Author Archives: Joe

December 2, 2012

WWE ’13 – The Attitude Era

By Joe
WWE '13 (2012)

WWE ’13 (2012)

Let it be known, nostalgia sells!  Too many of us overgrown children have disposable income to throw at DVD collections and old toys and publishers are well aware of this.  Just look no further than this year’s entry in the WWE video game catalog:  WWE ’13.  Now, there’s nothing nostalgic about the title but the focus of the game’s single player mode is the now much celebrated Attitude Era of the WWE.  I’ve spoken fondly of it in the past, but that’s definitely my favorite era for the then WWF, even surpassing Hulkamania for me in terms of pure enjoyment.  Vince McMahon’s promotion was arguably never more popular or culturally significant at any other point in time, including today.  It made a lot of sense to revisit it (even if it seems strange to almost ignore the current product by doing so) and without it I’m not certain I would have purchased the game.

This review is going to mostly focus on the Attitude Era mode, but before diving into it I will provide an overview of the rest of the game.  This is the second game since THQ/Yukes dropped the Smackdown vs Raw title and refined the gameplay.  I didn’t play last year’s game, but the differences from the last Smackdown vs Raw and this one are minor.  They brought back the limb targeting system and modified the chain grapple slightly.  The changes are mostly superficial, but not to the detriment of the gameplay.  The havok engine the game makes use of was overhauled to a point as well.  The ring now reacts better to what’s going on, as do objects in the field of play.  Though overall, the visual quality looks to have taken a slight step back.  The audio is kind of all over the place in terms of levels, and the new dynamic camera system is wretched (but thankfully something you can turn off).  The create modes are unchanged.  Some moves have been returned to the game and some have disappeared.  It’s pretty disappointing that the create-a-finisher mode is still as limited as it was when it first debuted several years ago now.  There’s also a create-an-arena that is new but not very exciting.  I haven’t checked out the create-a-scenario but I suspect it hasn’t been improved upon much, if at all.  WWE Universe mode is also back for the third year in a row.  Expect more of the same.

Fans get to relive some of the biggest feuds from the Attitude Era, including Hart vs Michaels.

Fans get to relive some of the biggest feuds from the Attitude Era, including Hart vs Michaels.

The gameplay is solid enough, and it’s probably one of the better grapplers put out by Yukes, but I’m only interested in the Attitude Era.  The Attitude Era mode basically replaces the single player storylines from past games.  It’s divided into multiple parts that put the focus on a different wrestler from the era.  The scenarios are:  DX, Stone Cold, The Brothers of Destruction, The Rock, Mankind, and Wrestlemania XV.  The first scenario starts off in the summer of 1997 and the scenario ends after Wrestlemania XV.  Once complete though, some bonus challenges open up featuring wrestlers such as Edge, The Godfather, and Lita.  I was rather impressed with how many old wrestlers were included in this mode considering some of them are no longer with the company.  Expect to take on the British Bulldog, the Road Warriors, and even Vader as you progress through the scenario.  During each match, the game will also assign special objectives that unlock additional content along the way.  Most of these objectives refer back to the real match and encourage you to recreate it as best as possible.  None stand out to me as being particularly challenging so expect to unlock them all with little trouble.

Since the Attitude Era has, until now really, been something only fans recognize it makes it difficult to get a consensus on when it started and ended.  Some think it started as far back as “Austin 3:16,” while others maintain it was the infamous Montreal Screwjob.  THQ decided to go with the formation of Degeneration X when Shawn Michaels and Triple H turned their backstage “Kliq” into an actual onscreen stable.  The game also constantly references the Monday Night Wars, the ratings battle between WWF’s Raw and WCW’s Nitro, as an ongoing storyline throughout the Attitude Era.  DX ends up being pretty well represented in the game, with the only notable exclusion being Chyna (probably due to her being an adult film actress now).  Even Mike Tyson is present for Wrestlemania XIV, which makes sense given that he was inducted into the WWE’s Hall of Fame earlier this year.

The roster includes expected stars such as The Rock, as well as some of the era's lesser stars like Ken Shamrock.

The roster includes expected stars such as The Rock, as well as some of the era’s lesser stars like Ken Shamrock.

The characters THQ chose to focus on for the era were logical.  They were certainly the most recognizable  from the era.  A lot of the big matches are covered including Michaels vs Hart at Survivor Series ’97, the inaugural Hell in a Cell match, the more famous Undertaker vs Mankind Hell in a Cell match, and the mode culminates in Austin vs Rock.  The only matches I missed that weren’t included was the Monday night match between Mick Foley and Terry Funk (who’s not included in the game unless you want to pay for him as Chainsaw Charlie) which took place in between the Austin vs Dude Love Pay-Per-View bouts; and the Austin vs Undertaker Buried Alive match at Rock Bottom ’98.  In the case of the second one, Yukes probably didn’t feel like coming up with a Buried Alive match again (they did at least bring back the I Quit match for the Rock vs Mankind feud) or the WWE felt like it wasn’t appropriate for their audience.  That last excuse seems unlikely as the game doesn’t shy away much from the content of the era.  There are some annoying inconsistencies though with the liberties taken by THQ.  For instance, Billy Gun is able to use his Bad Ass gimmick but Road Dogg can’t say the word “ass” as part of his intro.  The raunch is mostly absent though beyond a few utterances of the phrase “suck it.”  Austin’s middle finder is annoyingly censored, and the audio is as well whenever a character says “WWF” (it sounds like a lot of the audio was lifted directly from broadcast tapes excepting Jim Ross and Jerry Lawler’s commentary) which is distracting, but not as distracting as if they were saying WWE instead.

Current stars, like Triple H, are also depicted as their Attitude Era selves.

Current stars, like Triple H, are also depicted as their Attitude Era selves.

The game mode makes frequent references to WCW and its Nitro program but focuses solely on Raw.  It would have been cool to bounce back and forth considering WWE owns all of the WCW stuff at this point, plus a lot of WCW’s wrestlers from that era eventually ended up in WWE.  Perhaps THQ will one day give fans a WWE vs WCW game.  It’s also a little disappointing that the scenario ends before the end of the Attitude Era.  Like the start date, the end is hard to define but most everyone would agree that Wrestlemani XV is not the endpoint.  It’s more logical end would either be the start of the Invasion storyline, the introduction of the nWo into WWE programming, or Wrestlemania XIX where Stone Cold wrestled his final match.  Perhaps THQ is saving that for future downloadable content, a sequel, or maybe it was just too burdensome to pull off.  In order to accurately depict that era wrestlers such as the Dudley Boys, Hardys, and Kurt Angle would have to be included and all are currently with TNA Impact Wrestling.  TNA has in the past allowed its wrestlers to appear on WWE programs, usually limited to Hall of Fame related stuff, so maybe those guys could appear in a WWE game, but maybe at an unattractive price for THQ.

Regardless of the mode’s shortcomings, it was by and large a fun experience for me to take a trip down memory lane with some of my favorite characters from yesterday.  The mode got a lot right, and I appreciated the subtle details such as making all of Foley’s alter-egos their own selectable character, same for making the Hunter Hearst Helmsley character different from Triple H.  There is quite a bit of content in the scenario, though probably not enough to make purchasing the game solely for the Attitude Era mode a wise one.  I think I’ll get enough mileage out of the rest of the game to make it worthwhile, but I still have yet to fully dive into the other modes.  I’m glad to see the WWE and THQ recognizing that there’s a large market for the Attitude Era and hopefully this isn’t the last we see of it.

1 Comment   |  tags: , , , , , , , | posted in Television, Video Games

November 25, 2012

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: The Complete Series

By Joe
The Complete Series!

Ask most any guy my age what their favorite television show was when they were in elementary school and I be the most popular answer will be Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.  The heroes in a half shell were on weekday afternoons and then eventually Saturday morning from 1987 to 1996.  Their popularity was at its highest during the first three years or so but during their run they managed to rack up a total of 193 episodes.  The show was a merchandising behemoth, just look at a list for the action figures alone!  There were also clothes, toothbrushes, cereal bowls, pillows, and on and on.  You name it, and the Turtles were on it.  To a kid, they were a lot of fun and my days revolved around their television show, so when it was announced that the full series was getting released (housed in a replica Turtle Van, no less) I was all over it.

Packaging rear.

