August Music Wrap-Up

The Music Wrap-Up is a monthly summary of my favorite and other notable new releases. The songs are for sampling purposes only. Artists or labels notify me with any complaints and I will remove the song as soon as possible. Please support these musicians as that's the reason I'm featuring them in the first place.

August has been slightly less packed with music then June and July were, but theres no shortage of heavy hitters here. Arctic Monkeys, Mew, new EPs from Modest Mouse and Blitzen Trapper, and a new Radiohead song. I'm definitely not going to scoff at that line-up, and that's not even all there is. So lean back in your chair, click on these songs, and enjoy what comes out of your speakers.

Mew's No More Stories...

Repeater Beater



Hawaii



Mew is many things; haunting, beautiful, epic, unique, sweeping, and weird. I love weird, so that's a good thing. Either way, don't turn them on and expect a short and casual listen. Turn them on, lay down, close your eyes, and just listen.

Arctic Monkey's Humbug

Crying Lightning



On the first listen, I was apathetic to this cd. It took a few more before I realized I had no clue what I was thinking. You know how you perceive a band to be something its not sometimes? I somehow got it into my head that Arctic Monkeys were much faster then they are. Once I got past that idea, this album blew me away. I always say, the best music is that which has to grow on you...

mc chris' Part Six, Part Two

Zuckuss' Prius



Japanese Maid



In case you're behind, our hero has died, gone to heaven, left heaven and came back to Earth as a zombie, and then got killed and ended up in Hell. Now we pick up with the only way he can escape Hell, GTFO! Hell's most popular game show! I don't know about you, but I'm glued to my computer until Part Three comes out and I can find out if he wins the arm wrestling match with the host of Nickelodeon's GUTs, Mike O'Malley.

Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zero's Up From Below

40 Day Dream



Home



There is a reason I listen to NPR's All Songs Considered every week. Every once in awhile they spring an amazing band like this one on me. Just like Humbug, I wasn't immediately hooked on them. I liked it alright, but it took 2 or 3 times before I fell in love.

GWAR's Lust in Space

Lust in Space



Where is Zog?



There's just no way around it, GWAR is amazing. I'm not even a big fan of metal or other heavy music, but you just can't not love GWAR. I will be seeing them live for the first time soon, and I can't wait to see what they'll do. I've watched almost all of their live dvds, so I know all about their ridiculous concerts.

Modest Mouse's No One's First and You're Next

Guilty Cocker Spaniels



King Rat



An 8 song EP, featuring music from the Good News for People Who Love Bad News and We Were Dead Before the Ship Even Sank sessions. There's some really good stuff on here. I'm not sure why they even cut them in the first place.

Blitzen Trapper's Black River Killer

Preacher's Sister's Boy



Yet another band I found from All Songs Considered. When I saw this EP, I assumed as the title was that of a song from their previous full length, Furr, that it was just a single. To my surprise it is a full fledged EP, with 6 other newly recorded songs that were only previously available on a cd the band would sell at their shows.

Radiohead

These Are My Twisted Words



According to the band, this is just a song they recorded and nothing more. This is not a sign of a new cd to come. Smells fishy to me, but when you are as big as Radiohead is you don't really need to put out new releases very often.

The New Next-Gen

Recently I saw a commercial for Brutal Legend that ended with the words "Available on all Next-Gen systems". Besides the obvious, it being 3 years into the generation, I was annoyed by this phrase because of what it meant for our definition of "next-gen".

Obviously it meant that the game wasn't available for Wii, but in the 1 or 2 seconds they saved by saying it that way instead of "Available on the PS3 and Xbox 360", they set the gaming community back by miles.

The only differences that could possibly cause the Wii to not count as "next-gen" are motion control, and graphics. Are these things that we want to define the entirety of a generation? If the console attempts to jump graphics forward from the last generation, then that counts as next-gen? And if it features a new way to play our games, then it doesn't?

I don't think that motion control is the future of gaming, but the distinction that the Wii isn't part of this generation didn't sit well with me. So I decided to see what other gamers felt about this, and I turned to Bitmob to find out.

For the most part, everyone agreed that the Wii should be counted as a part of this generation, but there was one comment from Andrew J. Hiscock that completely changed the way I was thinking about this issue.

The Wii is a no-gen.

Video games will now enter a world trailblazed by Apple (at least in modern
times in terms of consumer electronics). Everything is going to be iterative
from now on. We've seen it with the Wii (fully backwards compatible), the DSi
(ditto), and the PSP Go (same). Instead of a full on transition, you'll see new
technology embracing the old... Maybe the Game Boy to Game Boy Color is good
example as well...?

All of a sudden, everything was clear to me. We've heard talk about this sort of thing for awhile now. The rumors swirl that the next Xbox won't be a brand new system, but instead an iteration of the 360 with Project Natal integrated within it. So why are we still clinging to our traditional ideas of the console generations?

If the Xbox rumor proves true, and Nintendo releases a Wii HD instead of an entirely new system, but Sony still comes out with the PS4, will that be the only next-gen system on the market? Of course not. We need to just abandon the word generation when referring to our video games.

Since the Atari 2600, every new gaming generation has made leaps and bounds in the graphics department. Those days are over. We are perilously close to the top of the uncanny valley. When we make it out, there will be no where else to go in the way of graphics. Our systems will be incremental changes, with new features and controller technology instead of visual splendor.

The whole issue strikes me as immature and stubborn. By clinging onto the term next-gen this far into the generation simply to separate the Wii from the more powerful systems, we are showing our refusal to change our way of thinking. We need to either adjust what we think of as a generation of gaming, or do away with the term altogether. If we don't, we'll be left behind by the new next-gen.

The Negatives of a Patched World

When switching off of her parents account to mine, my wife decided she wanted a new cell phone. We browsed the store for awhile, and she decided on the one she wanted. There weren't many issues with it in the first month, but after awhile the touch screen grew increasingly frustrating.

It would click things that she didn't want to click, to the point where you could set it down on the table and it would continue randomly clicking on things. It was annoying, but our 30 day return had past so we just put up with it.

Then I called Verizon about something else entirely, in the conversation I mentioned that my new phone credit would probably go to my wife as her phone was a piece of junk. The agent looked up which model she has, and informed me that there has been a patch released since the time she purchased it that fixes, among other things, the touch screen functionality.

So essentially, LG released this phone broken, and then just patched it later without informing any customers. It got me thinking about the gaming world. I'll bring up two examples from both the 360 and the PS3, Castle Crashers and Fat Princess.

In case you were unaware, both of these games released to the public with online functionality in a state that many would call broken. Day 1 purchasers just had to sit around and patiently wait for an update that would allow them to play without issues.

A world in which a game developer could pump updates to their game while it was sitting on your consoles harddrive is something we might have only dreamed of when we were kids. Now it is commonplace, but is it being used as a crutch?

We all know that game developers can have some pretty strict deadlines to meet. So if they know they won't make it, do they just release the game anyway? They can always just patch it right?

This is a trend that I want to see disappear. I'm perfectly fine with bugs being corrected that went unnoticed during development, but they shouldn't be game wrecking things, and it shouldn't be a regular occurrence.

So how do we stop it? Microsoft and Sony could issue some sort of penalization if a game released in a broken state. It'd have to be on a case by case basis though, and then it'd take a lot of resources for a small outcome.

So it's probably in every ones best interest to just do things the way they have been, that is, except for the consumers. We're the ones getting shafted by their practices. It might not be cost effective to try to crack down on this sort of thing, but don't they owe it to the people who are giving them the money they need to stay in business? I don't know the solution, but Microsoft and Sony need to figure it out.

Insufficient Funds: GemCraft

Insufficient Funds is a weekly article in which we feature a free, or very close to it, piece of media that you can enjoy without overdrafting your bank account.

