Granted, to anybody who has wanted to play a modern-day Godfather, you could just pick up any of the GTA games or their various impersonators. But a true GTA-style game set in the same era as the seminal Godfather films has been surprisingly rare. But with Mafia II, the sequel to the classic PC title (and very terrible PS2 port), wannabe Italian mobsters finally get their chance. I did play the demo released a couple of weeks ago, and it seems to support most of the reviews, that the presentation and story is great, but the gameplay could use a little work. Still probably a worthwhile purchase if you enjoy that style of game or just really great story-telling though.
PS3 & 360 gamers get another high-profile downloadable title out this week in Shank, which essentially looks like a 2D God of War with its over-the-top ultra-stylized violence. I plan to download the demo at some point today or tomorrow and hopefully give impressions in my next post.
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles has had many variations over the years, and they all came together in a glorious mash-up titled Turtles Forever. And now it's been put out on DVD, which you think would be a glorious occasion, but it's a release with a good 9 minutes trimmed out and completely devoid of extras. This seems like a movie tailor-made for Turtles fans of all ages which makes it seem incredibly stupid to release this in such a form. Hopefully some kind of super ultimate edition will come out and rectify this horrible mistake.
Finally, I happened to catch the pilot episode of No Ordinary Family. Best described as a live-action Incredibles, I was really hoping Michael Chiklis and Julie Benz would make this worthwhile, but judging strictly on the pilot, it's pretty terrible writing. Like truly awful. I was cringing most of the way through, hoping it would pick up. It did have some slightly interesting foreshadowing, but if it doesn't improve quick don't expect it to become a regular sci-fi viewing.
That's all for now, hopefully should be back Thursday or Friday with Shank impressions and some other things. Until the, here's your TRAILER OF THE WEEK: Let Me In
8/20/2010
The 12 worst sci-fi shows of all time
Ah the beleaguered sci-fi genre. Always a huge risky gamble for networks, its no wonder occasionally it rarely eve has a solid presence on tv. Even the best shows usually have to fight hard to find a solid audience. And for every great show like Battlestar Galactica, there are a dozen sub-par shows (most of which are on this list), including shows that seem to throw in sci-fi elements just for the hell of it. Such as:
12: Family Matters
What? Family matters was a crappy sitcom! Not a sci-fi show! I say otherwise. Had the show truly go on its original intended theme, which was a middle-class black family, I would certainly agree with you. But most internet-savvy people know the story of the most annoying nerd ever, Steve Urkel. He was supposed to be a one-shot character, but was so popular he became more of a focus of the show so much so where the family was pretty much irrelevant to the point of characters popping in and out of continuity or disappearing entirely with no justification. This quickly became the Steve Urkel show, all about his wacky misadventures with science. Which included, but were not limited to alternate personas (which he was able to change into with a potion or chamber), robots and time travel. It had tons of sci-fi elements to it, mainly because it was a horribly unfunny show that relied on outrageous scenarios to cover for that fact.
11. Small Wonder: Arguably one of the creepiest concepts ever for a show, Small Wonder was basically a giant endorsement for child slave labor. Lots of shit happened in this show that supposedly ok because the kid was "just a robot". I'm pretty sure Data, the Cylons and most other sci-fi robots would have something to say about that too. Also, the kid was just plain creepy. Any kid behaving like that would be put under for psych eval in quick order. One of many examples on this list that for whatever reason, sci-fi and comedy don't really mix all that well.
10. Homeboys from Outer Space: One of the many abominations from the short-lived UPN network (which merged with the slightly less awful WB network to create the mostly awful CW). The borderline racist concept-It's just so wacky that 2 black guys would be in space! Is moronic all on its own, add in tired jokes, production values that made MST3K look impressive, and two extremely unfunny "comedians" as the stars, and you've got a show that is a constant presence on just about any worst list ever.
9. Whoops!: Yeah, that's pretty much the only pic I could find. But this might be the worst sitcom ever made. It's about a nuclear holocaust that apparently only 6 people survived (for really stupid reasons such as being in a Volvo). Bring on the comedy! I'm not saying a comedy about a nuclear holocaust couldn't work, but in traditional dumb sitcom fashion they went for the lowest common denominator, relying on slapstick and featuring really awful production values, with such brilliant plot lines as Santa Claus not being able to save Mrs. Claus and all the elves because HE DIDN'T KNOW HOW TO WORK A DOOR. Yeah, how this thing even got a pilot is beyond me.
8. Heroes: Ah Heroes, such a promising show. The first season was absolutely brilliant. Then things went downhill really fast. Even the creators to their credit acknowledged that essentially they didn't know what the hell they were doing, but they never found their footing again and each season got exponentially worse until its merciful cancellation this year. This is a show that in one of its moments, had a character carry around a turtle on a "spiritual journey". FOR SEVERAL EPISODES. Add to that a tendency to change characters powers and how they worked on a whim and you have one of the most incoherent shows in history.
7. Enterprise: Few shows can lay claim to essentially killing off a thriving franchise and making it in desperate need of a reboot, but hey, JJ Abrams version of Star Trek may have never seen the light of day had Enterprise not been such an awful show. Granted, the popularity of Star Trek in general had been gradually declining since TNG ended, as DS9 and Voyager weren't quite as capable of duplicating the same success. But Enterprise was the real nail in the TV coffin, with characters that were simply boring at even the best of times, a time-traveling plot running through most of the series' run without much rhyme or reason, and episodes that featured things like Captain Archer's dog being sick and trying to find out Tripp's favorite food. Space exploration at its finest, indeed.
6. Manimal: Aside from an extremely stupid name, this travesty of a show featured a cop who could turn into virtually any animal he wanted to. Not a horrible concept all by itself, but add in ridiculously awful production values and the show never had a chance. It seems that the producers of a lot of these shows don't seem to realize that they need a decent budget in the first place in order for them to last.
5. Robocop: Robocop the movie was awesome. It was bloody and gritty. Robocop the series was anything but. Aimed at teens for some unfathomable reason, the violence was gone, Robocop never killed anybody, and the evil OCP corporation was portrayed more as bumbling fools who were merely criminally stupid than actually evil. It even messed with basic continuity (i.e. in the movies everyone knows who Robocop was before he died, it's a key subplot, in the show, no one does). Why this was even made is beyond me, I mean that'd be like making saturday morning cartoon of Sin City.
4. Beauty and the Beast: Yeah, I have no idea how this even existed ever. Let's take the story of Beauty and the Beast, except there's no curse, he's just a random freak, and they solve crimes in modern day! How much blow did TV execs get offered to believe this was a good idea? A truly horrible concept that should have never gotten off the ground, it was actually amazingly popular until Linda Hamilton left, then no one cared anymore and it was canceled in short order.
3. Mortal Kombat: Conquest: Yeah, adapting video games is seemingly always a bad idea, be it movies or TV, and this might be the worst of the lot. It didn't even feature most of the rather large MK cast, focusing pretty much on Kung Lao and making up several unnecessary characters. Why they think they could make a series based on a fighting game is mind-boggling at best, and like most shows of this type, it suffered from bad acting, worse writing, and laughably awful production values.
2. Ok yes, the original TMNT movie was live action, and it's awesome. But that doesn't mean you should make a whole series that is live action, it just gets to Power Rangers-level of ridiculousness (which they had a crossover with oddly enough). But really, the major psychological trauma was Venus De Milo, the first femal ninja turtle:
Seriously, WHAT THE FUCK IS THAT?!? But all of the combined above ridiculousness is nothing compared to:
1. Baywatch Nights: Let's see, what made Baywatch popular? Surely it was Michael Hasslehoff, and absolutely nothing else. So clearly, we should give the guy his own show as the same character, only with a job as a P.I.(which it's not really clear if this is a part time gig or he's just switched careers). What you say? That's not enough? Well let's make it a poorly done X-Files riipoff in the second season dealing with ghosts, werewolves, vampires, aliens and the like. Yeah, not suprisingly, that not only didn't work, but made this one of the most mind-baffingly awful shows this side of Walker: Texas Ranger. This is truly the most godawful attempt at sci-fi ever. No contest. The only way it might've worked is they added a laugh track.
Ok that's the list. I will try and post one more time this week, but Monday or Tuesday is looking more likely. Til then, here's your FREE GAME OF THE WEEK: Achievement Unlocked 2
12: Family Matters
What? Family matters was a crappy sitcom! Not a sci-fi show! I say otherwise. Had the show truly go on its original intended theme, which was a middle-class black family, I would certainly agree with you. But most internet-savvy people know the story of the most annoying nerd ever, Steve Urkel. He was supposed to be a one-shot character, but was so popular he became more of a focus of the show so much so where the family was pretty much irrelevant to the point of characters popping in and out of continuity or disappearing entirely with no justification. This quickly became the Steve Urkel show, all about his wacky misadventures with science. Which included, but were not limited to alternate personas (which he was able to change into with a potion or chamber), robots and time travel. It had tons of sci-fi elements to it, mainly because it was a horribly unfunny show that relied on outrageous scenarios to cover for that fact.
11. Small Wonder: Arguably one of the creepiest concepts ever for a show, Small Wonder was basically a giant endorsement for child slave labor. Lots of shit happened in this show that supposedly ok because the kid was "just a robot". I'm pretty sure Data, the Cylons and most other sci-fi robots would have something to say about that too. Also, the kid was just plain creepy. Any kid behaving like that would be put under for psych eval in quick order. One of many examples on this list that for whatever reason, sci-fi and comedy don't really mix all that well.
10. Homeboys from Outer Space: One of the many abominations from the short-lived UPN network (which merged with the slightly less awful WB network to create the mostly awful CW). The borderline racist concept-It's just so wacky that 2 black guys would be in space! Is moronic all on its own, add in tired jokes, production values that made MST3K look impressive, and two extremely unfunny "comedians" as the stars, and you've got a show that is a constant presence on just about any worst list ever.
9. Whoops!: Yeah, that's pretty much the only pic I could find. But this might be the worst sitcom ever made. It's about a nuclear holocaust that apparently only 6 people survived (for really stupid reasons such as being in a Volvo). Bring on the comedy! I'm not saying a comedy about a nuclear holocaust couldn't work, but in traditional dumb sitcom fashion they went for the lowest common denominator, relying on slapstick and featuring really awful production values, with such brilliant plot lines as Santa Claus not being able to save Mrs. Claus and all the elves because HE DIDN'T KNOW HOW TO WORK A DOOR. Yeah, how this thing even got a pilot is beyond me.