The DVDs have been receiving a steady release for awhile now, but they were always on the cheap.  Not cheap in terms of price, but light on episodes and content.  I have the first two volumes, but stopped there.  The show is pretty much as a I remembered.  It’s pretty silly and full of bad jokes but there are some worthwhile ones sprinkled in here and there.  I remember the characters broke the fourth well quite regularly, but what I didn’t remember was how often the show seems to poke fun at itself.  It’s probably something that disappoints those who want a show to take itself seriously, but come on, this is Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles!  How could anyone take a show like that seriously?  Livening things up are numerous cameos (got to sell more action figures) on both the side of the Turtles and as antagonists.  I always liked the show’s take on Baxter Stockman, and the Rat King was also a personal favorite.

A look at the discs.

Those who have kept up with the show throughout the DVD releases are well aware of the fact that Lionsgate missed some episodes along the way, specifically “Planet of the Turtleoids and “Once Upon a Time Machine,” which have finally been released alongside season 10 as bonus features.  The complete series collection is just a collection of all of the previously released discs, so it does not correct the continuity issues, but does include everything.  This also means that if you’ve purchased every DVD along the way that this set probably isn’t for you, unless you really love the packaging.

The packaging is definitely the selling point for this set.  The Turtle Van (or Party Wagon, as it was called on the packaging of the toy release) is a pretty solid likeness of the old toy.  It’s missing the bells and whistles like guns and so forth, but does feature rolling wheels.  The interior contains a green Styrofoam mold that the discs slide into.  It can be a bit tricky to get the discs lined up properly so I wonder how well it will take care of them, but it works.  There’s a booklet too with a full episode list by disc, but that’s it.  One pet peeve of mine is the sticker on the front of the van features the Turtles as if they’re riding in it, but the side window stickers don’t.

And lastly, an unboxed view of the complete van.

If you’re looking for a great show, this isn’t it.  This collection is strictly for the collector who can’t say “No” to things from his or her childhood.  For what it is, it’s a cool set and I fully intend on watching each disc.  I outgrew the Turtles before the show ended its original run so I’m kind of looking forward to watching more of the “Red Sky” episodes from the show’s final seasons that I missed out on.  If you’re a fan like me that has yet to get the DVDs then this is a worthwhile set for you.

1 Comment   |  tags: , | posted in Comics, Television

November 25, 2012

The Wii U and Gaming in the HD Era

By Joe

Last Sunday, Nintendo unleashed upon the world its latest console:  the Wii U.  For some, the Wii U is the beginning of the latest era of gaming while others simply view it as Nintendo’s entry into the current HD generation of consoles.  Regardless of your opinion, this is a new console and new consoles are something to get excited about.

I had made the decision to reserve a Wii U for myself awhile back so picking up the deluxe bundle on launch day was no problem.  I also picked up a new Pro controller and a copy of New Super Mario Bros. U.  As far as console launches go, the Wii U appears to have had a mostly successful one.  When I picked up mine it was around 1 o’clock and the Best Buy I went to was already sold out of the deluxe bundle.  The sales receptionist I spoke with wasn’t certain, but did think they still had a couple of the standard bundles in stock.  For those unaware, the deluxe version comes with more internal memory (32 GB vs 8), a copy of Nintendo Land, a charging dock for the GamePad, and comes in black as opposed to white.  For the extra fifty bucks, it seemed like a smart choice to me though for those stuck with the smaller unit know that the Wii U works with most external HDD so expanding upon that 8 GB of memory shouldn’t be too difficult.

If I had to use one word to sum-up the GamePad, it would be: Big.

The Wii U is quite similar to its predecessor in terms of looks.  It’s fairly small and plain looking.  It still makes use of a sensor bar and Wii remotes and the main home screen remains mostly unchanged.  The big change obviously comes in the Wii U’s GamePad, a combination of a tablet and a standard controller.  It has four face buttons, twin analog sticks, and four shoulder buttons including two triggers.  It has a slot for a stylus as well as home, power, and TV buttons.  The TV button allows you to pair your GamePad with your television and use it as a second remote.  It’s functional and kind of neat for when you have your GamePad on your lap.  The controller is fairly large, but light.  It’s nearly the same size as the console itself.  It’s light feel is welcomed, but it does make the controller feel a bit cheap.  Shaking it causes the buttons to rattle, and the shoulder triggers are not analog meaning there’s no sensitivity to them (pushing it all the way in or slightly has the same in-game effect) which is a bit of a letdown.  The touchscreen though is large and quite nice with very good picture quality.  It doesn’t seem to be quite as good as the Playstation Vita’s OLED screen, but gets the job done.  It communicates with the Wii via wireless and infrared and there’s no noticeable lag.

The Yoshi’s Fruit Cart game is one of the more interesting ones on Nintendo Land.

How the GamePad functions with the Wii U is obviously what will make or break the system.  Nintendo Land is the game that’s supposed to put the GamePad’s features front and center which makes it almost a required purchase for early adopters.  Nintendo Land is basically a collection of mini games each one based on a different Nintendo property.  Some of these IPs are pretty well known, like Zelda, while others not so much, such as Balloon Fight.  I’m not a big fan of mini game collections so I haven’t really got into Nintendo Land.  There is some cool stuff in there though.  The Ninja Battle game has you aiming your GamePad at the TV and sliding your finger towards the screen to toss ninja stars.  The Yoshi Cart game has you draw a line on the GamePad for your cart to follow to pick up fruit on the way while avoiding obstacles.  The catch is that the fruit and obstacles only appear on the TV screen while the GamePad is blank.  Games like the Zelda adventure are mostly straight forward.  The GamePad can be used to view the scenery by physically moving it, or the player can just look at the screen.  Nintendo Land seems to just scratch the surface without really showing anything revolutionary.  It will be interesting to see how Nintendo makes use of the GamePad in their classic franchises.

Baby Yoshi returns in NSMBU.

There’s no wondering when it comes to Mario though, since he has a new game at launch.  New Super Mario Bros. U is pretty similar to the previous entries in the series, GamePad or no GamePad.  I’m only a few levels deep, so I can’t say if it’s better or worse than the other entries in the series yet.  I can say that I like the Super Mario World inspired layout, and I like the inclusion of Yoshi even if he’s added as he was in the Wii game where he can only be used in certain levels.  I haven’t tried any multiplayer with it, so I can’t even comment really on the GamePad’s use there but in the single player game it’s really only used as a second screen.  Such a feature does have its uses as you don’t even need the television on to play the game, but it is disappointing that Nintendo couldn’t find a way to make use of its new toy with its flagship series.

It’s pretty nice that Nintendo has finally entered the HD era, but what isn’t nice is that they’ve also adopted a lot of what makes this era of gaming so frustrating.  The Wii U is the victim of the dreaded day one update, which means the second you plug in that new console it’s going to prompt you to update the operating system.  Ditto for both Nintendo Land and NSMBU.  The OS update took me well over an hour to update and install, while the Nintendo Land update took around a half an hour and NSMBU around 15 minutes.  That’s pretty damn annoying and one of the things that makes me long for the days of old.  Also complicating things, is the Wii U is the victim of severe loading times.  Changing screens takes around 15 seconds on the unit and booting up a game is far from seamless.  I don’t know if this is something that can be improved upon with future updates or if we’re just going to have to deal with it.

The Wii U has some things going for it, but it’s definitely not the revolution that the Wii was.  Playing the Wii for the first time felt incredibly fresh and new, while I didn’t get the same feeling when playing the Wii U.  It’s certainly fun, and there’s probably better software out there (like Scribblenauts Unlimited) for showing off the GamePad, but right now the console is far from a must buy.  Get it if you love Nintendo or want to have the latest thing, otherwise most will be fine waiting for the first big Nintendo game on it or price drop.

3 Comments   |  tags: , , , , , , , | posted in Video Games

November 4, 2012

Wreck-It Ralph

By Joe

Disney hasn’t made many movies recently that interested me in the least.  They tend to focus on obvious children’s movies now-a-days and leave the family genre to Pixar.  Which for the company is viable strategy since it owns Pixar and allows it to hit multiple demographics.  This makes Wreck-It Ralph an exception.  Wreck-It Ralph is the video game/non video game film from Disney Studios that is sure to appeal to adults who grew up in the 80’s and 90’s with its many references to classic games.  The film was unveiled in great detail at this year’s E3 and was one of the highlights of the show.  And even though I loved the film’s premise, I was concerned it would be a mostly shallow experience where most of the enjoyment for older viewers would come from cheap cameos of popular video game characters.  I’m happy to report that after seeing the film I was pleasantly surprised.

