie gets points for being based off a cool video game. Thats it)
Movies I want/Need to see: Iron Man 2, Robin Hood, The Expendables, The Town, True Grit, Scott Pilgrim vs The World, Machete, Red, MacGruber
Movies I do NOT want to see: Legend of The Guardians, Devil, Resident Evil: Afterlife, The Killers,
Torn over/Meh: The Social Network, 127 Hours, Predators (I've never seen the original Predator films), Jackass 3-D, The Karate Kid, Get Him To The Greek
So that's how the landscape of my Movie future goes as far as movies I'm interested in, or thinking about. Time to shift gears into work mode, I'll maybe brainstorm updating this thing with something more meaningful (or to a point) sometime later this week.
PEACE!
Don't get me wrong, I love Christmas. I love the majesty of it, I love how it enthralls children and strokes their little, budding senses of entitlement but I ESPECIALLY love how retail stores eat the shit up too. You can't get ready for Christmas too early in that line of work, if it was up to retail, Christmas would probably go half the year round.
Yeah, fuck that. Why can't we just get pumped for Christmas 12 days before it's supposed to happen. You know, like in the stories and stuff. No that's too much to ask.
It just bothers me, I hate the pressure of the Christmas season. I've never really been the kind of person who's into gifts. I like to give them, but they cost money and I'm cheap. I never ask for gifts because I never know what I want. The things I want are usually expensive, so I don't ask people for them. Makes sense that I try my hand at maybe getting what I want myself.
People ask me what I want, I don't feel comfortable asking for things. It's never personal or anything like that. It's just awkward for me.
In a sense, the whole entire Christmas season is awkward for me.
Just wanted to get that off my chest I guess, let's move on to something else.
Holy shit the Cleveland Browns won a football game! Now 1-3, the talk from Browns fans of an 0-16 season can be quashed. I am not sure how many more football games this team can win but I really hope they can win at least a few more. As long as they keep playing decent football and keeping games close that will ultimately be okay with me, win or lose. This year is about re-building and establishing a team attitude and all of that fun stuff.
With Baseball coming to a close, Hockey season starting up, Football in full swing, it's a good time to be a sports fan.
Work is... work. We'll just leave it at that. I'm still truckin.
I haven't seen many good movies lately. The last movies I watched were Prince of Persia, Hidalgo, Apocalypto and Date Night. Apocalypto was good, but Hidalgo and Date Night were both movies I was left wanting more.
Date Night was a rather by-the-books comedy with some truly genuine laughs but overall a ridiculous plot and a real sense of grasping at straws. The pairing of Steve Carrell and Tina Fey had so much potential but overall the movie left me wondering why Hollywood keeps making these movies which seem like half of a story idea and then they're just like "Lets but X actress with Y actor and it will be a classic!" Date Night was no classic. 6/10.
Hidalgo was okay. I love Viggo, he's one of my favorite actors. I'd always heard this movie was good so I was excited to see it. Upon seeing it, I realized why I never went out of my way to see it before now. The movie was rather general drama. Man out of his element, a challenge with overwhelming odds, No respect, etc, etc, etc. They tried to kill that horse so many goddamn times that HAD they killed the horse (The horse survives the movie.) it wouldn't of had any impact! 6/10.
Prince of Perisa, well, it was garbage. Period. We turned it off probably half way through, right around when all the drama with the dagger was starting off. The movie just had no spirit and felt as soulless and unmotivated as they came. All the English accents in the middle of the desert? Please fuck off with that! 2/10 (The movie gets points for being based off a cool video game. Thats it)
Movies I want/Need to see: Iron Man 2, Robin Hood, The Expendables, The Town, True Grit, Scott Pilgrim vs The World, Machete, Red, MacGruber
Movies I do NOT want to see: Legend of The Guardians, Devil, Resident Evil: Afterlife, The Killers,
Torn over/Meh: The Social Network, 127 Hours, Predators (I've never seen the original Predator films), Jackass 3-D, The Karate Kid, Get Him To The Greek
So that's how the landscape of my Movie future goes as far as movies I'm interested in, or thinking about. Time to shift gears into work mode, I'll maybe brainstorm updating this thing with something more meaningful (or to a point) sometime later this week.
PEACE!
Saturday, September 18, 2010
L O S T ... a fan's memoir of a great TV show.
I don't think I'm inside my own mind today... and I feel LOST without it!
The "it" I am referring to, of course, is not my mind but the T.V show Lost, which finally reached its conclusion earlier this year. The DVD set of the 6th and final season of Lost was released back in August, much earlier than I was expecting as it's usually released in September/November with the Smallville seasons, at least that's how it's gone up to this point.
I was first anointed by Lost when I worked at Movie Gallery back when the first season had just come out on DVD. I rented disc one of Battlestar Galactica, and disc one of Lost. I attempted to watch Battlestar first, it begins with some bullshit two hour movie-episode rather than introducing the viewers to the show in a traditional fashion. I sat through this for probably an hour before I got bored and have since never returned to the series. I put in the first disc to Lost and I've never looked back.
Lost did what so few TV shows have failed to do, it captured my imagination and more so than that, it kept me suspended. I NEEDED to know what was going to happen next, I wanted to know how the story would unfold and as the show began to force me to ask questions, I wanted those answered as well.
Sitting here, thinking back. I feel confident saying that Lost is my favorite TV show of all time. From multiple points it stands with a level of quality that very few TV shows have even reached. I'm sure it was a huge gamble for ABC, it has pretty good production values for a TV show and it's always been well written. They could never have expected it to take off the way it did.
I've watched the first few seasons a few times each. Up to that point I've had numerous theories which have all for the most part been proven irrelevant. That's part of the intrigue of the show though, watching episodes multiple times. Noticing things you did not notice the previous viewings, it all adds together and builds the mystique, the experience of Lost.
For those of you who have not yet become Lost, here's the crash course: An air plain crashes on a 'deserted' island. It doesn't take them long to stabilize on the island and their priority is getting off, however, it's not long before they realize they 1) they're not alone on the island and 2) nothing is what it seems.
The Island is as important to the show as any of the 'main characters' and that doesn't become apparent immediately but as the show unfolds the Island's mysteries generate some of the biggest questions of the show.
It's hard not to sympathize for the show's characters and yet wonder about the bigger picture and Lost is certainly the kind of show that makes you think, it's why I think a lot of people cannot get into it. The show doesn't feed anything to you, it makes you wonder and it makes you imagine. That's a big thumbs up in my books. How many shows on TV actively engage you as much as they entertain you? Two and A Half Men doesn't stimulate, or engage me, but that show has been on TV LONGER than Lost... anyway that's another rant.
I love how Lost centers itself around its characters. Every episode is focused on a particular character on the island, and it helps create this idea that maybe there's something to what's been going on. Maybe they didn't 'just crash' maybe there's more to it than that?
As I watched the last three seasons, 4-6, I ultimately feel they may have worked themselves into a corner. The first 3 seasons are very dense, a lot happens in those episodes and the final three seasons honestly feel a bit rushed by comparison, I've seen season 4-6 once each and I am anxious to watch them again, these seasons see the show pointed in a rather deliberate direction. For a story telling stand point this is essential, especially given how the die hard viewer's by this point most certainly would demand a end to this story. Given how much was already invested, it would have been a cop out for anything less. Lost delivered on this front.
I think the final two seasons especially felt rushed to me, and they probably could've milked a 7th season out of the show if they wanted to but the direction the show took, jumping through time and jumping through reality in a sense. The show created a mystical sense of what was possible and what was impossible and they did it without compromising the ridiculous. I thought the show was very imaginative and very brave and I hope it encourages networks to take chances more often on television shows that are less by-the-book and that push what TV is, and show that content on TV doesn't have to be dictated by statistics and focus groups and that sometimes a spectacular adventure that defies normalcy can captivate audiences.
That brings us to The End. The final episode, was it worth it, was it a waste? My two cents, I thought that Lost's Finale was spectacular. It closed the story, there were very few plot holes when it came to the total story that was being told. (I'm trying to go without spoiling any aspects of the story here... ) They closed the book on that chapter of the island while also giving closure to the characters who made the story what it was. It had some awesome moments and I thought it was a great send-off for the show because in the end the show answered most of the real big questions that it created but it left the viewer with questions that remained.
It forces us as fans to look back at it, and remember it. That's the mark of something that was done well, a story well told, in this case. Lost is TV entertainment at its best, and I will be surprised if another show the caliber of lost comes along again any time soon.
Anyone on the fence, Lost is best in the DVD format. I don't imagine how anyone could have watched the show on cable every week. The commercials alone would have pissed me off enough, but the week long wait between episodes, that would have been the worst. In the DVD format you can watch the show at your own pace (which in my instance seems to be binging episodes 4+ at a time) and enjoy it at its maximum. If you like to be entertained, stimulated, if you like to think, imagine and be challenged by what you watch. Lost is the show for you.
I was first anointed by Lost when I worked at Movie Gallery back when the first season had just come out on DVD. I rented disc one of Battlestar Galactica, and disc one of Lost. I attempted to watch Battlestar first, it begins with some bullshit two hour movie-episode rather than introducing the viewers to the show in a traditional fashion. I sat through this for probably an hour before I got bored and have since never returned to the series. I put in the first disc to Lost and I've never looked back.
Lost did what so few TV shows have failed to do, it captured my imagination and more so than that, it kept me suspended. I NEEDED to know what was going to happen next, I wanted to know how the story would unfold and as the show began to force me to ask questions, I wanted those answered as well.
Sitting here, thinking back. I feel confident saying that Lost is my favorite TV show of all time. From multiple points it stands with a level of quality that very few TV shows have even reached. I'm sure it was a huge gamble for ABC, it has pretty good production values for a TV show and it's always been well written. They could never have expected it to take off the way it did.
I've watched the first few seasons a few times each. Up to that point I've had numerous theories which have all for the most part been proven irrelevant. That's part of the intrigue of the show though, watching episodes multiple times. Noticing things you did not notice the previous viewings, it all adds together and builds the mystique, the experience of Lost.
For those of you who have not yet become Lost, here's the crash course: An air plain crashes on a 'deserted' island. It doesn't take them long to stabilize on the island and their priority is getting off, however, it's not long before they realize they 1) they're not alone on the island and 2) nothing is what it seems.
The Island is as important to the show as any of the 'main characters' and that doesn't become apparent immediately but as the show unfolds the Island's mysteries generate some of the biggest questions of the show.
It's hard not to sympathize for the show's characters and yet wonder about the bigger picture and Lost is certainly the kind of show that makes you think, it's why I think a lot of people cannot get into it. The show doesn't feed anything to you, it makes you wonder and it makes you imagine. That's a big thumbs up in my books. How many shows on TV actively engage you as much as they entertain you? Two and A Half Men doesn't stimulate, or engage me, but that show has been on TV LONGER than Lost... anyway that's another rant.
I love how Lost centers itself around its characters. Every episode is focused on a particular character on the island, and it helps create this idea that maybe there's something to what's been going on. Maybe they didn't 'just crash' maybe there's more to it than that?
As I watched the last three seasons, 4-6, I ultimately feel they may have worked themselves into a corner. The first 3 seasons are very dense, a lot happens in those episodes and the final three seasons honestly feel a bit rushed by comparison, I've seen season 4-6 once each and I am anxious to watch them again, these seasons see the show pointed in a rather deliberate direction. For a story telling stand point this is essential, especially given how the die hard viewer's by this point most certainly would demand a end to this story. Given how much was already invested, it would have been a cop out for anything less. Lost delivered on this front.
I think the final two seasons especially felt rushed to me, and they probably could've milked a 7th season out of the show if they wanted to but the direction the show took, jumping through time and jumping through reality in a sense. The show created a mystical sense of what was possible and what was impossible and they did it without compromising the ridiculous. I thought the show was very imaginative and very brave and I hope it encourages networks to take chances more often on television shows that are less by-the-book and that push what TV is, and show that content on TV doesn't have to be dictated by statistics and focus groups and that sometimes a spectacular adventure that defies normalcy can captivate audiences.
That brings us to The End. The final episode, was it worth it, was it a waste? My two cents, I thought that Lost's Finale was spectacular. It closed the story, there were very few plot holes when it came to the total story that was being told. (I'm trying to go without spoiling any aspects of the story here... ) They closed the book on that chapter of the island while also giving closure to the characters who made the story what it was. It had some awesome moments and I thought it was a great send-off for the show because in the end the show answered most of the real big questions that it created but it left the viewer with questions that remained.