8. Heroes: Ah Heroes, such a promising show. The first season was absolutely brilliant. Then things went downhill really fast. Even the creators to their credit acknowledged that essentially they didn't know what the hell they were doing, but they never found their footing again and each season got exponentially worse until its merciful cancellation this year. This is a show that in one of its moments, had a character carry around a turtle on a "spiritual journey". FOR SEVERAL EPISODES. Add to that a tendency to change characters powers and how they worked on a whim and you have one of the most incoherent shows in history.
7. Enterprise: Few shows can lay claim to essentially killing off a thriving franchise and making it in desperate need of a reboot, but hey, JJ Abrams version of Star Trek may have never seen the light of day had Enterprise not been such an awful show. Granted, the popularity of Star Trek in general had been gradually declining since TNG ended, as DS9 and Voyager weren't quite as capable of duplicating the same success. But Enterprise was the real nail in the TV coffin, with characters that were simply boring at even the best of times, a time-traveling plot running through most of the series' run without much rhyme or reason, and episodes that featured things like Captain Archer's dog being sick and trying to find out Tripp's favorite food. Space exploration at its finest, indeed.
6. Manimal: Aside from an extremely stupid name, this travesty of a show featured a cop who could turn into virtually any animal he wanted to. Not a horrible concept all by itself, but add in ridiculously awful production values and the show never had a chance. It seems that the producers of a lot of these shows don't seem to realize that they need a decent budget in the first place in order for them to last.
5. Robocop: Robocop the movie was awesome. It was bloody and gritty. Robocop the series was anything but. Aimed at teens for some unfathomable reason, the violence was gone, Robocop never killed anybody, and the evil OCP corporation was portrayed more as bumbling fools who were merely criminally stupid than actually evil. It even messed with basic continuity (i.e. in the movies everyone knows who Robocop was before he died, it's a key subplot, in the show, no one does). Why this was even made is beyond me, I mean that'd be like making saturday morning cartoon of Sin City.
4. Beauty and the Beast: Yeah, I have no idea how this even existed ever. Let's take the story of Beauty and the Beast, except there's no curse, he's just a random freak, and they solve crimes in modern day! How much blow did TV execs get offered to believe this was a good idea? A truly horrible concept that should have never gotten off the ground, it was actually amazingly popular until Linda Hamilton left, then no one cared anymore and it was canceled in short order.
3. Mortal Kombat: Conquest: Yeah, adapting video games is seemingly always a bad idea, be it movies or TV, and this might be the worst of the lot. It didn't even feature most of the rather large MK cast, focusing pretty much on Kung Lao and making up several unnecessary characters. Why they think they could make a series based on a fighting game is mind-boggling at best, and like most shows of this type, it suffered from bad acting, worse writing, and laughably awful production values.
Seriously, WHAT THE FUCK IS THAT?!? But all of the combined above ridiculousness is nothing compared to:
1. Baywatch Nights: Let's see, what made Baywatch popular? Surely it was Michael Hasslehoff, and absolutely nothing else. So clearly, we should give the guy his own show as the same character, only with a job as a P.I.(which it's not really clear if this is a part time gig or he's just switched careers). What you say? That's not enough? Well let's make it a poorly done X-Files riipoff in the second season dealing with ghosts, werewolves, vampires, aliens and the like. Yeah, not suprisingly, that not only didn't work, but made this one of the most mind-baffingly awful shows this side of Walker: Texas Ranger. This is truly the most godawful attempt at sci-fi ever. No contest. The only way it might've worked is they added a laugh track.
Ok that's the list. I will try and post one more time this week, but Monday or Tuesday is looking more likely. Til then, here's your FREE GAME OF THE WEEK: Achievement Unlocked 2
8/18/2010
6 things all video games must have! But don't really need...
Ok, Scott Pilgrim failed. Epically. People can point to reasons why and why not, personally I like this article over at Den of Geek, basically pointing out that the initial box office probably doesn't actually matter for a film like this, as the fanbase and critics loved it, and it's almost bound to do very well on DVD.
Now, onto today's main topic: When considering making a game, what needs to go into it? It seems like there's almost a checklist these days that every single game needs to have a certain basic set of features. It's not a completely universal thing, but enough so that it's expected and getting to the point where even games as different as Fable & Red Dead Redemption are actually pretty similar on a lot of levels. Do games really need all this stuff? Probably not, which is why a lot of feels shoehorned in. So let's get to the list:
3-D!: 3-D has been around a long time. It's been the standard for games essentially since the original Playstation came out, and while a great many games have come out that wouldn't work without 3D, the consequence has been the near disappearance of fantastic 2D games. Why? Nintendo pretty much seems to get the idea that 2D is a really viable option, with their big holiday titles (Kirby's Epic Yarn & Donkey Kong Country Returns) being 2D, but that probably also has something to do with just how insanely successful New Super Mario Bros. does as well. There is an extreme lack of these on the PS3 and the 360 unless you count some of the games on PSN/XBLA. There is an audience for these, and given the skyrocketing budget of games these days, more developers should be looking that way.
Realism: This is arguably the hardest for me to understand as I'd say 99% of us play games to escape reality. Yet games getting more realistic is the in thing more and more. Bullets doing real damage, needing to eat, etc. Why? Why in games do you need to even consider this stuff? I really don't want to worry about maintaining relationships, my health by having to worry about what I eat or having to follow some kind of medical procedure (see Metal Gear Solid 3) instead of just using a goddamned medpac.
Moral Choice: With games like Mass Effect; Moral Choice is an essential gameplay element. Unfortunately, now it's being shoehorned into a lot of other games without much thought. You can be a complete bastard in Fable II or Red Dead Redemption, but it doesn't affect the story. And really, unless it changes the way the story plays out drastically, it's extremely unnecessary. But it's creeping into more and more titles with haphazard results. Arguably the biggest Wii title coming out this year is Epic Mickey, which seemed to actually have a really solid morality system, then after moronic focus testing, has some sort of middle ground that's sure to please no one compared to what it could have been.
An Open World: It really kickstarted with Grand Theft Auto III, and in that series and some like it, it makes sense. But many games just seem to throw in an open world without much thought to what to actually do, when a linear approach would've been much better. I mean sometimes just getting from point A to Point B in those is a laborious chore in itself. off the top of my head the perfect example is probably No More Heroes (which is a little older, but being remade for the 360 & PS3). A fantastic action game with an open world you must go through to get to your missions, but it was completely empty. No citizens, no random thugs to beat up, nothing. What was the point? Apparently none, as it was just dropped completely in the sequel.
Multi-Player: Bioshock was a fantastic single-player experience. I was hoping the sequel would offer something similar, but the single-player was diluted in favor of really mediocre multi-player. Splinter Cell sells itself as a gritty single-player spy game, but instead we get a very short single-player experience. Multi-player is all well and good, but not if it comes at the expense of delivering a quality, lengthy single-player one. Nearly every game these days really feels the need to put in some kind of multi-player aspect, no matter how minor. Even Dragonquest IX, an-old school style rpg, has completely unnecessary (and frankly, clumsy and pointless) multi-player features. It's the old trying to please everyone one while pleasing no one routine and its getting old. Game companies need to really realize that there are actually seperate audiences that can support a dedicated single-player experience, as well as a multi-player one, which brings to to my last item on the last:
Single-Player: This seems to be something the game companies are slowly realizing, with MMOs finally making once in a blue moon appearances on consoles (MAG, FFXIV, etc.), but most games seem content with hedging their bets, providing both single and multi-player, and one usually suffers horribly. Any multi-player game could probably succeed if it creates a really well-developed experience. The only reason PC gaming is still alive is because it can deliver a dedicated multi-player experience, but consoles, despite being far more dominant, have barely dipped their feet in the water. Hopefully some game will come along soon that changes all that. Because until then, fans of either type of play suffer because developers feels the need to include both.
Ok, that's all for today, I should be back tomorrow or Friday with something else, until then, here's your TRAILER OF THE WEEK: DON'T BE AFRAID OF THE DARK
Now, onto today's main topic: When considering making a game, what needs to go into it? It seems like there's almost a checklist these days that every single game needs to have a certain basic set of features. It's not a completely universal thing, but enough so that it's expected and getting to the point where even games as different as Fable & Red Dead Redemption are actually pretty similar on a lot of levels. Do games really need all this stuff? Probably not, which is why a lot of feels shoehorned in. So let's get to the list:
3-D!: 3-D has been around a long time. It's been the standard for games essentially since the original Playstation came out, and while a great many games have come out that wouldn't work without 3D, the consequence has been the near disappearance of fantastic 2D games. Why? Nintendo pretty much seems to get the idea that 2D is a really viable option, with their big holiday titles (Kirby's Epic Yarn & Donkey Kong Country Returns) being 2D, but that probably also has something to do with just how insanely successful New Super Mario Bros. does as well. There is an extreme lack of these on the PS3 and the 360 unless you count some of the games on PSN/XBLA. There is an audience for these, and given the skyrocketing budget of games these days, more developers should be looking that way.
Realism: This is arguably the hardest for me to understand as I'd say 99% of us play games to escape reality. Yet games getting more realistic is the in thing more and more. Bullets doing real damage, needing to eat, etc. Why? Why in games do you need to even consider this stuff? I really don't want to worry about maintaining relationships, my health by having to worry about what I eat or having to follow some kind of medical procedure (see Metal Gear Solid 3) instead of just using a goddamned medpac.
Moral Choice: With games like Mass Effect; Moral Choice is an essential gameplay element. Unfortunately, now it's being shoehorned into a lot of other games without much thought. You can be a complete bastard in Fable II or Red Dead Redemption, but it doesn't affect the story. And really, unless it changes the way the story plays out drastically, it's extremely unnecessary. But it's creeping into more and more titles with haphazard results. Arguably the biggest Wii title coming out this year is Epic Mickey, which seemed to actually have a really solid morality system, then after moronic focus testing, has some sort of middle ground that's sure to please no one compared to what it could have been.
An Open World: It really kickstarted with Grand Theft Auto III, and in that series and some like it, it makes sense. But many games just seem to throw in an open world without much thought to what to actually do, when a linear approach would've been much better. I mean sometimes just getting from point A to Point B in those is a laborious chore in itself. off the top of my head the perfect example is probably No More Heroes (which is a little older, but being remade for the 360 & PS3). A fantastic action game with an open world you must go through to get to your missions, but it was completely empty. No citizens, no random thugs to beat up, nothing. What was the point? Apparently none, as it was just dropped completely in the sequel.
