Doctor Who: The Snowmen

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The Pond saga has sadly come to an end and the Doctor (Matt Smith) has had enough of losing. No more interfering or saving the world. Instead, he hides in his Tardis cloaked and hovering in the sky above Dickensian England. He may not want to get involved, but the Earth is still his beloved home from home.

Walter Simeon, as a boy was a bit of a loner. He didn’t mix well with other children but was offered the chance of help by intelligent snow that used his own thoughts to talk to him. Fifty years later, Dr Walter Simeon (Richard E Grant) is the arms and legs of the Great Intelligence (Sir Ian McKellen), the life-force behind the snow. As Clara Oswin Oswald (Jenna Louise-Coleman) discovers one of the mysterious snowmen, she encounters the Doctor…

The Snowmen is a very important episode for series 7 of Doctor Who. Not only does it follow the tradition of providing us with a Christmas special (yes, I know I’m blogging about this during the Easter bank holiday) but it brings a number of changes to the Whoniverse. Changes which not only start a new chapter in the eleventh Doctor’s adventures, but changes that honour and remember the past in new and exciting ways.

First noticeable is the Doctor Who title theme. Using special effects reminiscent of classic Who’s time vortex, we have fancy flashbacks for the ongoing fans and otherwise pretty effects for new fans. Comically, yet surprisingly well done, we also see the Doctor’s face appear in the stars, treatment the last few Doctors missed out on. The music itself, once again by the awesome Murray Gold, reflects to me that we are facing a darker Doctor. Not from fancy lightning sounds like we had previously, but just the general tone of the theme. The main 4-beat rythym is less fancy and sounds more rustic with, again hints of Who past. As a Who fan, it reminds me that whilst the Doctor is generally about the good in the universe, he is still a deep and powerful and terrifyingly dangerous being.

Next we have the re-designed Tardis. Picking a classic ‘desktop theme’, we have a very retro Tardis, proudly presented by the Doctor with Murray Gold’s appropriately epic-soundtrack, that looks like a polished 1960’s sci-fi set. Angular central console, baby blue colour scheme and more switches and levers than Ensign Sulu’s weapons console in the original Star Trek (Oh my!) Something tells me that we’re approaching the Doctor’s 50th anniversary…

There are a few wonderful touches in this story that make The Snowmen one of the more enjoyable Christmas specials we have ever had. We have the Doctor’s unusual choice of companions. Vastra of the Silurians (Neve McIntosh), Strax of the Sontarans (Dan Starkey) and Vastra’s wife, Jenny Flint (Catrin Stewart). Strax’s mind-programming allows him to come up with unsuitably funny lines whilst Vastra’s own little test for Clara adds further tension to the dramatic episode. When Clara can only give a one-word message to the Doctor, the word she gives is “Pond.” As we all know, the Doctor doesn’t believe in coincidences. I’m not sure if deliberate, but I also picked up on the pub that Clara works at is named “The Rose and Crown” – a slight homage to Rose Tyler maybe?

I consider The Snowmen a brilliant end to the first part of series 7. If Clara Oswald as the perky next companion hadn’t stirred up a little fun, this further introduction to the soufflé baking Emmerdale babe (did I just use those two words together?) only adds to the hype that this weekend’s episode will bring.

Tomb Raider

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tombraiderLara Croft has become the iconic big-breasted slug-lipped oddly sexy protagonist of the Tomb Raider series that has been around since the 1990s. Shooting bats, solving puzzles and climbing big rocks, Lara has aged fairly well but the series has started to become a little stale. What with the more fluid climbing and exploring of the Assassins Creed series (as just one example), the Tomb Raider games seemed to be stuck in the past. So what is the best way to change this? As per Abrahms and the Star Trek movies, a bit reset button is pressed and we go back to Lara’s first adventure, written by Rhianna Pratchett (yes, the daughter of the awesome writer Terry Pratchett) with a fresh, young and not unbelievably proportioned Lara Croft and an awesome bunch of supporting characters.

tombraidercontrollerIn this version of Tomb Raider, Lara is on a mission to find the lost Yamatai civilisation. She has a hunch as to where she would find them and leads the crew of the Endurance to the island in question. However, when the Endurance approaches the crew face a storm that seems to be targeting them. Wrecking the ship, the crew escape to the land to find that they’re stranded on an island inhabited by survivors of similar storm-attacks who have become stranded and are led by Mathias, a survivor who believes he knows a way off the island…but at a cost.