Perhaps I should have had more faith.  After all, John Lasseter is the one spear-heading Disney Studios these days and his track record from Pixar is stellar.  Directing the film is Rich Moore who is mostly known for his work with the Futurama franchise, a show that I adore (at least the first four seasons).  And the voice cast for Wreck-It Ralph is pretty good too with John C. Reilly as the voice of Ralph, Jane Lynch as Calhoun, and Jack McBrayer as Fix-It Felix Jr.  Other notable cast members include Sarah Silverman as Vanellope von Schweetz and Ed O’Neill as Mr. Litwak, the arcade owner.  I guess the only reason I was down on the film is because the trailers were pretty poor.  Outside of the group therapy session that everyone has probably seen by now, it looked like any old kid’s movie.  Instead though I found the writing to be clever, the video game references well placed, and a lot of the humor was derived from situations and expressions as opposed to simple jokes.  There are some corny jokes, such as the many that are derived from the name for one of the games, Hero’s Duty, but they’re seldom annoying.

An “in game” shot of Ralph and Felix from “Fix-It Felix Jr.”

The film opens with narration from the protagonist (antagonist?) of the film, Ralph himself.  We’re given the backstory to his game about how he’s the bad guy who smashes a building in a Donkey Kong fashion and it’s Fix-It Felix who, as the player, has to set everything right.  When he does, the tenants of the building Ralph was smashing bestow him with a medal and toss Ralph off the building into a pile of mud.  When the day is done and the arcade is closed, Ralph is left alone to live in the dump while Felix and the rest stay in the building and the other characters shower him with praise and pie.  Ralph isn’t just narrating this sequence, as it’s soon revealed he’s at a group meeting for video game bad guys.  Here is where we get our first round of cameos with notable characters being Zangief, Clyde, Bowser, and Kano, among others.  Ralph is tired of being a bad guy, while the group is designed to make bad guys feel good about being bad guys.  Ralph gets little out of confessing his desires to be the good guy and as everyone exits the meeting it’s revealed it was taking place in the center of a map from Pac-Man and everyone is animated with pixels, Pac-Man style.

A look at the video game transportation system.

After the meeting, we’re shown how this whole video game world works.  The characters inhabit their own arcade cabinets and while people are playing them they’re expected to perform.  When the arcade is closed they’re free to come and go as they please.  They leave their games by traveling through the power chord into the surge protector, which is kind of like a giant train station.  It’s in these scenes where more on-screen cameos take place.  I don’t want to spoil anything so look for yourself and see who you can spot.  Sonic the Hedgehog makes an appearance as a public service announcement and it’s him that lets us know that if characters die while outside of their game they won’t re-spawn.  After the meeting, Ralph passes through the surge protector and back to his game, depressed.  The inhabitants of the apartment building are throwing a party celebrating the 30th anniversary of Fix-It Felix Jr. and Ralph, awkwardly, gets himself invited where everything goes wrong.  An exchange takes place between Ralph and Gene, one of the other characters, that results in Ralph decrying that he’ll prove he’s a good guy by winning a medal somehow.  If he does, Gene promises to let him move out of the dump and into the penthouse .

Ralph and Vanellope, who needs Ralph’s help to win a race so she can be added to the roster of selectable characters for her game.

The rest of the film involves Ralph going off in search of a medal.  He ends up in a shooter game where Lynch’s Calhoun comes from and then gets dumped into a candy-themed kart-racer where he meets Silverman’s Vanellope.  The movie turns into a tale of friendship, redemption, and corruption as everything is not what it seems in this candy land.  Vanellope ends up being a fun addition to the cast and Silverman seems to really enjoy voicing her.  She’s likely to be the favorite of many movie-goers.  Felix has to go out looking for Ralph when he doesn’t show for his game, which threatens to get it unplugged for good, and Calhoun has to follow him to the racer in chase of an alien bug that followed Ralph and threatens to ruin the game.  Other video game lyngo is introduced that should be fun for fans and there’s lots visual delights involving licensed candy and treats.

The film is likely to entertain mostly in its visuals.  It looks great and the video game centric stuff is a lot of fun.  The older games tend to have a pixellated quality to the animation while the modern games are super slick.  A lot of the characters from the older games animate in a jerky fashion too which helps set the older games apart from the newer ones.  Ralph and Felix are immune to this for some reason, though I suppose it has more to do with the designers thinking viewers would get sick of the quirk if the title character was animated in such a fashion.  There’s plenty of in jokes for gamers too, ranging from ones that almost everyone will get to more nuanced ones (a very famous “code” makes an appearance) that will alienate some, but not to their detriment.  I was really impressed with the lore crafted by the writers in setting the rules for this video game universe.  It’s so much fun that I would love to see more films set in it, but I’m not sure if this one would benefit from a direct sequel.

The film is fairly long for an animated one, coming up roughly 15 minutes shy of two hours , but it’s well-paced.  The plot stays interesting and the animation is top notch.  Above all, the writing is solid and it should keep kids and adults alike entertained.  Wreck-It Ralph is a winner and it’s easily the best video game movie ever made, even if it’s not based on an actual game.

3 Comments | posted in Film, Video Games

November 1, 2012

Kamelot – Silverthorn

By Joe

Kamelot – “Silverthorn” (2012)

It was over two years ago when Kamelot cancelled its North American tour.  This came as a surprise because Kamelot had just released its latest album, Poetry for the Poisoned, and appeared to be a band on the rise.  The reason for the cancellation was singer Roy Khan who had to bow out due to an extreme case of exhaustion or burn-out.  Months would pass and eventually Kamelot would hit the road in Europe with Rhapsody of Fire vocalist Fabio Lione filling in for Khan, but everyone who loved the band was concerned for its future.  Eventually, the fears of fans were confirmed when Khan announced he was leaving the band in early 2011.  Rumors flew around the internet regarding why Khan chose to leave, but in the end it didn’t matter why:  Kamelot had lost its voice.

After months of searching for a new vocalist, Kamelot finally settled on Swedish singer Tommy Karevik.  Karevik was a popular choice amongst the internet community.  He has spent the last several years fronting the progressive metal act Seventh Wonder where he displayed impressive range and a powerful voice.  In many ways, he’s very similar to a young Roy Khan but different enough that fans won’t feel as if the band is pulling a Ripper Owens on them.  Karevik is also no stranger to the Kamelot back catalog as he had joined the band for several gigs here and there over the past year.  The fact that the band was able to keep Karevik’s joining the band a secret all throughout the recording of its latest album is pretty impressive.  Kamelot is obviously not going to attract the sort of attention popular acts will but in today’s 24/7 media coverage it’s still a challenge to keep anything under wraps.

Now with a new album under its belt, Kamelot is ready to unveil its new frontman to the metal community.  Much to my surprise, it appears that Karevik wasn’t just brought in at the last moment to belt out some tunes.  He receives a writing credit for each song on the new album and apparently is already an integral part of the band.

Kamelot with new vocalist Tommy Karevik front and center.

The new album is Silverthorn, and if any fans were worried about how Kamelot would fair without the melodious tones of Roy Khan their fears should be allayed.  For even those who fail to connect with the new material should be able to concede that Karevik fits in nicely and is a welcomed addition.  Longtime fans of Kamelot will probably feel right at home anyway as Silverthorn is equal parts new and familiar.  It plays like a culmination of Kamelot’s prior works with elements of the complex melodies of Epica and low-end of Poetry.  There’s also plenty of new, with the song “My Confession” sounding like nothing in the band’s back catalog and a stronger emphasis is placed on the keys and general orchestration present in many songs.

Like Epica and The Black Halo, Silverthorn is a concept album.  The tale here is of little importance when it comes to enjoying the record, but knowing it does add another layer.  As the cool tones of the cover suggest, it’s not a happy tale.  Listening and reading the lyrics are sufficient enough to get a basic understanding for the story (or viewing the video for the lead single “Sacrimony”) but for those willing to spend a little extra dough on the special edition, a booklet containing the album’s story is included.  The inclusion of a story helps to act as a glue for the songs which flow and complement each other well.

After being a regular in the live show over the past two years, Elize Ryd got to add her vocals to a Kamelot album for the first time.