Multi-Player: Bioshock was a fantastic single-player experience. I was hoping the sequel would offer something similar, but the single-player was diluted in favor of really mediocre multi-player. Splinter Cell sells itself as a gritty single-player spy game, but instead we get a very short single-player experience. Multi-player is all well and good, but not if it comes at the expense of delivering a quality, lengthy single-player one. Nearly every game these days really feels the need to put in some kind of multi-player aspect, no matter how minor. Even Dragonquest IX, an-old school style rpg, has completely unnecessary (and frankly, clumsy and pointless) multi-player features. It's the old trying to please everyone one while pleasing no one routine and its getting old. Game companies need to really realize that there are actually seperate audiences that can support a dedicated single-player experience, as well as a multi-player one, which brings to to my last item on the last:
Single-Player: This seems to be something the game companies are slowly realizing, with MMOs finally making once in a blue moon appearances on consoles (MAG, FFXIV, etc.), but most games seem content with hedging their bets, providing both single and multi-player, and one usually suffers horribly. Any multi-player game could probably succeed if it creates a really well-developed experience. The only reason PC gaming is still alive is because it can deliver a dedicated multi-player experience, but consoles, despite being far more dominant, have barely dipped their feet in the water. Hopefully some game will come along soon that changes all that. Because until then, fans of either type of play suffer because developers feels the need to include both.
Ok, that's all for today, I should be back tomorrow or Friday with something else, until then, here's your TRAILER OF THE WEEK: DON'T BE AFRAID OF THE DARK
8/14/2010
Epic Scrooge?
What does Warren Spector, creator of Deus Ex and the upcoming Epic Mickey game want to do next? Ducktales, that's what. Now, the original Ducktales game is a true NES classic, and if anyone could bring it into modern day gaming while retaining the inherent greatness of the license, it's Spector. If Epic Mickey id half as good as it seems, Warren Spector should have spin on nearly every Disney property, frankly.
I did manage to go see Scott Pilgrim at midnight on Thursday, and it was a truly amazing film. This is kind of like if Hollywood actually treated video games with the respect they deserved when making them into movies, because although yes it's based on a comic, Scott Pilgrim is pretty much like a video game, with tons of references littered throughout. Even if you are not familiar with the comics, if you are a geek. you will probably loves this movie, as it totally works (i.e. my fiancee & her cousin saw it with me, having almost no knowledge of the series, and absolutely loved it). It's funny, charming original and action-packed. This is easily the most fun I've had at theatres this year so far, everyone should go see it.
Video game novels are pretty much a crapshoot. I've read several, and they mostly range from not horrible to nearly unreadable (the Halo series of books covers the entire range). These days, I'd probably need a little extra incentive to pick one up. The people behind the upcoming Fable novel, The Balverine Order, seem to release this, and are offering a code for an exclusive yet-to-be named weapon if you purchase the novel. Granted, exclusive items haven't seemed to do much in games beyond being a status symbol, but as a somewhat avid reader, I'll support anything that encourages reading (plus the fiancee is completely obsessed with Fable II and is highly anticipating the 3rd game, so I pretty much have to buy it).
Finally, Star Wars is really finally coming to blu-ray, but only in the newer crappier "Greedo shot first" editions, and possibly only in all-in-one box set with all 6 films. Screw you Lucas. I'm pretty sure I'm passing on anything Lucas has a hand in forever, as he's essentially spent the last 20 or so years ruining two of the biggest franchises of all time.
All right, that is it for today, I should hopefully be back by Tuesday with... something.
I did manage to go see Scott Pilgrim at midnight on Thursday, and it was a truly amazing film. This is kind of like if Hollywood actually treated video games with the respect they deserved when making them into movies, because although yes it's based on a comic, Scott Pilgrim is pretty much like a video game, with tons of references littered throughout. Even if you are not familiar with the comics, if you are a geek. you will probably loves this movie, as it totally works (i.e. my fiancee & her cousin saw it with me, having almost no knowledge of the series, and absolutely loved it). It's funny, charming original and action-packed. This is easily the most fun I've had at theatres this year so far, everyone should go see it.
Video game novels are pretty much a crapshoot. I've read several, and they mostly range from not horrible to nearly unreadable (the Halo series of books covers the entire range). These days, I'd probably need a little extra incentive to pick one up. The people behind the upcoming Fable novel, The Balverine Order, seem to release this, and are offering a code for an exclusive yet-to-be named weapon if you purchase the novel. Granted, exclusive items haven't seemed to do much in games beyond being a status symbol, but as a somewhat avid reader, I'll support anything that encourages reading (plus the fiancee is completely obsessed with Fable II and is highly anticipating the 3rd game, so I pretty much have to buy it).
Finally, Star Wars is really finally coming to blu-ray, but only in the newer crappier "Greedo shot first" editions, and possibly only in all-in-one box set with all 6 films. Screw you Lucas. I'm pretty sure I'm passing on anything Lucas has a hand in forever, as he's essentially spent the last 20 or so years ruining two of the biggest franchises of all time.
All right, that is it for today, I should hopefully be back by Tuesday with... something.
8/12/2010
Scott Pilgrim vs. The Expendables vs. Julia Roberts
Admittedly, the Expendables isn't taking aim directly at Scott Pilgrim, it's more concerned with with the super chick flick Eat, Pray, Love starring Julia Roberts. And I don't think there's ever been so much testosterone in one flick, even with key players missing (seriously, you couldn't nab Vin Diesel or The Rock? That would've been better than UfC fighter Randy Couture or Dolph Lungren, who's entire claim to fame is Ivan Drago). But all three movies are opening this weekend, vying for top spot. Admittedly I do want to check out Expendables, but I'm pushing it just trying to catch Scott Pilgrim at midnight tonight(which if that does happen, expect a review tomorrow night), so that'll probably wait for video. What would be awesome is if Scott Pilgrim leaves these two in the dust, it would actually be a huge message to studios that there really is a big audience for something that has big game references and doesn't treat the gaming culture at large with disdain.
So if you're like me, you've watched the Scott Pilgrim trailers a bunch of times already, because they are epic, but even more epic is the trailer matched up the the graphic novel series it's based on:
And I've now played through several levels of the Scott Pilgrim game, and it's pretty sweet. If you enjoy side-scrolling brawlers, it's hard to go wrong here, especially since it's only $10. The soundtrack is extremely memorable, and the game looks fantastic, and it's really fun to go through the levels repeatedly, which is good, because one of the biggest complaints about this game is probably going to be how hard it is, especially solo. The enemies are brutal and cheap, but enough powering up through buying items and leveling balances it out. But easily the biggest sin is a lack of online play, as this game seems built for it, and it's just odd. Still this is easily one of the best downloadable games of the year even with those glaring flaws, so do yourself a favor and download it.
And as old school as the game is, the pitch goes back even further to more of an 8-bit look:
While that would've been kind of cool, I'm glad they went aimed a little bit higher with a 16-bit feel for the actual game.
Ok, that's really all I've got for today, hopefully back tomorrow with a Scott Pilgrim review and some non-Scott Pilgrim stuff. Until then, here's your TRAILER OF THE WEEK: Skyline
So if you're like me, you've watched the Scott Pilgrim trailers a bunch of times already, because they are epic, but even more epic is the trailer matched up the the graphic novel series it's based on:
And I've now played through several levels of the Scott Pilgrim game, and it's pretty sweet. If you enjoy side-scrolling brawlers, it's hard to go wrong here, especially since it's only $10. The soundtrack is extremely memorable, and the game looks fantastic, and it's really fun to go through the levels repeatedly, which is good, because one of the biggest complaints about this game is probably going to be how hard it is, especially solo. The enemies are brutal and cheap, but enough powering up through buying items and leveling balances it out. But easily the biggest sin is a lack of online play, as this game seems built for it, and it's just odd. Still this is easily one of the best downloadable games of the year even with those glaring flaws, so do yourself a favor and download it.
And as old school as the game is, the pitch goes back even further to more of an 8-bit look:
While that would've been kind of cool, I'm glad they went aimed a little bit higher with a 16-bit feel for the actual game.
Ok, that's really all I've got for today, hopefully back tomorrow with a Scott Pilgrim review and some non-Scott Pilgrim stuff. Until then, here's your TRAILER OF THE WEEK: Skyline
8/10/2010
Scott Pilgrim > Madden
Hell just about anything is better than another goddamn Madden game. And later today, we get what is already being called one of the best video game adaptations to date, Scott Pilgrim vs. the World, the Video Game. It just sucks that unlike when something comes out on the 360 to download and we can get it at 12 am, we have to wait til the official PSN update hits, which is always a vague "sometime Tuesday", which usually translates to around 5 pm from what I've experienced. Admittedly that's better than waiting til August 24th, which is what you are going to have to do if you only have a 360. Of course I guess that's better than only having a Wii, which as of now, it isn't even coming out on, which makes no sense, since everybody seems to be comparing it to River City Ransom, one of the best games on the NES, which is available for download on the virtual console). Of course, I guess Wii owners could console (no pun intended) themselves by downloading RCR, it is only $5 and still stands as a completely awesome title.
In other Scott Pilgrim awesomeness, check out these fake movie posters for Chris Evans character, Lucas Lee:
The only thing that would make this more awesome is if they made fake trailers for them ala Funny People or Grindhouse. Course then someone may get the idea to actually make one of these in (which is how Machete happened) in which case the joke's gone a little too far.
One more cool Scott Pilgrim thing before I move on, you can check out both the Soundtrack and Original Score right now for free over at Spinner. Ad the game's soudtrack is available for a listen at the Playstation Blog
Jumping back a step, River City Ransom is one of many great games that have been released on the VC, but where all the great releases lately? 2010 has seen very few releases period, and barely ay of note. Is the VC pretty much a dead thing now that Wiiware is fully up and running? IGN certainly seems to think so, and it would be hard to prove them wrong. I had no idea Japan's VC library is nearly double the size of the US one, and it seems like we basically get scraps with no explanation as to why. Admittedly it bothers me less lately with plenty of fantastic new content both retail and digital to spend my money on consitently, but it would be a shame to have the service basically slowly wither and die as it seems to be doing, even though there's a mountain of old school titles left untouched.