This is Lara Croft like you’ve never seen her before. Vulnerable, naïve and new to the whole tomb-raiding thing, Lara, out of necessity she very quickly learns about climbing, abseiling and use of weaponry as she is faced with impossible odds of survival at every turn. But, unlike previous Tomb Raider titles, every action is assisted to keep the game fluid and moving, whilst still providing the peril. This keeps the action quick and helps the game stay fresh. Gone are the days where an impossible jump will make you put the controller down indefinitely. Instead we are faced with fun.

The game very smoothly transitions between gameplay and FMV, and in most cases it is hard to tell where a clip ends and the gameplay begins. In some instances, the FMV clips have interactive quick-time events that need you to time your button pressing exactly right to progress. Whilst these are not difficult, they can be a little frustrating at times, but not like some segments of previous Tomb Raider games that sometimes felt impossible to progress.

Like many action-adventure games of this era, there is a slight RPG element where experience gained from carrying out missions, finding secrets, and so on, let you buy enhancements to Lara’s skills. Likewise, salvage gathered can be used to upgrade weapons. And for the collector-whores out there (you know, the ones that had to get every white package or pidgeon in the GTA games, there’s plenty to seek out and find. And if you don’t want to, you don’t have to. However, the game rewards you for time spent seeking out extras such as more experience or salvage to upgrade Lara and her weapons.

Combat is better and more fluid than I expected also, with quick-time style close-combat finishes, long and short range weaponry, and plenty of ammo dotted about. Despite the epic survival story, this game remains fun to play.

And ok, yes there are a few puzzles that will make you want to throw your beloved Tomb Raider limited edition controller (which comes with an exclusive multiplayer character download code) at a hard surface, but persevere and you’ll be rewarded with an intense story with a rather dramatic conclusion.

There’s no pretence with this series prequel. It tells its story very well (what with Rhianna Pratchett behind the scenes) but doesn’t forget it’s a game. It has boss battles, respawn points (which are activated automatically) and plenty of ambushes by the enemy. But this is all included with beautiful presentation and incredible attention to detail.

To be fair, Tomb Raider puts some games series to shame. This would be a wonderful way of presenting the next Resident Evil, taking it back to its roots whilst learning from what made the various games in the series great. It takes the best elements of the survival horror, stealth, action-adventure and third person shooter genres and blends them wonderfully before baking them into a masterpiece. We’ve got a likeable Lara with more personality than we’ve seen before from her (and that definitely includes the Angelina Jolie movies), and seamless switching between modes of play with a fantastic story that makes you want to play more to see what happens next.

Lastly, big thanks to @xboxuk for running a competition on Twitter that I was luckily enough to win the Xbox 360 version of the game with the Tomb Raider controller. Without that win it would have been months before I would have had the opportunity to play this amazing game. I get a feeling that everyone involved in the making and release of this game are proud of what they’ve given us. And to be fair, they should be.

The High Price of Entertainment

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After my recent rant on irresponsible parenting I thought I’d post something a little more light-hearted.

I was just looking through my Amazon recommendations when I came across this gem:

X-Men: The Ultimate Collection [Blu-ray]

This set contains the five current X-Men movies with many extras over five discs.

Now this sounds like a good set, and has plenty of reasonable purchase options on Amazon to get a good deal.