It forces us as fans to look back at it, and remember it. That's the mark of something that was done well, a story well told, in this case. Lost is TV entertainment at its best, and I will be surprised if another show the caliber of lost comes along again any time soon.
Anyone on the fence, Lost is best in the DVD format. I don't imagine how anyone could have watched the show on cable every week. The commercials alone would have pissed me off enough, but the week long wait between episodes, that would have been the worst. In the DVD format you can watch the show at your own pace (which in my instance seems to be binging episodes 4+ at a time) and enjoy it at its maximum. If you like to be entertained, stimulated, if you like to think, imagine and be challenged by what you watch. Lost is the show for you.
Monday, August 23, 2010
It's The Most Wonderful Time Of The Year
I don't think I'm inside my own mind today... and this topic will have nothing to do with going back to school. Though Madden certainly could use the refresher, I wonder if they are even trying anymore. Now, I've played the game for a long time but lately I just don't get that same rush the game has given me since the 2005-2007 period. That was a section of games that I felt Madden truly was at its best. It may not have been as pretty, and the animations and physics may not have had the complexity that they do in the modern games but it was fun and I NEEDED to have it every fall.
Since Madden and gaming have moved into the "next generation" I would dare suggest that Madden has been having an identity crisis. The visuals have taken leaps and bounds every year and I dare suggest to most gamers not to be impressed by the graphical display that Madden can be. The game itself though has failed to truly innovate itself in such a long time it truly boggles my mind how the game can persist more or less unscathed due to its borderline cult of a fan base.
Since Madden and gaming have moved into the "next generation" I would dare suggest that Madden has been having an identity crisis. The visuals have taken leaps and bounds every year and I dare suggest to most gamers not to be impressed by the graphical display that Madden can be. The game itself though has failed to truly innovate itself in such a long time it truly boggles my mind how the game can persist more or less unscathed due to its borderline cult of a fan base.
My favourite period of time was when the game incorporated trait elements for the players such as "hard hitter" "sure handed receiver" "rocket passer" "brick wall" "bulldozer" etc. That made them a 'step above' the other players on the field. Madden has tried more recently to show a divide in player skill by just making the skills the focal point of a players in-game prowess. It's gotten to the point that many real NFL players are intrigued to see just how good their "Madden" avatar is. I always like to see the players talk about their Madden counter-part's. It's almost like Madden has become as big a part of NFL culture as anything else. The Madden Bowl co-insides with The Super Bowl.
2005 had Rey Lewis on the cover...
9.0 on gamespot.com, editors choice. Average critic score of 9.0 from 45 reviews. It was a great game and I bought the special edition (I believe it was the 15 year anniversary edition which really didn't have much special on it. It had a shiny cover and was 10-15 bucks more than the regular rendition. They introduced the 'hit stick' which is still used in more recent renditions. I loved the game and its probably still one of my most memorable Madden's.
2006 saw Donovan McNabb grace the cover...
Ratings wise, the Xbox version received a 8.4 in 47 reviews 2006 was a 'whiff' in the Madden trend, it was also the first season that Madden jumped to the 'next generation'. It saw a 7.4 and the score was generous as it was a rather forgettable game, gorgeous, but forgettable. On the regular Xbox it was a solid game. It introduced the 'vision cone' for increased QB accuracy, a mode I never used. In their review, Gamespot called the game "a false start". It also introduced a 'precision passing' mode where you could throw your pass behind, in front of or above a receiver to try and avoid defenders. It also introduced a 'truck stick' which allowed running backs to plow through defenders.
Ratings wise, the Xbox version received a 8.4 in 47 reviews 2006 was a 'whiff' in the Madden trend, it was also the first season that Madden jumped to the 'next generation'. It saw a 7.4 and the score was generous as it was a rather forgettable game, gorgeous, but forgettable. On the regular Xbox it was a solid game. It introduced the 'vision cone' for increased QB accuracy, a mode I never used. In their review, Gamespot called the game "a false start". It also introduced a 'precision passing' mode where you could throw your pass behind, in front of or above a receiver to try and avoid defenders. It also introduced a 'truck stick' which allowed running backs to plow through defenders.
2007 saw Shaun Alexander on the cover...
2007 is a game I still own for Xbox. It was a year that saw the divide in quality between the 360 and regular Xbox versions get smaller. I did not own a 360 yet at this point so I went with what I could get, since I didn't buy 2006 and I had to have Madden! The 360 saw a rating of 7.9 which isn't much of a ratings improvment, but it at least had some modes that Madden 2008 neglected to include. Gamespot called the Xbox version an "aging veteran" where as I'm sure Madden fans who owned a 360 were just thankful it was better than 2007. There were some cool game mechanics included in the xbox version. The franchise didn't quite have the depth the current Madden system has, but its NFL Draft was as good as it's been. The regular Xbox version got an 8.1 rating.
2008 saw Vince Young grace the cover as a rookie...
2007 is a game I still own for Xbox. It was a year that saw the divide in quality between the 360 and regular Xbox versions get smaller. I did not own a 360 yet at this point so I went with what I could get, since I didn't buy 2006 and I had to have Madden! The 360 saw a rating of 7.9 which isn't much of a ratings improvment, but it at least had some modes that Madden 2008 neglected to include. Gamespot called the Xbox version an "aging veteran" where as I'm sure Madden fans who owned a 360 were just thankful it was better than 2007. There were some cool game mechanics included in the xbox version. The franchise didn't quite have the depth the current Madden system has, but its NFL Draft was as good as it's been. The regular Xbox version got an 8.1 rating.
2008 saw Vince Young grace the cover as a rookie...
This year marked an obvious transition in focus as the 360 version was decent where as the Xbox version was pretty mediocre. I had a 360 so I got to have some solid playing time with Madden 2008, now it felt like it was the best 360 version to date, and it was, but the game felt incomplete to me. There was more work to be done. The 360 version saw a rating of 8.3 average through 55 reviews, the Xbox version was dipping into mid 7's territory. I didn't buy either version of the game and I'm glad. Vince Young I think is one of the more intriguing cover athletes. Maybe the greatest underachiever to grace the Madden Cover.
2009 saw Brett Favre grace the cover...
I bought this game and I played quite a bit of it. It introduced my favorite madden feature ever, Super-Sim which allowed you to simulate a game play-by-play, until a change of possession, by quarter or to the end of the game if you so chose. Great for garbage time if you get out to an early lead and maybe want to let it play out a bit, add some drama with a great come-from-behind victory. I loved the Super-Sim. Graphically this game was good but it wouldn't compare to more recent entries. The version of the game was solid though its rating wasn't much of an improvement over 2008's version.
I bought this game and I played quite a bit of it. It introduced my favorite madden feature ever, Super-Sim which allowed you to simulate a game play-by-play, until a change of possession, by quarter or to the end of the game if you so chose. Great for garbage time if you get out to an early lead and maybe want to let it play out a bit, add some drama with a great come-from-behind victory. I loved the Super-Sim. Graphically this game was good but it wouldn't compare to more recent entries. The version of the game was solid though its rating wasn't much of an improvement over 2008's version.
During this period of time, I didn't really have many other games to play so I powered through Madden for the better part of an entire year, where typically I'd have Hockey or Baseball games to distract me keeping me fresh for Madden season. (I eventually got NHL 09 later that year but by the time I got it, I had been playing Madden 09 primarily for around a year straight... that's a lot of Madden!) I got to know Madden, I saw it for what it truly was. Game flaws in the areas of receiving the ball on the sidelines (something they didn't truly address for a couple more years) blocking flaws that made both passing AND running the ball a complete frustration from time to time. Flaws that started out as little things I would notice happening time and again grew to big flaws that would cause me to shut my game off. No wonder I grew to love the super-sim mode so much!
Madden 10 was released just before I moved across the country so I had to have it. It was the first game to feature two cover athletes. Larry Fitzgerald and Troy Polomalu.I waited until I recieved my Xbox and traded in games (including Madden 09) to get it. Immediately, I liked the new menu's and I thought the game had a very slick presentation both in the menus and on the field. The game looked as good as it ever had at the time and I started out really enjoying it. That enjoyment didn't last very long though, Gamespot's general review hit the nail on the head...
" A number of features make Madden NFL 10 a more realistic and enjoyable portrayal of football, but a few problems--both old and new--continue to trouble the series."
After a couple months, and that's max, I grew frustrated and traded the game in. Nagging flaws that bothered me in 2009 persisted in 2010's version of the game. I grew anxious for Backbreaker, and I renounced my Madden addiction. It's still strong. I need my fix (this is essentially one big build up for my next blog entry where I review the Madden 11 for the Wii. I will also sing praise for NCAA Football 11)
(As I was saying...) I bought NCAA Football 11 and I have been enjoying that a lot. Madden uses the same "Locomotion" engine for improved physics and control so I have no doubts that Madden will be improved in many of the ways that NCAA 11 is an improvement over any Madden game I've played for the next gen consoles. Madden 11 has the highest rated critical average since the 2006 version for Xbox (11 has an 8.7 average over 23 current reviews) and is the highest rated Madden for the 360.
My end point is this: Why can't they just make one game, update it with patches periodically while developing a revolutionary NEW Madden. Something that will help re-establish Madden as THE sports simulator video game. Improve the stagnating franchise and superstar modes. Take the time to give the game play the TLC it has desperately needed for almost a decade now. All the while, overhauling the graphics to not only give the game a great send off for what is now the current gen but preparing the game for the inevitable "next-gen" that is coming so that the game doesn't have to stagnate on those consoles for 3-4 years while the developing catches up to the technology.
I want to rent Madden 11 for the 360, and I want it to be good. I want to see signs that the game is heading in a good direction so that I may want to buy it, or Madden 12 when it's released next fall. I am sick and tired of the merry-go-round that is the current Madden cycle, and more-so than that. I am sick of its borderline brainwashed fan base who cannot WAIT for the newest rendition to be released. I should know, I used to be one of them!
Sunday, August 1, 2010
A dream inside a dream?
I don't think I'm inside my own mind today... Having finally seen it, I am not sure where the movie stands with me. I waited, and I anxiously bothered, and I patiently waited, and I not-so-patiently waited. Finally, this past week I got to see Inception. Now, I have to say that upon re-imagining a world where Batman movies weren't just good, they were great, Christopher Nolan earned my lifetime appreciation and made a reserved spot on my very long Hero list. I have seen every movie he's made since Batman Begins. I loved The Prestige and have very anxiously been wanting to watch it again. The Dark Knight took my love of Batman to new heights, and was a very great memorial for Heath Ledger. With Inception, I wasn't sure what to expect.
When I first saw a teaser trailer, I was intrigued. It was what a teaser should be. It showed who all would be playing the cast and gave a hint at what a possible plot could be. From the teaser only more questions remained and that's how it should be. To go off on a tangent with my prime example being the upcoming movie, "The Town." The trailer started off intriguing about a girl who was in the midst of a vicious crime. She meets a character played by Ben Affleck and they start to fall in love. The movie seemed intriguing until the trailer revealed that BEN AFFLECK WAS ONE OF THE CRIMINALS IN THE HEINOUS CRIME!!! Had the trailer not gone there, had they kept that rather KEY element to the plot secret. I might have actually really wanted to see that movie. Far too many movie trailers give away TOO MUCH of the plot to the point that you don't need to even watch it. Terminator: Salvation was guilty of this as well and it's fucking infuriating!
Anyway, back to Inception. From the opening moment, I was sucked in. The movie took the time to tell its plot properly and anybody who has the gall to complain about it simply wasn't paying attention. Unlike The Prestige, Inception takes the time and establishes the rules of the story right off the bat. It establishes the expectations of surrealism right out of the gate so there is nothing left to wonder as far as limitations are concerned. To go off on another tangent, this was one of the weaknesses of The Matrix, which established NO limitations. The trilogy grew outside of itself to the point of absurdity, where as Inception sets a standard that it does not stray from and it only makes the movie stronger. Compared to Nolan's other film The Prestige, Inception is focused in its complexities and it's a far superior film because of it.
The cast was great; Leonardo DiCaprio was excellent in the lead role Cobb. I feel like he's finally starting to come into his "prime" as an actor. For so long I had a really difficult time taking him seriously but now he's one of my favorite actors after films like Body of Lies and Shutter Island and The Departed, all of which he was excellent in.