Is Blockbuster going to finally be able to challenge netflix and gamefly by combining games & movies into one rental service? That is what they are now trying. Admittedly, as I currently pay for both Netflix and Gamefly, an all-in-one subscription is overall a tempting offer, but as Netflix offers streaming and I'm overall pretty happy with Gamefly's service and selection, I'm willing to pay a bit more until Blockbuster can prove they offer something better. It honestly may be too little, too late anyways, as Gamefly and especially Netflix are ingrained into the public as where you go for online rentals.
Ok, That's it for today, I do apologize for only one post last week, but I was super busy and not a whole lot seemed to be going on that wasn't covered to death. I should be back Thursday with a review if the game, I sadly probably will not be able to see the movie til at least Monday due to me weekend just being packed work-wise, so expect of review of the film then. In the meantime enjoy 101 FREE GAMES to make up for lack of posting last week.
8/03/2010
7 licenses that should be given the Lego Treatment
Lego games have pretty much become their own genre at this point. And why not? What could've been a bunch of shoddy kiddy games has turned out to be a series of mostly fun all ages action titles brilliantly spoofing some great franchises. But With 2 Indiana Jones games and the upcoming release of yet another Star Wars Lego game based on the Clone Wars, they seem to be short on overall ideas. So here are 7 that could easily give the Lego games a much needed boost.
7. The Prince of Persia
Yeah, the movie bombed and the games have sort of gone downhill since the original Sands of Time. But the property itself would be pretty awesome for a lego game to be set in, with the cool palaces and dungeons. And Lego games have certainly proven that they can make even craptacular movies like the Star Wars prequels incredibly entertaining. The only downside would probably be that POP isn't exactly loaded with memorable characters, but that shouldn't get in the way of fun gameplay. I mean just look at the video, wouldn't that be awesome to actually play?
6. Evil Dead
Ok, going a little outside the box here, but seeing Ash and the Deadites lego-fied would just be pure awesome. I mean, it's a series known for not taking itself seriously in any way, shape or form to begin with, so making it a lego game wouldn't seem that out of the realm of possibility (aside from the fact that clearly Lego only wants to do family friendly properties). There's certainly an audience for it, as you can tell by the fan art above, and you can find any number of Evil Dead lego videos on youtube.
5. Alien/Predator
Arguably a much richer field to mine than Evil Dead, the Alien/Predator movies have become much like any other long-running horror franchise, definitely not scary and almost a joke. So might as well go all the way with it. And I could certainly see a lot of rich comedy opportunities in the usual Lego manner. Best of all, they could theoretically not eve have to cut down on the violence cause hey, it's just Lego characters, they get body parts cut off all the time!
4. DC/Marvel
Yeah, there's Lego Batman. But both the DC and Marvel Universes are so huge, any one of their key properties could easily be a Lego game in its own right, but obviously having something like a Justice League or Avengers or any random mismash ala the Marvel Ultmate Alliance games would be the preferred way to go. Since Batman has already been done, I'd rather see a Marvel-based game, but really, somebody needs to get on this.
3. Pirates of the Caribbean
Unfortunately I think the only reason this hasn't happened yet is that some company named Mega Bloks owns the rights, because otherwise this just seems way too obvious. It's got a ton of characters, sets ideal for lego adventures and it's very popular with families. My guess is we'll see it at some point, hopefully in the not too far off future (and preferably before another Lego Harry potter game).
2. Transformers
Granted, this might have to be handled a little more carefully to be done right, but Transformers in a lego setting would be ridiculously awesome. And just seeing Autobots, Deceptiocons, Dinobots, and whatever the hell else bots in the glorious Lego selves would be worth $50 or $60 all on its own.
1. Lord of the Rings
This would be my top wish. Seeing the awesome battles and characters in Lego form would be epic. And with Harry Potter arguably being the best Lego game to date, it's been proven that a fantasy setting as such would work really well. The time might not be right now, but hopefully if the Hobbit films ever get off the ground, it would be perfect opportunity.
All in all, the Lego franchise has the potential to remain frash for a long time, as long as they don't milk it by doing licenses either no one cares about, or continuing to mine already familiar ground (i.e. no more Star Wars). So hopefully, they'll be smart enough to do so.
Ok, that's it for today, I hopefully should be back a little later in the week with something. In the meantime, here's your TRAILER OF THE WEEK: Sucker Punch
7. The Prince of Persia
Yeah, the movie bombed and the games have sort of gone downhill since the original Sands of Time. But the property itself would be pretty awesome for a lego game to be set in, with the cool palaces and dungeons. And Lego games have certainly proven that they can make even craptacular movies like the Star Wars prequels incredibly entertaining. The only downside would probably be that POP isn't exactly loaded with memorable characters, but that shouldn't get in the way of fun gameplay. I mean just look at the video, wouldn't that be awesome to actually play?
6. Evil Dead
Ok, going a little outside the box here, but seeing Ash and the Deadites lego-fied would just be pure awesome. I mean, it's a series known for not taking itself seriously in any way, shape or form to begin with, so making it a lego game wouldn't seem that out of the realm of possibility (aside from the fact that clearly Lego only wants to do family friendly properties). There's certainly an audience for it, as you can tell by the fan art above, and you can find any number of Evil Dead lego videos on youtube.
5. Alien/Predator
Arguably a much richer field to mine than Evil Dead, the Alien/Predator movies have become much like any other long-running horror franchise, definitely not scary and almost a joke. So might as well go all the way with it. And I could certainly see a lot of rich comedy opportunities in the usual Lego manner. Best of all, they could theoretically not eve have to cut down on the violence cause hey, it's just Lego characters, they get body parts cut off all the time!
4. DC/Marvel
Yeah, there's Lego Batman. But both the DC and Marvel Universes are so huge, any one of their key properties could easily be a Lego game in its own right, but obviously having something like a Justice League or Avengers or any random mismash ala the Marvel Ultmate Alliance games would be the preferred way to go. Since Batman has already been done, I'd rather see a Marvel-based game, but really, somebody needs to get on this.
3. Pirates of the Caribbean
Unfortunately I think the only reason this hasn't happened yet is that some company named Mega Bloks owns the rights, because otherwise this just seems way too obvious. It's got a ton of characters, sets ideal for lego adventures and it's very popular with families. My guess is we'll see it at some point, hopefully in the not too far off future (and preferably before another Lego Harry potter game).
2. Transformers
Granted, this might have to be handled a little more carefully to be done right, but Transformers in a lego setting would be ridiculously awesome. And just seeing Autobots, Deceptiocons, Dinobots, and whatever the hell else bots in the glorious Lego selves would be worth $50 or $60 all on its own.
1. Lord of the Rings
This would be my top wish. Seeing the awesome battles and characters in Lego form would be epic. And with Harry Potter arguably being the best Lego game to date, it's been proven that a fantasy setting as such would work really well. The time might not be right now, but hopefully if the Hobbit films ever get off the ground, it would be perfect opportunity.
All in all, the Lego franchise has the potential to remain frash for a long time, as long as they don't milk it by doing licenses either no one cares about, or continuing to mine already familiar ground (i.e. no more Star Wars). So hopefully, they'll be smart enough to do so.
Ok, that's it for today, I hopefully should be back a little later in the week with something. In the meantime, here's your TRAILER OF THE WEEK: Sucker Punch
7/28/2010
Microsoft needs to watch this....
Because they seriously fail in the math department, claiming Kinect is cheaper than the Wii. Sure, if you already have a 360. And this is hardly the first time a company has used funny math (the most infamous probably being Atari's claim that it's final system, the truly craptacular Jaguar, was the first "true" 64-bit system). And as Destructoid has pointed out, while the Kinect may be able to "track" up to 6 people, it can only handle 2 playing at any time. Face it Microsoft, your math just doesn't add up. Nice try, though.
Yes I did happen to watch the latest DCAU movie yesterday. Honestly it's a good thing they keep making this stuff, or I'd never be able even remotely keep up things that have happened since I stopped really reading comics about 12 years ago. I still read the occasional graphic novel while killing time at Borders, but that's about it. Anyways, most DC/Batman fans know that there have been several Robins, but only one was brutally murdered by popular vote/The Joker, and that'd be Jason Todd. Years later, he's come back to deal with criminals the way Batman never would. Controlling a few key ones and killing the rest. Now in the comics, he's brought back to life by Superboy punching reality (yeah, that kind of stuff happens all the time in comics). I won't spoil exactly how he was brought back in the movie, but let's just say Superboy isn't in it. Ultimately whether or not you'll enjoy this movie arguably depends on your history with DC animated stuff. There are certain iconic voice actors established with key characters in the DC Universe. Most notably Kevin Conroy as Batman and Mark Hamill as the Joker. These guys are considered the standard for any animated work featuring these characters. And this is admittedly not the first time they've decided to go another route, but for many fans it's hard to hear anyone else in the role. It's certainly a solid entry in it own right, but for anybody who owns or has watched a good portion of the DCAU, it doesn't quite stack up to the high quality bar that was set with movies such as Subzero or more recently, Wonder Woman (arguably the best non-batman animated DC movie to date). Still, I'd reccomend a rent for any Batman or comic fan.
Does anyone play Everquest anymore? I'm pretty sure that sadly the grandaddy of MMORPGS has been shoved into near-irrelevance since WOW has more or less dominated the market for years and everyone else is just dividing up an increasingly small pie. Apparently in a bid to try and regain some relevancy, they are going the free to play route like so many others. But it's not quite the same as it won't include the latest expansion. I'm not sure who this is suppossed to appeal to.The hardcore who still play Everquest will want access to the newest and frankly if you're not playing Everquest now, you probably never will as their are far more attractive offerings out there, free or otherwise.
That's pretty much it for today, but I will try and do one more post sometime this weekend. In the meantime, enjoy your FREE GAME OF THE WEEK: Skyfyre
7/26/2010
WII NEEDS WOMEN. And rpgs...
Actually the Wii arguably has a better track record than any console in history of attracting women (at least those that don't normally play video games), but attracting rpgs at anything even remotely resembling a regular fix seems next to impossible. I mean the last rpg that even came out for the system was Sakura Wars. And I really tried to like it, but several chapters of listening to inane sub-standard anime chatter with the rare occasional battle thrown in was just too much for me to bear. This was a similar issue on the Gamecube, but with it being a distant third, that wasn't surprising. The Wii is completely dominating the market, and with it being considerably less expensive to develop for, it should seem a haven for quirky rpg developers aiming at a niche crowd. Unfortunately, that hasn't really happened. So, an rpg fan with only a Wii to play desperately grabs at anything that comes out. That almost seems to be the hope behind Arc Rise Fantasia, out tomorrow, because according to nearly every review, it'd be extremely difficult to be more generic. Ironically rpg fans are far better off owning a 360, what with its wide variety of both American & Japanese flavored-rpgs. And the DS has a pretty healthy library as well. And what's the next rpg Wii owners even have to look forward to? The next Dragonquest game, due out whenever they feel like it at this point (likely 2012 at this rate). On the bright side, this console generation is seemingly having a much longer life-span than previous ones, with the next generation nowhere to be seen, so it's not too late to change this (but I doubt it will happen).