There are some throwback style tracks and some big moments.  Kamelot long ago ceased to be a straight up power metal act.  The band still finds itself classified as such, but that’s mostly out of routine.  There’s symphonic elements to their sound as well as some traditional down-tuned strumming.  The first single is one of the album’s more spectacular moments.  “Sacrimony (Angel of Afterlife)” is both typical and atypical for the band.  It sounds like a Kamelot song but has a pretty big presence.  It features the album’s most infectious chorus which makes it the logical choice for lead single.  “Solitaire” is another catchy track that’s short and sweet while “Ashes to Ashes” is a bit more rudimentary and heavy.  “Veritas” is very reminiscent of some of the heavier numbers on Epica and “Prodigal Son” is the required long one.  It’s a bit more demanding of the listener as it’s composed of three distinct parts.  They work well together and the structure is very similar to Karma’s “Elizabeth” with the more up-tempo part saved for last.

I was a bit surprised to see that Silverthorn did not feature any guest vocals from long-time collaborator Simone Simons of Epica.  Simons had been featured on each of the past three albums in some capacity but perhaps the band wanted this album to feel new.  Or they just wanted to reward their recent touring vocalist Elize Ryd of Amaranthe by giving her the role of Jolee, the Angel of Afterlife.  Ryd’s a strong vocalist and a natural fit for the band.  She has a more conventional sound than Simons but it works.  She’s featured most prominently on the single but has some other small parts.  The rest of the album is not short on guest work.  Joining Ryd on “Sacrimony” is Alissa White-Gluz of The Agonist who does some screams.  Album producer Sascha Paeth does some heavy vocals and plays guitars through-out the album and noted keyboardist Miro does some work as well. For string arrangements Kamelot recruited the quartet Eklipse who certainly fit the Kamelot style.  The box set version of the album contains the bonus track “Grace” which features vocals from Apollo Papathanasio (Firewind) and guitars by Niclas Engelin (In Flames).

The box set comes with a lot of stuff, none of which is really all that essential. For the collector only.

The album features sterling production by Paeth who has developed a strong relationship with Kamelot.  His glossy, clean approach suits the band’s sound very well.  This is an album that’s easy to digest with well placed slow moments to counter-balance the up tempo tracks.  The length is just enough that it doesn’t feel short-changed but leaves the listener wanting more.  The box set contains a second disc of instrumental versions of all of the album’s standard tracks, plus two additional ones:  the instrumental “Kismet” and the previously mentioned “Grace.”  “Grace” is just an okay track and once heard it becomes obvious why it was selected as kind of a throw-away bonus track (the Japanese version of the album is said to contain a bonus track as well, “Leaving Too Soon,” that I have yet to hear) and isn’t anything that should be considered required listening.  The instrumental versions of the songs are also non-essential making the box set more of a collector’s item than anything else.  It does come in a nice, sturdy box with two hard-bound books inside, one housing the album and the other the story (with some pictures).  The bonus disc is housed in a paper sleeve which is kind of odd as they could have put it in with the album.  There’s also a poster but that’s likely to only appeal to younger fans, possibly female ones.

What it all comes down to is this is a nice album and a new beginning for the band.  It doesn’t reinvent the band’s sound but does move it forward in a logical fashion.  And no matter who is fronting the band, fans only care about one thing:  is it any good?  And the answer is a resounding yes!  The high points on Silverthorn may not shine quite as bright as some of the ones from Karma or The Black Halo but it fits in nicely with the back catalog and is likely to please new and old fans alike.  The departure of Khan was certainly a bump in the road for Kamelot who’s star was on the rise, but there’s no reason why the band can’t resume its climb with Tommy Karevik leading the charge.

Top Tracks

  • Sacrimony (Angel of Afterlife)
  • Torn
  • Veritas

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October 21, 2012

Hype and the Wii U

By Joe

Coming to a living room near you (11/18/12).

A lot of money goes into video game marketing each year.  The amount of money becomes seemingly astronomical when combined with how much is spent on video game coverage.  I suppose it’s not as prevalent as sports coverage, but there’s a lot of websites and magazine dedicated to video games out there and all of them are trying to keep us, the consumer, interested in the product.

In general, they’re pretty good at it.  There have been lots of much hyped titles in my lifetime as a gamer.   These are the kinds of games that get everybody is talking about before they even come out.  I remember being excited about the prospect of a sidekick for Sonic the Hedgehog when first learning about the existence of Miles “Tails” Prower in Sonic 2.  Anytime there was a big commercial property making the jump to games people would get excited, such as with the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, even if these games usually turned out poor.

When I think back on these titles there are three that immediately come to mind as the biggest titles, the most hyped of the hyped:  Super Mario Bros 3, Final Fantasy VII, and Metal Gear Solid 2.

I can still remember the day I bought this game and how excited I was to finally have it!

Super Mario Bros. 3 is probably the most highly anticipated game of all-time.  It was insane.  Everyone couldn’t wait to see it.  And since this was before such video game coverage was as big as it is today, a lot of people didn’t see anything from the game until they actually played it.  Unless, that is, if you saw The Wizard which had a climax that was basically a commercial for the game.  On the school playground, my friends and I would talk about all the rumors we heard about the game, the biggest being that Mario would fly!  I don’t think any of us could have guessed it would be via a raccoon tail but when we found out we didn’t care to be bothered by confusion, we were just psyched to play it.

Final Fantasy VII was hyped for a different reason.  Even though the Playstation had been on the market for over a year, a lot of people still felt like we weren’t really experiencing all the Playstation could do until Final Fantasy VII came out.  Television ads bombarded us with commercials featuring mostly FMV sequences from the game that were like nothing we had ever seen from a video game.  It was also the follow-up to Final Fantasy VI (III in the US) which was a much beloved game by all who enjoyed it.  There was some controversy too since the franchise was moving from Nintendo to Sony which just made it seem more exciting.  When it was announced the a demo of the game would be release with Tobal No. 1 it basically guaranteed that title would move half a million units, at the very least.

Metal Gear Solid kind of snuck up on gamers in 1998.  The Metal Gear series was enjoyed by most of those who experienced it, but it wasn’t very popular.  When MGS came out it really blew people away with its presentation and innovative use of the Playstation console’s features.  Solid Snake was a man’s man that appealed to most gamers, and the experience is one of the most memorable of its era.  The sequel promised to deliver the same experience, but with more realism.  I remember speculating with friends upon reading about the sequel and how Snake could hide the bodies of his foes and such and wondering how far Konami would take it.  Would we have to mop up the blood?  Make sure they didn’t start to smell?  Like Final Fantasy VII, a demo was packaged with a lesser title before release (Zone of the Enders) which would help drive sales of the unknown game.  It was the unveil trailer at E3 though that really cemented this one as a must have when Hideo Kojima showed off a Hollywood style trailer featuring Snake jumping off the George Washington bridge.

I still get chills when I watch the opening to this game.

All three of these games were eagerly anticipated by the masses, and all three did something a lot of hyped titles fail to do:  they delivered.  Some may quibble with how well they did.  MGS2 is famous for its inclusion of the much maligned Raiden character, and while he was unloved by most, I’ve never heard anyone call it a bad game because of that.  Final Fantasy VII‘s toughest critics are from those who like Final Fantasy VI more, there’s no shame in being a runner-up to that title though.  Super Mario Bros. 3, on the other hand, is nothing but loved.  It’s one of the all-time greats and a seemingly flawless experience.

Nintendo will now try to stir up hype for its new system, the Wii U.  The hype machine started over a year ago when the console was first unveiled.  It’s basically a powered-up Wii with a tablet controller.  The system won’t be more powerful, or perhaps not even quite as powerful, as the current Xbox 360 or Playstation 3, but that will make it significantly stronger than the Wii.  The tablet controller is a curiosity, one that Nintendo is likely going to have to lead the way on in order to encourage other developers to do something unique with it.

The Wii was quite the hit when it first arrived in 2006.  People were really intrigued by the motion-based controls and were willing to overlook the lackluster horsepower (partly because the system was significantly cheaper than the others out there) and poor online features.  There was quite a bit of hype for it and so far I’m not getting the sense that people are nearly as excited about the Wii U.  The gaming crowd will support it, for the most part, but I don’t think it’s going to be the focus of a South Park episode.  I think it’s partly due to the tablet controller, the main selling point, and consumer confusion regarding it.  Just how much can we expect it to add to the gameplay experience? We’re all already playing touch based games on our phones and do we really need a touch screen embedded in a controller?  Is there anything this system is going to do that a PS3 and Vita can’t?