In case you didn't know, tower defense games are a genre in which you set up a gauntlet for a stream of enemies to try to run through. If they fail, you win. If they succeed, you lose. Fairly self explanatory.

One of these games that I've gotten the hopelessly addicted to at times is GemCraft. I haven't played a ton of different tower defense games, so I couldn't tell you much about what GemCraft does that's unique. But I can explain the basics of the game.

While most tower defense games have a slew of different types of defenses for you to put up, GemCraft essentially focuses only on towers with different gems in them. But that's where your variation is.

Some gems are stronger then others, and some cause status effects like poison or slowing the enemy down. Then there are different levels of gems. You can save up your mana to get a high level one right away, or you can combine lower level gems together to upgrade them.



Beyond the towers, there are traps that you can lay. These are places to place gems on the actual path that the monsters will run. A trap will magnify the status effect of a gem placed in it, so I'm fond of placing poison causing gems in them. You can also use any of your spare gems as a bomb to drop on any stray monsters, as well as a sacrifice in a shrine to cause a stream of bolts to thin out a mass of enemies.

The new version of the game also added some new modes to help keep things fresh. So far I have unlocked Endurance Mode (self-explanatory), Heroic Mode (an increase of enemies), and Sudden Death Mode (if an enemy makes it to your tower you lose, normally you'd just take a hit to your mana).

When I say so far I've unlocked, don't think I haven't sunk hours upon hours into the game. This game is LONG. In order to move on, you might have to grind a lot of levels. Ultimately that doesn't matter to me though, because when I play it I am doing so because I have nothing better to do.

Essentially that's all GemCraft is to me, a time sink. There is a thrill to it when you complete a level, but it can take a lot of frustrating losses and a long time of grinding to get there. Still, like my mother-in-law sits there playing Solitaire over and over, GemCraft is my time killer. And it's addicting enough that I keep returning to it all the time.

You can find the game on Kongregate, or at Armor Games website.

Do Summer Blockbusters Have to Try to be Smart?

Is there room for the popcorn flick? The one that we check our brains at the door?

The somewhat recent release of GI Joe got me thinking. Critics seem to be on both sides of the fence. Some saying it doesn't take itself too seriously, and is good mindless fun. Others saying it is complete, utter trash.

Have movie critics grown way too snobby for a majority of the American public? Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying Americans are stupid, but to each his own. I learned very quickly to just not discuss movies with my in-laws. They would laugh at the lame gags in RV as we watched it on TV, and recommend me to skip movies that I had heard nothing but praise for from critics.

A lot of people use movies to escape. They just enjoy it for what it is, and don't think about it any deeper. Me on the other hand, when I watch a movie I analyze it over and over in my head for days. It's usually easier to do that with a layered movie like Synecdoche, New York, instead of RV. I mean sure, there could be all sorts of ways that raccoons happened to get into the RV and then into the stove as well, but I don't think I care to think about it that much.

I would love for every single popcorn action flick to be like District 9, but honestly it's not going to happen. Not every summer blockbuster is going to have allusions to issues like apartheid, and I'm OK with that. Sometimes I enjoy sitting down and watching some big explosions and car chases.

So I guess all I'm saying is this, before we as movie geeks write off a big, dumb, fun action flick, at least realize that a lot of people don't analyze movies the way we do. If the plot is mildly understandable and the action is easy to follow, they are on board. These people aren't dumb, they just don't take movies as seriously as us. Maybe we should take a lesson from them every once in awhile.

The Hulu of Retro-Games

As we approach the next generation of gaming, more and more talk is focused on digital downloads. We've already reached the point where full size games like Burnout Paradise and WarHawk can be purchased and downloaded right to our consoles. But what does that means for the past? When we arrive at this brand new age of completely digital sales, what will become of our past purchases?

Previously if you owned a game, you'd always be able to find some way to play it. Your console might die, but you could just buy a new one and pop the game into that one. I've gone through 2 Sega Saturns, but I don't worry about my copy of Shining Force 3 that I paid $100 for not working on the 3rd Saturn I'm sure to purchase at some point.

That was then, and this is now. Our games won't be physical things we can hold in our hands anymore, they will be forever stuck on hard drives and memory cards. So when the next generation comes, will it support those same hard drives and memory cards? If not, will there be a way to transfer your purchased games? Will those games even be able to be played on the new technology?

Let's pretend our games don't make the jump with us to the next generation, what will become of them? Say I lose the memory card holding all of my purchased games, or the hard drive holding them goes bust. Almost all of the current consoles allow you to sign in and re download your purchased games. But will those stores be kept up when the world has already moved onto the next big thing?

If they've forgotten about backwards compatibility with our physical game copies, whose to say the same won't happen with our digital? The only difference will be that we have nothing to show for all of the money we spent.

So I have an idea to make all of this irrelevant. Once cloud computing is commonplace and all of our games are held up on servers in the air for us to play with a press of a button, I want a company to come along and answer all of our problems.

They set up the system, and establish all of the servers. Then, every single game from 2 generations and older are added to their service. Think of Hulu but for retro-gaming. Want to play Halo 3, Shadow of the Colossus, Pilot Wings 64, or even some Atari 2600 classics? All you'd have to do is boot-up the Hulu of Retro-Games and click whatever your heart desires.

The pricing structure could be debated. Maybe we'd have to pay a subscription fee for the service, or maybe they could just stick ads on the game selection screens and in between levels. The games that get played the most, get more of the ad revenue.

So instead of Nintendo making you buy Super Mario Bros. 3 again and only getting one set price from you in the process, they would be making money from every time you actually started playing it. If a game was so obscure that it only got played once a year, it wouldn't really matter. The company who made the service would be hosting it, and the company who made the game had nothing to lose in allowing them to do so.

Something like this needs to be done. Even in a world where I'm downloading Final Fantasy XVII straight to my Xbox 1440, I'm going to want to play my old games. This answer seems to be a win-win for all involved parties. I just can't wait for it to happen.

DVD Review: Wonderfalls

I completely missed all of Bryan Fuller's shows when they aired. I never even really heard about Dead Like Me or Wonderfalls until they were already cancelled. Pushing Daisies was something that really interested me, but I never got around to watching until it came out on DVD. Then came news that it was cancelled as well. Still, I loved Pushing Daisies so much that when I heard about this show, I bought it immediately.

Wonderfalls is a show about a young girl, who hears voices. Not disembodied ones, but from inanimate objects all around her. Mostly animals. These things tell her to do stuff, and usually everything works out in the end if she just listens.

It's definitely as unique a plot as his other shows, but my problem is in the characters. They seem like they should have been in a show from the 90's. Snarky Jaye Taylor is the girl with the voices, and she just doesn't like anything.

Except that bartender boy, but she wouldn't ever act like she liked him. No way, she'll just make witty, smarmy comments around him. *Gasp*! He makes witty, smarmy comments right back! Everything works out so hip and snarky.

It's this sort of cliched character writing that brings down what otherwise is a very engrossing plot. Either way, the plot is still worth checking out. The show only aired 4 episodes before they canned it, but there are 14 in total.

He must have known it was going to get cancelled ahead of time, as the 14th episode brings everything to a nice, neat end. At least the character relationships. We never really learn a whole lot about why random objects talk to her, and I suppose we probably never will. Still, you don't really need to in order to enjoy the show.

Score: 4 out of 5
Confused about our rating system? Read this explanation.

Movie Review: Thirst

For those not familiar with Park Chan-wook’s work then please reference his past films which include Oldboy (2005), Lady Vengeance (2005), and Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance (2002) to name a few. Chan-wook returns this year with what could easily be regarded as his most compelling film to date. Thirst follows a priest who selflessly donates his body to science in order to create a vaccine for a deadly virus. Once he is taken by the virus a blood transfusion is necessary to save his life, but the blood he receives is… infected. The priest lives but must now live his life as a vampire.