Batman 3 isn't coming out til 2012, but in the meantime you can help tide yourself with the latest DC direct-to-video release, Under the Red Hood, which is an animated re-telling of the return of the only Robin ever killed by popular vote. DC video releases are normally of tremendous quality (the Wonder Woman movie is one of the best animated films I've seen in a long time) so I definitely intend to rent it tomorrow and hopefully will have a review up next time I post.
How much will you pay for a 3DS? Is $250 too much? That's what often-quoted (and wrong 90% of the time) analyst Michael Pachter thinks it'll be. Granted, it's tough to say what a fair price for a portable 3D gaming system that can play 3D movies as well would be. But Nintendo has always stressed affordability for their products, including this newest one, so that price does seem like a slim possibility at best, or at least it would have a pretty solid bundle included to come out at that price. It would almost certainly be more than the DSi XL which is currently $189, but I think we'll simply see the DS disappear, the price of the DSi & DSi XL dropped and the 3DS at $199, as anyone who bought a DSi/XL might feel shafted at suddenly seeing a new fancy 3D system that can play their games and more and suddenly have to shell out another $250 for it.
Ok, that's really all I have for today, but I should be back tomorrow with something, in the mean time, check out the awesome new comic-con Tron Legacy trailer as the TRAILER OF THE WEEK:
Batman 3 isn't coming out til 2012, but in the meantime you can help tide yourself with the latest DC direct-to-video release, Under the Red Hood, which is an animated re-telling of the return of the only Robin ever killed by popular vote. DC video releases are normally of tremendous quality (the Wonder Woman movie is one of the best animated films I've seen in a long time) so I definitely intend to rent it tomorrow and hopefully will have a review up next time I post.
How much will you pay for a 3DS? Is $250 too much? That's what often-quoted (and wrong 90% of the time) analyst Michael Pachter thinks it'll be. Granted, it's tough to say what a fair price for a portable 3D gaming system that can play 3D movies as well would be. But Nintendo has always stressed affordability for their products, including this newest one, so that price does seem like a slim possibility at best, or at least it would have a pretty solid bundle included to come out at that price. It would almost certainly be more than the DSi XL which is currently $189, but I think we'll simply see the DS disappear, the price of the DSi & DSi XL dropped and the 3DS at $199, as anyone who bought a DSi/XL might feel shafted at suddenly seeing a new fancy 3D system that can play their games and more and suddenly have to shell out another $250 for it.
Ok, that's really all I have for today, but I should be back tomorrow with something, in the mean time, check out the awesome new comic-con Tron Legacy trailer as the TRAILER OF THE WEEK:
7/25/2010
Starwhatnow?
Now I played the original Starcraft back when you didn't need to have a $1000+ rig to run the latest computer games, but my interest in computer games was steadily waning at that point anyways, and with computer gaming being more of a niche thing these days than ever, it's easy t see why someone who was raised on consoles or has played console games almost exclusively could not give less of a frakk about arguably the biggest PC release in nearly 10 years, Starcraft II, which is out this Tuesday. It doesn't help that consoles and RTS games just do not seem to mix. It's been tried mind you, but usually with middling results at best. For whatever reason, developers just have not managed to work out a formula that amounts to a quality RTS experience on a console, and so console gamers (which do make up something like 90% of the gaming community) at large don't care. Personally, I've tried the RTS genre several times over the years and never really had a taste for it. Probably something about having to do all that micromanaging in real time.
Couldn't download the free Doctor Who games released awhile ago because you live in the colonies? Well good news, they are now available for download. Bad news-not free like they are across the pond, but 4.95 for both episodes is hardly something I'd complain about, that probably just covers the licensing fees or something.
So the world's biggest comic convention, the San Diego Comic Con was this weekend, and everybody seems to be going ape over the not terribly be surprising news that Joss Whedon is indeed directing the Avengers, and that Mark Ruffalo is the latest Hulk, even though they've been the names most associated with those respective roles for months. Whedon on the Avengers is of course huge. It's hard to see Mark Ruffalo convincingly do Bruce Banner even though he is a very solid actor, he just seems ill-fitting for the role. But as he may be a green cgi giant most of the time, it may not matter.
Ok, that's really I got for today, I will hopefully do another post tomorrow or Tuesday (certainly Wednesday at the latest), but in the meantime, here's your FREE GAME OF THE WEEK: The Breach
Couldn't download the free Doctor Who games released awhile ago because you live in the colonies? Well good news, they are now available for download. Bad news-not free like they are across the pond, but 4.95 for both episodes is hardly something I'd complain about, that probably just covers the licensing fees or something.
So the world's biggest comic convention, the San Diego Comic Con was this weekend, and everybody seems to be going ape over the not terribly be surprising news that Joss Whedon is indeed directing the Avengers, and that Mark Ruffalo is the latest Hulk, even though they've been the names most associated with those respective roles for months. Whedon on the Avengers is of course huge. It's hard to see Mark Ruffalo convincingly do Bruce Banner even though he is a very solid actor, he just seems ill-fitting for the role. But as he may be a green cgi giant most of the time, it may not matter.
Ok, that's really I got for today, I will hopefully do another post tomorrow or Tuesday (certainly Wednesday at the latest), but in the meantime, here's your FREE GAME OF THE WEEK: The Breach
7/21/2010
No, no don't riddle me anything. Really, it's ok...
So Batman 3 casting rumors are popping up again with the film actually being in the not horribly far off Summer of 2012. The big rumor running is that the villain will be the enigmatic mastermind known as the Riddler. A classic villain to be sure, but bring this character into Nolan's universe and what have you got? A low rent Joker. I mean, he'd clearly be a super-intelligent psychopath who hatches crazy schemes to outwit everybody. Pretty much the only difference would be the Riddler would be doing it for an ego boost, the Joker just did it for kicks. I really feel that this would be a wrong way to go when Batman has a large assortment of more than worthy villains, many of which fit well into Nolan's more realistic universe. Bane would be a great way to play on the fact hat currently Batman is a fugitive, as he could be hired by an overeager official who finds out he can't control him. Black Mask is virtually a mirror image of Bruce Wayne, just twisted inside, so he'd also be a great choice. My top pick however, would be Mr. Freeze. Though it was touched on briefly with Two-Face's all too brief subplot in Dark Knight, a tragic villain as the focus would be perfect after Batman mainly having to deal with pure psycopaths so far. Granted, Nolan so far has been able to handle dual villains rather deftly, so maybe a Bane/Freeze combo could work. Then again...
And yes, at the top is a trailer for the completely awesome-looking Scott Pilgrim videogame, due out on PSN in just a few weeks. Feel free to drool of the River City-esque awesomeness. If any new ones pop up before the actual release, I'll put them up. I'm seriously anticipating this more than most retail releases coming out this year.
Apparently, even the sinister Mr. Shanrgilamayan cannot kill Avatar: the Last Airbender. The absolutely awesome cartoon is getting a spin-off next year called The Legend of Korra. Now, if this was a mere cash in on Nickelodeon's part, I would be skeptical, but since the original creators are involved, I'm very excited. This is the kind of rare animation that manages to be entertaining on many levels for kids and adults. Let us wash the horrible memory of the movie away and await these hopefully awesome new adventures.
The price for the Kinect has been confirmed at $150. I've more or less said my piece on this. It's not that the price seems unreasonable in itself, but the software looks terrible, and good luck convincing the casual public to fork out at least $100 more than what Nintendo is offering (and odds are Nintendo will drop the price again).
That's really all for today, I should be back tomorrow with something about Salt as well as a couple other items. Til then, here's your TRAILER OF THE WEEK: Red
And yes, at the top is a trailer for the completely awesome-looking Scott Pilgrim videogame, due out on PSN in just a few weeks. Feel free to drool of the River City-esque awesomeness. If any new ones pop up before the actual release, I'll put them up. I'm seriously anticipating this more than most retail releases coming out this year.
Apparently, even the sinister Mr. Shanrgilamayan cannot kill Avatar: the Last Airbender. The absolutely awesome cartoon is getting a spin-off next year called The Legend of Korra. Now, if this was a mere cash in on Nickelodeon's part, I would be skeptical, but since the original creators are involved, I'm very excited. This is the kind of rare animation that manages to be entertaining on many levels for kids and adults. Let us wash the horrible memory of the movie away and await these hopefully awesome new adventures.
The price for the Kinect has been confirmed at $150. I've more or less said my piece on this. It's not that the price seems unreasonable in itself, but the software looks terrible, and good luck convincing the casual public to fork out at least $100 more than what Nintendo is offering (and odds are Nintendo will drop the price again).
That's really all for today, I should be back tomorrow with something about Salt as well as a couple other items. Til then, here's your TRAILER OF THE WEEK: Red
7/17/2010
Taking "adaptation" to a whole new level
Two potentially huge movies out this week, The Sorceror's Apprentice & Inception. I saw both today, and firstly I'd really like to talk about Apprentice. How exactly a short section of Fantasia got turned into a full blown big budget movie clearly involves a lot of liberties, and I guess they are hoping for the same magic that came with the very loose concept of a movie based on a certain piratey theme park ride. I think it works as a big dumb popcorn flick, with good comedy and special effects, and clearly Nicholas Cage had plenty of fun with his role. I will say I think Jay Baruchel was poorly cast, as he's pretty much just annoying and can't really carry the more serious heroic growth moments his character has throughout the film. I still think it's worth seeing overall, which doesn't seem to be the consensus.
Inception is pretty much everything you've heard. Brilliant, suspenseful, amazing. This might be Nolan's best work to date, and considering his resume that's saying quite a bit. And the thing is, everyone seems to know its brilliant and yet they are worried it will fail (and in a day and age where movies like "Marmaduke" een get made, it's a serious concern). So drag everyone you know with you into this film. If they don't understand or don't get it, you should probably find new friends...