However, if you want free Amazon delivery when purchasing at the very moment I have posted this, you would have to pay £900.00! (screenshot below) Would you pay £870+ more to avoid paying for delivery?

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I have pointed out this seemingly obvious error to an Amazon UK customer service representative via their feedback links who has confirmed this appears to be an error that they will investigate and will get back in touch with me within 2 working days.

I can’t fault Amazon for taking this feedback on board and I expect the above link will show a more accurate price very shortly.

Have you come across any unusual pricing for any similar items, or even some rediculously good bargains? Please comment below (no need to register).

Unsuitable Games are Ruining Society!

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Or are they?

ratingsThe videogames industry seems to be regularly under attack by tabloid newspapers and scaremongers who want to use tenuous links to gaming as the driving force behind recent murders, such as the Sandy Hook shooting in the United States. Whilst games can expose young individuals to certain themes, they are not as accessible as TV programmes and movies broadcast via radio waves to the screen in your living rooms, or perhaps owning weapons.. Yet, it’s the age restricted games that seem to be targeted as being the cause of society’s problems. Responsibility seems to have been shrugged off by parents who want to cover their failure to control their offspring, and certain organisations, such as the National Rifle Association in the United States use the gaming industry as a scapegoat to try and convince the public that guns don’t kill people, but instead that games do, as a way of shifting the problems they influence in society to an organisation that has very little influence on whether someone can shoot a real gun or not.

I recently replied to an article C&VG published then tweeted about, Violence for Children: The Failure of Games Age Ratings responding mainly to Eamonn Holmes comment that C&VG quoted as:

“You know and I know, and I know also as a parent, I definitely know,” Holmes began, “that these age ratings are not adhered to. And the reason why is because, no matter what is said, if your ten year old wants this game, he will say ‘ugh, but dad, everyone in class has this game’.

“And parents are buying it. They are allowing kids to see these things.”

My problem with this wasn’t the truth in what he was saying, but that it was implied that it is the fault of the games industry that parents are giving in to the children that they are responsible for. Every kid tries that trick. “Well Mark’s parents let him play it,” is used as a way to try and make out it is normal for children to play games containing unsuitable content. If parents fall for that trick every time it’s used, then that isn’t the gaming industry’s fault. That is a parenting issue.

There are multiple parties that are responsible for influencing children. But in this case, the two main parties are the gaming industry, and most importantly, parents. The gaming industry is obviously trying to entice sales, and it needs to ensure it does so responsibly. Games rated for mature audiences are meant to be attractive. If they weren’t, mature gamers wouldn’t purchase them which would be counter-productive for the industry. It is parents who have the responsibility to raise their young , and have the power to restrict unsuitable content from them. That is the main role of a parent, after all.

What the gaming industry does need to do, however, is make sure information about their games is out there for the parents to read; For the guidance to be clear and concise; And for retailers to abide by the age rating systems in place.

In the UK, the games industry used to volunteer their software to be age-rated by the Entertainment and Leisure Software Publishers Association (ELSPA). This system rated games based on their content and publishers would display the ratings on the game packaging. As this was voluntary, it was not enforceable, but some retailers made it their policy to abide by these ratings despite the difficulties involved. Some mature content was rated by British Board of Film Classification which is the standard for film and television in the UK. This was enforceable and was a little clearer for parents.

These systems were in place when Grand Theft Auto: Vice City was released for Playstation 2. I was an employee of GAME at the time and was under strict instruction to ask for ID if any customer wishing to purchase this game appeared to be under 18. When it appeared that an adult may be purchasing the game for a younger person, we made it clear to the purchaser the general themes the game contained, and some customers did actually put the game back on the shelf, despite the then pleas from the child that their friends’ parents let them play it. There were obviously a minority who were clearly underage, who had clearly grown some soft fluff under their noses to try and make themselves seem older, and tried to make out that I as the seller ‘were one of the guys’ or a ‘mate’ of theirs to try to coerce me into selling the game to them. They had, in some cases, already been turned down by other local GAME stores, or other competitors in the region, but in their desperation to get hold of the game, they still pleaded. But, in fairness to the UK’s biggest specialist retailer in gaming, they were rather strict in this matter.