On the surface this story is about the dark irony of a priest, a man who has given himself to a life of religion and to the word of God, who finds himself deep in a world of sin and the trials and tribulations that arise from this. But this story has many social and moral issues that it comments on as well.

The main issues the film touches on are the choices we make in life and how easily we look past the overall consequences of our decisions. With every action there is a reaction and Thirst illustrates this quite well. Slowly every choice the main character makes that leads him down a road of “sin” eventually comes back and makes things harder for him.

The film also touches on the depravity of people in desperate situations. From the corruption of the priest himself, to the corruption of those around him once they find out what he is. The lure and promise we often hold onto in troubled times that leads us down dark paths, this is something quite prevalent throughout the film. Chan-wook does a wonderful job showing us the ugly side of a character while subconsciously making it impossible to not be able to relate the character to some part of our own life experience.

On the artistic side, this film is probably the most visually stunning since Lady Vengeance (a main reason it’s my favorite Park Chan-wook film). I believe this to be in large part to the co-production of Ahn Soo-Hyun who worked with Chan-wook once before on the horror short Cut for the horror compilation film Sam gang yi (Three Extremes in U.S.) back in 2004.

The cinematography in this film really drives the feelings and emotions home. From the lighting of the hospital in the beginning of the film to the lake scene towards the end, the dimly lit streets at night and especially within the final scenes of the apartment where colors are used vividly to enclose you within that space.

If you’re at all interested in foreign films, vampire films, dark comedy films, or just a big Park Chan-wook fan like I am, then I highly suggest you catch Thirst while it’s in theaters. Unfortunately, as most foreign or indie films go and even more so for foreign indie films, this one won’t reach all cities or even all 51 states, but if you happen to be in a city or nearby a city with a decent indie theater that is showing Thirst….. GO SEE IT!

Score: 5 out of 5
Confused about our rating system? Read this explanation.

The Shot Heard 'Round the Boardroom

There has been some controversy in the gaming world lately surrounding the Xbox Live Arcade game, Shadow Complex. Not specifically about the game or any content within it, but about who's getting some royalty checks from the sales.

It is based on Orson Scott Card's novel Empire, which means he is receiving some amount of money from every sale of the game. Why this doesn't sit right with a lot of gamers is comments like this:

"Laws against homosexual behavior should remain on the books, not to be
indiscriminately enforced against anyone who happens to be caught violating
them, but to be used when necessary to send a clear message that those who
flagrantly violate society's regulation of sexual behavior cannot be permitted
to remain as acceptable, equal citizens within that society."

This comment is one of many that has been openly given by Card, an outspoken opponent of gay rights such as marriage.

It has struck such a nerve with many gamers that they have attempted to organize mass boycotts of Shadow Complex. Still, many others argue that it is unfair to boycott the game as whole just because of Card's minor involvement.

While it may be true that Card has done little more then allow his book to be used for the story of the game, this still means he's receiving a paycheck from the money we are spending. And even though boycotting it will likely make only a small dent in the games sales, it is still worth it.

A majority of people who buy this game, providing the marketing team does it's job correctly, will have no idea of the controversy behind it. So why does a boycott matter? Because producers HATE controversy.

Even if the game sells better then expected, active chatter of boycotts and petitions will most likely cause second thoughts when the next game comes around that has Card's name attached. There will always be that sinking feeling in a bigwigs stomach that maybe they could be making much more if they got rid of that tiny little controversy.

If we all just ignore this and tell ourselves that boycotting it will make no difference, then nothing will ever change. Sure we won't cause them to drop everything and strip all of Orson Scott Card's involvement out of the game, but we will bring attention to the fact that people are upset by it.

Some gamers are worried that the developers of the game will be unfairly punished for Card's name being on the credits. That's the marketing teams job to worry about that. I guarantee that the gaming site surfers who know about the boycott, will not be enough to deter what the marketing has already done.

We don't need to worry about hitting the wrong target, because we will surely miss completely. But someone will know that we have fired a shot. Maybe they won't react, but if we don't fire at all then its guaranteed we won't see a reaction. So I'm willing to risk that we won't be heard, rather then ensure it.

Movie Review: Inglourious Basterds

Only Quentin Tarantino could get a movie like this green lit. An almost dark comedy set during World War II? Still, he is the only person I would want touching this movie anyway.

I wasn't a big fan of Death Proof. I know that saying something like this is just going to make me less intelligent than Tarantino in his eyes, but the dialogue was a bit out of control for me. It's something he was initially praised constantly for in his first few films, and I think it went to his head.

That said, he strikes an amazing balance with Inglourious Basterds. Long speeches aren't just thrown in for the sake of having them, but instead they only help to deepen the characters. For example, in the first scene the Nazi officer searching a house for Jews goes on for quite awhile. But as he talks you begin slowly seeing into how his twisted mind is working.

With the dialogue in check, this film becomes classic Tarantino. It would probably bump Reservoir Dogs out of second place for me, or maybe even nestle up into first place alongside Pulp Fiction.

The story he has managed to weave, though very long, keeps you engrossed the entire time. You never know what is going to come of a scene, and you're leaning forward in anticipation to find out the whole time.

Even though we don't get a ton of back story to the characters, they still seem to feel complex. It's little touches that make you think about what their past might have been like. The scar across Lt. Aldo Raine's (Brad Pitt's) neck is never explained, but it easily gives you the idea that he is a grizzled war vet whose seen his fair share of battles.

A lesser director would concentrate for far too long on little things like this. Tarantino simply flashes to a scene of a Nazi general having sex with his translator and immediately back again. In that brief instance we've learned all we need to know about their real relationship without having to sit through flashbacks of it. By keeping away from trivial stuff like this, he can instead focus on telling the epic story he wants to tell, with all the twists and turns it needs to keep you on the edge of your seat.

I probably don't need to tell you it's an extremely brutal tale, but if you've ever liked any other Tarantino flick then this one is definitely worth checking out. Just don't purchase any popcorn if you have a particularly weak stomach for violence, and avoid the jumbo drink so you can stay in your seat for the full 2 and a half hours.

Score: 5 out of 5
Confused about our rating system? Read this explanation.

Now, I want to talk a little further about the effects I feel this movie could have. In order to do so, I'll have to talk in vague terms about the tone of the overall movie. This may lead you to begin eliminating possible endings based on the general feel I give. So, while I won't give any actual spoilers, you might want to skip this next section if you haven't seen it yet and want to be completely surprised by the film.

You know how health classes in high school telling you the dangers of sexually transmitted diseases, smoking or drinking can tend to get scoffed off as quickly as they are relayed? Teenagers seem to ignore warnings of adults when it comes to things that they can't see the immediate effects of.

So how do you counteract behavior like this? It's probably more likely to come from changing the idea of the behavior. If our entire society began to look at smokers as losers, chances are teens wouldn't start smoking. You could probably argue this point, but it's not what I'm here to discuss.

Despite Hitler and the Nazi regime being constantly depicted as the absolute worst people that have ever lived, and despite continuous education of the holocaust and the horrors that were common during it, there are still people who ignore. Some say that the holocaust never happened, and some just seem to think that becoming a Neo-Nazi is the right thing for them to do.

You can't really get lower then Hitler on the social ladder of terrible people, but somehow this isn't dissuading some people from following his insane views. Most of this is probably from being taught hate by parents or guardians, but a lot is most likely teens without parents.

So when confronted with teachings that try to stress how horrible the Nazi party was, they could easily reject it just like they would the talk of smoking and drinking. So, in comes Inglourious Basterds.

