Superheros Galore and More

Ok, so I missed a week or so, no biggie. Let's talk about some more important things than my inherent tardiness.

Let's talk movies. Yesterday my friend Lindsey took my girlfriend and I out to see Dark Knight. I'll try to keep this spoiler free for the faint of heart, but I do need to review it. Overall, it ruled. Ledger's acting was above and beyond the best of his I've seen, and he really took the creepy version of Joker and ran with it. You really get the feeling that this is the kind of guy who could shoot a woman in the spine just to make her dad wince. Aaron Eckhart did just as well as Harvey Dent, and managed to come off as incredibly charismatic instead of a preachy know it all. The writer of this film has done a masterful job. That being said, there were parts of it that just ran....long. I realize it probably says something about the attention span of my age group, but really, did we need that much material? I dunno, I imagine it's a side effect of doing the dual villians in a comic book movie that Hollywood seems so fond of. Either way, a minor quibble with a great movie, go see it in theaters. Moving on now.

Let's talk musicals. That's right, musicals. I just finished watching Dr. Horrible's Sing Along Blog, and was very impressed. The first act was a little slow, but everything really came together for the second and third. For those not in the know (a population sampling roughly equivalent as those that speak gaelic), Joss Whedon (along with the rest of the Whedon clan) wrote a musical from the perspective of an aspiring super villain during the WGA strike. It was free to download until Sunday, and it's being put onto a DVD available for purchase. Check out the Master Plan. Anyway, very well done. Neil Patrick Harris was very likable, and had a relatable presence (well, as much as one can relate to someone who has a PhD in horribleness). I don't typically go for musicals, but this one really hit the spot. I hope to see more projects like this spring up, and if it turns enough of a profit, maybe some other writers will jump on the bandwagon. That's eleven sentences more than I ever thought I'd write about musicals.

Next up, video games. Since my last post, E3 has come and gone. Now, while I didn't attend (apparently a college kid who rants about stuff in his spare time doesn't really qualify as a desirable representation of the press...whiners), I tried to keep up to date on what was going down. A few things caught my eye. First, a new Final Fantasy 13 trailer is out. The game looks very pretty, and one of the stated goals is to make combat as fluid as the fights in Advent Children. Now, I'm not sure if they can really pull that off (the trailer does have some impressive in game scenes, but I'm withholding judgement until I get my hands on a copy), but the game should be worth checking out anyway. Todd Howard did a demonstration of some gameplay with Fallout 3, but it was kinda lackluster. I realize this is because he just focused on the combat (with a god-modded character and the bloody mess perk on), but what he showed other games do better. I did read a hands on review that actually dealt with dialogue, travel, side quests, that kinda thing, and from that source it sounds really good. Hmm, I was going to mention something disparaging about No Mutants Allowed, but after checking their website, they seem to have done a 180 and are in total support of FO 3. How odd. I remember grating my teeth every time Brother None said something I disagreed with. Anyway, the point I was trying to make earlier was that if the story elements of the game are good, I don't care if they recycle Thousand Arms' combat. If the combat ends up matching the hype, so much the better. Lastly, Megaman 9. That's right, an 8-bit classic Megaman game is being released on XBox Live, Playstation Online, and Nintendo Wiiware. There shall be much rejoicing.

I think three general topics is a good place to stop. Next post I'll be reviewing Soul Calibur 4 and Song Summoner.

- Andy

In Which I, and My Companions, Dealt a Mighty Blow Against the Ottoman Empire Using Only a Napkin

So last night I hosted a barbecue for the 4th of July. After vast quantities of meat and vegetables were consumed, one of my friends presented a bottle of wine and suggested we play a game. As it turns out, he had come across a (now almost impossible to find in print) copy of The Extraordinary Adventures of Baron Münchhausen. That's quite a lofty name, as I'm sure you noticed. It's named after the historical Baron Münchhausen, a man well known for his tall tales (which include flying to the moon, pulling himself out of swamp by tugging on his hair, and riding cannonballs). The purpose of this game is to be the finest liar in the group, and a turn of it plays (loosely) like so:

Captain Jacob Dreadnaught (Me): So, my dear Count Borsht. I seem to remember hearing how you once invaded St. Petersburg with naught but five lemurs to your credit.

Count Borsht: Und yeah. I remember it well...

The stories typically take no longer than five minutes or so, though the other players can interrupt with things like "But I thought the Baron Bittergoat was incarcerated during 1785" which the story teller can either dismiss out of hand, often calling the questioner a fool, or work into his story. After each party member has told a story, they vote with their winnings (a part I didn't explain, as you have to have some reason to buy the game and not just lift the rules wholesale from me) for who told the best story.

All in all, while I don't typically like indy role playing games, I think this one is incredible. It's very much a pick up and go game, though I recommend having everyone drink around before hand. It makes it much easier to think on the spot. (My best story was describing when the Emperor of the Moon taught me how to go sky fishing).

- Andy

Diablo 3

I'm sure everyone who's interested has heard that Diablo 3 has been announced. This actually caught me off guard, I wasn't expecting Blizzard to announce it until after Starcraft 2 went gold, but hey, I'm not one to look a gift horse in the mouth. As I'm sure you can imagine, there have already been a lot of people bitching about it. This tends to happen whenever an older game is taken up by a new development team to make a sequel (see Fallout 3). I can understand where they're coming from, after all, someone else is handling (or perhaps manhandling) your childhood memories, but that doesn't inherently make it inferior. Anywho, here's some of the gems I've come across that I think you should see:

An online petition begging for a new artistic direction of Diablo 3. I'm doing my best to think of something that is less likely to affect any actual change that signing an online petition. I mean, does anyone really take these things seriously? Now, before I get started on my views about how Diablo 3 looks, I'm going to give some free advice to any online revolutionaries. When you make a petition, be sure to give it a quick reading first. A spellchecker won't notice that you put down "ear" instead of "hear." It really does just make it look unprofessional. And try to pick an email address that has some dignity to it, unlike "Ultramegazord00" (I guess he was a Power Rangers fan). Learning how to put a hyperlink into the post helps with making it look nice and official as well. Really, everything you should have learned in your high school english class (remember the MLA format?) should apply to this kind of thing. I guess that the petition actually did accomplish something though. There's another petition saying "Please keep the colours, we like them just fine!" I sometimes hate the internet, y'know?

I really don't have an issue with the look of the gameplay trailer. Sure, it's unpolished, but that kind of thing gets fixed with time. Overall it looks like a great spiritual successor to the earlier games, and it improves on a lot of areas. I'm not thrilled with only having five classes, it seems like a step backwards from Throne of Baal. It is cool that they (finally) let you pick what sex you want your character to be. What will really sell this game for me is if they allow for user made dungeons.

I was going to post more about some of the idiocies of the internet (in particular one man who hoped that Diablo 3 would bankrupt those bastards at WoW), but I lost the will after I read the petition.

-Andy