Following some incidents that the UK press tried to blame on videogames (despite the UK press giving away videogames as an incentive to buy the papers), the industry and government decided to put into place a new system that would be responsible for providing enforceable age ratings on games. The Video Standards Council adopted the then newly established and originally voluntary Pan European Game Information (PEGI) system that gives clear ratings in the UK that are now enforceable. Age ratings are placed on the front and back of the game’s packaging. Also included on the back are the reasons for any mature ratings, such as references to sex, bad language or discrimination to name a few. This allows purchasers to make an informed decision as to the suitability of the game, whether for themselves or the third party they are purchasing the game for. Importantly, as this is enforceable, if sold to anyone underage, the retailer can face financial penalties.

Where there is more of an issue at the moment is the system currently in place in the United States of America. The Entertainment Software Rating Board (ESRB), as far as I understand, is similar to that which we used to have in the UK. A self-regulated voluntary system that provides similar ratings to the UK PEGI system (granted, ESRB have been around for a lot longer). It would certainly be unusual for a game to avoid being rated by ESRB, but my understanding is that it is not enforceable. That being the case, it would be a lot easier for someone in the United States to purchase games that are not suitable for them. As the ESRB system appears to be the favoured system in the US, it may be logical for the United States to make it enforceable as a simple measure of building trust in the industry again. A part of me can’t help but think the NRA may still try to blame the games industry, or shift the blame elsewhere, rather than look at their own issues.

Serious work does need to be made regarding internet purchases where there are many loopholes currently in place that allow underage purchases. This clearly is something the games industry and retailers need to work together to improve upon to improve the image to the doomsayers.
As for parents, well what can I say? They are ultimately responsible for their children and need to act it. There is certainly a culture of lazy parents who cannot be bothered when it comes to the games they are allowing their children to own and play. And when issues appear in the media, they are then quick to blame the industry. But what do they suggest the games industry does? Remove it’s right to produce products through heavy censorship? What next, censor TV, movies, radio, the internet? For those of us fortunate enough to live in a free society, this attitude could become a huge threat to our freedom of choice. The systems are in place to allow us to choose the content we, or our families access. Remove that choice and we may as well live in the dark ages, be ruled by a tyrant monarch, and give up the right to think for ourselves.

Common sense should prevail. You probably wouldn’t let your son or daughter read an unregulated product like Fifty Shades of Grey. You probably wouldn’t let your son or daughter smoke or drink alcohol, just because the other kids do. You probably wouldn’t let your son or daughter travel abroad on their own, or would make an informed choice based on their age and abilities. So why should games be any different?

As for the aforementioned lazy parent culture, there are two possibilities:

1. The parents that fit this category will not read this.
2. The parents that fit this category will be making a lame attempt to find some information about how games are bad and will be pretty offended by this article for the reason that it goes against that train of thought.

If the latter applies, then I would like to point out that I am a parent myself. I will be making the decisions as to what content my child has access to. I will make informed decisions rather than let my child choose for me. I will take an interest in his interests.

I would also like to point out that there are many MANY games out there that don’t have any mature themes at all. It isn’t the games industry that is the cause of society’s failings. Just like it wasn’t TV and movies before it. Just like it wasn’t literature before that.

PEGI: www.pegi.info
ESRB: www.esrb.org
C&VG: www.computerandvideogames.com
My blog is in no way affiliated with any of these companies. All opinions expressed are my own.