Finally, with 007 movies in limbo for god only knows how long, will we actually see Daniel Craig don the secret agent duds ever again? Well if a couple of videogames do well enough, we may see him more often than we'd think, because not only is the Wii release of Goldeneye featuring Mr. Craig, but a new original Bond game was just announced, and they are treating it like a full blown movie. Now granted, Bond games have an overall fairly shoddy history, but the last fully original (as in not based on a movie at all) Bond game was the very excellent Everything or Nothing, so hopefully it follows in that game's foot steps.
That's all I really have for today, but til next time, here's your FREE GAME OF THE WEEK: Five Minutes to Kill Yourself (reloaded)
Inception is pretty much everything you've heard. Brilliant, suspenseful, amazing. This might be Nolan's best work to date, and considering his resume that's saying quite a bit. And the thing is, everyone seems to know its brilliant and yet they are worried it will fail (and in a day and age where movies like "Marmaduke" een get made, it's a serious concern). So drag everyone you know with you into this film. If they don't understand or don't get it, you should probably find new friends...
Finally, with 007 movies in limbo for god only knows how long, will we actually see Daniel Craig don the secret agent duds ever again? Well if a couple of videogames do well enough, we may see him more often than we'd think, because not only is the Wii release of Goldeneye featuring Mr. Craig, but a new original Bond game was just announced, and they are treating it like a full blown movie. Now granted, Bond games have an overall fairly shoddy history, but the last fully original (as in not based on a movie at all) Bond game was the very excellent Everything or Nothing, so hopefully it follows in that game's foot steps.
That's all I really have for today, but til next time, here's your FREE GAME OF THE WEEK: Five Minutes to Kill Yourself (reloaded)
7/13/2010
Where's the epic downloadable rpgs?
Because today is the release one of the more hotly anticipated downloadable titles of the year (at least on PSN, it hits XBLA tomorrow), Deathspank, an old-school dungeon crawler with a good sense of humor. I downloaded the demo, and it was pretty entertaining. But even though the reviews are very positive, most clock it in at a measly 8 hours, not a very meaty rpg. Now, admittedly, standards should be a little different for a downloadable title, but this is an rpg we are talking about. 15 hours should arguably be the bare minimum, with 20 being a more acceptable number. There is no reason someone couldn't make an epic rpg clocking in anywhere form 30-60 hours on the graphical level of a PS one title or even a 16 or 8-bit game. I mean, we do get occasional bytes in old school classic rpgs such as Secret or Mana or Final Fantasy IX that are available for download, but where are some original rpgs? I mean aside from the newly released Deathspank, there's the Penny Arcade games, and that's about it. Hopefully somebody is working on one, because I'd love to see an epic Super NES era style rpg to downloadable channels. I mean, if they can make something as awesome as Torchlight and sell it for $20 (actually far less with it constantly being on sale) on PC, surely they can do something equally epic for consoles, right? Someone get on that.
Well, I'm about 9 or so hours into Dragonquest IX, and I'm thoroughly enjoying it so far. Though it is still very old school and frankly the multi-player aspect is essentially nothing more than grinding with friends since you can't advance the story any. Still a really solid choice for anyone looking for a timesink portable rpg.
So, Kinect demo units are coming to a major retailer near you. Where you ask? Macy's. Yeah, that's the ticket, demoing it at a place that gamers never go for gaming, and that is on the verge of bankruptcy. And while Kinect is clearly an attempt at reaching a non-gamer audience, it's not the matter of "playing the Halos" as the Penny Arcade guys put it. It's the matter of being able to navigate menus equally well with your hands vs. a controller, or being able to do something like drive with nothing physical to interact with. The complete lack of a physical controller to do many things that in real life require control of an object sounds like you might as well be just using your imagination and playing in a cardboard box. Which would be a helluva lot cheaper than buying whatever the hell Kinect thinks it is.
Ok, that's pretty much all I have for today, but I'll leave you with the TRAILER OF THE WEEK: Valhalla Rising
Well, I'm about 9 or so hours into Dragonquest IX, and I'm thoroughly enjoying it so far. Though it is still very old school and frankly the multi-player aspect is essentially nothing more than grinding with friends since you can't advance the story any. Still a really solid choice for anyone looking for a timesink portable rpg.
So, Kinect demo units are coming to a major retailer near you. Where you ask? Macy's. Yeah, that's the ticket, demoing it at a place that gamers never go for gaming, and that is on the verge of bankruptcy. And while Kinect is clearly an attempt at reaching a non-gamer audience, it's not the matter of "playing the Halos" as the Penny Arcade guys put it. It's the matter of being able to navigate menus equally well with your hands vs. a controller, or being able to do something like drive with nothing physical to interact with. The complete lack of a physical controller to do many things that in real life require control of an object sounds like you might as well be just using your imagination and playing in a cardboard box. Which would be a helluva lot cheaper than buying whatever the hell Kinect thinks it is.
Ok, that's pretty much all I have for today, but I'll leave you with the TRAILER OF THE WEEK: Valhalla Rising
7/09/2010
Even Seth Green probably won't make you care about Dragonquest IX
At least if you aren't already a fan of the series. Despite it being around as long as the venerable Final Fantasy franchise and being an international phenomenon to the point where Japan virtually shuts down when a new one is released. But here, it's relegated to a small but fiercely dedicated fanbase. I wouldn't count myself as fiercely loyal, but I have enjoyed the majority of the series entries, I especially invested plenty of time in the last couple entries. It's kind of hard to describe why it's got such a huge following, as it's been extremely slow to change with the times (i.e. the seventh installment, a Playstation title looked like it could've easily been done on a Super Nintendo). But hey, Pokemon's barely changed in over 20 years and its still huge. The series has always maintained a huge charm factor, possibly because it's so simple when other rpgs get more and more complex (hell I had to buy a strategy guide just to understand most of FFXIII). The ninth installment is a true divergence for the series, adding a huge multi-player component that while I'd like to advantage of, nearly nobody out here in the midwest seems to have both a ds and an appetite for old school rpgs, but the single-player component should be enough to keep me busy for quite awhile, and I happily anticipate the next chapter, apparently due out for the Wii.
Not much else to comment on, except that I managed to catch Despicable Me earlier today, and it was a very charming film. It's probably not what you would expect, but it's very funny and manages to not overdo it with the syrupy sentimental stuff and it's nice to see a non-pixar production that is actually good every once and awhile. I would say that I would've preferred either a pure villain vs. villain movie or Gru keeping to his evil ways and teaching the kids, but obviously that probably wouldn't go over so well with the mainstream audiences. Still, a high reccomendation from me.
Well, that's really it for today, but I should be back early next week with DQ IX impressions and whatever else happens to break. In the mean time here's your FREE GAME OF THE WEEK: Looming
7/07/2010
You almost had me at Hulu...
I've said that Sony's Playstation Plus service really needed something far beyond the little tidbits of practically useless freebies and discounts to get myself interested. Hulu plus, the new service from Hulu that sounds essentially like what we've all wanted cable to be for years at the low low price of $9.99 a month. Now it is coming for PS3 in the very near future (like supposedly later this month) and originally it seemed to be only available to Plus members. Granted, some decried this as relegating non-Plus members to the same second-class citizenship rules that the Xbox Silver players suffer from. But keeping in mind that cable/satellite is at least 3 times more expensive a month, paying $50 once a year and $10 a month would be quite the savings, and something I would've gladly signed up for. Luckily, Sony and Hulu aren't seeing this way and are merely offering Plus owners a shot at the preview period, essentially the beta. Once Hulu plus is out of preview (which should be later this month) it will be available to all PS3 owners. Win one for the cheapskates like me, but getting it through Playstation Plus still would've been a very good deal.
By now you might've noticed the ginormous trailer posted for Dragonquest IX replacing the artwork of Scott Johnson. I think what I'm going to start doing is alternating between upcoming trailers for games & movies I'm really excited for that are hitting soon, and the occasional piece of awesome geek art if there's a lull. We'll see how that works out. Dragon Quest IX itself, which hits this Sunday, I'll likely discuss in far more detail in my Thursday/Friday post (more likely to be a Friday). In the meantime, have a slime drink...
Whether or not this strikes you as completely awesome probably depends on your history with the Dragon Warrior/Quest series...
So even though it's easily the worst movie of the year, if not the last several, M. Night Shakalazam's savaging of The Last Airbender still managed to make a pretty respectable $70 mil over the holiday weekend, bringing up sequel talks. God I hope not. Most people are betting/hoping the is the final nail in his directing coffin, but nearly everything that even breaks even gets at least a shot at a sequel. I hope if development does go forward, the studio boots his ass or those who were duped in the first place just don't go.
Ok, that's really all for today, but I hopefully will post something tomorrow. In the meantime, here's your TRAILER OF THE WEEK: The American
By now you might've noticed the ginormous trailer posted for Dragonquest IX replacing the artwork of Scott Johnson. I think what I'm going to start doing is alternating between upcoming trailers for games & movies I'm really excited for that are hitting soon, and the occasional piece of awesome geek art if there's a lull. We'll see how that works out. Dragon Quest IX itself, which hits this Sunday, I'll likely discuss in far more detail in my Thursday/Friday post (more likely to be a Friday). In the meantime, have a slime drink...
Whether or not this strikes you as completely awesome probably depends on your history with the Dragon Warrior/Quest series...
So even though it's easily the worst movie of the year, if not the last several, M. Night Shakalazam's savaging of The Last Airbender still managed to make a pretty respectable $70 mil over the holiday weekend, bringing up sequel talks. God I hope not. Most people are betting/hoping the is the final nail in his directing coffin, but nearly everything that even breaks even gets at least a shot at a sequel. I hope if development does go forward, the studio boots his ass or those who were duped in the first place just don't go.
Ok, that's really all for today, but I hopefully will post something tomorrow. In the meantime, here's your TRAILER OF THE WEEK: The American
7/05/2010
Video Day-Big Bang Edition
Yeah, after working double shifts yesterday and today and having to be up in a little over 6 hours for work again tomorrow, I'm in no shape for a full on post, so look for an actual post hopefully tomorrow (but assuredly there will be one Wednesday at the latest). In the meantime, enjoy the last few hours of the holiday weekend with a bunch of clips from what is currently easily my favorite sitcom currently, the supremely geeky BIG BANG THEORY:
7/01/2010
Shamamahahiho Hits a new low....