Joseph Gordon-Levitt was also excellent in this movie as Arthur. He is an actor who is building himself an excellent resume and will probably be one of the biggest movie stars of the next decade should he keep himself in great films such as this. He played a rather by-the-books character, you could call him Leonardo's partner in crime so to speak. He was strong as well.
Tom Hardy played Eames, the con artist of the movie and really one of the more important characters to the plot. I thought his character was one of the most well rounded of the movie and he was the prime source of laughs in a movie which really needed none (but they were very well placed when they had them) and he's an actor who I will be keeping an eye out for in the future, he was great in this film.
Ken Watanabe plays Saito, the 'contractor' of the whole job (to give away about as much about the plot as I want to) I've loved him in all the movies I've seen him. My favorite movie of his will always be The Last Samurai but I liked that he was in the Dark Knight and he was particularly excellent in this film.
Last but not least, Ellen Page was really the show stealer (IMO, I may be a bit biased as she's Canadian and got her humble acting start on the tv show "Trailer Park Boys") she plays the architect and is really one of the more important and central characters to the plot. Honorable mention goes to Cillian Murphy who also was great in this movie as well.
Enough about the cast as really it was top notch, and gets "all-star" status from me, even though all the characters aren't A-list they put forth "A-list" performances and that helps add the element of mysticism to the plot which, without, this movie would have just came across as hokey and ridiculous and it is truly far from it.
Without a doubt, I feel this is Christopher Nolan's best film. I haven't seen Memento and I know I don't have to. For all the great things I have heard about that film, I know Inception is better. Inception doesn't miss a single beat, Christopher Nolan's expert craftsmanship of the film shows as he truly is one of the most talented directors in all of Hollywood. A lesser director would not have been able to do the subtle complexities of the plot justice. I can't think of too many others who might have been able to pull this off but the fact remains as it's Nolan's handiwork, he wrote the script and he directed the film and without Nolan, Inception would've been a hollow and empty.
The movie is obviously about dreams, and it makes you think which I love. Inception is placing in idea into somebodies mind so that when they wake from a dream, they believe in the idea you put into their head. The key however, is to go into the individuals dream and become a part of it. Sounds simple enough doesn't it? That's as much of the plot as I will give away and really I think that' saying too much. Inception is Christopher Nolan stretching his muscles after making really the most complex movie the Super Hero genre has ever been given in The Dark Knight. The result is breathtaking, I sat through most of the movie slack jawed, eagerly anticipating every consecutive moment. I could not wait to see where the movie was taking me, and I hope that everyone else who has seen this movie feels the same way.
My advise to you is do not let the hype build up this movie for you. In my experience anyway, when that happens it can cause a movie to come up as disappointing. This is what happened with Avatar. However, with Inception, the movie completely surpassed my expectations. I left the theater in a state of awe, I had no idea that the movie would be as good as it was and I have faith that anyone seeing it for the first time will have a similar experience. Just go into the movie with an open mind, be ready for anything and allow yourself to be lead through an intricate and exhilarating story. Inception is the kind of movie that Avatar wished it could be. Inception is the kind of movie that comes along once a decade, and it will stand the test of time as a truly great piece of Cinematic history.
When I first saw a teaser trailer, I was intrigued. It was what a teaser should be. It showed who all would be playing the cast and gave a hint at what a possible plot could be. From the teaser only more questions remained and that's how it should be. To go off on a tangent with my prime example being the upcoming movie, "The Town." The trailer started off intriguing about a girl who was in the midst of a vicious crime. She meets a character played by Ben Affleck and they start to fall in love. The movie seemed intriguing until the trailer revealed that BEN AFFLECK WAS ONE OF THE CRIMINALS IN THE HEINOUS CRIME!!! Had the trailer not gone there, had they kept that rather KEY element to the plot secret. I might have actually really wanted to see that movie. Far too many movie trailers give away TOO MUCH of the plot to the point that you don't need to even watch it. Terminator: Salvation was guilty of this as well and it's fucking infuriating!
Anyway, back to Inception. From the opening moment, I was sucked in. The movie took the time to tell its plot properly and anybody who has the gall to complain about it simply wasn't paying attention. Unlike The Prestige, Inception takes the time and establishes the rules of the story right off the bat. It establishes the expectations of surrealism right out of the gate so there is nothing left to wonder as far as limitations are concerned. To go off on another tangent, this was one of the weaknesses of The Matrix, which established NO limitations. The trilogy grew outside of itself to the point of absurdity, where as Inception sets a standard that it does not stray from and it only makes the movie stronger. Compared to Nolan's other film The Prestige, Inception is focused in its complexities and it's a far superior film because of it.
The cast was great; Leonardo DiCaprio was excellent in the lead role Cobb. I feel like he's finally starting to come into his "prime" as an actor. For so long I had a really difficult time taking him seriously but now he's one of my favorite actors after films like Body of Lies and Shutter Island and The Departed, all of which he was excellent in.
Joseph Gordon-Levitt was also excellent in this movie as Arthur. He is an actor who is building himself an excellent resume and will probably be one of the biggest movie stars of the next decade should he keep himself in great films such as this. He played a rather by-the-books character, you could call him Leonardo's partner in crime so to speak. He was strong as well.
Tom Hardy played Eames, the con artist of the movie and really one of the more important characters to the plot. I thought his character was one of the most well rounded of the movie and he was the prime source of laughs in a movie which really needed none (but they were very well placed when they had them) and he's an actor who I will be keeping an eye out for in the future, he was great in this film.
Ken Watanabe plays Saito, the 'contractor' of the whole job (to give away about as much about the plot as I want to) I've loved him in all the movies I've seen him. My favorite movie of his will always be The Last Samurai but I liked that he was in the Dark Knight and he was particularly excellent in this film.
Last but not least, Ellen Page was really the show stealer (IMO, I may be a bit biased as she's Canadian and got her humble acting start on the tv show "Trailer Park Boys") she plays the architect and is really one of the more important and central characters to the plot. Honorable mention goes to Cillian Murphy who also was great in this movie as well.
Enough about the cast as really it was top notch, and gets "all-star" status from me, even though all the characters aren't A-list they put forth "A-list" performances and that helps add the element of mysticism to the plot which, without, this movie would have just came across as hokey and ridiculous and it is truly far from it.
Without a doubt, I feel this is Christopher Nolan's best film. I haven't seen Memento and I know I don't have to. For all the great things I have heard about that film, I know Inception is better. Inception doesn't miss a single beat, Christopher Nolan's expert craftsmanship of the film shows as he truly is one of the most talented directors in all of Hollywood. A lesser director would not have been able to do the subtle complexities of the plot justice. I can't think of too many others who might have been able to pull this off but the fact remains as it's Nolan's handiwork, he wrote the script and he directed the film and without Nolan, Inception would've been a hollow and empty.
The movie is obviously about dreams, and it makes you think which I love. Inception is placing in idea into somebodies mind so that when they wake from a dream, they believe in the idea you put into their head. The key however, is to go into the individuals dream and become a part of it. Sounds simple enough doesn't it? That's as much of the plot as I will give away and really I think that' saying too much. Inception is Christopher Nolan stretching his muscles after making really the most complex movie the Super Hero genre has ever been given in The Dark Knight. The result is breathtaking, I sat through most of the movie slack jawed, eagerly anticipating every consecutive moment. I could not wait to see where the movie was taking me, and I hope that everyone else who has seen this movie feels the same way.
My advise to you is do not let the hype build up this movie for you. In my experience anyway, when that happens it can cause a movie to come up as disappointing. This is what happened with Avatar. However, with Inception, the movie completely surpassed my expectations. I left the theater in a state of awe, I had no idea that the movie would be as good as it was and I have faith that anyone seeing it for the first time will have a similar experience. Just go into the movie with an open mind, be ready for anything and allow yourself to be lead through an intricate and exhilarating story. Inception is the kind of movie that Avatar wished it could be. Inception is the kind of movie that comes along once a decade, and it will stand the test of time as a truly great piece of Cinematic history.
Tuesday, July 20, 2010
Pull your head out of your ass
Warning: Strong language is used in this entry, tread lightly if you are sensitive.
I don't think I'm inside my own mind today... do people really have to be so fucking negative all the time? I mean, I realize I'm not exactly the authority on such matters because I can be as negative as anybody but the fact remains that I at the very least try to make a conscious effort NOT to be a black hole of negative energy. Jesus Christ! If I am the one calling for a decree of optimism (I have a neglected blog about it, maybe I should be writing this there... fuck that) then we really must be in the shit house.
A few years ago, I made a conscious decision to do two things:
1) Not complain so much. I fail at times but I strongly go out of my way NOT to complain about the short comings of my livelihood because EVERYONE experiences them. EVERYONE has things that they can complain about. At the time, I was working with somebody who was an extremely negative person. Every single day I would listen to him complain about himself, or something about his life that he wasn't happy about and every single day I would tell him ways to deal with it. I could have been rude, I wasn't. I like the guy and I didn't want to hurt his feelings. The constant negativity directly reflected upon me and really I am negative enough as it is without a catalyst to dive into more negativity. So I decided to cut that cord.
2) Try to be more optimistic. This is directly relative to the first decree but really it's about looking at the brighter side of things. At that point and time I was not happy with myself. I was working two jobs, and I had nothing to show for it. I felt like there was a point in my life I had 'missed the boat' and that I was destined to waste away in a future of dead-end jobs and self-loathing. I hated myself, and I hated everything. It was very hard to find joy out of the little things that I should have been. Really, it was then when I could see how the way I was thinking about things was affecting more important things like my relationships with my friends and my health. I've made the effort to be a more of an optimist, because when you can't even keep sight of the simple hope to better yourself and your life then what the fuck is the point of it all?
Yes, things may be going wrong but if that's all you chose to look at then of course you're going to feel like a pile of shit all the time. There are so many things we have to be thankful for and they are often neglected in place for things that we wished we had. Society places such a high priority on materials and possessions that its like if you don't have it you're not complete. That's complete bullshit. The fact of the matter is, you just need to be happy with YOURSELF. If you're not happy with yourself you need to make the changes necessary to become happy with yourself. Blaming it on whatever you chose to blame it on, be it work or relationships or anything than really you're setting yourself up for endless misery by choosing to only acknowledge the things you hate.
I cannot stand it when people just bitch and complain about every single little thing they don't like, while absolutely refusing to acknowledge the things that they have to be happy about. Why do you even fucking bother if you're not going to take the time to look within yourself, or around you to see that there are things to be happy about and be thankful for. Yes, doom and gloom is prevalent everywhere but we're in the middle of a fucking recession. There are people with full families who have no home because the 'breadwinner' got laid off of his job, or people who have children with conditions like down syndrome where every single day is a constant struggle to care for your offspring with such delicate needs. Anyway... I digress...
The end point in all of this is that YOU are responsible for YOUR own sadness depression, anger, resentment, or whatever it is that you chose to let plague you. When you CHOOSE to only look at things a certain way, you have nobody to blame but YOURSELF. There are no external scapegoats that will magically take away the feelings you might have. You need to look deep withing yourself, and accept the flaws that you fail to acknowledge before you can move on to grow as a person. If you're just going to choose to blame everything or everybody else for your problems then really, the only person you have to TRULY blame, is you.
I don't think I'm inside my own mind today... do people really have to be so fucking negative all the time? I mean, I realize I'm not exactly the authority on such matters because I can be as negative as anybody but the fact remains that I at the very least try to make a conscious effort NOT to be a black hole of negative energy. Jesus Christ! If I am the one calling for a decree of optimism (I have a neglected blog about it, maybe I should be writing this there... fuck that) then we really must be in the shit house.
A few years ago, I made a conscious decision to do two things:
1) Not complain so much. I fail at times but I strongly go out of my way NOT to complain about the short comings of my livelihood because EVERYONE experiences them. EVERYONE has things that they can complain about. At the time, I was working with somebody who was an extremely negative person. Every single day I would listen to him complain about himself, or something about his life that he wasn't happy about and every single day I would tell him ways to deal with it. I could have been rude, I wasn't. I like the guy and I didn't want to hurt his feelings. The constant negativity directly reflected upon me and really I am negative enough as it is without a catalyst to dive into more negativity. So I decided to cut that cord.