Doctor Who: The Movie

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drwhologoIf there is something that has been worrying me about what is clearly one of my favourite TV shows at present, it’s the thought that a Doctor Who movie may be announced. It seems the idea has been toyed with through a fairly recent comment by current chief-writer, Stephen Moffat, where he said something along that lines that whilst Harry Potter director David Yates has made some claims about a movie being in the works (that he would be directing), a movie is not in the works, whether as a reboot or continuation of the series. However, as Digital Spy have now confirmed, Moffat is now saying a movie may happen someday, but that the TV series is the most important part of Doctor Who.

So why does this worry me?

Well, for one, there have been three Doctor Who movies so far. The first two in the mid-1960s starring Peter Cushing as Dr. Who, a human inventor who has invented a time machine disguised as a police box. Doctor Who and the Daleks is based on the planet Skaro, where Dr. Who must, with the assistance of his family, also human, save the Thals from nuclear destruction by the plungers of the Daleks. Daleks Invasion Earth: 2150 is based on an Earth almost 200 years past the 1960s, but still set in the 60′s where Daleks have enslaved humans for their own purposes. These movies, whilst based on stories for the BBC show, are not considered canon in the Doctor Who universe. They were considered a seperate story, something which Moffat has already confirmed he feels would not work with fans.

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The third movie was a project that seemed to want to introduce The Doctor to an American audience as part of a revival attempt that unfortunately didn’t work. It was set in USA, was full of US actors (for obvious reasons) and featured a plot that didn’t quite fit in with previous continuity. Paul McGann did actually play a good Doctor and there was a little regeneration story at the start starring an aged Sylvestor McCoy as the seventh Doctor. As it had been seven years since we had last seen a Doctor Who episode, and there didn’t seem much hope for any more, this was a welcome surprise, especially to me as a child-fan of the show. I remember the TV campaign with trailer-ads for the show, feeling more and more intense as we approached its TV airing. I even remember enjoying it for what it was at the time, having more criticisms now than I did then. But alas, this ‘failure’ meant another agonisingly painful wait for fans until we would see another Doctor Who series.

 paulmcgannwhoDespite the (un)popular verdict this movie received, the current setup of Doctor Who owes a lot to the eighth Doctor’s brief appearance. Little details such as the vortex the TARDIS travels through and  the change from random eccentric to stylish eccentric clothing are little updates that have become a regularity on the show. However, some explainable continuity irregularities became apparent in this Americanised edition of Doctor Who. I wont go through all the details as there have since been reasons written into the new series’ of Doctor who through the Ecclestone, Tennant and Smith episodes. Although for a TARDIS that seems to be ‘stuck’ on Police Box for its disguise, seems to have inverted the colours on the panel which gives the information about the box (as pictured above).

Anyway, back on point, despite the obvious American influence that, whilst done brilliantly well with the Doctor Who spinoff, Torchwood, seemed to result in the show’s demise, the current incarnation of Doctor Who seems to be doing rather well in both the UK and United States. But Doctor Who does so well because it doesn’t follow the typical formula that currently exists for sci-fi shows from the States, but instead is a predominantly British affair that, for a change, seems to translate very well across the pond. If the show lost its charm, which was a big problem for McGann’s movie (though not at the fault of the eight Doctor’s actor). The point being, the show is doing well for having it’s own identity and doesn’t need to be messed around with to be successful. I can’t help think that history would be repeated if we had a Celtic-American joint project and to allow for an American spin-off if successful, either The Doctor would regenerate with an American accent (which wouldn’t be out of context, admittedly) or would discover another timelord with a TARDIS that would spawn a Doctor Why…

But do we need a movie?

As a cinematic experience, no. However, a TV episode that could be translated into a double-bill or three parter story would not be a bad thing. It could be filmed to show between series, but not do any harm to the current setup. If anything, it would keep interest there for the fans (not that mine has depreciated in any way whatsoever) during the long-gaps that we get between half-series that seems to have occurred again due to trying to please the American markets. After all, we had the David Tennant specials building up to the Matt Smith regeneration, and they were excellent!

