tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-91577611738083580972024-02-06T21:04:32.760-08:00Put it in your eyeTake in my views on comic books, movies, TV, books and some other stuff. Just go with it and enjoy yourself. Or not.Ninjahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18055692238481831718noreply@blogger.comBlogger27125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9157761173808358097.post-50254141526812723372012-04-06T14:59:00.001-07:002012-04-06T15:08:51.663-07:00Footprints Review<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://s3.amazonaws.com/ksr/projects/25382/photo-full.jpg?1300079466" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="420" src="http://s3.amazonaws.com/ksr/projects/25382/photo-full.jpg?1300079466" width="510" /></a></div>
Footprints is the debut comic book from Joey Esposito; resident comic book nerd at IGN. He has written something that is so pulp, it makes pulp look... not like pulp. Dammit, I need to get the hang of that.<br />
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Ok, so what happens when Cryptids (creatures that are “hidden” and not proved to exist) come out and let everyone know that they’re real?
They become detectives! Ok, they don’t ALL become detectives but Bigfoot, the Loch Ness Monster, the Chupacabra, the Jersey Devil and Megalodon do. Because that’s how they roll. Oh and the Mothman is a woman called Motheresa. She’s the femme fatale ( You’re already pre-ordering it, right?).<br />
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But this isn’t a simple Noir Pulp story, oh no! We’ve also got global warming and war mixed in there! The Government doing stuff they shouldn’t!
Ok, let me set it up for you: Bigfoot is an old Private Investigator who’s burned bridges and left himself in a miserable state.<br />
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A letter from his brother, the Yeti (and you didn’t think it could get better), takes him far north, on the back of the Jersey Devil, into a dank, frozen cave his brother calls home.
Without giving too much away, it isn’t a pleasant visit. They soon start connecting the dots, jumping from one clue to the next, uncovering a conspiracy originating from the 1940’s while bringing up painful memories of lost love and failed friendships.<br />
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But this is a comic book! Fantastic writing is only half of the story! What about the art?<br />
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Jonathan Moore seems to have been born for this sort of book. The use of shadows and grey do more for the atmosphere than any colour palette could ever do with this genre.
It has the feel of classic Noir films while still offering plenty of modern feel. Imagine is Sam Spade went looking for a murderer and ended up getting involved with the freaking government.
The art is moody, dramatic and doesn't make the subject matter seem silly. A giant shark having a relationship with the Loch Ness monster? That could have been one big cock joke after cock joke but, thanks to Esposito’s writing and Moore’s very fine Noir art, it’s a serious, heart breaking relationship.<br />
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And, I have to say, the Jersey Devil is one of the best characters in the book. He may not be likable but he’s pretty freaking great. He’s one of the best slimy anti heroes I've seen in a long time.<br />
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I’m very worried about this book, though. I’m worried it will not get the publicity it deserves. I’m worried it’ll end up an underrated spectacular thrill ride like Steve Nile’s “Dead She Said.”<br />
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So go and buy this book. Buy it twice. Buy several as gifts for loved ones. Just please, for the love of God, do not let this fade away. Treat it like the Cryptids! Talk about it, take blurry photos of it and post about it all over the internet. You’ll only regret it if you don’t.Ninjahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18055692238481831718noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9157761173808358097.post-49171339072306731622012-03-29T06:21:00.007-07:002012-03-29T12:01:18.565-07:00Interview With Miracle of Sound!<a href="http://www.themis-media.com/global/media/images/library/deriv/59/59667.jpg" style="font-weight: normal; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 100%; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; line-height: normal; "><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 520px; height: 335px;" src="http://www.themis-media.com/global/media/images/library/deriv/59/59667.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a><br /><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 100%; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; line-height: normal; font-weight: normal; "><span style="font-size: 100%;">So, around this time last year I heard Age of the Dragon on The Escapist and I was blown away. It's an epic Rock song about one my favourite games! And there was more to come and more on Miracle of Sound's Youtube channel! Since then, Miracle of Sound (A.K.A Gavin Dunne) has become one of my favourite musicians of all time.