This movie is extremely brutal to Nazis. It creates an air about it, that we think it's disgusting to see a Nazi laughing at the death of a Jewish person, but when a Nazi is tortured the whole audience erupts with laughter.

Our children's education on the holocaust until now has stressed the ominous evil of the Nazi. Inglourious Basterds manages to convey the intimidation they had, while at the same time making them into punching bags for our amusement. They are horrible people, but they are almost goofy at the same time, and they get horribly tortured at every opportunity.

Now I'm not saying that we should stop teaching about World War II the way we have been. For 99.9999% of people it works wonderfully. But for that tiny percentage of people, this movie might just destroy the ominous feel of Nazis for them. No longer will they be an intimidating force of power that the disillusioned kid might want to follow in the footsteps of. They will now be the losers, the tortured, and the completely and brutally destroyed, that we laugh at all the way to grave.

It might be kind of a stretch, but if this movie stops 1 kid from thinking Nazis are cool, then Tarantino deserves a medal of honor.

Impressions/Synopsis of the Avatar Sneak Peak

For the most expensive movie ever, only the most overboard marketing campaign could suffice. In order to pitch James Cameron's next biggest budget blockbuster to theater going audiences they've pulled out all the stops, setting up 15 minute sneak peaks on IMAX 3D screens across the country.

I was one of the many who fought my way past Fox's completely destroyed website in order to get tickets to see this event. First I'll give you a break down of exactly what I saw, and then tell you just what I thought of it. So here's goes:

Synopsis

There wasn't much plot involved in this preview except that of the first scene. We see a wheelchair bound man make his way to where a military general is explaining to a roomful of troops about the dangers of the world they are now on. That world is Pandora, and apparently the beasts that live there will tear you to pieces.

After this encouraging speech it cuts to a scene of the wheelchair man, whom at some point is referred to as Jake for the first time, climbing into a tanning bed-like pod. Sigourney Weaver makes snarky comments about his intelligence and flips on the machine.

Jake's mind is then transported into the body of one of the Na'vi creatures, a blue skinned humanoid race that sports tails. He proceeds to enjoy his new legs way too much and cause a scene in the hospital.

After this we get a series of action scenes. Jake in a jungle running from some sort of sabre tooth tiger with no eyes. Jake getting saved from black coyote-ish creatures by a scantily clad female Na'vi. And Jake attempting to ride a winged creature who doesn't particularly like being rode.

Afterwards the preview wraps up with essentially the same ending to the trailer. The part with the dramatic and repetitive music. And that's about all we saw.


Impressions

It's been quite awhile since I've seen anything in 3D. I actually think the last thing was when I took my niece to Spy Kids 3D. Needless to say, wow, things have gotten MUCH better.

Still, despite the impressiveness of this 3rd dimension, the action scenes were sort of hard to focus on with it. It was amazing to see the world this way, but when things in that world were jumping all over the place in order to escape some monster I had trouble following it.

The best example I can give is when Jake was trying to tame the flying creature. He's flung all over the place and almost falls off the cliff, at which point it cuts to another Na'vi who is laughing at him. The guy laughs for maybe 5 or 6 seconds, and it took me about 4 to get my eyes to bring his face into focus.

I'm all for this new batch of 3D movies, but maybe action scenes aren't so great for it? Perhaps we should make some sort of exploration movie where we can see crazy new worlds and places, but not always be fraught with danger. Either way it's a small gripe, but it's something I'd like to see explored.

What little of the story we were given in the preview seemed good. I am looking forward to hearing more about where this planet is, how the humans got there, what the back story of the Na'vi is, etc. etc. Hopefully it goes much deeper then just, crazy alien planet, monsters attack things, people fall in love.

What I'm left most confused about with this movie, is whether they will be able to sell it to the public to the tune of the 500 some million its cost to make. The CG looks really good, the best I've ever seen to be sure. But with the main characters being blue skinned people with tails, it still could give the impression of a kids film to the average film viewer.

Obviously film geeks know this could be an amazing film for adults, but a lot of people who don't follow movies online, might write it off as childish looking. We clearly haven't escaped the uncanny valley just yet, and that could hurt this movies chances at making its ridiculous budget back.

That said, I think that Avatar Day was probably the smartest marketing decision for convincing people to see this movie. I'm much more excited to see it now than I was from initial pictures and the trailer. I'm just not sure if it was effective for the average movie watcher that they clearly need to win over.

Despite my viewing having been sold out, there were still at least half of the seats left empty. I don't know if this was a result of movie geeks reserving the tickets and then being turned off by the trailer, or people casually clicking for some tickets and then forgetting about it. Maybe the site being down so much left a lot of people unsure if they had actually gotten the seats they requested.

I hope this isn't a bad sign for the movies success, as I'd like to see big projects like this continue to get green lit. It's only after trying over and over that we'll be able to eventually pull ourselves out of that valley and have an amazing CG movie that looks as real as the back of your hand.

Fighting Against Muscle Memory

Gamers know of the muscle memory as their friend. It is the term they use when they sit down to play some Mike Tyson's Punch Out after many years and without thought pound their way through several opponents. But there is a negative muscle memory.

We've all had this situation occur; a particular part of a game is kicking our ass, and we play it over and over again. Soon we have a set pattern of which to do things. We know where enemies are going to appear, and we act accordingly.

We start to hit a groove, but then it starts to slowly unravel. The more times we die, the more frustrating it becomes. Soon we are absolutely sick of playing the game up to that point, so we begin to take shortcuts. And we die earlier, and earlier, and earlier. We're over confident, and the game knows it.

I was obsessed with Star Fox 64 in high school. I played the game so much in trying to get all the medals for every stage, that I had enemy patterns memorized. I knew exactly where enemies would appear, how many there would be, and which one I would have to lock onto in order to take them all down with one blast.

Despite those obsessive skills, Aquas was the bane of my existence. I could never get enough hits to get a medal there. It was one of the last 2 or 3 levels I needed to do. I would immediately know prior to reaching the boss whether I would be able to get enough kills to get a medal, and I'd reset the level if I didn't.

It was so frustrating that despite only needing 2 or 3 more medals to unlock whatever it was that you unlocked, I traded the game with someone at school. Obviously I regretted this action a few years later, and bought a new copy when I saw one at the pawn shop.

Flash forward to a few weeks ago. For some reason I made a "Do a barrel roll!" joke to my wife who clearly had no idea what I was referring to. Either way, it gave me the itch and I popped in Star Fox 64.

The copy I now had was completely medal-less, obviously the prior owner was not as obsessed as I was. But I got to work quickly and soon arrived at Aquas. I furiously pounded the torpedo and laser buttons, not remembering the order in which enemies would come.

To my surprise I arrived at the boss with an "Oh shit, this might happen" type of score, and of course it happened. I got the medal on my first attempt in at least 5 years of not having played the game, and without any of my past strategies.

So is muscle memory our friend or our enemy? It could be used to explain how we never lost our skills at a game despite a long absence, or the rut that we get into when trying to accomplish a very difficult task. I won't say for sure as it could be either. Just be forewarned, and be sure to watch your back around this particularly tricky phenomena.

Mediaphiles Giveaway: Artbook for Shane Acker's '9'

So we've wrapped up the GI Joe contest via our high tech drawing system of pieces of paper in a hat, and we immediately move into the next one.

What we have for giveaway this time is a limited edition artbook and dvd for the upcoming movie 9, directed by Shane Acker and produced by Tim Burton and Timur Bekmambetov (Wanted & Nightwatch). I have to admit I sort of want to keep this, but I won't.

It comes in a snazzy little burlap cover, imprinted with a unique production number. Only 999 of these were made, this one is number 827.

So here are the rules:

1. Leave a comment on any post on this site. I get emailed whenever there's a new comment so you could comment on the very first post ever put on this site and I would know about it and enter you into the contest.