2) Try to be more optimistic. This is directly relative to the first decree but really it's about looking at the brighter side of things. At that point and time I was not happy with myself. I was working two jobs, and I had nothing to show for it. I felt like there was a point in my life I had 'missed the boat' and that I was destined to waste away in a future of dead-end jobs and self-loathing. I hated myself, and I hated everything. It was very hard to find joy out of the little things that I should have been. Really, it was then when I could see how the way I was thinking about things was affecting more important things like my relationships with my friends and my health. I've made the effort to be a more of an optimist, because when you can't even keep sight of the simple hope to better yourself and your life then what the fuck is the point of it all?
Yes, things may be going wrong but if that's all you chose to look at then of course you're going to feel like a pile of shit all the time. There are so many things we have to be thankful for and they are often neglected in place for things that we wished we had. Society places such a high priority on materials and possessions that its like if you don't have it you're not complete. That's complete bullshit. The fact of the matter is, you just need to be happy with YOURSELF. If you're not happy with yourself you need to make the changes necessary to become happy with yourself. Blaming it on whatever you chose to blame it on, be it work or relationships or anything than really you're setting yourself up for endless misery by choosing to only acknowledge the things you hate.
I cannot stand it when people just bitch and complain about every single little thing they don't like, while absolutely refusing to acknowledge the things that they have to be happy about. Why do you even fucking bother if you're not going to take the time to look within yourself, or around you to see that there are things to be happy about and be thankful for. Yes, doom and gloom is prevalent everywhere but we're in the middle of a fucking recession. There are people with full families who have no home because the 'breadwinner' got laid off of his job, or people who have children with conditions like down syndrome where every single day is a constant struggle to care for your offspring with such delicate needs. Anyway... I digress...
The end point in all of this is that YOU are responsible for YOUR own sadness depression, anger, resentment, or whatever it is that you chose to let plague you. When you CHOOSE to only look at things a certain way, you have nobody to blame but YOURSELF. There are no external scapegoats that will magically take away the feelings you might have. You need to look deep withing yourself, and accept the flaws that you fail to acknowledge before you can move on to grow as a person. If you're just going to choose to blame everything or everybody else for your problems then really, the only person you have to TRULY blame, is you.
Tuesday, June 15, 2010
He Fronts The Most...
I don't think I'm inside my own mind today... I have always been on the fence with MC Frontalot. Ever since I discovered him after he made the Penny Arcade Theme Song he's been on the radar as a champion of geekdom and a pretty solid rapper in his own right. He's pretty underground and I think that it worked for him. He would rap about things from D&D to Magic: The Gathering to Goth Girls to why your blog sucks and you know what, it's all pretty good. Something though, wasn't grabbing me. Maybe it was a lack of production value, maybe it was just inconsistencies. I like many of his songs but he never really hit that 'next' level where I could feel comfortable calling him a 'favorite'.
After the release of his newest album, Zero Day. I can say with certainty that MC Frontalot is one of my favorite rappers.
Since Penny Arcade effectively threw him a bone his popularity has skyrocketed, and with that his income most likely has as well. Resulting in the last two albums he's made being produced with much, much stronger production quality.
At first though, he didn't have that. He just had some pretty catchy lyrics and a very solid flow. Songs like Pr0n Song, Bizzaro Genius Baby, Mountain Kind and It Is Pitch Dark jumped out to me among his song library at the time. My plus one had always had a fondness for the MC Front but for some reason I just couldn't find myself embracing him with the same life.
He released "Final Boss" In 2008. It had some solid songs, it started out strong with "Wallflower and "Tongue-Clucking Grammarian". There is a song about Canada called "Canadia" which created an interesting beat off the tune of O'Canada. Socks On was a cool song as well but overall the album was a miss. There wasn't much about it that I enjoyed and I thought maybe Front was going to outlive his welcome. I worried about him. Final Boss had kind of stumped my favor of the Front like a difficult boss would thwart my desire to play a video game.
I didn't fret, I just gave Front a rest. I re-established my vigor for other musicians of the genre like the Beastie Boys and Outkast. Front sat on the sidelines but he wasn't forgotten. Upon learning of his new album I was hesitant but got it anyway. What happened was I was overjoyed.
Zero Day was like a countdown to Frontalot establishing his legitimacy. The album starts of hot with the title track and then moves on to a D&D themed song called "Charisma Potion." which further establishes Front's credability as a gamer (If you were ever in doubt to begin with). "Your Friend Wil" is a great track where our friend Wil Wheaton proclaims "Don't be a dick" (A reference to a recent PAX [Penny Arcade eXpo] where Wil said "When you're playing [games] online, don't be a dick." during a speech he gave about gaming culture) "First World Problems" pokes fun at a lack of priorities in our culture today and "Disaster" is a great track with a catchy chorus and beat that features fellow Nerdcore rappers Schaffer The Darklord and Beefy
"Spoiler Alert" spills the beans on way too much for it not to be funny, while "Better at Rapping" Front may truly confess his feelings or just poke fun at hypothetical inadequacies, I love the result regardless. He also re-makes an old classic, reminding us why he's called MC Frontalot with "Front The Most". Hilarious skits like "The Tribulations of Muffy and Pervival" which services as the precursor to "First World Problems" and "Question and Answer Time" which features the hilarious John Hodgman help keep the album fresh and keep the humor level of the album high.
After listening to this album, I have to say, I would love to hear a "Weird Al" Yankovic / MC Frontalot collaboration! What kind of song would they make? I don't know but I bet it would be hilarious and awesome.
Overall, Zero Day is high quality from beginning to end and it's not only my favorite Frontalot album but really one of my favorite rap albums and music albums of recent memory. It combines an excellent variety of instruments as well as some classic old school NES era video game sounds in the various tracks. It sets the tone for 2010 to be a great decade for MC Front and Nerdcore Hip Hop. I highly recommend Frontalot to gamers, to rap fans, to music fans, to anybody that's looking for something a little different and fresh.
Sunday, June 13, 2010
MORTAL KOMBAT!
I don't think I'm inside my own mind today... bum bum bum bum, ba ba, bum bum bum bum, ba ba, bum bum bum bum, ba ba MORTAL KOMBAT!
We all have been there...
TEST YOUR MIGHT
FLAWLESS VICTORY
FATALITY
JOHNNY CAGE... WINS
Mortal Kombat is an INSTITUTION. It defined my childhood in ways that certain other exploits simply could not compare to. I remember being young, when Mortal Kombat first came out in the early ninties... I would have been like seven or eight years old when that game came out and I remember first playing it fondly. It's gory game play and gritty graphics was so different than the sports games I was used to playing. (Yes, even at that age I was addicted to sports games.) Something about that game scared the shit out of me. I literally had nightmares about it. Despite that, I couldn't get enough!
Had my mother known I was playing those kinds of video games, I'm sure she would have taken my Sega Genesis away and banned me from ever playing video games again desperately altering the course my life would ultimately take. Be that as it may, I can say with certainty that Mortal Kombat shaped me in some fashion. It's as cherished a 'childhood relic' if you will as the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Sonic The Hedgehog or maybe even Batman (though not nearly as monumental)
Mortal Kombat was one of the first movies I ever saw in the theater. My father, the great man that he was took me to saw this movie and I loved him ever more for it. Mortal Kombat was awesome, it had the attitude of the game plus it was kind of campy and awesome in a way that would've totally appealed to my age demographic at that time without being too cringe worthy for the parents. Even today, I love the Mortal Kombat movie, THE FIRST ONE.
When I think of the second one... well. I can't spoil it for you because it's that, ahem, memorable. But if you haven't seen it, or don't remember and are curious (in a way that only a TRUE Mortal Kombat fan would be) then check it out. The ending of the movie will certainly surprise you for one reason or another. If you are not curious to see the movie but still wonder about the ending, just check it out on You Tube and you won't have to suffer through one of the more truly awful movies that has ever been made. Truly awful ending... like, wow awful.
Anyway. Mortal Kombat remained in one way or another relevant as I grew up. It kind of lost its focus as video game technology grew. Mortal Kombat kind of lost itself in the glitz and glamor of 'next gen' systems, at the time the N64/Playstation era and never really recovered as gaming grew into the PS2/Xbox era. Still, fans like me loved the series enough to allow it to continue to produce up to the most recent offering of Mortal Kombat, after Warner Bros. bought the rights to Mortal Kombat and made MK vs DC Universe. It was an ultimately un-inspired game that threw the 'heroes' of the Mortal Kombat universe (if they could even be called that?) against the iconic heroes and villains of DC's comic book universe.
There's just something satisfying about being able to shoot Batman in the head as The Joker that you can't really put a price on, but I digress.
Mortal Kombat has completely failed to be relevant for a long time, and it's been hardcore fans like me that have kept its memory alive. Right around the time that I graduated high school, back in 2005. There was some legitimately strong rumblings, and a rather large internet petition, that a third Mortal Kombat movie was in the works, they were lining it up and unlike false prophecies of the past this felt like it was truly going to be something. That of course, ceased to come to fruition.
A bitterness has always lived on because I have wanted that, I know they can do better and I know that Mortal Kombat is awesome enough to be made into something better than Annihilation had to offer. Then, on Thursday, June 10th... THIS happened.
When I first watched this, as a Mortal Kombat fan and I say this with modest pretention, a TRUE Mortal Kombat fan, I felt genuine glee hit my system.
The problem with Mortal Kombat: Annihilation is that it was TOO much like the video games. The first movie had a rather grounded (for the 90's...) to reality feel to it but it also delved rather fearlessly into the mythology of the video game and in the mid-90's it was a recipe of success, at least in my opinion. Annihilation failed because its attempt to legitimize the video game by replicating it at every possible foray pretty much, ahem, annihilated the movie and the video game simultaneously.
THIS though, feels different. For todays standards it has a rather 'typically' dark and grounded feel that one would expect to see in a "2010" movie, and it is also suitably gory. Mortal Kombat was so 'out there' for its time because of the gore. By todays standards, gore is pretty popular with todays movie going audience, this would be a great opportunity for a savvy filmmaker to do Mortal Kombat some amicable justice while thinking outside the box, and this trailer, even if you're a fan of it or not (Penny Arcade made their feelings clear) you can't argue this has certainly taken an outside the box approach to the material.
The man who directed that short is a director by the name of Kevin Tancharoen, he directed the movie Fame that came out in 2009. Upon learning this I kind of raised an eye brow but this was apparently something he had been wanting to do for a while. With $7500 out of his own pocket. Actors Michael Jai White (Spawn, Black Dynamite) and Jeri Ryan (7 of 9 from Star Trek Voyager) donated their time to help Tancharoen produce the short with his 'vision' of what a new Mortal Kombat film could be.
Michael Jai White is no stranger to viral marketing, producing his own short trailer for Black Dynamite which eventually lead to enough buzz being generated for the full feature to be produced. White, who played Jax in the short was in the running to play Jax in Annihilation before being cast as Spawn, spoke positively about his experience playing in the short and is also a fan of the game as well. (You can read more about his experience in some MTV interview I found...)
http://www.collider.com/2010/06/09/kevin-tancharoen-interview-mortal-kombat-rebirth-feature-film/ Tancharoen goes into some detail about his fondness for the franchise and how this has been something he has been musing over for a while, as well as some of the details for his 'vision' of a feature film and the process of making the short. Give it a read if you're curious, it certainly piqued my interest.
This feels so much stronger than previous rumblings of a new Mortal Kombat film and that's why I can't help but get excited for this. The short really felt genuine and it felt fresh. There's a lot of room to play with that and grow it into something that would be really entertaining and still do the "Mortal Kombat" justice. He has a pretty strong vision for what he wants to do and that's something that so few movies really seem to have lately. You could incorporate the gore aspects of the Kombat, the more supernatural aspects to some of the characters (since he talks of focusing on the Scorpion/Sub-Zero rivalry) and really some of the more, I suppose, 'true' aspects of the Mortal Kombat realm.
They don't need to dive into the multiple realms of the MK universe or anything like that. Have the tournament, have some awesome martial arts fights. Dive into the Scorpion/Sub-Zero relationship. Show Jaxx and Sonya Blade kicking some ass. Throw in some cool characters the fans would like to see but like he talks about in that interview, don't overdo it or it just gets to be too much. (X-Men 3, anyone?) I'd love to see Michael Jai White get the metal arms and kick some ass kung-fu style like BLACK DYNAMITE. (Hell let's just get Black Dynamite in there and fighting in Mortal Kombat.) Get some good gore in there too with some awesome fatalities and really, to me, that's a recipe for a fucking cool movie and a great REBIRTH to Mortal Kombat!