Which frankly I didn't think was possible after the Village and the Happening. Hell, this was suppossed to more or less be his comeback piece. A huge budget, a potentially huge property, and since he had an established lore and story to follow, he couldn't possibly include any of his usual nonsensical plot twists and surprises. But yes, M. Night Shahadoons take on the beloved and completely awesome Nickelodeon series Avatar: The Last Airbender is a complete affront to fans of the show and moviegoers in general. I could forgive the lack of appropriate race casting (most of the cast of the cartoon is Asian or Indian) as it admittedly might have a less broad appeal that way, but the actors (aside from the kid playing Aang, who does an okay job) are all completely terrible. Their are numerous essential elements of the show either completely butchered, missing or changed for no reason to something compleltely ridiculous, the special effects are serviceable at best, and the fighting is choppy, slow and extremely clumsy. Finally, if you watched the series, you know that that while it is a fairly serious affair about rebelling against a violent empire, it also had a ton of hilarious moments. The offbeat humor was a key element, and it's pretty much completely absent from the movie. This will arguably be his biggest failure to date and frankly given his track record over his last 5 films, I'd say we are all better off if it's his last.
So, Nintendo's E3 press conference was 20 kinds of awesome, but they were lacking in one big area: NEW IP. As much as we loved seeing all those old franchises updated, their pretty much wasn't anything new, making many think Nintendo has pretty much blown their wad and won't be able to follow it up next year. While it will be hard regardless, the good news is that Shigeru Miyamoto knows this, and has stated that they in fact need new characters, which they should focus on next year, so kudos to him for realizing this, I hope they can keep up with it.
Birth By Sleep is coming up fast (Sept. 7), and I thought I'd do my little bit to promote it by making a fanvid"
Finally, Roger Ebert has recanted? No of course not, that'd be silly. He simply apologizes for expressing his half-assed opinion that he still clings just as strongly to about games not now and not ever being art. Gamers are seeing this as some sort of victory? Why? Frankly the man shouldn't apologize for giving his opinion on the matter, that he should be free to express all he wants, it's the whole point of free speech. Just as the gaming community is free to respond. That he shouldn't have apologized for, and it's damn cowardly of him to do so frankly. So the gaming community is hounding him about it? Get a goddamn backbone and don't sort of apologize for having the opinion in the first place. Essenitally saying "I still believe what I said, but I was wrong to say it anyways" is a complete fucking cop out.
That's really all for today, but I'll probably try and post something this weekend if I can, in the meantime, here's your FREE GAME OF THE WEEK: Infectonator!
So, Nintendo's E3 press conference was 20 kinds of awesome, but they were lacking in one big area: NEW IP. As much as we loved seeing all those old franchises updated, their pretty much wasn't anything new, making many think Nintendo has pretty much blown their wad and won't be able to follow it up next year. While it will be hard regardless, the good news is that Shigeru Miyamoto knows this, and has stated that they in fact need new characters, which they should focus on next year, so kudos to him for realizing this, I hope they can keep up with it.
Birth By Sleep is coming up fast (Sept. 7), and I thought I'd do my little bit to promote it by making a fanvid"
Finally, Roger Ebert has recanted? No of course not, that'd be silly. He simply apologizes for expressing his half-assed opinion that he still clings just as strongly to about games not now and not ever being art. Gamers are seeing this as some sort of victory? Why? Frankly the man shouldn't apologize for giving his opinion on the matter, that he should be free to express all he wants, it's the whole point of free speech. Just as the gaming community is free to respond. That he shouldn't have apologized for, and it's damn cowardly of him to do so frankly. So the gaming community is hounding him about it? Get a goddamn backbone and don't sort of apologize for having the opinion in the first place. Essenitally saying "I still believe what I said, but I was wrong to say it anyways" is a complete fucking cop out.
That's really all for today, but I'll probably try and post something this weekend if I can, in the meantime, here's your FREE GAME OF THE WEEK: Infectonator!
6/29/2010
Focus groups are full of fail
Seriously, I wonder why these even exist, because every time we hear about a decision more or less influenced by a focus group, we all do a collective facepalm, well frankly this most recent news deserves more than one so...
Because thanks to a focus group, they are cutting the evil option from Epic Mickey. You know, the whole point of this game was suppossed to be a massive revamp of the mouse, so he would be more like the old days where he had a goddamned personality. It's not like he was going after guys with a chainsaw, but apparently "murder by paintbrush" is too much for a goddamn biker. Who the fuck invited a biker to a focus group about a Mickey Mouse game? You remember the Goldeneye Wii trailer? Those at least were focus groups of GAMERS. Now granted, this shouldn't change much of the actual gameplay, but to talk about how you want to change the perception of what Mickey is and then bow to what someone's perception is based on when they were a kid is absolutely idiotic. Massive fail Warren Spector. Massive. Goddamn. Fail.
Speaking of massive fails, I think Microsoft is setting themselves up for a big one with Kinect, and not just because it's a piece of absolute crap. I mean it'd be one thing to expect it to appeal to the more casual crowd (which admittedly, it might hold some appeal to people who don't actually play video games, but it's hard to imagine someone like that shelling out for this when they can just get a Wii), but they are actually expecting their hardcore fan base to go out and buy it as well. You know, the same fan base that mocked the far more sensible waggle of the Wii. Not to mention on more than one occasion MS has claimed that this is not a product for their current user base, since it is mostly more hardcore gamers.
Now on top of that, while the Wii and Move can support anywhere from 2-8 gamers depending on the game, How many can Kinect support? 2. That's right, TWO. What the hell kind of party game only supports two people? Hell the minimum expectation for most multi-player games these days is 4. Now granted, not all do that, but the fact that the possibility isn't even there is ludicrous. This might honestly be the biggest flop since the Virtual Boy when all is said and done.
Moving on, with the PSN's weekly update today, they launch the Playstation Plus service. Yes, it comes with a myriad of free goodies that you get to keep as long as you have the service, with new ones every month, but nothing strikes me a must have. I mean I already own LittleBigPlanet, and I have no interest in the freebies that are currently offered. That may change, but I don't think anybody like the idea that if you stop paying, all the freebies go away. I still think they will have to add something integral to the service that gamers think they cant live without in order to really get a decent buy rate out of this.
In some hopefully awesome news, Hulu is coming to PS3 & 360. Granted, it's not the free online streaming you can get on your PC, but it's their "plus" subscription service that's $10 bucks a month. Which may sound like a rip-off when you already get tons of content for free from Hulu on your computer, but this is more of an on-demand type service where you get access to things like full current seasons as well as access to old TV shows. I almost exclusively use my netflix to watch TV shows, so this sounds like a great idea to me, and a much better option than cable.
Finally yes, I did pick up Lego Harry Potter: Years 1-4 today and while I agree with most of the reviews that it might indeed be the best lego game yet, it still may be too familiar to anyone who has or has had several lego titles, but far any huge lego/potter fan it's probably worth picking up.
Ok, that's all for today, I should be back Thursday with a review of The Last Airbender as well as other stuff, until then, your TRAILER OF THE WEEK: Rango
Because thanks to a focus group, they are cutting the evil option from Epic Mickey. You know, the whole point of this game was suppossed to be a massive revamp of the mouse, so he would be more like the old days where he had a goddamned personality. It's not like he was going after guys with a chainsaw, but apparently "murder by paintbrush" is too much for a goddamn biker. Who the fuck invited a biker to a focus group about a Mickey Mouse game? You remember the Goldeneye Wii trailer? Those at least were focus groups of GAMERS. Now granted, this shouldn't change much of the actual gameplay, but to talk about how you want to change the perception of what Mickey is and then bow to what someone's perception is based on when they were a kid is absolutely idiotic. Massive fail Warren Spector. Massive. Goddamn. Fail.
Speaking of massive fails, I think Microsoft is setting themselves up for a big one with Kinect, and not just because it's a piece of absolute crap. I mean it'd be one thing to expect it to appeal to the more casual crowd (which admittedly, it might hold some appeal to people who don't actually play video games, but it's hard to imagine someone like that shelling out for this when they can just get a Wii), but they are actually expecting their hardcore fan base to go out and buy it as well. You know, the same fan base that mocked the far more sensible waggle of the Wii. Not to mention on more than one occasion MS has claimed that this is not a product for their current user base, since it is mostly more hardcore gamers.
Now on top of that, while the Wii and Move can support anywhere from 2-8 gamers depending on the game, How many can Kinect support? 2. That's right, TWO. What the hell kind of party game only supports two people? Hell the minimum expectation for most multi-player games these days is 4. Now granted, not all do that, but the fact that the possibility isn't even there is ludicrous. This might honestly be the biggest flop since the Virtual Boy when all is said and done.
Moving on, with the PSN's weekly update today, they launch the Playstation Plus service. Yes, it comes with a myriad of free goodies that you get to keep as long as you have the service, with new ones every month, but nothing strikes me a must have. I mean I already own LittleBigPlanet, and I have no interest in the freebies that are currently offered. That may change, but I don't think anybody like the idea that if you stop paying, all the freebies go away. I still think they will have to add something integral to the service that gamers think they cant live without in order to really get a decent buy rate out of this.
In some hopefully awesome news, Hulu is coming to PS3 & 360. Granted, it's not the free online streaming you can get on your PC, but it's their "plus" subscription service that's $10 bucks a month. Which may sound like a rip-off when you already get tons of content for free from Hulu on your computer, but this is more of an on-demand type service where you get access to things like full current seasons as well as access to old TV shows. I almost exclusively use my netflix to watch TV shows, so this sounds like a great idea to me, and a much better option than cable.
Finally yes, I did pick up Lego Harry Potter: Years 1-4 today and while I agree with most of the reviews that it might indeed be the best lego game yet, it still may be too familiar to anyone who has or has had several lego titles, but far any huge lego/potter fan it's probably worth picking up.
Ok, that's all for today, I should be back Thursday with a review of The Last Airbender as well as other stuff, until then, your TRAILER OF THE WEEK: Rango
6/26/2010
The King has returned
And no, this is not news of another Lion King sequel. It's the far more welcome news that the long, long road of the fan-developed King's Quest title, The Silver Lining has actually gotten Activision's blessing and will be released this July if you're not familiar with the game's story, it's basically been in development and consistently stalled usually due to cease and desist orders. King's Auest is easily one of the best adventure series ever, it would be great if this cause an actual rebirth to the series, which wouldn;t be so far fetched with series like Sam & Max making big comebacks.
I managed to get my hands on copies of both Toy Story 3 the game and Transformers War for Cybertron earlier this week. If you are a fan of either I can reccomend them. The attention to detail and solid shooter aspects make War for Cybertron a worthy purchase indeed, though as someone who was honestly never all that into the series, it was hard for me to get into it when it is essentially Gears of War with giant robots.