2. Be sure that your comment is actually a comment on the article you are commenting on. Any comments that are simply "I want to win" or something along those lines will not be entered into the drawing.

3. Leaving multiple comments won't necessarily give you a greater chance to win, but they probably will. Be sure to keep checking the site. We may have more giveaways coming up. If you are commenting regularily then I might just give you a few more entries into future contests.

Good luck!

UPDATE: This giveaway has come to an end. Be sure to keep an eye out for future contests.

Music Review: GWAR's Lust in Space

For the uninitiated, GWAR are space marauders who crash landed on Earth only to be found by a sleazy band manager named Sleazy P. Martini and turned into a metal band. In the past they have tried numerous ways to destroy the human race, or have fought against others who wanted to destroy the human race so that they could be the ones to do it. Now that you're caught up with their past you should enjoy their music more.

Obviously there is much more to GWAR then just metal. Their ridiculous stories, characters, and stage shows are one of the reasons I love them. Metal usually takes itself way too seriously, and as a result I was never able to get into it. GWAR is a very different story.

Before Violence Has Arrived, a lot of their music was just as goofy as their costumes, but with that album they took a different path. The songs sounded like much more serious metal, but usually with tongue in cheek lyrics about destroying mankind.

It was still enough for me through War Party, but I wasn't really looking forward to more of the same. Not being very big on metal, I needed something more to cling to. Then Beyond Hell was released, and I found a new hook to grasp onto. That hook was an overarching storyline throughout the cd, in which the world, so enraptured in war, awakened the underworld, sucking our favorite scumdogs of the universe down into it. What else to do while down there but take down the devil himself?

The story helped keep me coming back, as even though I enjoyed the music it was much heavier then what I would normally listen to. Luckily Lust in Space seems to be following right along in Beyond Hell's footsteps. From what I can make of the story so far, our anti-heroes have become sick of the planet and its human filth and have taken off into space to do battle with their former arch enemy Cardinal Syn.

The music seems to have amped the brutality up a few notches. There's much more chanting and double kick pedal bass drums. It'll always be the ridiculous story that pulls me back in though.

If you think their album lyrics sound crazy, just wait until you see a live show. I have yet to actually see them live, but have watched almost every one of their dvds. They are coming around in mid-September, and I can't wait to experience it for myself. I just need to find some clothes I don't care about getting covered in blood.

Oh, and yes I am aware of the fact that this was barely a review. Oh well.

Score: 4 out of 5
Confused about our scoring system? Read this explanation.

Why Doesn't Nintendo Make the Obvious?

How easy would it be to make a new Star Fox? Just stop thinking about it so much. We don't want Star Fox Adventures, or Star Fox Command, just a plain old normal Star Fox for the Wii. Take the Wiimote, turn it on its side, tip to the left or right to steer in those directions like Excite Truck, 2 button is fire, 1 button is a bomb, directional buttons control your view and flight maneuvers like the infamous barrel roll. There you go, thats it. Now design some levels and make the damn game!

So why don't they? And why don't they make countless other games that would easily sell extremely well? F-Zero, Kid Icarus, Luigi's Mansion 2, Pikmin 3, a Donkey Kong platformer, a 2d Metroid for DS...all of these would be so simple. So what is Nintendo thinking by not pumping them out?

I think I might know the answer, but it scares me. Just look at how well Mario Kart DS still sells despite having been released years ago. It's still at the top of the sales charts most months! So why would Nintendo pump out their next easy hit? Then once they ran out of them they might have to *gasp* think of new properties!

Is this their strategy? Wait until all possible sales have been milked out of a game before they release the next one?

Obviously they intend to keep the Wii around for a long time. So if you don't want to think about new games, and the very first old ones you released are still selling then you might as well wait it out. When Mario Kart stops selling, pop out a quick Donkey Kong or something, then sit back and wait again.

I guess I can't blame them, but I want to inform them of something just in case they are reading this. You had tons of good games for the NES, remake some more of those! Recently we got a Wii Punch-Out, and that was great, but I want to see more of these Wiivivals. I want the word Wiivival to become a common gamer term. When the new Kid Icarus that everyone has been begging for comes out, I want us to describe it as the newest of Nintendo's Wiivivals.

Just comb through your back catalogue, find something that was good but hasn't been remade, and make that. I know its not asking for a lot, but clearly you aren't willing to give a lot this generation. So at least give us this and I'll be happy. I won't even launch into a tirade on the state of the virtual console, or why wou don't start putting up GB and GBA games on DSiWare.

District 10? What Would Get Me Excited About a Sequel to District 9

Warning! This post contains SPOILERS for District 9! Don't say I didn't warn you!

The movie industry loves its sequels. If a movie does well, then you can be guaranteed it'll get another entry soon enough. District 9 made its budget back in about 5 minutes of release. Sure it wasn't a huge budget to begin with, but that'll make a sequel all the more appealing to the big wigs.

Neill Blomkamp might not want to do one, but plenty of studios have gone ahead without the original writer/director. I'm not sure who owns the rights to the property but I imagine since Blomkamp is a first timer that the studio probably does. So I might as well start speculating about a sequel right now.

I'm not normally an advocate for retreading material, or telling stories that don't need to be told. When talk of a Cloverfield sequel came about I groaned. I don't want to know where the monster came from, and I don't want to see another monster. But that said, theres usually room to make an excellent sequel.

In District 9's case I see two possibilities. They could make a prequel that explains why the aliens came to Earth, and how they became so malnourished. I'll have to admit I'm somewhat curious as to the answers to these questions. Did they somehow run out of food on a trip to somewhere else and stop on Earth, only to be too weak to open the doors? Was this a ship full of prisoners or something that the rest of the aliens set on autopilot to get rid of them?

Ultimately though, I think I would hate a movie that explained this stuff. So the second thing I see working is a sequel set around the uprising of the prawn, led by Wikus. At the end of the movie it says that they are all taken to the other camp, but it shows Wikus in a garbage dump. So if he's out of that camp then maybe he'd plan a way for the others to escape. Maybe Christopher would come back toward the end of the movie or something?

I think this would probably be the most ideal story to tell, I'm just unsure if we really need it or not. Still, I doubt I'd mind watching it. Any thoughts from anyone else on what you'd like to see if they make a District 10?

Don't Call Me A Fanboy

Let me be clear, my opinions are well thought out. I am educated on the subject, probably more so then you. So please, do not tell me I am wrong. I have had to tell people something along these lines on numerous occasions, all because I mentioned that I want a PS3 and not a 360.

Yes, I still have yet to join the "next gen" of gaming. It's not because I don't want to, or can't decide which console to get, but because of life. When the PS3 and Wii hit I had plans of waiting in line for both and selling the PS3 for double or triple the price, then getting another one later down the road when you could find them in stores. It didn't work out that way though.

But I got in line for the Wii anyway, because my fiancee wanted it and when the woman in your life wants a gaming related item you don't say no. So we got a Wii, but since then life has hit full force. We got married, and then got pregnant pretty much immediately afterwards. Both of those things as it turns out are quite expensive. As a result, I still have no PS3.

Originally I wanted one because of the PS2, but obviously things have changed since then. The stigma among almost all in the gaming world is that the 360 is the best console around. When I mention that I still want a PS3 to someone who plays games, they begin to launch into what a mistake that is and tell me about how much better the 360 is.

We may be into our 4th year of this console generation and I still don't have a system, but that doesn't mean I don't know what I'm talking about. I deliver newspapers, which means I am in my car for at least 6 hours a day. I listen to a ton of podcasts in that time, and a lot of them are video game related.

So what has made me decide that the PS3 is still for me? Simple, I don't have a lot of time to game right now. Like I said, we have a kid. Handhelds work out alright because I can be in whatever room the kid is in and I can usually turn it off instantly if I need to, but going upstairs to play on a console is a different story.