</span></span><div style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 100%; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal; "><br /><div style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 100%; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; line-height: normal; "><div><span style="font-weight: normal; "><span style="font-size: 100%;">And today he answered a few of my questions. Because he kicks ass.</span></span><br /><br /><span><span style="font-size: 100%; "><b>Did you honestly have any idea you'd be so popular?</b></span></span><br /><span style="font-weight: normal; "><span style="font-size: 100%;">I had no idea the gaming song niche I discovered would be so popular and I am delighted that it was. I believe that if you work long and hard enoug</span></span><span style="font-weight: normal; font-size: 100%; ">h for something your chances of it happening are at least drastically increased.</span></div><div><br /><span><span style="font-size: 100%; "><b>Will you be doing any more covers? I think I speak for most of your fans when I say your version of Somewhere Over the Rainbow was awesome.</b></span></span><br /><span style="font-weight: normal; "><span style="font-size: 100%;">I tend to avoid covers due to copyright issues and the fact that I love writing my own stuff. That cover was a birthday gift for my girlfriend, I wasn't even sure if I was going to post it on the web but I'm glad I did now as people enjoyed it.</span></span><br /><br /><span><span style="font-size: 100%; "><b>Will we get to see some of your older songs from Lotus Lullaby on your Miracle of Sound channel?</b></span></span><br /><span style="font-weight: normal; "><span style="font-size: 100%;">There are painful legalities involved with those songs that I'd rather not get into. But yes, eventually they will be mine to do with what I w</span></span><span style="font-weight: normal; font-size: 100%; ">ish.</span></div><div><br /><span><span style="font-size: 100%; "><b>Where did the names Lotus Lullaby and Miracle of Sound come from, anyway?</b></span></span><br /><span style="font-weight: normal; "><span style="font-size: 100%;">Long stories... Miracle Of Sound is the name of a Lotus Lullaby song I wrote, which was a simple little song about how awesome music is. Hence 'The Miracle Of Sound' - it just means that music is great in general. I started using it as my username on the Escapist and I became known to people as MOS so I kept it! It's also a reference to Soundwave form Transformers.</span></span><br /><span style="font-weight: normal; "><span style="font-size: 100%;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span style="font-weight: normal; "><span style="font-size: 100%;">As for Lotus Lullaby, the Lotus Flower is associated with rebirth and new life. So it was a way of saying 'catharsis and rebirth through song'.</span></span><br /><br /><b><span><span style="font-size: 100%; ">Last year must have been incredible for you wi</span></span><span style="font-size: 100%; ">th the success of songs like Sovengarde song and The New Black Gold. Have you got any plans to outdo yourself this year?</span></b></div><div><span style="font-weight: normal; "><span style="font-size: 100%;">I always do my best to keep improving. I feel that some of my best songs have been made in early 2012 and yet there is always room for improvement. Listening to fan feedback is a big thing for me - constructive criticism helps me to perfect the craft. So in short: Yes, I hope to always outdo myself!</span></span><br /><br /><span><span style="font-size: 100%; "><b>Since Legends of the Frost, with Malukah, was so popular do you plan on doing more duets?</b></span></span><br /><span style="font-weight: normal; "><span style="font-size: 100%;">Yeah, why not? I think Malu and I will be doing a Mass Effect song at some stage. I rarely find people I actually want to work with though - she's kind of one in a million in that she's an amazing singer as well as a skillful producer</span></span><span style="font-weight: normal; font-size: 100%; "> and arranger.</span></div><div><br /><span><span style="font-size: 100%; "><b>Your game commentaries are incredibly interesting; you tackle issues like Woody's rape comment and how youtube icon treat their fans, as well as talking about video games. Will we be seeing more of this soon?</b></span></span><br /><span style="font-weight: normal; "><span style="font-size: 100%;">I haven't had time for any commentaries lately due to music commitments but yeah, I set up a new gaming channel just for that so I hope to get back into it soon.</span></span><br /><br /><span><span style="font-size: 100%; "><b>Just how much do you hate second chance?</b></span></span><br /><span style="font-weight: normal; "><span style="font-size: 100%;">Haha! I have stopped caring to be honest. I gave up on COD, it has the potential to be amazing but every year they fuck it all up with 2 or 3 game breaking imbalances.</span></span><br /><br /><span><span style="font-size: 100%; "><b>What is your preferred gaming platform?</b></span></span><br /><span style="font-weight: normal; "><span style="font-size: 100%;">Ideally I'd love a beastly PC. But due to my financial situation, for now I am primarily a 360 guy.</span></span><br /><br /><b><span><span style="font-size: 100%; ">What albums have you been listening to </span></span><span style="font-size: 100%; ">recently?