A cinematic-movie would have to be done very carefully to work with the fans, whilst not ruining the brilliant experience the TV series currently provides. As Moffat has already mentioned, it couldn’t be a second (or even third Whoniverse) as that would bring confusion to the mix. It couldn’t add any fundamental changes to the established Whoniverse as that would anger fans.

As a fan, and from what I’ve read on other blogs and comments online, I feel that a good idea would be to bring back Paul McGann as the eigth doctor to tell us the story of how and why The Doctor lead the battle in the Time War which caused him to make that decision to banish Gallifrey as part of his plan to end the war with the Daleks. As it’s a retrospective tale, it could even feature the current Doctor Matt Smith, or whoever is The Doctor at the time, narrating the story whilst McGann reprises his role. Infact, I would love to be able to be part of a project that writes this as a movie/TV Special as I sit here imagining a plot that doesn’t change the established story whilt giving us the visual experiences we wanted as fans. It could even lead to the regeneration that gives us Christopher Ecclestone. (Moffat, I’m on Twitter as @darkedgy, feel free to get someone from the BBC to contact me).

Anyway, at time of writing there’s only two more full days before we get to see The Doctor’s new assistant played by Jenna Louise Coleman in what is set to be a dark episode, The Snowmen. I can’t wait!

Trade-In Transparency

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game logo 2Back in my day, when you wanted to trade-in some old games, there wasn’t much choice on where to go, how much you’d get or even how to do it. Infact, promising they would not be beaten on price (unfortunately, a deal only applicable to trade-in prices now) back in my main era of gaming where cartridges and CD-ROMs were the medium for loading games, GAME were the only store that I knew I could go to to trade in games. Infact, in the Welsh capital, GAME had two main stores and a concession store in Debenhams, each within 2 minutes walking distance from each other. And the only way to compare prices was to drag your games around with you and go through the laborious assessment process that a staff member went through giving you a price on games based on their condition. Infact, the prices weren’t even set then, as staff would look at the ‘new’ selling price and select from a range of barcodes to scan from a booklet. This meant a lack of consistency between stores and quite often you could play one against the other, for the store that had the best trade-ins would generally get the most money back in the till. And remember, back then you didn’t get a choice of cash either.

Prior to the OpCapita takeover, GAME had reached a point where they had a computerised system that would give prices based on the barcodes on the packaging, adding a little to the consistency. Trade-in deals appeared too to try and increase custom whilst GAME were struggling. Cash was offered at a lower value than the trade-in value because obviously that was one less sale in the till. But you still had to drag your games to the store before you would know what you would get for them. And if you were unhappy with the offer, you would end up dragging them back home. At this stage, HMV, Tesco and ASDA accepted trade-ins making the market a little tougher.

So what do we have now? GAME have offered an app, similar to a very poorly executed app that HMV offered, that lets you access your reward card details via your GAME website account (or the former GameStation). Among other things, there’s a barcode scanner that lets you check what you would get both as cash or trade-in for your items. A quick bleep and on your screen you see the game’s cover-art as well as the value details. Save these for later and you can create a list to review. As this can be done from your home, there’s no unnecessary dragging around of games to various stores, especially if you’re happy with the prices offered. Just take them straight to your local GAME store and they’ll give you the price the app offered.

Ofcourse there is the obvious caviat that if the games or consoles are not in good condition, GAME may refuse to accept them, or if I understand correctly, offer you a lower price. But the moral of that story is to look after your games, or if bought pre-owned, ask to see the disc before you buy – especially if you intend further trade-ins.

I decided to try this app out today. I scanned my Nintendo 3DS Aqua box barcode, scanned several Xbox 360, Wii and 3DS games, and happy with the prices I took them into the GAME store in Cardiff. I informed the very helpful member of staff about my first time using the app and she scanned everything up. Using her experience as a saleswoman, she talked to me about the new 3DS release, Paper Mario Sticker Star, as well as a few deals on 3DS XL. I explained I already had a 3DS XL but was considering Paper Mario but would want to take a look around (as my expected credit was higher than the price of Paper Mario). She confirmed the price exactly as the app had told me, and with my agreement she put the credit on a trade-in card for me.