So what do I want to play in that little time I have? I want to play the best games possible. The ones that will probably go down as some of my favorites of all time. Right now, I've got my eyes on Heavy Rain and The Last Guardian doing just that. Sure I have fun with action type games, but I'd be just fine having God of War and Uncharted instead of Dead Rising and Lost Planet.

So don't tell me I'm making a mistake, and don't call me a fanboy. I don't care how many stacks of good games there are on 360, I don't have the time to play all of those and I want to play the handful of PS3 games more anyway. I've made my decision based on what is right for me. Thats not being a fanboy, thats just being a smart consumer.

The Future of Television

Television has changed.

No longer do we appeal to the highest common denominator and everyone pays close attention to understand all the subtleties. Now we appeal to the lowest and those who want more just need to dial their brains down a few hundred notches.

We live in the age of the "reality" tv show. Now don't get me wrong, I understand completely. Despite my complete disgust for the "celebreality" shows on Vh1, we have like 20 channels, so I watch them. And I kind of enjoy it.

It's the exact same reason we all crowd around the block when an ambulance shows up at the neighbors, or slow down and crank our necks at a car crash, we like to see disaster, pain, suffering, and any other amount of similar things. And what else is Daisy of Love besides disaster, pain and suffering?

So I've come to you with an open proposal. Feel free to completely steal my idea and not give me any credit. Honestly it'll happen whether I suggest it or not so it doesn't really matter. We need to stop pussyfooting around and just embrace this change. So here's the ultimate reality show, lets just cut to the chase. If I don't see this within a year I will be extremely disappointed with our society.

Remember that Battle of the Network Stars show, where they faced sitcom stars with other sitcom stars in Olympic like sporting events? Now you of course remember American Gladiators as well right? There you go.

You've no doubt figured it out, but if not I'll explain it to you. I want to see all of the batshit crazy reality show people battle it out in American Gladiator like events.

Omarosa, crazy christian lady from Wife Swap, that Pumpkin chick that spits on people, the New York girl she spit on, the very angry man that tried to fight Gordon Ramsey, Richard Hatch (naked of course), and any number of other people that should probably be in mental institutions instead of on TV. Keep in mind that these need to be people that are ONLY known for having been on some trashy reality show.

What's the prize? Genuine fame. We could take anyone that wins, find some sort of actual talent they have, and teach them to use that instead of making out with strangers and taking their clothes off. However, anyone that loses gets obscurity. Everyone in America promises to completely ignore them, even if they are humping their leg.

Come on Fox. Don't even TRY to act like you aren't interested in this. You don't even have to thank me. My thanks is the fact that I have made America a better place, and that's all the thanks that I need.

Movie Review: District 9

After being inundated this summer with remakes and sequels of other sci-fi franchises, Neill Blomkamp's District 9 comes around and brings a refreshing take on the genre of sci-fi. Adding a setting not seen before in any science fiction film and also a story so compelling, exciting, and fresh that it will have you emotionally drained by the time the film is over, District 9 grabs the viewer and never lets go.

The setting is Johannesburg, South Africa. A typical looking city with skyscrapers in the sky and taxis on the ground. However there is something else looming above this city. A huge UFO that looks more like a mother ship than the classic saucer shaped UFO's seen by countless eye witnesses from Air Force personnel to corn farmers. This UFO has not moved since it's arrival over Johannesburg. The beginning of the film is the only part of the film that kind of felt out of place to me. The audience of course has to be up to date on what is happening and this is done through interviews with experts who have emerged since the arrival of the aliens and people living in Johannesburg and the slums surrounding it. It is these quick interviews that for some reason did not pull me in as it should have.

In part I think it was due to the music that was being played in the background while all of these interviews and images were being displayed. However minor this may seem, I felt that it really made it seem like the music was trying to add more dramaticism to these scenes and interviews instead of letting the subject matter speak for itself. There are some scenes in this "catch-up" opening section of the movie that are truly amazing. Because I don't want to include any big spoilers I will not give an example of these. These opening 10 minutes or so are the only part of the movie where I felt distanced from the the setting and characters. Maybe this was a good thing since it was such a contrast from what was about to occur throughout the rest of the movie.

After the introduction to the events that have transpired up until the present we are taken on a journey that is at times exciting, at time sad, and at times terrifying. Before seeing the film I already had preconceived notions on what the film would be like. Little did I know that most of what I had thought was wrong. Again I do not want to get too much into the story because doing so would ruin the surprise and wonder that I first experienced by not knowing what was truly in store. The characters, both alien and human, put on such a great performance that it honestly feels real. I later found out why the human characters, especially the main character, were so believable after watching an interview with the director. He said that a lot of the dialogue was improv. They had a bunch of lines and points in the script that they had to touch on, but the rest was made up on the spot to give it a more realistic sound and man did that work. I found myself laughing a lot at the beginning at the way that the main character and other humans were treating the aliens and what they were saying to them. At first you see these aliens as just disgusting dumb, yet dangerous, creatures. And that is exactly how the humans treated them.

The movie was made on a budget of 30 million. These days that is pretty cheap for a science fiction film of this magnitude. How they were able to pull off such realistic looking aliens and other effects I have no idea. But you were able to see so much emotion coming from the aliens faces that without even reading the subtitles when they spoke you could easily tell how they were feeling. There were some real emotional scenes involving the aliens and just being able to see the look in their eyes made you more attached to the character. I commend what Neill Blomkamp and the team behind the film has done with the budget that they had to work with.

All in all this is my favorite movie of the summer. At first I didn't think anything would be able to top Star Trek, but for me this movie did it. I think bringing the aliens to such an unruly human environment that is Johannesburg added a sense of of familiarity yet at the same time it invoked a feeling of the unknown. This is in part due to it being in a setting on Earth during present day, but set in a part of Earth that here in America we are not used to. So having aliens living in that kind of environment only adds to the anxiety that one feels while being introduced into the kind of setting.

This is a must see movie for any sci-fi fans, action fans, or just fans of good cinema. I also suggest not waiting until it comes out on DVD and Blu Ray because seeing it in a theater is the best way to experience the film. Also I must warn that the film is definitely a hard R. There may possibly be more "fucks" used in this movie than in Casino, but that may be stretching it. Also there is gallons of blood to be shed. This movie is not for the squeamish. GO SEE DISTRICT 9!

Score: 5 out of 5
Confused about our scoring system? Read this explanation.

As an added bonus I've added the great interview that Alex over at Firstshowing.net did with Neill Blomkamp. There are a few minor spoilers, but nothing that will ruin the movie at all. I suggest coming back after you watch the movie to watch this interview. Mainly because some of your burning questions about how the film was made and Blomkamp's ideas behind it will be answered. You can watch it before you see the film, but I'd suggest watching it afterward.

Neill Blomkamp Interview - District 9 from FirstShowing.net on Vimeo.

Mediaphiles Giveaway: GI Joe for DS

Want to win a copy of GI Joe The Rise of Cobra for Nintendo DS? Here's how:

1. Leave a comment on any post on this site. If you aren't signed up for blogger then I'd recommend doing so, that way you'll have a profile that I can use to track you down should you win. If you don't want to include an email on your profile, then keep an eye out on the site for me to post the name of the winner and you can contact us from there.

2. Leaving multiple comments won't necessarily give you a greater chance to win, but be sure to keep checking the site. We have another giveaway coming up soon, and possibly more in the future. If you are commenting regularily then I might just give you a few more entries into future contests.

3. Be sure that your comment is actually a comment on the article you are commenting on. Any comments that are simply "I want to win" or something along those lines will not be entered into the drawing.

That's it. So get commenting, and be sure to check the site regularly for the announcment of the winner.