Must have device? Only time will tell.

In response to that last question, probably not.  However, a PS3 plus a Vita is a pretty heavy investment so few, if any, developers are actually going to develop software that really makes use of both in tandem(especially when considering how poorly the Vita has sold).  Wii U developers get the benefit of knowing their audience has this intriguing controller and will have to incorporate it into their games.  It’s just a matter of how creative they get.  So far, it sounds like many third-party developers are just reserving the tablet screen for menu interactions or maps, which is pretty lame.  The tablet is only good for a few hours, and because Nintendo is expecting a shortage of them, they won’t be sold individually for awhile which means only one tablet per household.  It’s likely most games won’t be designed to incorporate two for the time-being as a result.

Software wise, the system is lacking a killer app at launch.  Or at least, that’s how it appears.  Perhaps as the early reviews start coming in we’ll find there is a must have game in there, but for now there’s Mario.  New Super Mario Bros. Wii U is the big first-party title arriving at launch.  Expect more of the same from this familiar franchise.  The only tablet integration is in multi-player where the tablet player can manipulate the levels and cause trouble for those playing.  Interesting, but nothing that begs to be tried.  There is a new Pikmin on the way, which may be the kind of game that lets Nintendo show off, and there’s bound to be a Zelda and Metroid title somewhere down the road.

When it comes to the Wii U I am intrigued, but not hyped in the same way I was for the original Wii. Despite that, I still have a console reserved for launch.  I can’t not play; it’s a compulsion.  It’s Nintendo, and its track record is too strong to ignore.  Even though I’m not that excited, I’m assured of having a good time.  That said, it wouldn’t bother me if Nintendo did get me hyped for this thing.  Make the next month go by slowly!

1 Comment | posted in Video Games

September 29, 2012

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles – Nick Series Episode 1

By Joe

You can’t keep a good turtle down.

When I was younger I don’t think I ever expected the shows and properties I was into at the time to still be popular when I was an adult.  I had a similar conversation with a cousin of mine who happens to be the father of a five-year-old boy.  We were talking about how it was kind of funny you could replace one of our childhood birthday or Christmas gift wish lists with one of his and not notice.  His list was full of Transformers, Spider-Man, Star Wars, and so on.  Some things are expected to stand the test of time, like Spider-Man and Star Wars, but intellectual properties like the Transformers and The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles?  Those were kind of unexpected.

The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles have sometimes struggled to stay relevant.  After the bubble burst on the 80’s and early 90’s hysteria they kind of went away.  There was a television show on Fox Kids called The Next Mutation that only last one season and that show was the first attempt at bringing them back.  It was live action and since the budget was so low compared to the popular films it wasn’t received too well by older fans and the younger kids who had missed out didn’t seem to care for it.  After that failure, TMNT co-creator Peter Laird kept the franchise on life support with hopes of bringing the boys into the world of CGI.  I was unable to find anything on the internet, but I recall seeing some rather ugly mock-ups for it on ninjaturtles.com (now owned by Nick) back around 2000 or so.

There’s lots of little 2D visual effects in the show like stars or anime styled throbbing veins and such.

The CG proposal was never picked up, but the Turtles did resurface in 2003 with a new traditionally animated show put out by Fox and 4 Kids Entertainment.  Much like the first film, the new show combined the origins of the comic Turtles with the cartoon series adored by millions to create something that was both respectful to the origins but kept the kids in mind.  I only watched the first season but remember it being a fairly entertaining show.  Certainly if I were a parent I wouldn’t mind sitting thru it with my kid.  It kept the tone some-what serious with comedic breaks to liven the mood, most involving Michelangelo.  From what I could gather from a distance, the show would eventually splinter off away from any of the older versions of the Turtles and establish its own sense of self.  There was even a series titled Flash Forward that took place in the future.  The success of the show, though never approaching the height of Turtle-Mania, probably helped get the 2007 film, TMNT, made.  That’s when the Turtles finally got their CG debut and the results were mixed.  Financially, it did all right but the plot was rather poor and the Turtles looked more like frogs than turtles.  It did have its moments, but no new films in the series (TMNT was a sequel to Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles III) were planned and if a Turtles film is ever produced expect it to be a reboot.

Anyone who has kept up with the Turtles knows by now that a new film was in the works.  Titled Ninja Turtles, it was going to be a Michael Bay production and was likely to be a major reboot for the franchise with the Turtles actually being aliens or something.  Intense negative reactions on the internet and a reportedly terrible script got the project put on indefinite hold.  Alongside it, a new television show and comic book series have been in the works.  The various mediums are not related other than the source material, but it was likely hoped that all of this cross-promotion would really help invigorate the franchise.  The comic has been out for about a year now and is okay, from what I’ve heard, and the television show premiered this morning.

There’s a blockiness, as seen in Leo’s shoulder, to the design of the Turtles that I find off-putting.

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (Nick Turtles?) is the CG series that never was from the past.  The Turtles have been given a modified look and the show is separate from other incarnation of the Turtles.  One of the larger changes resides in the April O’Neil character who is now a teenaged ally of the Turtles.  For the most part, it’s pretty standard.  We have four teenaged turtles living in the sewer with their sensei, Splinter, who once was a man named Hamato Yoshi.  The Shredder is back as the main villain, and so is Krang who hasn’t been heard from in a long time.  The tone of the show is definitely reminiscent of the old cartoon as this is aimed primarily at kids new to the property.  One actual throwback to the old show for older viewers is the use of voice actor Rob Paulsen who was the original voice of Raphael but will now be handling the Donatello duties.

Visually these turtles look a lot like the ones from the 2003 cartoon.  Each turtle retains his trademarked mask but features brown pads everywhere else.  Their skin tone varies slightly from turtle to turtle and some have freckles while Don even sports a gap in his teeth.  Each one has extra bandages for some reason, I guess to make them look edgier, and retains their standard weapons.  In comparison to the CG film, these turtles are less frog-like but since it’s television the quality is lower.  They’re kind of blocky looking and sometimes they get these weird flat “panels” on their skin that seems inconsistent from shot to shot.  It makes me think of the old 32 bit video games when developers were first getting their feet wet with 3D.  The overall design is fine, but does leave something to be desired.  Splinter has often been portrayed either gray or brown, but in this one he’s multi-colored.  He’s also much taller than the Turtles this time around, which is a departure for the character, and he’s less feeble looking.

The first episode, which was an hour long, serves as the introduction for the Turtles.  Right from the start we’re shown who the dominant turtle is (Raph) and also given a glimpse of their individual personalities.  Nothing surprising here, though each turtle is a little sillier than how they’re usually portrayed, including Mike who’s not only the party dude but also a moron.  Their origin is relayed and it’s fairly close to the one from the old animated series only this time it was Hamato Yoshi carrying the bowl full of turtles and he got into a scuffle with the holders of the ooze, or mutagen, that would come into contact with our protagonists.  The flashback, and others in this episode, are told via hand drawn stills with minimal animation which was kind of a fun break from the CG.  Later in the episode we’re told that Yoshi had a wife and daughter and lost both to the Shredder.  He confirms his wife is dead but uses the word “lost” when speaking of his daughter so expect her to surface at some point (perhaps as Kiara?).

Expect to see more of this guy in future episodes.

The animation is better than I expected.  The Turtles and other inhabitants of the world move well enough and it’s on par with the best CG one can find on television.  There is a bit of a disconnect between the Turtles and their environment that may or may not be apparent to all viewers.  Most of the backgrounds are fairly dark as well to probably make it easier on the artists.  Sometimes this leads to backgrounds that are mostly black which doesn’t look good on TV.  The music is mostly a collection of electronic instruments, the only notable moment for me was the chase sequence about halfway thru.  The new theme song is basically a hip hop remake of the original television theme.  The less said the better.

The tone of the show reminds me more of the ’07 film than the animated series.  It’s light on one-liners but definitely aims to keep things upbeat.  When the fighting starts the Turtles do get serious, to a point, and a visual cue kicks in where their eyes become completely white.  It’s kind of interesting, but also kind of odd.  They’ll still pause during battle though at inappropriate times to make a humorous observation.  At first the Turtles appear to subsist on traditional turtle food, but early on in the episode are introduced to pizza and are hooked instantly.  They’re shown to have a television (and Leonardo appears to model himself after a Captain Kirk like TV character) but appear mostly ignorant to the outside world.  Either they don’t watch much TV or they just don’t pay attention.