We all have been there...
TEST YOUR MIGHT
FLAWLESS VICTORY
FATALITY
JOHNNY CAGE... WINS
Mortal Kombat is an INSTITUTION. It defined my childhood in ways that certain other exploits simply could not compare to. I remember being young, when Mortal Kombat first came out in the early ninties... I would have been like seven or eight years old when that game came out and I remember first playing it fondly. It's gory game play and gritty graphics was so different than the sports games I was used to playing. (Yes, even at that age I was addicted to sports games.) Something about that game scared the shit out of me. I literally had nightmares about it. Despite that, I couldn't get enough!
Had my mother known I was playing those kinds of video games, I'm sure she would have taken my Sega Genesis away and banned me from ever playing video games again desperately altering the course my life would ultimately take. Be that as it may, I can say with certainty that Mortal Kombat shaped me in some fashion. It's as cherished a 'childhood relic' if you will as the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Sonic The Hedgehog or maybe even Batman (though not nearly as monumental)
Mortal Kombat was one of the first movies I ever saw in the theater. My father, the great man that he was took me to saw this movie and I loved him ever more for it. Mortal Kombat was awesome, it had the attitude of the game plus it was kind of campy and awesome in a way that would've totally appealed to my age demographic at that time without being too cringe worthy for the parents. Even today, I love the Mortal Kombat movie, THE FIRST ONE.
When I think of the second one... well. I can't spoil it for you because it's that, ahem, memorable. But if you haven't seen it, or don't remember and are curious (in a way that only a TRUE Mortal Kombat fan would be) then check it out. The ending of the movie will certainly surprise you for one reason or another. If you are not curious to see the movie but still wonder about the ending, just check it out on You Tube and you won't have to suffer through one of the more truly awful movies that has ever been made. Truly awful ending... like, wow awful.
Anyway. Mortal Kombat remained in one way or another relevant as I grew up. It kind of lost its focus as video game technology grew. Mortal Kombat kind of lost itself in the glitz and glamor of 'next gen' systems, at the time the N64/Playstation era and never really recovered as gaming grew into the PS2/Xbox era. Still, fans like me loved the series enough to allow it to continue to produce up to the most recent offering of Mortal Kombat, after Warner Bros. bought the rights to Mortal Kombat and made MK vs DC Universe. It was an ultimately un-inspired game that threw the 'heroes' of the Mortal Kombat universe (if they could even be called that?) against the iconic heroes and villains of DC's comic book universe.
There's just something satisfying about being able to shoot Batman in the head as The Joker that you can't really put a price on, but I digress.
Mortal Kombat has completely failed to be relevant for a long time, and it's been hardcore fans like me that have kept its memory alive. Right around the time that I graduated high school, back in 2005. There was some legitimately strong rumblings, and a rather large internet petition, that a third Mortal Kombat movie was in the works, they were lining it up and unlike false prophecies of the past this felt like it was truly going to be something. That of course, ceased to come to fruition.
A bitterness has always lived on because I have wanted that, I know they can do better and I know that Mortal Kombat is awesome enough to be made into something better than Annihilation had to offer. Then, on Thursday, June 10th... THIS happened.
When I first watched this, as a Mortal Kombat fan and I say this with modest pretention, a TRUE Mortal Kombat fan, I felt genuine glee hit my system.
The problem with Mortal Kombat: Annihilation is that it was TOO much like the video games. The first movie had a rather grounded (for the 90's...) to reality feel to it but it also delved rather fearlessly into the mythology of the video game and in the mid-90's it was a recipe of success, at least in my opinion. Annihilation failed because its attempt to legitimize the video game by replicating it at every possible foray pretty much, ahem, annihilated the movie and the video game simultaneously.
THIS though, feels different. For todays standards it has a rather 'typically' dark and grounded feel that one would expect to see in a "2010" movie, and it is also suitably gory. Mortal Kombat was so 'out there' for its time because of the gore. By todays standards, gore is pretty popular with todays movie going audience, this would be a great opportunity for a savvy filmmaker to do Mortal Kombat some amicable justice while thinking outside the box, and this trailer, even if you're a fan of it or not (Penny Arcade made their feelings clear) you can't argue this has certainly taken an outside the box approach to the material.
The man who directed that short is a director by the name of Kevin Tancharoen, he directed the movie Fame that came out in 2009. Upon learning this I kind of raised an eye brow but this was apparently something he had been wanting to do for a while. With $7500 out of his own pocket. Actors Michael Jai White (Spawn, Black Dynamite) and Jeri Ryan (7 of 9 from Star Trek Voyager) donated their time to help Tancharoen produce the short with his 'vision' of what a new Mortal Kombat film could be.
Michael Jai White is no stranger to viral marketing, producing his own short trailer for Black Dynamite which eventually lead to enough buzz being generated for the full feature to be produced. White, who played Jax in the short was in the running to play Jax in Annihilation before being cast as Spawn, spoke positively about his experience playing in the short and is also a fan of the game as well. (You can read more about his experience in some MTV interview I found...)
http://www.collider.com/2010/06/09/kevin-tancharoen-interview-mortal-kombat-rebirth-feature-film/ Tancharoen goes into some detail about his fondness for the franchise and how this has been something he has been musing over for a while, as well as some of the details for his 'vision' of a feature film and the process of making the short. Give it a read if you're curious, it certainly piqued my interest.
This feels so much stronger than previous rumblings of a new Mortal Kombat film and that's why I can't help but get excited for this. The short really felt genuine and it felt fresh. There's a lot of room to play with that and grow it into something that would be really entertaining and still do the "Mortal Kombat" justice. He has a pretty strong vision for what he wants to do and that's something that so few movies really seem to have lately. You could incorporate the gore aspects of the Kombat, the more supernatural aspects to some of the characters (since he talks of focusing on the Scorpion/Sub-Zero rivalry) and really some of the more, I suppose, 'true' aspects of the Mortal Kombat realm.
They don't need to dive into the multiple realms of the MK universe or anything like that. Have the tournament, have some awesome martial arts fights. Dive into the Scorpion/Sub-Zero relationship. Show Jaxx and Sonya Blade kicking some ass. Throw in some cool characters the fans would like to see but like he talks about in that interview, don't overdo it or it just gets to be too much. (X-Men 3, anyone?) I'd love to see Michael Jai White get the metal arms and kick some ass kung-fu style like BLACK DYNAMITE. (Hell let's just get Black Dynamite in there and fighting in Mortal Kombat.) Get some good gore in there too with some awesome fatalities and really, to me, that's a recipe for a fucking cool movie and a great REBIRTH to Mortal Kombat!
Wednesday, June 2, 2010
Who Gets Held Accountable?
I don't think I'm inside my own mind today... once again, recent events have forced me to spew my hatred towards society, the media, and the suits (does it ever go anywhere else really?) This BP oil disaster is probably pretty high up there on the fuck-up scale and even if we haven't noticed immediately the scope of which this severe lapse in preventative judgement will show as far as a fallout is concerned. Nobody can debate that this is something that hasn't exactly been dealt with, with a required level of urgency (Operation "Topkill"? Fuck off.) and this is an issue where the finger certainly hasn't been pointed at the right people.
As with any issue where a large sum of money is at stake, those who should be deemed accountable (aka: The oil companies) are not. They have the politicians in their pockets, it's just as simple as that. The Media is equally to blame, they may have their 'experts' on the air to speak of the potential ecological destruction or show images of cute animals covered in oil and the path of wrath of which has been paved to this point but the matter remains none the less. We are also to blame because there are far too few of us (myself included, apathy is a lovely thing) who simply don't care because it doesn't directly affect us. WHO is held accountable?
Many have scapegoated Obama, who "hasn't done enough" and that is straight up bullshit. I don't even want to imagine what would've happened if Bush was in charge during this disaster. This would've been swept under the rug just like 9/11 and spun advantageously to make the government look good while actually doing NOTHING *COUGH*KATRINA*COUGH* while his support further goes down into the tube. That's not how Obama rolls and he's paying for it when he shouldn't be. There isn't really much that Obama CAN do to solve this problem. He's not going to throw on scuba gear and swim down to the hole and try to plug it himself, thats not going to work. Wake the fuck up and smell the maple nut crunch as someone much wiser than me once said.
Do we blame society? A society that (because of the media and they're next) cares more about poor heartbroken Sandra Bullock or how big a cunt Kate from Kate plus 8 is being currently or how Michael Jacksons children are doing or so on and so forth. There's endless celebrity fodder for the sheep to flock to and they do, it never fails. That makes me so angry is that the news, LEGITIMATE news has embraced this trend and you're more likely to hear about what celebrity has fucked up now than some random old man getting stabbed and dying in the news. Or how some elderly driver lacks the proper vision to drive responsibly and blindsides a family killing the parents in a t-bone collision. (I don't have a hate on for old people, I realize how that reads it's just two extreme examples)
Do we blame the media, who only wants to make money (again, there it is, $$$) in this world where we can get pretty much anything we want information wise off the internet. So they give the people 'what they want' and they eat it up like the sheep they are. I can't blame the media for that, money makes the world go around. I can blame the media for failing to keep people properly informed. With great power comes great responsibility and the media has FAILED their responsibility without a shadow of a doubt.
The finger should've initially, and should always be pointed AT THE PEOPLE DRILLING THE FUCKING OIL! I'm not some tree hugging hippie but (as previous rants would show) I have always believed that our society lacks proper accountability it's parents failing to hold themselves accountable or people failing to hold themselves accountable. Society loves a scapegoat but this is one instance that a scapegoat just doesn't cut it. THEY failed to have some form of contingency plan in place for just such an instance where something goes wrong with their off-shore drilling. THEY failed to man up to their failure upon the origins of this monumental mistake. THEY have failed to come up with an adequate solution for this situation and it's been over a month since this happened in the first place. Don't blame Obama because really, this isn't his mess to clean up. BLAME THEM, BLAME BP! BLAME BIG OIL. It's THEIR fuck up so why are we having such a difficult time doing that? It's THEIR fault. NOBODY elses...
I am abusing cap's lock, let me take a deep breath for a moment...
I don't understand why it's so hard for people to view the world around them consciously and for the media to provide un-biased views on the world FOR the people to view it consciously and furthermore for the powers that be to target those who are responsible for the various atrocities that occur in our world. Why can't the world just work out like that? Do we need to revert to the wild west days where everybody worked hard and if you crossed a man you got shot? Do we need to start hanging people and lynching and acting like cut-throats because NOBODY is willing to listen, or further more, do what it takes?
I'm just asking that you take the time to look at the world for once, rather than hiding in your bubble because it's easy. Look at what is happening and take a moment to legitimately THINK about it. Think your own thoughts, don't form an opinion because some fucktard on CNN or Fox News tells you to. Be objective, be critical, be an independent and free thinker. I don't think that would help this issue be resolved any faster but maybe if BP actually had the oil under their ass and the fire ready to char so to speak maybe they would be a bit more quick on the draw to take care of this.
As with any issue where a large sum of money is at stake, those who should be deemed accountable (aka: The oil companies) are not. They have the politicians in their pockets, it's just as simple as that. The Media is equally to blame, they may have their 'experts' on the air to speak of the potential ecological destruction or show images of cute animals covered in oil and the path of wrath of which has been paved to this point but the matter remains none the less. We are also to blame because there are far too few of us (myself included, apathy is a lovely thing) who simply don't care because it doesn't directly affect us. WHO is held accountable?
Many have scapegoated Obama, who "hasn't done enough" and that is straight up bullshit. I don't even want to imagine what would've happened if Bush was in charge during this disaster. This would've been swept under the rug just like 9/11 and spun advantageously to make the government look good while actually doing NOTHING *COUGH*KATRINA*COUGH* while his support further goes down into the tube. That's not how Obama rolls and he's paying for it when he shouldn't be. There isn't really much that Obama CAN do to solve this problem. He's not going to throw on scuba gear and swim down to the hole and try to plug it himself, thats not going to work. Wake the fuck up and smell the maple nut crunch as someone much wiser than me once said.