Also, this is the review copy of the game. It has been opened and played but is otherwise virtually brand new.

Good luck!

Game Review: GI Joe The Rise of Cobra for Nintendo DS

Movie licensed games don't have a stellar record for quality, so I was a bit apprehensive when entering into this review. Instead I got a fairly solid title, it just didn't go much above and beyond. Given the time constraints of making a game that's expected to coincide with a movie release it's definitely understandable, but with more time this game could have been seriously addictive.

GI Joe The Rise of Cobra for DS feels sort of old school in its design, but not necessarily in a bad way. It is a top down action game, and you can choose between 6 Joes. I never watched GI Joe growing up so I couldn't tell you of any glaring omissions to the line-up, but I believe its essentially the same as the movie.

Each character has a basic attack which is always some sort of a gun, and a secondary attack which is usually a grenade with the exception of Snake Eyes who uses a sword. Eventually a meter fills up and you can use a special, although I only ever used it with maybe 2 characters so I couldn't tell you how drastically they differ, but its basically a screen clearing move.

These mechanics are all solid enough, but there isn't really anything to elevate it to the next level. X-Men Legends is a very similar game that drew people in with its RPG elements. While your character does level up in GI Joe, its more of a stat boosting thing. If you had gained new abilities, it would have added much needed variation to the gameplay.

There are a total of seventeen levels (including one bonus level after you complete the game) and a handful of boss fight levels. The problem is there isn't much enemy variation in the game. With the exception of the seldom seen ninja, all the enemies behave the exact same way. Some are just stronger then others. Adding to that almost every level is one path from beginning to end, so it can tend to get a little boring.

I can see so much promise in this game if they only had more time with it. Adding new abilities, several more enemy variations, and more unique level layouts would have boosted this game to a 5 for me. Even adding just one of these things would have probably made it a 4.

As it stands, the core mechanics are solid and work well. The game kept my interest enough to make it all the way through. I didn't keep track but it probably took me around 6 or 7 hours to beat. However I did take the time to level up all of the characters. Since there isn't really anything in the way of bad design or gameplay to speak of, I'm giving the game a perfectly run-of-the-mill score. It's just too bad they didn't have time to make it the truly addictive game it could have easily been.

Score: 3 out of 5
Confused about our scoring system? Read this explanation.

Want to win the review copy of this game? Check back soon and look for a post with more details on how to enter to win.

An Explanation of Our Rating System

Review scores are often a hotly debated topic. There's a vast array of different models for rating systems, be it the 5 point, 10 point, or even 100 point scale, the school-like letter grades, or the thumbs. And with every different model, there's a different argument for why it's terrible.

When we started this site, I wasn't really intending to even dive into this whole mess of an area, so if I wrote about something I usually just left a rating off of it even while other members did more traditional types of reviews. But recently we've been offered review copies, and honestly I might as well start getting myself used to doing reviews if my end goal is to get into a press/journalist type gig, whatever type of media it may be in. So, this is an explanation of the review scale that we have all settled on.

We've decided to use a strictly 5 point scale, meaning 1-5 and nothing in between. It seems to have the most positive aspects to it. With bigger scales, reviews sometimes fall into the top half of the scale. Soon it sparks outrage when something gets a 5, even though that should be a perfectly run of the mill rating. The thumb system however, just isn't enough. The human being doesn't have enough thumbs to accurately express a score for something.

We might switch from numbers to some sort of symbol if we end up changing the overall theme of the site and that fits it better. Until now though, it is a 1 through 5 scale.

1=Terrible
2=Bad
3=Average
4=Good
5=Excellent

That's it, no .5 or .75. Just 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5. So with that said, keep in mind that when we review things, a 3 means it is a perfectly fine thing but doesn't have much extra to pull it into a good or excellent range.

Now, keep an eye out for upcoming reviews. We'll be prepared for the fury that you unleash upon us when you disagree with our score. Just be gentle please.

Video Round-Up

Video Round-Up is a monthly post that collects an assortment of videos from around the web. Whether they be music videos, creative viral marketing, just plain cool, or just plain ridiculous, they will all be found on Video Round-Up every 15th.




Source: Kris Pigna, Bitmob.com

In the grand tradition of the internet, people with no lives demonstrate abilities that will never come in handy. It's impressive yes, but I would be much more impressed if he manages to find a girlfriend with this little act of his.

Source: GameTrailers.com

Whats the best way to get people to pay attention to your ad? How about 3D breasts that they can rub! It seems to get people to stop and...uh...take notice. Is this exposing the true nature of our sexism? Probably, but once the God of War 3 protruding penis ad hits the streets all will be right in the world again.

Source:FilmJunk.com

I didn't want to wait until the next Trailer Park to post this. Watching this trailer makes me feel like I'm 12 years old and the world is full of wonder. Its a good thing I've got a 7 year old niece that I can take to this so when it comes out so I don't look like the creepy guy going to a kids movie.

Source:Dan Hsu, Bitmob.com

Much in the way that everyone was talking about the song "Still Alive" from Portal, everyone is talking about this song from 'Splosion Man. It's a touching ballad about one man, and his love for donuts. This accompanying video makes the song that much more powerful.



Why haven't I jumped on this bandwagon sooner? Everything sounds better auto-tuned!



Not to be outdone by Grizzly Bear's weird videos, Mew brings the weird in full force. This is the first single from their new album, No More Stories etc. etc. Apparently its the first of 3 videos. Did the cube things make some sort of rock creature at the end? I'm confused. Maybe we'll see a Godzilla like rock monster in the next video. I can't wait!

Casual Games Defining New Genres

There is a growing rift in the gaming world between the self proclaimed "hardcore" and the rapidly expanding "casual" gamer. We could argue forever about whether casual games are just a fad, or even just the terms hardcore and casual, but I'm prepared to take a very different stance. Casual games are creating our gaming future.

For far too long we've been stuck in the same old genres, RTS, FPS, Puzzle, Platformer, Fighting, RPG, etc. From the Atari era that created many of the core gamers of today, to the Playstation 2 era that began the new rise of gamers, the industry has been slow to experiment and create new genres. But with the PS2's mainstream success, and now the Wii's even greater casual gamer appeal we have seen dramatic shifts in gaming genres.

Newly created genres like fitness, tower defense, time management, and brain training have come along and will only grow from here. Some of these might seem a little thin when it comes to expandability but I envision them evolving into entirely new beasts. Perhaps one day we'll have our casual, as well as our hardcore minigame collections. A little far fetched, but it could happen.

But casual games aren't just creating new genres, they are reviving the forgotten and reinvigorating the dying. If it wasn't for the DS and Wii would we have ever seen the return of the adventure game in such a way as we are now?

Genres that were old and stale are being spruced up in new and interesting ways. Just take a look at what games like Henry Hatsworth or Scribblenauts are doing with the puzzle genre. Or how free to play MMO's like Free Realms have created a structure with which developers can thrive without being the fabled WoW killer. Even the tried and true Sports game is being reinvented with motion controls in mind.

So, does this mean that casual games are overtaking our hardcore games? In short, no. There is no way that games like Gears of War, Metal Gear Solid, or Final Fantasy will ever cease to exist. What it does mean is that casual games are helping the gaming community to evolve. In the future we will probably have a whole slew of hardcore games that were inspired by the genres that casual games are creating today. So stop looking at casual games in a disapproving manner, they may help mold the games you'll be playing 20 years from now.

Honey! Who shrunk my Paste?!

I've talked about the dying magazine industry before. It's not something I look forward to, I love my subscriptions to Wired and Paste, but it definitely seems inevitable. In my last post about this topic, I said that they way I felt they could slow their demise was to make high quality products that catered to a different base of people. Ones that would like to keep them and revisit them.