</span></b></div><div><span style="font-weight: normal; "><span style="font-size: 100%;">Nightwish - Imaginaerium, Lamb Of God's new one (which was a bit 'meh' compared to their last 3 or 4), lots of Rammstein and lots of cheesy 80s and 90s pop.</span></span><br /><br /><span><span style="font-size: 100%; "><b>You've always been upfront with your lack of musical education. How did you get started in music, was there an inspiration?</b></span></span><br /><span style="font-weight: normal; "><span style="font-size: 100%;">I knew the second I picked up a guitar at 14 and played my first chord - this was what i wanted to do with my life. It's the only thing I've ever been good at!</span></span><br /><br /><span><span style="font-size: 100%; "><b>You've only really hinted at your past (family issues and drugs). Will you be releasing an autobiography at some point in the future?</b></span></span><br /><span style="font-weight: normal; "><span style="font-size: 100%;">Haha who knows? It would be arrogant at this stage to presume anyone would want to read it. But I will definitely tell a little bit more about my past in the future in some way, some day.</span></span><br /><br /><span><span style="font-size: 100%; "><b>Do you intend to release more personal or more political songs in the future?</b></span></span><br /><span style="font-weight: normal; "><span style="font-size: 100%;">Yes. When I get more time to!</span></span><br /><br /><span><span style="font-size: 100%; "><b>Are you often asked if you know Bono? It seems like people think all Irish people know Bono.</b></span></span><br /><span style="font-weight: normal; "><span style="font-size: 100%;">Yes I do get asked that and no, I don't know him. Thing is, U2 are seen quite casually over here. If you saw them walking down the street it would be like 'oh look there's U2', not 'AAAAAAAARG OH MY GOD ORGASM'.</span></span><br /><br /><span><span style="font-size: 100%; "><b>You recently played a live Gig in Ireland. Will you be doing more in the future? A tour, even?</b></span></span><br /><span style="font-weight: normal; "><span style="font-size: 100%;">No plans for that right now. Don't have the money!</span></span><br /><br /><span><span style="font-size: 100%; "><b>Your taste in music is very varied. Is there any genre of music that you refuse to do?</b></span></span><br /><span style="font-weight: normal; "><span style="font-size: 100%;">I avoid rap because, with a few exceptions, I don't believe it requires very much effort or talent to create. I can generally find things I like in any genre though, even rap (for example I love early Snoop Dogg, Public Enemy, Eminem, all that good stuff but if you play me a Souljya Boy or 50 Cent record I'll take it out and snap it in two).</span></span><br /><br /><span><span style="font-size: 100%; "><b>What games are you looking forward to most, now that Mass Effect 3 has been released?</b></span></span><br /><span style="font-weight: normal; "><span style="font-size: 100%;">GTA5 is the big one this year I think. And I will be a very happy man if Fallout 4 is announced soon.</span></span><br /><br /><span><span style="font-size: 100%; "><b>Have you ever thought about doing songs for other aspects of Geek Culture? For example, films and comic books.</b></span></span><br /><span style="font-weight: normal; "><span style="font-size: 100%;">Yep. I'm thinking of doing more stuff like that this year, possibly starting with a Game Of Thrones song.</span></span></div><div style="font-weight: normal; "><span><span style="font-size: 100%;"><br /></span></span></div><div style="font-weight: normal; "><span><span style="font-size: 100%;">Miracle of sound can be found here:</span></span></div><div style="font-weight: normal; "><span><span style="font-size: 100%;"><a href="http://www.escapistmagazine.com/videos/view/miracle-of-sound?page=1">http://www.escapistmagazine.com/videos/view/miracle-of-sound?page=1</a> </span></span></div><div style="font-weight: normal; "><span><a href="https://twitter.com/#!/miracleofsound">https://twitter.com/#!/miracleofsound</a> </span></div><div style="font-weight: normal; "><a href="http://www.facebook.com/MiracleOfSound">http://www.facebook.com/MiracleOfSound</a> </div><div style="font-weight: normal; "><a href="http://www.youtube.com/user/miracleofsound?ob=0&feature=results_main">http://www.youtube.com/user/miracleofsound?ob=0&feature=results_main</a> </div><div style="font-weight: normal; "><br /></div><div style="font-weight: normal; ">And you can buy his songs on <a href="http://miracleofsound.bandcamp.com/">Bandcamp</a> and you can also search for him on iTunes.</div><div style="font-weight: normal; "><br /></div><div style="font-weight: normal; ">Also, you can follow me on Twitter, if you like.</div><div style="font-weight: normal; "><a href="https://twitter.com/#!/NinjaRoss">https://twitter.com/#!