Do we blame society? A society that (because of the media and they're next) cares more about poor heartbroken Sandra Bullock or how big a cunt Kate from Kate plus 8 is being currently or how Michael Jacksons children are doing or so on and so forth. There's endless celebrity fodder for the sheep to flock to and they do, it never fails. That makes me so angry is that the news, LEGITIMATE news has embraced this trend and you're more likely to hear about what celebrity has fucked up now than some random old man getting stabbed and dying in the news. Or how some elderly driver lacks the proper vision to drive responsibly and blindsides a family killing the parents in a t-bone collision. (I don't have a hate on for old people, I realize how that reads it's just two extreme examples)
Do we blame the media, who only wants to make money (again, there it is, $$$) in this world where we can get pretty much anything we want information wise off the internet. So they give the people 'what they want' and they eat it up like the sheep they are. I can't blame the media for that, money makes the world go around. I can blame the media for failing to keep people properly informed. With great power comes great responsibility and the media has FAILED their responsibility without a shadow of a doubt.
The finger should've initially, and should always be pointed AT THE PEOPLE DRILLING THE FUCKING OIL! I'm not some tree hugging hippie but (as previous rants would show) I have always believed that our society lacks proper accountability it's parents failing to hold themselves accountable or people failing to hold themselves accountable. Society loves a scapegoat but this is one instance that a scapegoat just doesn't cut it. THEY failed to have some form of contingency plan in place for just such an instance where something goes wrong with their off-shore drilling. THEY failed to man up to their failure upon the origins of this monumental mistake. THEY have failed to come up with an adequate solution for this situation and it's been over a month since this happened in the first place. Don't blame Obama because really, this isn't his mess to clean up. BLAME THEM, BLAME BP! BLAME BIG OIL. It's THEIR fuck up so why are we having such a difficult time doing that? It's THEIR fault. NOBODY elses...
I am abusing cap's lock, let me take a deep breath for a moment...
I don't understand why it's so hard for people to view the world around them consciously and for the media to provide un-biased views on the world FOR the people to view it consciously and furthermore for the powers that be to target those who are responsible for the various atrocities that occur in our world. Why can't the world just work out like that? Do we need to revert to the wild west days where everybody worked hard and if you crossed a man you got shot? Do we need to start hanging people and lynching and acting like cut-throats because NOBODY is willing to listen, or further more, do what it takes?
I'm just asking that you take the time to look at the world for once, rather than hiding in your bubble because it's easy. Look at what is happening and take a moment to legitimately THINK about it. Think your own thoughts, don't form an opinion because some fucktard on CNN or Fox News tells you to. Be objective, be critical, be an independent and free thinker. I don't think that would help this issue be resolved any faster but maybe if BP actually had the oil under their ass and the fire ready to char so to speak maybe they would be a bit more quick on the draw to take care of this.
Monday, May 24, 2010
WHA-HOO!
I don't think I'm inside my own mind today... Nintendo may have finally, FINALLY outdone themselves.
Mario was always staple of my youth. Even before I became an avid sports-gamer, a NES was one of the first gaming systems I ever had and you better believe I played the ever living shit out of Super Mario Bros, Super Mario Bros 2 and Super Mario Bros 3. All of them, I loved those games to death, each of them brought forth some interesting and perplexing challenges to your hand-eye coordination and to your reaction times.
If I were an adult then, I can only imagine the steady stream of expletives that would have flown from my mouth dying time and again playing Super Mario Bros 2, but didn't that game have the most kick ass music?
Maybe it's just putting our childhoods on a pedestal or maybe it's fact but Mario just hasn't seemed all that relevant lately, at least to me. My girlfriend loves him, she has half of her arm tattooed in a collage of Mario love that grew from a spontaneous tattoo of Yoshi one day. She is the reason I'm even talking about this because if I showed half of the excitement for games lately that she showed in anticipation for Super Mario Galaxy 2, then I would have a lot more video games to talk about.
I think Mario's had it pretty rough since the Nintendo 64, say what you will about the original Super Mario Galaxy game, I wasn't feeling it. It had some cool ideas but it felt well, very alien. I appreciate that they were trying to shake up the Mario formula to a certain degree they even initially succeeded but it wasn't until Super Mario Galaxy 2 did everything come together.
Super Mario Galaxy 2 does absolutely everything I would want from a modern Mario game. It continues to push Mario in the direction that they started with the original Galaxy game. Lets take another step back to the SNES days, and Super Mario World. When they first debuted the dinosaur Yoshi to help Mario on his quest to save Princess Peach, it added a completely new dynamic to Mario that the game desperately needed, in that same respect. Yoshi has helped bring that something extra to Super Mario Galaxy 2, to put it in to perspective. Yoshi is that third heat (A 30 Rock reference, for those of you who are scratching your heads at this statement).
Galaxy 2 does everything I expected from New Super Mario Bros: Wii and New Super Mario Bros before it. It brings back fond memories of the past by subtle cues in the game. Be it; a theme song from Super Mario World or a simple sound effect when you hop on Yoshi. Super Mario Galaxy 2 brings back great memories of Mario's past while establishing a beautiful and polished status quo for the now.
With excellent level design, and solid camera work (the game's camera was a noted flaw in the first one) Galaxy 2 takes off where the first one left off but it really surpasses it in pretty much every way. It's a completely superior game and I feel comfortable game saying that not only is Super Mario Galaxy 2 the best Mario game since Super Mario 64, but the best Mario game that Nintendo has ever produced it. There, I said it.
Super Mario Galaxy 2 is the best Mario game.
Give it a go for yourself, if you own a Wii, this is a game you simply MUST own. The game offers plenty of complexities and challenges but it doesn't overbear you with frustration. The game's very good with strategic checkpoints that keep you from trudging through difficult points after dying over and over again (though, that doesn't mean it never happens) and the game elicits nostalgia left right and center which adds to the atmosphere and tone of the game.
Not to mention, Mario has a PIMP spaceship!
(Comes off a bit narcissistic, doesn't it?)
Last, but certainly not least. Added second player responsibility ensures that the second player will have to keep their eyes peeled for more than just star bits this time around. With the ability to stun and kill some enemies, player two has the potential to really help, or at times hinder Mario's progress in a stage. The added mechanics give a second player purpose that they didn't really have in the first game and give the game an additional level of co-operation which makes playing in groups fun.
Overall, Super Mario Galaxy 2 isn't just a home run, to push the baseball metaphor, it's a grand slam. I think Galaxy 2 will set the bar for all future Mario games, and once again I am excited to see where Nintendo will take this character in the future. If the next game choses to be Galaxy 3, I don't really know what more they can do to take this formula to the next level. I just hope we get something a little more in tune with what Galaxy was jumping to the Wii as opposed to what Super Mario Sunshine was jumping from the Nintendo 64.
Mario was always staple of my youth. Even before I became an avid sports-gamer, a NES was one of the first gaming systems I ever had and you better believe I played the ever living shit out of Super Mario Bros, Super Mario Bros 2 and Super Mario Bros 3. All of them, I loved those games to death, each of them brought forth some interesting and perplexing challenges to your hand-eye coordination and to your reaction times.
If I were an adult then, I can only imagine the steady stream of expletives that would have flown from my mouth dying time and again playing Super Mario Bros 2, but didn't that game have the most kick ass music?
Maybe it's just putting our childhoods on a pedestal or maybe it's fact but Mario just hasn't seemed all that relevant lately, at least to me. My girlfriend loves him, she has half of her arm tattooed in a collage of Mario love that grew from a spontaneous tattoo of Yoshi one day. She is the reason I'm even talking about this because if I showed half of the excitement for games lately that she showed in anticipation for Super Mario Galaxy 2, then I would have a lot more video games to talk about.
I think Mario's had it pretty rough since the Nintendo 64, say what you will about the original Super Mario Galaxy game, I wasn't feeling it. It had some cool ideas but it felt well, very alien. I appreciate that they were trying to shake up the Mario formula to a certain degree they even initially succeeded but it wasn't until Super Mario Galaxy 2 did everything come together.
Super Mario Galaxy 2 does absolutely everything I would want from a modern Mario game. It continues to push Mario in the direction that they started with the original Galaxy game. Lets take another step back to the SNES days, and Super Mario World. When they first debuted the dinosaur Yoshi to help Mario on his quest to save Princess Peach, it added a completely new dynamic to Mario that the game desperately needed, in that same respect. Yoshi has helped bring that something extra to Super Mario Galaxy 2, to put it in to perspective. Yoshi is that third heat (A 30 Rock reference, for those of you who are scratching your heads at this statement).
Galaxy 2 does everything I expected from New Super Mario Bros: Wii and New Super Mario Bros before it. It brings back fond memories of the past by subtle cues in the game. Be it; a theme song from Super Mario World or a simple sound effect when you hop on Yoshi. Super Mario Galaxy 2 brings back great memories of Mario's past while establishing a beautiful and polished status quo for the now.
With excellent level design, and solid camera work (the game's camera was a noted flaw in the first one) Galaxy 2 takes off where the first one left off but it really surpasses it in pretty much every way. It's a completely superior game and I feel comfortable game saying that not only is Super Mario Galaxy 2 the best Mario game since Super Mario 64, but the best Mario game that Nintendo has ever produced it. There, I said it.
Super Mario Galaxy 2 is the best Mario game.
Give it a go for yourself, if you own a Wii, this is a game you simply MUST own. The game offers plenty of complexities and challenges but it doesn't overbear you with frustration. The game's very good with strategic checkpoints that keep you from trudging through difficult points after dying over and over again (though, that doesn't mean it never happens) and the game elicits nostalgia left right and center which adds to the atmosphere and tone of the game.
Not to mention, Mario has a PIMP spaceship!
(Comes off a bit narcissistic, doesn't it?)
Last, but certainly not least. Added second player responsibility ensures that the second player will have to keep their eyes peeled for more than just star bits this time around. With the ability to stun and kill some enemies, player two has the potential to really help, or at times hinder Mario's progress in a stage. The added mechanics give a second player purpose that they didn't really have in the first game and give the game an additional level of co-operation which makes playing in groups fun.
Overall, Super Mario Galaxy 2 isn't just a home run, to push the baseball metaphor, it's a grand slam. I think Galaxy 2 will set the bar for all future Mario games, and once again I am excited to see where Nintendo will take this character in the future. If the next game choses to be Galaxy 3, I don't really know what more they can do to take this formula to the next level. I just hope we get something a little more in tune with what Galaxy was jumping to the Wii as opposed to what Super Mario Sunshine was jumping from the Nintendo 64.
Wednesday, April 14, 2010
Sam Worthington is the new Keanu
I don't think I'm inside my own mind today... but how many more movies is Sam Worthington going to have to 'act' his way through before movie viewers realize he's shit? Let's take a recap at his 'career' so far. Terminator: Salvation. He was the hybrid, with amnesia. He thought he was a real boy and ended up being a robot (Sorry if you haven't seen it yet, but it was kind of obvious even from the trailer) his acting certainly was robotic, for a robot with human empathy, I think he hit a home run. The problem was, his performance was something that would make even Tobey Maguire blush with envy, it was shit. Take any shitty Tobey film, like Pleasantville or Seabiscuit (Which actually share directors) at least Tobey has shown a willingness to do something that has character, and let it oversight his rather porous acting.
Sam Worthington is the lastest and I'm going to consider him the first actor of a trend we typically see with Actresses. With an 'hot Hollywood actress' she usually makes her mark on a movie, and then is thrust into our face for the next 18-24 months before the world wakes up and realizes she's shittacular! (See: Jessica Alba, Megan Fox) Sam Worthington is the first legitimate attempt to accomplish this with an actor. Usually actors have to showcase a modicum of talent, unless you're Matt Damon, you can basically shit the bed then hit a home run with the Borne trilogy and everyone think's your A-list all of a sudden. Anyway, pretty much any leading man Actor has paved his way there in one way or another. Sam Worthington has not done that. He's just a good looking guy that women can fawn over (see: Matthew McConaughey, Dane Cook)
(This is a typical face Sam Worthington will make for an entire movie)
Now some of you may cry out "Well he was in Avatar!" Well... let me ask you this. Was he GOOD in Avatar? Do you think back to Avatar and go? Man... Sam Worthington really kicked ass in Avatar. No fuck no you don't. Sam Worthington's shitty acting was overshadowed by excellent CGI, and a pretty decent plot (notice how I didn't say good, quote me now, Avatar was overrated) Sam Worthington's fake legs were pretty impressive, the whole movie I found myself wondering how they pulled that off.