The show itself introduces us to the Utroms of this universe.  When I said Krang was coming back I may have spoke too soon as the Utroms are now called Krangs.  They operate in the same way but are depicted as villains.  They kidnap April and her scientist father, which is how the Turtles meet her.  Donatello is instantly smitten with her, so we’ll have to see where that goes, but the Krangs are the primary antagonist for this hour of the show.  Shredder is only shown in a cameo, but we can see he’s still the leader of the Foot (unless they choose to rename it) and it appears his head and face has been severely burnt (probably as a result of his last encounter with Yoshi).

This is definitely a kid’s show and older viewers should not expect this program to elevate itself beyond that.  I kind of wish I had watched it with a kid to see how they would have reacted to the jokes and visual gags, most of which are standard kids show clichés.  For me, none of it was very funny but the plot surprised me in that it kept me interested for an hour.  I expected worse, but it seems like the Turtles have a legitimate chance to recapture the hearts of kids once again.  I’ll probably tune in to a couple more of the episodes just to see what other characters from the past return but it’s not something I plan on sticking with.

Post script:  I would categorize my early impressions of this show as tempered enthusiasm.  I expected it would succeed at hitting its target audience but probably not those who grew up with the original cartoon series.  I may have been wrong.  I watched the first few episodes out of sheer curiosity, but now find myself watching them out of sheer enjoyment.  The show is a lot wittier than I could have ever expected.  Some of the Mikey humor is still a little much for adult tastes, but a lot of it is pretty clever and dialogue driven.  The action pieces have also exceeded expectations.  And the many nods to the old series (such as the ringtone on each turtle’s cell phone) is much appreciated.  A lot of my early criticisms about the show’s visuals still remain and it’s become obvious the show doesn’t have the budget to create a thriving New York (seriously, there’s almost no traffic in the city when the turtles are out and about) but that should be expected given this is television and not a feature film.  In short, this show is genuinely enjoyable and I have yet to view an episode that I did not enjoy on some level.  That may not always be the case, but so far so good.

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles airs at 11 AM Saturdays on Nick.

1 Comment   |  tags: , , , , | posted in Television

September 27, 2012

Walt Disney’s Beauty and the Beast

By Joe

Beauty and the Beast (1991)

Recently I made an entry on the much beloved Disney classic Pinocchio.  In that entry I professed my love for the Disney classics, the films, the characters, the shorts – love em!  When I picked up Pinocchio recently on Blu Ray I also grabbed several others.  I did it in part for some free tickets to Finding Nemo 3D but mostly I did it out of my love for nostalgia.  My modest Disney Blu Ray collection now includes seven films and it’s a mixture of old and modern.  After getting re-acquainted with Pinocchio, I thought it would be interesting to take a look at a more modern, but perhaps equally loved, film:  Beauty and the Beast.

Beauty and the Beast came along during Disney’s renaissance period that began in the late 1980s with The Little Mermaid.  Prior to that film, Disney films had experienced a noticeable drop in quality.  Once praised for being good quality, family entertainment, most of the newer films were regarded as children’s movies that adults had to stomach in order to keep the little ones happy.  Disney was also being challenged by Universal Pictures and their animated films which were suddenly the biggest thing in animation.  To reinvigorate the brand, Disney went back to the its roots and started adapting classic stories and fables for its feature-length films.  The films were also heavily influenced by broadway.  Disney films always contained some element of song but now the films contained full musical numbers featuring elaborate choreography and big moments.  The Little Mermaid was a rousing success, as were many of the films that followed throughout the 90s.

Beauty and the Beast arrived two years later and was met with even more praise by critics.  Beauty and the Beast is perhaps best known now for being the first animated film nominated for an Academy Award for best picture.  It didn’t win, but just being nominated was a big achievement for the genre.  It followed in the same style as The Little Mermaid combining a classic story with state-of-the-art animation and catchy musical numbers.  I saw it as a kid, and my family had a copy of the VHS, though I always kind of associated it with Cinderella and considered it more of a “girl’s movie.”  That’s what young boys do, and as an adult I’m not much concerned with those things.  I was eager to see it again and hoped to perhaps see what made so many kids and adults enjoy it twenty years ago.

I’ve always enjoyed the Beast’s look.

Now, I mentioned in my Pinocchio review that I prefer the older style of Disney films in their approach to song.  I can’t deny some of the songs from the modern films are catchy and well put together, but I just hate how they disrupt the flow of the narrative.  Beauty and the Beast is not immune to this malady, but I knew that going in so I just tried to enjoy the songs for what they were.  As a spectacle, “Be Our Guest” is quite impressive and even pretty entertaining to watch.  The inhabitants of the Beast’s castle are fun to behold as they’re mostly animated inanimate objects.  There’s Lumiere the candlestick holder and Cogsworth the clock as well as many others.  Mrs. Pott’s reciting of the title song is also delivered quite well and actually doesn’t completely halt the narrative.  Some of the musical numbers I didn’t care for though include the opening to the film which includes the song “Belle.”  It’s a little silly and kind of drags.  Another one that people seem to enjoy is “Gaston” where the villainous character of the same name is celebrated.  It’s kind of amusing for a bit, but like “Belle” just drags on too long.  I guess I’ll just never like the broadway approach.

At any rate, the musical numbers aren’t going to make or break the film for me.  The film’s plot is going to play a much large role, and as far as tales go, Beauty and the Beast is a good one.  I’m sure most are familiar with it, but the gist of it is an unkind prince was cursed to take on the form of a beast.  If he can’t find love he’ll remain that way forever.  Enter Belle, the beauty component of the title, whom the Beast imprisons in his cursed castle.  Not only was the Beast cursed, but so too were all of his servants who really got the short end of the stick.  While Beast is large and fearsome, others end up as footstools and dressers.  It’s actually Belle’s father who first stumbles upon the Beast’s castle (how the villagers did not know of its existence is a plot-hole best left alone) while running from some wolves.  The Beast does not take kindly to strangers, so he locks up the poor old man in a dungeon.  When Belle comes to find him, she trades her freedom for his.  The Beast, naturally thinking she may be the one to break the curse, agrees to keep her at the castle.

The ballroom scene is one of Disney’s most breathtaking sequences ever committed to celluloid.

What follows is a gradual melting of the Beast’s heart as Belle learns to see the gentle soul within.  Back in the village, the vain Gaston is plotting to make Belle his trophy wife and when Belle’s father returns with tales of a hideous beast he sets out to kill him.  It’s a fairly predictable plot, especially if you’re familiar with the old tale in one of its many forms, but it’s executed well.  The voice acting is especially good and I can’t recall a single performance that I didn’t like.  The Beast (played by Robby Benson) is the star for me as his delivery contains the perfect amount of savagery and humanity.  Others seem to really enjoy the over-the-top performance of Richard White as Gaston but I found him a bit too cliché for my taste.  I think he could have been toned down a little and still would have worked just as well.

As far as animation goes, the work put out by Disney is routinely praised as top-notch and Beauty and the Beast is no exception.  The animation is fluid and the color palette vibrant.  The lighting, the textures, the motion – it’s all stellar.  The Blu Ray release has been visually enhanced as well though to mixed results.  The outdoor scene that opens the film is almost too bright and colorful, but the darker and bolder scenes in the Beast’s castle never looked better.  There’s also a new scene included with a new song that was cut from the original release.  I didn’t find it to be anything special (obviously, since I don’t care for the musical numbers) but it doesn’t harm the film in any way.

With these films I’m mostly taken aback by just the sheer quality of the animation.  Watching Belle’s hair flow or her dress rustle is gorgeous.  I have such great admiration for hand-drawn animation, and while I do love the stuff Pixar puts out, it’s just not the same as good old hand-drawn art.  I’ll never out grow it!

The film may be predictable, but that doesn’t mean it isn’t still moving.