I took a look around the store and was actually shocked that Cardiff’s biggest GAME store had very little in stock when it came to recent releases, or even sale items. A couple of the games I wanted from the “Up to 50% off sale” were not on the shelf, but a kind sales assistance located these from out back and kept them behind the till for me. I ended up buying Doom 3 BFG Edition and Worms Collection for Xbox 360, and Paper Mario for the 3DS. I did want New Super Mario Bros 2 but they didn’t have it in stock, so through further browsing I narrowed down my choices to either Pokémon Conquest for Nintendo DS or Monopoly: Nintendo Collector’s Edition. The geek in me picked the Monopoly board game – mainly because I wanted the previous version that is near on impossible to get hold of, which was based on the N64 era (I had only ever seen this for sale in Forbidden Planet).

To my surprise, I was told in my purchase transaction that as the value of the items exceeded £50 I was entitled to a free £5 gift card!

Now this level of transparency can only be a good thing from GAME and is certainly restoring my confidence in the brand. Yes, they’re still overpriced compared with the supermarkets and the websites, but their customer service is certainly improving and their reward card app I’m sure will prove to be invaluable to me in future.

I would also add that as well as the current features, there are also new features being developed. One feature that I have had confirmed to me (mainly because I was cheeky enough to ask) is that the list of achievements will show a list of achieved-achievements in a future update. These achievements are not unlike the Xbox Live, Steam or PSN Trophy achievements, but the rewards are bonus points added to your card!

Check out the iPhone or Android app-stores now to download this excellent new app! Or for official information from GAME visit their website by clicking here.


The Legend of Zelda: Link Goes Potty!

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I’m going to start off by being lazy and stating that I don’t know much about Lindsey Stirling. I’m sure Wikipedia would tell you plenty, or even her Youtube channel. What I do know is this:

1. She is an awesome violinist.

2. She does geeky music as well as other more conventional genres.

3. She makes Link look cute! Pointy ears and the Kokiri tunic have never looked so hot!

If you’ve read my blog before, you’d see that I included her in my top Zelda music performances. To see why, check out the video here:

The team who made this, starring Lindsey Stirling must be very talented indeed. Not only have they put together an awesome sounding orchestral piece of music that places you right in the middle of the Zelda universe, the beautiful visuals and almost angelic yet noble exploration shown by Sterling’s Link just capture the spirit of the game series perfectly!

Which leads perfectly to this pot smashing parody based on Ocarina of Time. Infact this is based on the pot-room guarded by a stiff yet horrified guard in the building situated inside the entrance to Hyrule castle. Despite being a little more humourous, this video wonderfully captures the Ocarina of Time spirit.

Who can resist smashing the pots?

Big mention to Nintendo Life for bringing this to the attention of Nintendo gamers – it is through them that I first discovered Lindsey Stirling. If you’re a fan of Nintendo gaming I suggest taking a gander at their site!

Twilight: Breaking Dawn Part 2

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As always, I shall try to keep spoilers to a minimum. As always, use your common sense. If you don’t want to read spoilers then please wait until you have seen the movie before reading this.

I was a late-comer to the Twilight saga. As a regular viewer of Reddit and Memebase I was fully aware of the various internet jokes: Homosexuality, Still not as gay as Twilight; A brick wall, Still more facial expressions than Kristen Stewart. So before I tell you what I think, this is my stance on vampires:

I am yet to read dracula, but as a child enjoyed Count Duckula. But I have always enjoyed the various paranormal phenomena used in TV for entertainment. The first show to really capture what I feel is an excellent interpretation of a vampire for me was Joss Whedon’s Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Dark, brooding, demonic and able to blend in with their pray (humans), Buffy captured all the essence of vampire but kept a humourous twist on things, even when the show became most epic. There were many great vampires in the show: The Master, Drusilla, Darla and Angel (though I’ll get on to him later), but there was one vampire that stood out from the crowd for a multitude of reasons: Spike.