Toy Story 3 the game is two very different types of beasts rolled into one. The story mode is a competent but uninteresting standard kiddy platforming game. The real enjoyment and fun lies in the awesome toybox mode. You play as Buzz, Woody or Jesse (though in this mode they all play the same, so it's just personal preference) and it does sandbox almost better than most of the GTA series, with being able to customize townspeople, bulidings, and just being able to create your own hodgepodge of a little universe. It's even got a hint of World of Warcraft with tons of quests to complete. I could see spending hundreds of hours on this mode.
I also managed to finally catch Toy Story 3 the movie and Knight & Day. I will start off by saying I do think Toy Story 3 is arguably the weakest chapter in the trilogy, considering a how amazing the first 2 were, it's almost to be expected. But it is still an extremely good moving with a heartwarming story and a great last big adventure for Woody, Buzz and the gang (though Pixar has said that while this will be the last movie, we will likely see the characters reappear in things like the always great Pixar shorts they have before every movie).
Now onto Knight & Day. I sort of feel bad for Tom Cruise. Sure, he's nutty as a fruitcake, but what famous person isn't? It doesn't stop him from making mostly enjoyable movies (Mission Impossible 3 can stand up to any Bond/Bourne film IMHO), but since the year where he was more or less outed as a hardcore Scientologist and so crazy in love with Katie Holmes that was jumping up and down on Oprah's couch, people don't really seem to want to see him in films much. I won't say Knight and Day is stellar or anything, it's not. But it's an extremely enjoyable action-comedy with two leads that work very well together and it's a shame it might not do well just because people think Tom Cruise is nuts. I also heard this might be sort of a litmus test for the in-development Mission Impossible 4 which if it was either stalled or dumped because of this would suck because JJ Abrams (that'd be the guy that resurrected Star trek) and Cruise work extremely well together.
Want to see Nintendo of America's Reggie Fills-Aime promoting Donkey Kong Country Returns on Jimmy Fallon? Of Course you do:
I have to admit, Jimmy Fallon has completely won me over between catering to the video game audience and his occasionally awesome impressions. Let's just NBC doesn't offer him the Jay Leno show anytime soon, we all see how that goes...
Finally, the Nintendo onslaught of awesomeness begins tomorrow with Sin & Punishment: Star successor. Now, I do love just about anything Treasure does, so normally this'd be a no-brainer, but I just don't have much long-term interest in shootemups like this. Which granted, since they last maybe 8 hours on average, fits, but makes them so not worth full price. I will just be happily anticipationg the not too far off release of Dragonquest IX on July 11th.
All right, that's all for now, but I should most definitely be back on Tuesday with impressions of Lego Harry Potter Years 1-4 and probably a couple other things. Til then, here's your FREE GAME OF THE WEEK: Manhattan Project
I managed to get my hands on copies of both Toy Story 3 the game and Transformers War for Cybertron earlier this week. If you are a fan of either I can reccomend them. The attention to detail and solid shooter aspects make War for Cybertron a worthy purchase indeed, though as someone who was honestly never all that into the series, it was hard for me to get into it when it is essentially Gears of War with giant robots.
Toy Story 3 the game is two very different types of beasts rolled into one. The story mode is a competent but uninteresting standard kiddy platforming game. The real enjoyment and fun lies in the awesome toybox mode. You play as Buzz, Woody or Jesse (though in this mode they all play the same, so it's just personal preference) and it does sandbox almost better than most of the GTA series, with being able to customize townspeople, bulidings, and just being able to create your own hodgepodge of a little universe. It's even got a hint of World of Warcraft with tons of quests to complete. I could see spending hundreds of hours on this mode.
I also managed to finally catch Toy Story 3 the movie and Knight & Day. I will start off by saying I do think Toy Story 3 is arguably the weakest chapter in the trilogy, considering a how amazing the first 2 were, it's almost to be expected. But it is still an extremely good moving with a heartwarming story and a great last big adventure for Woody, Buzz and the gang (though Pixar has said that while this will be the last movie, we will likely see the characters reappear in things like the always great Pixar shorts they have before every movie).
Now onto Knight & Day. I sort of feel bad for Tom Cruise. Sure, he's nutty as a fruitcake, but what famous person isn't? It doesn't stop him from making mostly enjoyable movies (Mission Impossible 3 can stand up to any Bond/Bourne film IMHO), but since the year where he was more or less outed as a hardcore Scientologist and so crazy in love with Katie Holmes that was jumping up and down on Oprah's couch, people don't really seem to want to see him in films much. I won't say Knight and Day is stellar or anything, it's not. But it's an extremely enjoyable action-comedy with two leads that work very well together and it's a shame it might not do well just because people think Tom Cruise is nuts. I also heard this might be sort of a litmus test for the in-development Mission Impossible 4 which if it was either stalled or dumped because of this would suck because JJ Abrams (that'd be the guy that resurrected Star trek) and Cruise work extremely well together.
Want to see Nintendo of America's Reggie Fills-Aime promoting Donkey Kong Country Returns on Jimmy Fallon? Of Course you do:
I have to admit, Jimmy Fallon has completely won me over between catering to the video game audience and his occasionally awesome impressions. Let's just NBC doesn't offer him the Jay Leno show anytime soon, we all see how that goes...
Finally, the Nintendo onslaught of awesomeness begins tomorrow with Sin & Punishment: Star successor. Now, I do love just about anything Treasure does, so normally this'd be a no-brainer, but I just don't have much long-term interest in shootemups like this. Which granted, since they last maybe 8 hours on average, fits, but makes them so not worth full price. I will just be happily anticipationg the not too far off release of Dragonquest IX on July 11th.
All right, that's all for now, but I should most definitely be back on Tuesday with impressions of Lego Harry Potter Years 1-4 and probably a couple other things. Til then, here's your FREE GAME OF THE WEEK: Manhattan Project
6/22/2010
Start saving your money now...
Because you know, it's not enough that in the next 6 months us Nintendo fans are getting Sin & Punishment 2, Dragon Quest IX, Metroid Other M, Kirby's Epic Yarn, Goldeneye, Epic Mickey, Golden Sun & Donkey Kong Country Returns. No, the avalanche of awesome games sure to break your bank isn't enough. Arguably, by the time your wallet has just recovered from that, you may be right on the verge of Nintendo's newest portable, the 3DS, as Nintendo has promised that it will be out everywhere by March of next year. And that's at the latest, there are already rumors of a December release in the US, as March would be the latest in all major world markets, and the U.S. usually gets them second, so I wouldn't be surprised to see it in stores (and gone just as quickly) before the year is out.
2 License-based games that don't suck? Well it's happened. Toy Story 3 came out last week, and Transformers: The War for Cybertron shipped today and the reviews are surprisingly solid overall. Not quite up there with the top tier titles mind you, but it seems like anyone who is a fan would not be wasting their money picking these up. I'm honestly not much of a Transformers fan to begin with, and the MP demo didn't impress me all that much, but the reviews have me thinking I should at least rent it. Toy Story is on my buy when it's on sale list at this point, as I'm saving up for the not too far off Dragon Quest IX.
Most people would agree that to a certain extent, the Xbox Gold pricing structure is ridiculous in that you have to have a separate paid account for everyone in you household who wants to access Gold features. They have decided to make it a little easier by offering a "Family Plan" where $99 will get you a year's subscription for up to 4 accounts. Certainly a bargain when your kids want their own accounts, so I see the appeal there, though honestly one account would cover the majority of needs so I don't know exactly how well this will do.
I did play the Crackdown 2 demo yesterday, and while it was entertaining for the about 30 minutes they let you play, much like the fun but flawed original it quickly loses its appeal because the gameplay just doesn't evolve much beyond what you see at the beginning. Pretty much the highlight of both games is being able to at some point leap tall buildings in a single bound, but there's just not really much beyond that.
Finally, as if I wasn't excited enough already for Epic Mickey, somebody is making some pretty awesome accessories for it:
I would seriously buy these now just in anticipation, it sucks that we have to wait til fall. Now, I'm not nearly as buzzed about the upcoming Tron: Evolution game, but the same company is releasing some pretty slick-looking controllers as well:
I seriously hope these work because they are making me seriously rethink my stance on never buying 3rd party controllers.
Ok, that is all for today, but I will definitely be back later in the week to talk about Knight & Day as well as the first of a seemingly endless amount of awesome titles for the remainder of the year from Nintendo: Sin & Punishment: Star Successor. Until then, enjoy the TRAILER OF THE WEEK: Green Hornet
2 License-based games that don't suck? Well it's happened. Toy Story 3 came out last week, and Transformers: The War for Cybertron shipped today and the reviews are surprisingly solid overall. Not quite up there with the top tier titles mind you, but it seems like anyone who is a fan would not be wasting their money picking these up. I'm honestly not much of a Transformers fan to begin with, and the MP demo didn't impress me all that much, but the reviews have me thinking I should at least rent it. Toy Story is on my buy when it's on sale list at this point, as I'm saving up for the not too far off Dragon Quest IX.
Most people would agree that to a certain extent, the Xbox Gold pricing structure is ridiculous in that you have to have a separate paid account for everyone in you household who wants to access Gold features. They have decided to make it a little easier by offering a "Family Plan" where $99 will get you a year's subscription for up to 4 accounts. Certainly a bargain when your kids want their own accounts, so I see the appeal there, though honestly one account would cover the majority of needs so I don't know exactly how well this will do.
I did play the Crackdown 2 demo yesterday, and while it was entertaining for the about 30 minutes they let you play, much like the fun but flawed original it quickly loses its appeal because the gameplay just doesn't evolve much beyond what you see at the beginning. Pretty much the highlight of both games is being able to at some point leap tall buildings in a single bound, but there's just not really much beyond that.
Finally, as if I wasn't excited enough already for Epic Mickey, somebody is making some pretty awesome accessories for it:
I would seriously buy these now just in anticipation, it sucks that we have to wait til fall. Now, I'm not nearly as buzzed about the upcoming Tron: Evolution game, but the same company is releasing some pretty slick-looking controllers as well:
I seriously hope these work because they are making me seriously rethink my stance on never buying 3rd party controllers.
Ok, that is all for today, but I will definitely be back later in the week to talk about Knight & Day as well as the first of a seemingly endless amount of awesome titles for the remainder of the year from Nintendo: Sin & Punishment: Star Successor. Until then, enjoy the TRAILER OF THE WEEK: Green Hornet
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