Comparing the modern works to the ones from long ago is actually quite difficult considering the approach.  They’re all-together different and really the only comparisons that are easy to make are the technical ones regarding the animation.  Beauty and the Beast is certainly more flashy than those old films, but I don’t know that automatically makes it the better looking film.  I’ve really enjoyed watching the classics and each time I watch them I notice something new to appreciate.  Beauty and the Beast, and the other Disney works from that era, did bring the company back into the world of family entertainment.  That sounds kind of unattractive in a sense, the term family entertainment, but I take it to mean entertainment for all ages.  You don’t need kids to enjoy the Disney classics, and you don’t need them to enjoy Beauty and the Beast.  I’ll always be partial to the older films, but this is a good one on its own merit and one of the better films to come out of the 90s, animated or otherwise.  The little boy version of me would probably be somewhat surprised to hear me say that, though he’d probably be shocked to know I can’t wait for the eventual Blu Ray release for The Little Mermaid!

1 Comment   |  tags: , , | posted in Film

September 19, 2012

Reactions to IGN’s Top 100 RPGs of All Time

By Joe

All time lists are tough to compile and ever tougher to get everyone to agree on.  It’s impossible.  Sometimes there is a consensus number 1, but getting there is often the tricky part.  What make the item listed at #48 better than #49?  Is there even a difference?

I like to make top 10 lists of various things I like.  It’s fun to do, but they’re never static.  Last year I listed my top 10 favorite albums and if I were to do it again this year it would look different.  Some albums will always be there for me, possibly until my end of days, but most of them are interchangeable.  It depends on what I’m most interested in at the time, be it a specific band or genre.  I find it’s more appropriate to just make a group of 10 or so favorites, like I’ve done with my greatest games feature.  It eliminates the subjectivity of assigning a numerical rank because a lot of the titles in the feature are hard to compare to one another.

And even though I have sympathy for anyone trying to compile a list of the greatest anything of all time, it’s not going to stop me from criticizing IGN for it’s recently completed Top 100 RPGs of All Time.  I’ve a pretty big fan of the RPG genre of video games, be they from the Far East or Western, PC or console, real-time or turn-based, it’s a very versatile and often rewarding genre of games.  IGNs list contains most of the classics and many modern titles as well.  They did stay away from Zelda, feeling that’s more of an adventure title, though they did include Secret of Mana.  It’s a fine line at times.  I’m not going to go thru all 100, just high-light the ones that jumped out at me for either positive or negative reasons.

#99 Lunar:  Eternal Blue – It’s hard to quibble with the 99th ranked title, but I’m going to.  Eternal Blue is the sequel to Silver Star Story and both were released on the Sega CD and then re-released on the Playstation.  SSS is ranked #42, and it’s definitely the superior title in the franchise, though even that might be too high.  Lunar games are turn-based that rely on charm and production design.  They work, for the most part, and SSS deserves to be on this list for setting a new standard in production values alone with its full motion video and voice acting.  Eternal Blue though was mostly retread and the charm didn’t work as well.  Not a bad game, but when you consider that Final Fantasy V, Secret of Evermore, or the original Breath of Fire didn’t even make this list, well that just doesn’t work for me.

#89 Fallout:  New Vegas – Really?  Ehh, I didn’t think much of this title.  It was buggy and felt more like an expansion to Fallout 3 than its own game.  It’s #89 though, so it’s kind of hard to get too bent out of shape over it.

#88 Final Fantasy IX – Did you know that FFIX is the 5th highest ranked game for the Playstation on gamerankings.com?  It’s a great throw-back title for the venerable series, and while it doesn’t reinvent the wheel, it’s a lot of fun to experience.  It deserves better than #88!

If you’ve got 100 hours to kill and a love for tactical RPGs, then Front Mission 3 is for you!

#75 Front Mission 3 – I have no problem with this one being here.  I’ve actually never played it outside of a demo that came with another Square title during the PSX era.  I’ve always wanted to play it, but the 100 hour commitment supposedly required to finish it always scared me away.  It’s basically an RTS with mechs.  Sounds sweet!

#67 Final Fantasy Tactics Advance – I love the original Final Fantasy Tactics, but this one?  Eww.  Square felt for some reason it had to dumb down the game since it was on a Nintendo handheld and the end result was a game I couldn’t finish.  Tactics A2 for the DS was a better game, though I’m not sure it’s deserving of being on this list but they could have probably made room.

#66 Mario & Luigi: Partners in Time – I like the Mario & Luigi series.  It’s pretty fun and a nice off-beat kind of RPG, but Partners in Time is my least favorite.  I found it annoying switching between the babies and the regular Mario Bros. and the humor wasn’t as fun as the original.  It’s the lone rep from this series, and if IGN was only going to pick one I think they should have went with the first title for the Gameboy Advance.

#61 Chrono Cross – Poor Chrono Cross continues to get overlooked.

#58 Freedom Force – I was kind of surprised to see this one included.  It’s an action heavy RPG for the PC that is kind of like Diablo, without loot and with superheroes.  It’s a cool game, but one I found forgettable.  I never really thought of it as an RPG either; Warcraft III is arguable more of an RPG than this title.  If IGN wants to include it, I’m okay with it, but not this high.

#47 Xenogears – I love this game.  I think it should be higher, though I concede I love it more than most people do.  Even taking that into account, it should still be in the Top 30.

#41 Xenoblade Chronicles – I have this game, played it once, and have no opinion on it.  I’m just surprised it’s higher than Xenogears.  I guess I need to get back to playing it.

MMORPGs haven’t changed a whole lot since Ultima Online, but they definitely look better.

#33 Ultima Online – This is where IGN and I are going to have to agree or disagree.  The Ultima series is worthy of inclusion as it’s one of the more influential franchises in the genre, especially on the PC.  Online RPGs though, now more commonly known as MMORPGs, are just not my thing.  I consider that a separate genre.  There’s just little depth.  Developers took the whole looting aspect of RPGs and made an entire game out of it.  I just find them boring.  I like some narrative structure in my games, and it doesn’t help that most are just hack and slash games.  So year, I wouldn’t include many on this list, and if I did, they’d be on the other side of 50.

#21 Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars – I have no problems with this ranking.  It’s actually perfect, just outside the top 20.  Good job, IGN!

#20 EverQuest – See Ultima Online.  I suppose this title deserves inclusion for being the pioneer of the MMORP as we know it, and World of Warcraft should get a mention, but not in the top 20.  That’s an insult.

#16 Diablo – Really?  Number 16?!  Better than Ogre Battle, Xenogears, Skies of Arcadia, Vagrant Story, Chrono Cross, Baldur’s Gate etc?!  Diablo was a lot of fun when it came out, but it was so derivative.  Just go around hacking-up skeletons and collecting gold.  Rinse and repeat.  Diablo II should be on this list, and that should be the lone rep for this franchise…

#6 Diablo II …and it should not be this high!  It’s Diablo, but bigger and with additional character classes.  On no planet is this the sixth best RPG of all-time.

#14 Final Fantasy Tactics – Since it’s essentially Ogre Battle with a Final Fantasy coat of paint, one could argue it should not be ranked higher than the best Ogre Battle titles, but I don’t mind.  Great game and a solid ranking.

Over the years I’ve never heard anyone say a bad thing about Planescape: Torment, but I’ve yet to play it.

#13 Planescape:  Torment – I’ve never played this game, but always heard good things.  I really should track down a copy one day while I still have a computer with an OS that can play it.

#11 Final Fantasy VII – This has become one of the more controversial titles when any outlet compiles one of these lists.  I consider it my favorite Final Fantasy title, but the gap between this one and VI is almost non-existent.  It’s splitting hairs for me.  A lot of people have a hatred for this title because it was the point where a lot of people jumped on the RPG bandwagon.  I’m okay with IGN putting VI ahead of it, but this one should have still found its way into the top 10.

#7 The Elder Scrolls V:  Skyrim – Even though Skyrim is still a relatively young title I feel pretty comfortable saying it’s the best of its niche.  Bethesda’s titles have come to represent the western RPG in this modern time taking over the point and click style of the Bioware titles.  Even though my experience with Skyrim was fraught with horrible glitches and bugs (really, the game should not have been released for PS3 in the state it was in meaning I’ll never buy a Bethesda title at launch again until I know it’s safe to do so) the game itself was a true joy to experience.  I just envy those who had it on a suped-up PC or bought it long after the various patches fixed everything.

#4 Pokemon Red/Blue – I struggle with where to rank Pokemon on this list.  On hand, it’s insanely addicting and a clever concept.  On the other, it’s really simple and doesn’t require a great deal of skill to master.  I think it should be on this list and definitely top 50 and maybe top 25, but #4 is just too high.

I feel like some people are starting to forget just how awesome the Baldur’s Gate series was. It certainly wipes with the floor with Dragon Age.