This Buffy villiain became an anti-hero as the show progressed. He was mean, sarcastic, had minions, a weirdly-hot vampire sire and partner, a strange lust for his (im)mortal enemy and the selfish self-centered attitude to destruction. Credit to James Masters for successfully pulling off a British accent almost as well as Anthony Steward Head (though to be fair, Head had a head-start), and credit again for consistently playing a great role so well.

Why do I like Spike? He was evil. But he couldn’t get things right. Anything that could go wrong went wrong with Spike, and just like the puppy-dog name, despite being a brutal killer he came across as a sad puppy that the whole world was against. Vampires aren’t allowed to get the glory. They’re demons. They’re killers. But for him, we saw a human-side that allowed us to make an exception…

Angel started off as a mysterious guide to Buffy, later revealing himself as a vampire cursed with a soul. He broke the curse when he fell in love and had a moment of ‘true happiness’ with Buffy, then the curse was broken at a moment when Buffy killed him to prevent an apocalypse. Then he came back but left Buffy to start his own show where he and Sunnydale’s head-cheerleader Cordelia set up an agency that helps the helpless. He again was a brutal killer in his day but since getting his soul he became deep. Very deep.

So as you can see, my ideal image of vampires are that portrayed by Joss Whedon in his creations, though I will add that I do not refer to the Buffy the Vampire Slayer movie that the series is very loosely based upon. I’ve seen the Blade movies, and enjoyed other vampiric themes in movies and TV, but you know where I’m at.

So, Twilight:

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We’ve seen Bella live her life as a human and Breaking Dawn Part II takes us straight into her Vampire life. With daughter Renesmee now born and growing at a rapid rate, The Volturi receive report from Irina, part of the extended Cullen family, that Bella and Edward have created an ‘Immortal Child’ which historically has posed a danger of revealing vampires to the human world. Lead by Aro, the Volturi lead a march on the Cullens with the intend of punishing them…

This was ultimately the movie the previous chapters have been leading up to. For those wanting the epic-battle that has been wating to make an appearance in four previous movies finally takes place, and for those like me who hadn’t read the book, there’s a rather clever twist. But, apart from a brief touch on how Bella’s personal life has been effected by her transition, this movie doesn’t really tell us much more than we already knew. I may have to read the books to find out if they do go into more about this, as if anything I felt her personal life was simply erased to keep the movie relatively short.

And that’s my ultimate gripe with BDP2: It doesn’t feel complete. With the seemingly short length to the movie, I feel they could have added more detail about how her friends and family actually reacted. A bit more of the werewolves story would have been good too.

But don’t get me wrong, it isn’t a bad movie. I just couldn’t rate it as one of the greatest I’ve seen. As part of a series of movies? Yes, it’s very enjoyable as it ties up the story nicely leaving a little bit open should Stephanie Meyer decide to write more. I’ve just got to wait for the Blu-Ray release now so I can do the Twilight Marathon…for my wife ofcourse.

 

 

 

 

 

The Simpsons: Ticked Off!

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Anyone who has read my blog recently would know that EA’s The Simpsons: Tapped Out has been rendered virtually unplayable to many gamers (as any search-engine search for Simpsons Tapped Out Problems will show). I am still unable to access the game despite many updates, and even before I get as far as loading the game, I get repeated server issues.

On the plus side, My Little Pony have released a similar type of game where you build Equestria and carry out ‘tycoon’ style missions to build up wealth and your town to be able to attract the various show’s characters and defeat Nightmare-Moon.

The main difference between the two games, with the exception of the obviously superior gameplay in the more colourful game, is that Gameloft’s title works!