Now, he's in Clash of The Titans and no I will not go see it. I've predicted months ago that Clash of The Titans would be the next in a long line of Hollywood special effects masturbation parties. Off the top of my head: I. Robot, 2012, The Mummy 3, The Star Wars Prequil Trilogy, Indiana Jones 4, Ghost Rider or Any Michael Bay movie made in the last decade sans Bad Boys 2 (because he actually blew up a house, instead of CGI-ing an explosion). I'm also willing to predict that he showed the acting range of Keanu Reaves in Constantine and maybe made an angry face once or twice in addition to the more stoic face he typically makes...
Why do I hold such ire toward him? well, I was making the point earlier but most actors have to in a sense 'earn their bumps' they usually do bit roles, stand out and get noticed, and then boom they're a star because they were the lead actor in something GOOD. Sam Worthington has not really done anything to earn any kind of acclaim. If acting really stoic and doing next to nothing to stand out when you're in casts with people like Christian Bale or Susan Sarandon then sign me up, I could be Hollywood's next leading man too.
Sam Worthington is the lastest and I'm going to consider him the first actor of a trend we typically see with Actresses. With an 'hot Hollywood actress' she usually makes her mark on a movie, and then is thrust into our face for the next 18-24 months before the world wakes up and realizes she's shittacular! (See: Jessica Alba, Megan Fox) Sam Worthington is the first legitimate attempt to accomplish this with an actor. Usually actors have to showcase a modicum of talent, unless you're Matt Damon, you can basically shit the bed then hit a home run with the Borne trilogy and everyone think's your A-list all of a sudden. Anyway, pretty much any leading man Actor has paved his way there in one way or another. Sam Worthington has not done that. He's just a good looking guy that women can fawn over (see: Matthew McConaughey, Dane Cook)
(This is a typical face Sam Worthington will make for an entire movie)
Now some of you may cry out "Well he was in Avatar!" Well... let me ask you this. Was he GOOD in Avatar? Do you think back to Avatar and go? Man... Sam Worthington really kicked ass in Avatar. No fuck no you don't. Sam Worthington's shitty acting was overshadowed by excellent CGI, and a pretty decent plot (notice how I didn't say good, quote me now, Avatar was overrated) Sam Worthington's fake legs were pretty impressive, the whole movie I found myself wondering how they pulled that off.
Now, he's in Clash of The Titans and no I will not go see it. I've predicted months ago that Clash of The Titans would be the next in a long line of Hollywood special effects masturbation parties. Off the top of my head: I. Robot, 2012, The Mummy 3, The Star Wars Prequil Trilogy, Indiana Jones 4, Ghost Rider or Any Michael Bay movie made in the last decade sans Bad Boys 2 (because he actually blew up a house, instead of CGI-ing an explosion). I'm also willing to predict that he showed the acting range of Keanu Reaves in Constantine and maybe made an angry face once or twice in addition to the more stoic face he typically makes...
Why do I hold such ire toward him? well, I was making the point earlier but most actors have to in a sense 'earn their bumps' they usually do bit roles, stand out and get noticed, and then boom they're a star because they were the lead actor in something GOOD. Sam Worthington has not really done anything to earn any kind of acclaim. If acting really stoic and doing next to nothing to stand out when you're in casts with people like Christian Bale or Susan Sarandon then sign me up, I could be Hollywood's next leading man too.
Tuesday, March 23, 2010
I think my Xbox had its Final Fantasy. An Obituary.
(Lightning is one bad bi-- SHUT YO' MOUTH)
I don't think I'm inside my own mind today... Fuck, Fuck, Fuck! After all the tries, the multiple open-heart surgery, the mayhem, the triumph. I think it's quite possible that my Xbox has breathed its last breath, in a sense. There was tell tale signs. The fact that booting up my Xbox was akin to that of starting up a jet engine, for one. The others, game freezes, and general disobedience when it came to my gaming habit. My poor Madden and NHL games didn't stand a chance and it was well on its way to making Final Fantasy XIII another victim of its disc scratching dominance but not before Final Fantasy perhaps, said its two cents worth.
We pooled everything, okay not everything. But we gathered a lot of games and brought them into EB to get Final Fantasy on a credit, it was only after we seized our bounty that it came to my attention that I could've gotten Final Fantasy for 14.99 instead of 69.99 but no, the EB Games employees heads were too far up their own goddamn asses to even let me in on that little tidbit. ANYWAY. Victory was all but inevitable, after hearing about how fun the game was for a couple of weeks I could not take it anymore.
I got to enjoy the game for all of about 6-7 hours of game play time before it started to crap out on me. Apparently the game freezing is not an un-common problem as a small round of internet detective has taught me. Regardless, my Xbox is in a state of which repair is a necessity and I don't know if I want to go down that road again. Maybe it was Final Fantasy that had the last laugh?
The game itself, started out pretty well. The game decided to let the action and cinematic speak for itself rather than trying to deliver a more traditional "FF-RPG" experience. That isn't to suggest this is a bad thing, I think it works but I think its also a bit of the reason why the game is very demanding on even PS3 systems. When I was growing up, you used to have to play FF games for a couple of hours, not a few minutes, before you were rewarded with a cinematic. The game play didn't serve as a simple bridge to another cinematic, the cinematics were the door to a new portion of the game. Even 12 didn't seem so gratuitous with its cinematics. Natasha loves it, I feel as if its a bit too much.
Now, I didn't even get to play 10 hours into it so that's not really my official stance on the game so much as its my first impression. I love the new combat system, though it can be quite tedious at times The game just seems to be a showcase for their cinematic prowess and if they really wanted to do that, why didn't they just make another Final Fantasy movie? Advent Children didn't do that badly did it? I was under the impression that most everyone loved it.
So, the demanding might of FFXIII crushed the spirit of my Xbox. Instead of those perilous three red lights, now there is just one taunting me. Lower right quadrant, signifying a hardware failure. It could really be any number of things. Dr. Natasha wants to open 'er up again and see if she can revive the 360 yet again. To be honest, I'm tired of it running louder than anything I've ever seen, I'm tired of it scratching my games to the point that they don't want to even run properly anymore (it managed to get a good number of marks on FF before its demise) and I'm just tired of worrying about it. I'll save up for the two or three paydays it will take, then I'll buy an 360 arcade because they're cheap and just put my old hard drive in it and hopefully things will be good as new and HOPEFULLY it won't scratch the shit out of my games like a little bitch.
You've won this round, Microsoft. If Sony didn't have its head up its ass with its retarded bundle packages, and I didn't already own a good number of 360 games. You bet your ass I would be spending my money on a PS3 if they sold their console for a considerably reasonable price.
Saturday, February 27, 2010
How can any one with a brain watch this garbage?
I don't think I'm inside my own mind today... but what the fuck is wrong with CNN? I've been watching their coverage of the probable Tsunami that could hit in the wake of the Chilean earthquake and I'm mind boggled at the severe retardation of this news station.
Let me start by saying, I don't watch the news. I can't stand it, regardless of the station. Its depressing, and it focus on carnage, despair or generally bad news. It's like the criteria for the news is, someone has to be getting fucked in the ass (metaphorically, of course) to make the news. Car accident, a family dies? You just made the first story of the evening news. Guy robs a bank because he's desperate for cash and the cops shoot his ass dead? That's a front page headline on tomorrows newspaper. A father kills his wife and kids and then kills himself. You just got a news segment, AND some douchebag "expert" talking about psychological trauma's for at least fifteen minutes.
When the hell did the news become so anarchy oriented? When did we lose focus on what actual NEWS is supposed to be? Things that might be important like relevant world events. The news should be getting people interested in things that MATTER and are IMPORTANT, be it political or social or whatever. The news shouldn't be stroking the boner of those who are somehow engaged on or entertained by these kinds of events.
CNN has been covering this earthquake and tsunami ALL day. Which is warranted, it's pretty big news and I mean there's really not much else going on, that we could even know about because that all would be overshadowed by THE OLYMPICS! I'm not trying to shit on CNN for talking about this in general, just the fact of how they're doing it.
They've got this guy, I didn't catch his name so I will refer to him as Nameless Asshole. This asshole is talking to 'us' (the viewer) like we're a bunch of ass hats who not only never use the internet, but haven't even heard of a computer. CNN wouldn't even be using technology like U-Steam if it wasn't relevant to their news, and somewhat relevant to the people watching at home. They have other sources to gather this information so why go out of the way to use random internet technology when that other technology is probably superior to u-stream. Don't talk to me like I'm some kind of troglodyte who has stub hands and a lisp. (Apologies to any of you whom this description actually applies, I'm just picking an extreme example)
CNN is just waiting for the wave to hit, U-stream is just waiting for the wave to hit. They're waiting for carnage, for destruction? Why? It's simple. Carnage and destruction = ratings. Why go out and rent some shitty movie directed by Roland Emmerich when we can just tune in to CNN to see some chaos and wreckage instead. It's more convenient and it's always fucking on the air! Why the hell is there even a market for this shit?
I understand that, especially in this age of technology, people can get their news wherever the want. That definitely plays into the type of broadcasts that news networks decide to make. They're pandering to target demographics (Fox News is ESPECIALLY vile for this) to squander ratings when You or I may just chose to Google for our news or use any of a plethora of online news sources. Hell, with Twitter, it's a lot easier to get breaking news as its happening than ever before from the word of mouth from those who are actually experiencing it. Why watch this garbage when we can get the news we want from wherever we want it, when we want it!
I guess my point is if this kind of shit is on the air, then clearly there are people watching it. Why? I don't understand at all. Do people just turn off and decide "I'm going to watch CNN" the way I do when I decide to subject myself to an Adam Sandler film? I know lots of people watch the news and not all news stations are as flagrantly unwatchable as CNN is (at least in my opinion, some of you may enjoy CNN and I would have to ask you WHY?!) but really its all the same bullshit. I'm just going to have to end this here because even thinking about it makes me want to throw a new born baby like a football to a hungry starved dog previously owned by Michael Vick and why the fuck would anybody want to do that? Well that's what CNN drives me to feel... fucking ludicrous.
Let me start by saying, I don't watch the news. I can't stand it, regardless of the station. Its depressing, and it focus on carnage, despair or generally bad news. It's like the criteria for the news is, someone has to be getting fucked in the ass (metaphorically, of course) to make the news. Car accident, a family dies? You just made the first story of the evening news. Guy robs a bank because he's desperate for cash and the cops shoot his ass dead? That's a front page headline on tomorrows newspaper. A father kills his wife and kids and then kills himself. You just got a news segment, AND some douchebag "expert" talking about psychological trauma's for at least fifteen minutes.
When the hell did the news become so anarchy oriented? When did we lose focus on what actual NEWS is supposed to be? Things that might be important like relevant world events. The news should be getting people interested in things that MATTER and are IMPORTANT, be it political or social or whatever. The news shouldn't be stroking the boner of those who are somehow engaged on or entertained by these kinds of events.
CNN has been covering this earthquake and tsunami ALL day. Which is warranted, it's pretty big news and I mean there's really not much else going on, that we could even know about because that all would be overshadowed by THE OLYMPICS! I'm not trying to shit on CNN for talking about this in general, just the fact of how they're doing it.
They've got this guy, I didn't catch his name so I will refer to him as Nameless Asshole. This asshole is talking to 'us' (the viewer) like we're a bunch of ass hats who not only never use the internet, but haven't even heard of a computer. CNN wouldn't even be using technology like U-Steam if it wasn't relevant to their news, and somewhat relevant to the people watching at home. They have other sources to gather this information so why go out of the way to use random internet technology when that other technology is probably superior to u-stream. Don't talk to me like I'm some kind of troglodyte who has stub hands and a lisp. (Apologies to any of you whom this description actually applies, I'm just picking an extreme example)
CNN is just waiting for the wave to hit, U-stream is just waiting for the wave to hit. They're waiting for carnage, for destruction? Why? It's simple. Carnage and destruction = ratings. Why go out and rent some shitty movie directed by Roland Emmerich when we can just tune in to CNN to see some chaos and wreckage instead. It's more convenient and it's always fucking on the air! Why the hell is there even a market for this shit?
I understand that, especially in this age of technology, people can get their news wherever the want. That definitely plays into the type of broadcasts that news networks decide to make. They're pandering to target demographics (Fox News is ESPECIALLY vile for this) to squander ratings when You or I may just chose to Google for our news or use any of a plethora of online news sources. Hell, with Twitter, it's a lot easier to get breaking news as its happening than ever before from the word of mouth from those who are actually experiencing it. Why watch this garbage when we can get the news we want from wherever we want it, when we want it!