#3 Baldur’s Gate II:  Shadows of Amn – An almost forgotten title, or so it feels like at times.  I think it’s because Bioware has become known more for Knights of the Old Republic and Mass Effect in recent years, but this is still their best game.  It’s a great tactical RPG that makes excellent use of the D&D license.  The only criticism I have of it is that it’s perhaps too faithful to the D&D license so there’s some tedium involved (time to rest so I can re-charge my spells!).  And with the game being as massive as it is, that tedium can become real time-consuming.

#2 Chrono Trigger – I knew what the top 2 would be, I just wasn’t certain of the order.  I think IGN mostly gets it right though.  Chrono Trigger was a breath of fresh air when it came out late in the life of the SNES, and it holds up really well today.  I’m on record as saying I actually prefer the sequel, Chrono Cross, but that’s splitting hairs.

#1 Final Fantasy VI – A pretty obvious and easy selection.  I think it’s debatable which game in the Final Fantasy main series is the best, but once you factor in all of the new concepts (mostly thematic in nature) introduced by Vi that became hallmarks of the genre for many games to come it becomes a much easier selection.  Final Fantasy VI gave gamers a grown-up story with a huge cast of characters and one of the most memorable villains in gaming history.  Because of that it’s become the definitive Japanese RPG and is not likely to ever be dethroned.

IGN ended up doing a pretty decent job with this list.  Yeah, the MMORPGs kind of irk me and are too well represented and the Diablo stuff makes my head hurt (I might come across as a Diablo hater, but really I’m not.  They’re good titles for what they are, but they’re far too simplistic in nature to rank amongst the genre’s elite) but for the most part the best titles are represented.  It’s impossible to get this kind of thing right but I had fun killing time going thru the list and I suppose that’s all it really intends to do.

1 Comment | posted in Video Games

September 2, 2012

Walt Disney’s Pinocchio

By Joe

Pinocchio (1940)

Back in the 1930’s, Walt Disney captured the hearts of movie-goers across the globe with Snow White and the Seven Dwarves, the first attempt at a theatrical length animated film.  Snow White was a rousing success and proved that animation had a place in the film scene.  Before Snow White, animation was mostly relegated to shorts set to music.  Mickey Mouse helped bring spoken dialogue to animation before Snow White, but for grander tales Disney turned to new characters and old stories.

Pinocchio was the follow-up to Snow White and was based on an old italian children’s story.  Compared to the english translations of the Pinocchio stories, the film wasn’t that long in following.  The tone of the story for Walt’s take was much different as the original Pinocchio is almost unlikable.  He’s basically a bad kid and while the Pinocchio of the film runs astray, it’s mostly through ignorance.

I spent the better part of a week this past summer in Walt Disney World, so I’ve been on a major kick.  Disney makes a ton of money off of park admissions but they make even more on the general good feelings relayed to the patrons that translates into merchandise sales.  As a lover of traditional hand-drawn animation, I have a great appreciation for the Disney classics.  I like some more than others, and I like some of the modern classics as well, but the old ones have a certain charm.  Pinocchio is one of my favorites though, and it was one I had not seen in decades until I found a new copy of the Blu Ray release hanging around a store (it has, per Disney’s rather annoying policy, re-entered the dreaded Vault for the time being so after market prices are obscene) and snatched it up once I saw how much even amazon.com was listing it for.

Pinocchio and his “conscience,” Jiminy Cricket.

I can’t imagine the pressure that the production staff was under following Snow White.  Production began before Snow White’s completion so starting out the only pressure put upon them was by Walt himself, which apparently was fairly immense since his ambition knew no bounds.  Pinocchio was supposed to be the third feature-length release following Bambi, but delays on Bambi moved Pinocchio up.  Snow White was, and is, a marvel of animation but Pinocchio is just plain better.  Pinocchio himself, is mostly responsible for this.  Pinocchio, as most probably know, is a wooden marionette for much of the film and he moves and behaves just as one would expect.  His rear end tends to rise when he walks, his limbs flop around, and he often exploits his ability to rotate his head 360 degrees.

Not to be done outdone, the supporting cast is done awfully well.  Geppetto, particularly in the scene where he’s frightened by a sound in his house early in the film, is wonderfully animated.  His knees are rattling and he’s clearly on edge.  Figaro, the cat, is reminiscent of Pluto in his mannerisms and behaves mostly as a cat would be expected to.  He’s very curious and approaches new objects cautiously.  Even when the story calls for the character to behave with human emotion, it still seems authentic.  Monstro, the massive whale in the film’s final act, is quite impressive and frightening.  He has a real hand drawn look, like a moving canvas, the way the water interacts with him is so impressive.

I love how Figaro the cat is animated. So many of his mannerisms remind me of my own cat.

There are other trick shots and fantastic pieces throughout the film.  Pinocchio’s reflection in Cleo’s fish bowl is a particular treat, and the sequence where Lampwick turns into a donkey is done so well it’s unsettling.  His hands gnarl into hooves as he paws at Pinocchio in desperation.  Of course, the film’s most iconic scene is where Pinocchio’s nose extends until it becomes a full tree limb on his face.  The attention to detail throughout this film is a wonder, even 70 years later.  It’s just incredible to behold and an obvious labor of love.

I confess I have a love/hate relationship with the music in Disney films.  The score and effects are always excellent, it’s where the characters break out into song that I never fell in love with.  A lot of these scenes break the narrative for me, especially in the modern classics where the sequences are obviously influenced some by music video.  In Pinocchio, the songs are worked into the narrative as seamlessly as could be done.  That’s due in part to Pinocchio being an impressionable youth which makes it believable that adults might turn to song to drive a point home.  The songs are not overdone, and quite nice too.  The film is most known for “When You Wish Upon A Star,” the unofficial song of Disney at this point, and it’s such a wonderful and perfect song for this film.  There’s something extremely affecting about the melody and the vocals by Cliff Edwards (as Jiminy Cricket) just accent it so well.

And what would Pinocchio be without its wonderful narrative?  The story of a puppet brought to life by the wishes of a lonely old man who longs to be a real boy.  There’s such a warmth to the Geppetto character when he interacts with Pinocchio.  Jiminy Cricket is an excellent sidekick for Pinocchio and an interesting concept as Pinocchio’s conscience.  The story is certainly a fantasy, but it’s handled with such care that we as the audience are able to buy into it.

Possibly the most memorable scene from the film, Lampwick’s transformation.

Pinocchio himself is handled well.  He is, in many ways, what one would expect of a puppet suddenly brought to life.  He’s impressionable and curious, a blank slate of sorts, which is why he needs the Jiminy character.  We see him go astray and get into trouble, but we know he possesses a sweetness to his personality which never makes him unlikable, only misguided.  And when the plot calls for him to rise to the occasion, we get to see the real Pinocchio.  We root for him and wish for him to succeed in becoming a real boy.

It seems one can’t have a conversation about Pinocchio without talking about the fear injected into the film.  A lot of the older Disney films were willing to use fear as a story-telling device.  Pinocchio’s imprisonment is quite unsettling, and the scene with Lampwick is one of the scariest things I ever saw as a kid.  It succeeds both visually and thematically as being a frightening scene as the formerly cocky Lampwick is reduced to a whimpering child.  The whole sequence is sort of a lesson to kids, be a good kid or become a jackass, and perhaps there’s an element of propaganda or audience manipulation in place.  It works with the film though.  The film is not so scary that kids shouldn’t watch it, just maybe more at the seven or eight year old mark as opposed to three or four.

Is this Walt’s best? I sure think so.

The film’s pay-off is certainly rewarding following the scarier scenes and the fantastic escape from Monstro.  It’s conclusion is joyous and sweet and may even leave you with a misty eye or two.  It’s a fitting end for such an incredible picture.  If you become too engrossed with the plot to really take notice of the animation splendors before you, the Blu Ray includes an hour-long documentary on the making of Pinocchio that’s quite informative.  The scope of this film is just breath-taking and there’s no doubt in my mind that this is Disney’s ultimate high point.  It’s a perfect marriage of amazing technical feats with a delightful narrative.  There’s no superlative that can do it justice.  It’s a title truly deserving of the “classic” label.

I’ve acquired quite a few Disney films over the years and some of the collections of animated shorts.  I’ll probably turn to them for posts from time to time so expect more Disney themed posts in the months to come.

3 Comments   |  tags: , , , | posted in Film