Paste has decided to do the opposite of the previously mentioned strategy. A month or two ago, they openly discussed the financial troubles they were going through, and asked their subscribers and fans for help. This led to a big campaign to Save Paste, with artists donating exclusive songs to anyone who donated. And the masses donated. As far as I could tell the Save Paste campaign was a roaring success. But that's not what I'm writing about.

If you've found this article, it might be because you are confused by the most recent Paste that came in your mail. You see, they have decided that they needed to cut the magazine down to 6 issues a year instead of the 11 (A joint December/January issue) they were putting out. But they thought that this might be unfair to their subscribers, so they agreed on making small little bonus issues on the off months for only people who are subscribed.

Sounds generous and thoughtful yes, but why do I know this and why are you confused. That may be because Paste also made another decision, that being to not tell anyone about this. You'd think they would want to maybe send a letter to their subscribers explaining this new production model to them. If not that, then maybe write a little blurb about it in the first tiny issue that their subscribers will get. Or if both of those are too much work then maybe they could at least type up a quick little explanation and put it on their website. All of that was too much work I guess.

Instead, Paste has said nothing about it anywhere. When I received my first tiny issue I thought it must be some bonus, and my real issue would come later. Then I realized that this tiny issue had all the trappings of a normal Paste issue. So I hopped online and ran a google search to see what was up. Nothing. I went to their website and searched around looking for an explanation. Nothing.

At this point I was more then a little annoyed, so I found a contact email and I sent off a demand for some kind of explanation. Seeing as nothing is available online, I feel as though I should just republish the responses I got here. So I will.

Dear Alex,

Thank you for contacting Paste Magazine. The small issue you received for August is a bonus issue. With a subscription for 1 yr you will receive 6 regular size issues , and 6 bonus issues. For example; May was Regular sized, June was small bonus, July was regular size , August small bonus. It will continue like that. Hopefully this answers your question. If theres anything else I can do for you please let me know.

Thanks, Ken
Customer Service

This response still left something to be desired, mainly because this was the first "bonus issue" I had received so I'm not sure why he was acting like it was a normal thing. So I wrote back this.

But I paid for a years subscription of regular sized issues. Nothing about these tiny issues was ever mentioned until this issue got here and was tiny. I've gotten regular sized issues all year long until now. If there was an explanation of this somewhere in the magazine or on the website I might not be so annoyed but I had to email to find out. If I paid for real sized issues and I'm not getting refunded some of my money for these tiny things then I should at least be given the respect of an explanation somewhere.

-Alex

And I received this.

Dear Alex,

Thanks for the email back. I apologize that you are upset. Paste used to be 11 issues , but now it is twelve issues. After a marketing survey, the publisher found that in the company's best interest , they would need to change the way the magazine was being sent out. Rather than just giving subscribers just 6 issues for a subscription, the publishers decided that the in between months they would send out a bonus issue for only subscribers. This was a necessary step that the publisher needed to take to stay in business. If you have any more concerns please let me know.

Thanks, ken
Customer Service

There we go! An explanation! Why did it take so much effort to get such a simple explanation? If Paste had to do this because of further financial troubles that their Save Paste campaign couldn't remedy then that's fine, but shouldn't their subscribers get the respect of an explanation? I would think so.

Video Game Violence

I was digging through some documents on our computer, and I found this piece I wrote for a college class a few years ago. Some of it is a little outdated but it does a nice job of summing up exactly how I feel about the video game violence issue. Specifically the quote from Doug Lowenstein is something I've adapted into my own thoughts, it's a great source of comfort when it comes to thinking about the future of this subject.

With each new emerging art form there is inevitably some resistance toward it. Rock music and movies encountered much skepticism from senators and politicians. Right now video games are coming across the same heat.

Claims are being thrown around from both sides. Some say that violent video games cause people to commit violent acts themselves. Whether there is any validity to this remains pretty much unknown. There are studies and statistics supporting both sides of the issue.

Retired Army Lt. Col. David Grossman says “Certain types of these (video) games are actually killing simulators, and they teach our kids to kill in much the same way the astronauts on Apollo 11 learned how to fly to the moon without ever leaving the ground.” That is essentially the argument from the anti-video game lobbyists, video games are killing trainers.

Can that be true? It is true that the Army makes video games for use as training tools for soldiers, and that some of these games were also released to the public. Mr. Grossman talked about an incident when a 14 year old at Paducah's Heath High School on Dec. 1, 1997 opened up fire on classmates and teachers.

“He held the gun up in a two-handed stance. He never fired far to the left. He never fired far to the right. Never fired up. Never fired down. He just
put one bullet in every target that popped up in front of him. What was he
doing? He was playing a video game ... And he was racking up as high a score
as he could.”

A study by Doctors Craig A. Anderson and Karen E. Dill helped second this
notion.

“Violent video games provide a forum for learning and practicing aggressive solutions to conflict situations…" said Dr. Anderson "In the short run,
playing a violent video game appears to affect aggression by priming
aggressive thoughts. Longer-term effects are likely to be longer lasting as well, as the player learns and practices new aggression-related scripts that can become more and more accessible for use when real-life conflict situations arise."

The other side of the argument has a much different solution. Rob Cooper, the Senior Lead Analyst for Majesco Entertainment (a video game publisher) says, “Fining retailers won’t help. Censoring games should never happen. Reorganizing the ESRB [Entertainment Software Rating Board] isn’t the answer. In this fight to stop the criminalization of the game industry as an enabler to teen violence, the key is parents.”

Cooper himself is a parent of two. He understands his part in keeping video games meant for adults away from his kids. After declaring his love for video games, he went on to say, “So, why do I sit around on a Saturday afternoon and feel obligated to play another game in NHL 2k6…instead of…trying to finally get past that boss I’ve been stuck at in Resident Evil 4? Why am I shooting squares and circles in Geometry Wars instead of Nazis in Call of Duty 2? Because I have two kids.”

Matt Helgeson, the Senior Editor for Game Informer Magazine doesn’t condemn violent games, but says

“…The industry needs to re-examine its dependence on violence if it wishes to truly grow as an art form. Although there are certainly numerous exceptions, video games are, by and large, an incredibly violent medium.
Too often, game design involves coming up with new ways to place characters in a
virtual world, put a weapon in their hands, and give them things to kill.
Ultimately, this dependence on violence is limiting the creativity of the
developers that make games. By thinking beyond the traditional,
combat-based, adversarial relationship between the player and the game world,
developers might come up with new and unknown gameplay concepts.”

Doug Lowenstein, the President of the Entertainment Software Association, sums up the whole issue with this,

“Ten years from now, if not sooner, we’re going to have people in Congress and state legislatures and editors of newspapers and producers at television
stations who grew up playing Grand Theft Auto. Somehow, they will find themselves in positions of responsibility and power and they will have done it in spite of the fact that they played games that their elders said would lead them down the road to ruin. Many of the politicians who criticize the industry grew up with their parents telling them they couldn’t listen to the Grateful Dead and the Jefferson Airplane and any other number of other groups that were going to lead you down the path of degradation.”

I think, in the end, that is the main fact. I’m sure we will hear plenty of politicians spouting off about violent games, and plenty of game industry representatives fighting back, but nothing will happen. It will become less and less of an issue in the future until it is a distant memory.

The one thing that we should take out of this, is an awareness. Video games aren’t square blips shooting across a flickering gray screen anymore. They are very realistic, very in-depth, and very much ignored by parents. Parents need to understand what their kids are playing and help to enforce the Entertainment Software Rating Board’s rating system just like they would movies. If you wouldn’t let your kid watch an ‘R’ rated movie, then you definitely shouldn’t let them play an ‘M’ rated game. Once parents realize this, the issue will slowly begin to disappear.