I guess my point is if this kind of shit is on the air, then clearly there are people watching it. Why? I don't understand at all. Do people just turn off and decide "I'm going to watch CNN" the way I do when I decide to subject myself to an Adam Sandler film? I know lots of people watch the news and not all news stations are as flagrantly unwatchable as CNN is (at least in my opinion, some of you may enjoy CNN and I would have to ask you WHY?!) but really its all the same bullshit. I'm just going to have to end this here because even thinking about it makes me want to throw a new born baby like a football to a hungry starved dog previously owned by Michael Vick and why the fuck would anybody want to do that? Well that's what CNN drives me to feel... fucking ludicrous.
Tuesday, February 9, 2010
It only took them 16 years to figure it out...
I don't think I'm inside my own mind today... but has Sega FINALLY pulled their head out of their ass? After years of mediocre-at-best to downright horrible attempts to reinvent the Sonic franchise. They have finally figured it out.
Sega will be releasing Sonic: The Hedgehog 4, Episode I, this summer via the Xbox Live Arcade, Wiiware and PlayStationNetwork.
The thing that is so mind boggling to me about this whole announcement is this is what should've happened all along. Way back when SEGA Dreamcast came out and 2D games were kind of 'over the hill' as they're now making a resurgence under the 'nostalgia' cattegory. Sega should've banked on Sonic The Hedgehog 4 then, rather than the ambitious (and ultimately, flawed) Sonic Adventure.
They should've learned their lesson after Sonic 3D Blast. It was an interesting game, presentation wise, but overall it was pretty forgettable. Rather than the typical side scrolling adventure, you ran through a 3-D stage that you could somewhat 'free roam'. The game had the same kind of game play as its 2-D Side-scrolling brethren but the game was annoying and tedious in parts. Though, as a child, I was not one to complain for it was a new outlet for my Sonic: The Hedgehog addiction.
Like many growing up, I got Sonic 2 with my Sega Genesis system and it quickly became a staple of my video game habit at a very young age. Arguably, Sonic 2 is one of the most memorable video games of all time. I'm sure most people who have played it could speak fondly of it. Those who cant are haters, and they are wrong.
For the short lived Sega Saturn, they came out with "Sonic R"
I really enjoyed this game, despite its simplicity and poor game design. Sonic R was a really fun racing game that incorporated the established characters of the Sonic universe. Each racing stage had short cuts which you could use to gain the upper hand in the race and some of the track designs were really quite cool. Its a game concept I'd love to see them revisit with modern capabilities, rather than what they've been coming out with the Sonic Riders type games. I think a Sonic R approach (with a bit more time put into producing the game...) could be a lot of fun. (more fun than the Sonic & Sega All-Star's racing they're coming out with -yawn-)
Some other failures of Sonic's history would be games like the aforementioned Sonic Adventure for SEGA Dreamcast.
Sonic Adventure was the first grand departure from Sonic's grand formula. A step "forward" from games like Sonic 3D blast. This time stages were a mix of much more 'open' environment while incorporated a stage you had to progress through in the vein of the original sonic games as opposed to the more structured stages that 3D blast had which you could roam back and forth through if you needed to. The biggest flaw in my opinion were the levels which you did not play sonic at all. If its a sonic game, it should star sonic. I don't want to play "Amy Rose" or "Big The Cat" just putting that out there.
Sonic Adventure 2 was much better. Featuring a "Hero" and "Dark" Story, allowing you to play Sonic, Tails or Knuckles in Hero or Shadow, Rouge or Dr.Robotnik Eggman...
(She was some kind of bat... cat looking thing with wings, and cleavage?)
While I'm there, why the hell did they ever have to change Dr. Robotnik in the first place? And why the hell couldn't they come up with something better than Dr.Eggman?! Jesus titty-fucking christ... anyway.
Sonic Adventure 2 had eliminated most of the annoying flaws of its predecessor. Though, I still didn't care for the Rouge levels, playing as Robotn- I mean, Eggman, was fun. You got to shoot missiles and blow some stuff up. Shadow is pretty much an "evil" sonic but he ends up being good in the end and you work with Sonic to fight some evil lizard thing in space as "Super Sonic and Super Shadow" with the power of chaos emeralds... bla bla bla. It had a pretty kick ass final boss song which made it all feel pretty amazing when I was 13. It's also worth mentioning for the sake of this blog that Sonic Adventure 2 was a pretty kick ass game and really the only great sonic game that's come out in the last 10 years.
What followed was not.
Games like Sonic Heroes, an elaborated "team" concept of the Sonic Adventure style game play. However, they took a 'more is more' approach. Instead of controlling one character at once, you controlled three. And you had 4 teams to chose from so there was plenty of shit to go around in this forgettable adventure. Now the game wasn't outright terrible but it was hardly great, and a continued push in the wrong direction for Sonic but I suppose as the old saying goes, you've got to break a few eggs to make an omelet.
The 15th aniversary of Sonic was marked with the release of "Sonic The Hedgehog" a game I was looking forward to but again, was ultimately a fail on SEGA's behalf. Continuing with their 'more is more' approach to the Sonic games. Sonic The Hedgehog had three different stories that followed Sonic, Shadow and a new character named Silver (they were getting super imaginative at this point too). The game had some interesting ideas but overall was overly ambitious and failed to find its mark because of that. Not to mention numerous design flaws and glitches made this game annoying as fuck to play.
Next in line was Sonic and the Secret Rings for the Wii which was seen as a general improvement over more-recent installments of the Sonic franchise. Any of the momentum it gained was probably ruined by its sequel Sonic and the Black Knight which shook things up by giving sonic A SWORD! Further attempts to rearrange the Sonic paradigm included Sonic Unleashed where Sonic would turn into a "werehog" yeah... I don't think turning into a werewolf did the Zelda franchise any favors either.
Now my research has released a common thread or excuse that the developers have used and that's more or less that the games were rushed. You'd think that if time was a factor in a game being less successful more than once. You would either, delay a game to ensure its proper completion or give yourself more time in production to make sure that you got the job done right. Just saying.
I think Sonic's appearance in the awesome Super Smash Brows Brawl was a step in the right direction toward restoring a semblance of Sonic's awesome, because lets be honest. Sonic would run circles around Mario in a fight, literally.
(Sonic totally about to own Mario in his own game)
SEGA should never have bothered to try and re-invent the wheel with Sonic. Sonic doesn't need an epic plot. All sonic needs is to run really fast, jump on some shit and collect rings and chaos emeralds to stop Dr. Roboeggmanik from turning those cute fuzzy animals into evil robotic pawns for his evil deeds. Turning into Super Sonic and that's it! Hopefully Sonic 4 will remind some of us old school gamers, and sonic fans alike, why Sonic was really cool in the first place.
Until next time...
PEACE!
Sega will be releasing Sonic: The Hedgehog 4, Episode I, this summer via the Xbox Live Arcade, Wiiware and PlayStationNetwork.
The thing that is so mind boggling to me about this whole announcement is this is what should've happened all along. Way back when SEGA Dreamcast came out and 2D games were kind of 'over the hill' as they're now making a resurgence under the 'nostalgia' cattegory. Sega should've banked on Sonic The Hedgehog 4 then, rather than the ambitious (and ultimately, flawed) Sonic Adventure.
They should've learned their lesson after Sonic 3D Blast. It was an interesting game, presentation wise, but overall it was pretty forgettable. Rather than the typical side scrolling adventure, you ran through a 3-D stage that you could somewhat 'free roam'. The game had the same kind of game play as its 2-D Side-scrolling brethren but the game was annoying and tedious in parts. Though, as a child, I was not one to complain for it was a new outlet for my Sonic: The Hedgehog addiction.
Like many growing up, I got Sonic 2 with my Sega Genesis system and it quickly became a staple of my video game habit at a very young age. Arguably, Sonic 2 is one of the most memorable video games of all time. I'm sure most people who have played it could speak fondly of it. Those who cant are haters, and they are wrong.
For the short lived Sega Saturn, they came out with "Sonic R"
I really enjoyed this game, despite its simplicity and poor game design. Sonic R was a really fun racing game that incorporated the established characters of the Sonic universe. Each racing stage had short cuts which you could use to gain the upper hand in the race and some of the track designs were really quite cool. Its a game concept I'd love to see them revisit with modern capabilities, rather than what they've been coming out with the Sonic Riders type games. I think a Sonic R approach (with a bit more time put into producing the game...) could be a lot of fun. (more fun than the Sonic & Sega All-Star's racing they're coming out with -yawn-)
Some other failures of Sonic's history would be games like the aforementioned Sonic Adventure for SEGA Dreamcast.
Sonic Adventure was the first grand departure from Sonic's grand formula. A step "forward" from games like Sonic 3D blast. This time stages were a mix of much more 'open' environment while incorporated a stage you had to progress through in the vein of the original sonic games as opposed to the more structured stages that 3D blast had which you could roam back and forth through if you needed to. The biggest flaw in my opinion were the levels which you did not play sonic at all. If its a sonic game, it should star sonic. I don't want to play "Amy Rose" or "Big The Cat" just putting that out there.
Sonic Adventure 2 was much better. Featuring a "Hero" and "Dark" Story, allowing you to play Sonic, Tails or Knuckles in Hero or Shadow, Rouge or Dr.
(She was some kind of bat... cat looking thing with wings, and cleavage?)
While I'm there, why the hell did they ever have to change Dr. Robotnik in the first place? And why the hell couldn't they come up with something better than Dr.Eggman?! Jesus titty-fucking christ... anyway.
Sonic Adventure 2 had eliminated most of the annoying flaws of its predecessor. Though, I still didn't care for the Rouge levels, playing as Robotn- I mean, Eggman, was fun. You got to shoot missiles and blow some stuff up. Shadow is pretty much an "evil" sonic but he ends up being good in the end and you work with Sonic to fight some evil lizard thing in space as "Super Sonic and Super Shadow" with the power of chaos emeralds... bla bla bla. It had a pretty kick ass final boss song which made it all feel pretty amazing when I was 13. It's also worth mentioning for the sake of this blog that Sonic Adventure 2 was a pretty kick ass game and really the only great sonic game that's come out in the last 10 years.
What followed was not.
Games like Sonic Heroes, an elaborated "team" concept of the Sonic Adventure style game play. However, they took a 'more is more' approach. Instead of controlling one character at once, you controlled three. And you had 4 teams to chose from so there was plenty of shit to go around in this forgettable adventure. Now the game wasn't outright terrible but it was hardly great, and a continued push in the wrong direction for Sonic but I suppose as the old saying goes, you've got to break a few eggs to make an omelet.
The 15th aniversary of Sonic was marked with the release of "Sonic The Hedgehog" a game I was looking forward to but again, was ultimately a fail on SEGA's behalf. Continuing with their 'more is more' approach to the Sonic games. Sonic The Hedgehog had three different stories that followed Sonic, Shadow and a new character named Silver (they were getting super imaginative at this point too). The game had some interesting ideas but overall was overly ambitious and failed to find its mark because of that. Not to mention numerous design flaws and glitches made this game annoying as fuck to play.
Next in line was Sonic and the Secret Rings for the Wii which was seen as a general improvement over more-recent installments of the Sonic franchise. Any of the momentum it gained was probably ruined by its sequel Sonic and the Black Knight which shook things up by giving sonic A SWORD! Further attempts to rearrange the Sonic paradigm included Sonic Unleashed where Sonic would turn into a "werehog" yeah... I don't think turning into a werewolf did the Zelda franchise any favors either.
Now my research has released a common thread or excuse that the developers have used and that's more or less that the games were rushed. You'd think that if time was a factor in a game being less successful more than once. You would either, delay a game to ensure its proper completion or give yourself more time in production to make sure that you got the job done right. Just saying.
I think Sonic's appearance in the awesome Super Smash Brows Brawl was a step in the right direction toward restoring a semblance of Sonic's awesome, because lets be honest. Sonic would run circles around Mario in a fight, literally.
(Sonic totally about to own Mario in his own game)
SEGA should never have bothered to try and re-invent the wheel with Sonic. Sonic doesn't need an epic plot. All sonic needs is to run really fast, jump on some shit and collect rings and chaos emeralds to stop Dr. Roboeggmanik from turning those cute fuzzy animals into evil robotic pawns for his evil deeds. Turning into Super Sonic and that's it! Hopefully Sonic 4 will remind some of us old school gamers, and sonic fans alike, why Sonic was really cool in the first place.
Until next time...
PEACE!
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