/NinjaRoss</a> </div></div><div style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 100%; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; line-height: normal; font-weight: normal; "><br /></div></div><div><span><iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="270" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/0FLQ4rACE-0?fs=1" width="480"></iframe></span></div>Ninjahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18055692238481831718noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9157761173808358097.post-10946786737179498662012-03-15T04:24:00.005-07:002012-03-21T19:03:50.072-07:00Spam Bot!!!Sometimes, when I check my emails, I get MSN messages from a spam bot and lately I've started replying... Don't Judge me. Get it? Do you get it? You will when you read it, obviously...<br /><br />gabby bright says:<br />heeyy i've been lookin for u!<br /><br />Me! says:<br />What can I do for you, citizen?<br /><br />gabby bright says:<br />Hey there, hope you don't mind chatting with a spiteful horny girl, So how r you??<br /><br />Me! says:<br />It's my duty to assist all citizens. But do not test my patience.<br /><br />gabby bright says:<br />ya I know its random, but my asshole ex cheated on me so i'm on a manhunt lol... I found ur username on a msn directory, I'm Gabby, you are? =D<br /><br />Me! says:<br />Judge Dredd, of Mega City 1! I dispense justice! I am the law!!!<br /><br />gabby bright says:<br />i see.. where do u live? i am bored at home...and this usually leads to bad things especially since I'm single and sexually deprived <br /><br />Me! says:<br />I just said, I'm from Mega City 1! Pay attention, citizen!<br /><br />gabby bright says:<br />lol, read the fine print on that page babe..it says session is only $0.00 if a premium member invites you...I've been a premium member there for a long time. Trust me I know how the site works I'm a webcam freaklol..<br /><br />Me! says:<br />Public nudity could earn you two years in The Cubes, citizen!<br /><br />gabby bright says:<br />r you on any online dating sites? You seem fun... i just took some dirty pics and uploaded them on my BeNaughty page.. wanna see? haha<br /><br />Me! says:<br />Seven years in The Cubes for soliciting a Judge of Mega city1!<br /><br />gabby bright says:<br />Ok, go here, lemme know whatcha think (Website deleted, perv!) You might have to make an account if u dont have one already. It takes literally 1 minute and it's completely free..<br /><br />Me! says:<br />An additional two years for resisting arrest!<br /><br />gabby bright says:<br />Give me your username when you signup so I can send you a friend invitation, if you like my pics maybe we can get to know each other more ... k? =D<br /><br />Me! says:<br />You'll get to know me when I'm throwing you in the cubes<br /><br />gabby bright says:<br />i'm posting some more naughty pics I just took, would like to get your opinion..k?<br /><br />Me! says:<br />You're just begging for a life sentence, aren't you?<br /><br />gabby bright says:<br />did u make ur account??<br /><br />Me! says:<br />I'm filing a report right now. Expect two Judges any minute.<br /><a href="http://mimg.ugo.com/201009/58578/cuts/judge-dredd-tour-of-duty_288x288.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 288px; height: 288px;" src="http://mimg.ugo.com/201009/58578/cuts/judge-dredd-tour-of-duty_288x288.jpg" border="0" alt="Sentence: Life" />Sentence: Life</a>Ninjahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18055692238481831718noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9157761173808358097.post-86149505045006361482012-02-17T15:58:00.001-08:002012-02-17T15:58:46.595-08:00Marvel news!!!Marvel is proud to announce the Marvel Universe line of comics perfect for fans of all ages, launching in April 2012 with the debuts of Marvel Universe: Ultimate Spider-Man #1 and Marvel Universe: The Avengers: Earth’s Mightiest Heroes #1. Fans of Spider-Man, Iron Man, Captain America, Thor, Hulk and all the Avengers should look for the Marvel Universe logo to find the most exciting stories they can imagine!<br /><br />“The Marvel Universe line of comics not only clearly lets fans know they’re in for great stories, but also lets parents know where to find great stories to share with their kids” said Axel Alonso, Marvel Comics Editor in Chief. “The Marvel Universe line also includes the best all-ages stories we’ve told recently and we’re bringing them to millions of new fans through ambitious new initiatives. So when you see the name Marvel Universe, you’ll know it stands for the best all-ages super hero storytelling in the world—in print and digital media!”<br /><br />In Marvel Universe: Ultimate Spider-Man #1, from Man Of Action, Dan Slott, Ty Templeton & Nuno Plati, Peter Parker must balance battling Super Villains and the drama of high school! But fear not True Believer, there is no menace too diabolical and no test too challenging for Spider-Man!<br /><br />Then, in Marvel Universe: The Avengers: Earth’s Mightiest Heroes #1, the creative team of Chris Yost and Adam Dekraker, present not one, but TWO new action-packed Avengers stories to catch you up on the adventures of Earth’s Mightiest through the eyes of Agent Coulson.<br /><br />No fan of the Avengers or Spider-Man can miss out on these new action-packed Marvel Universe series, sure to excite fans of all ages! So make sure you’re the first in line this Spring to catch Marvel Universe: The Avengers: Earth’s Mightiest Heroes Adventures #1 and Marvel Universe: Ultimate Spider-Man Adventures #1 as the Marvel Universe line starts here!<br /><br />MARVEL UNIVERSE: THE AVENGERS: EARTH’S MIGHTIEST HEROES #1 (FEB120603)<br />Written by CHRIS YOST<br />Pencils by ADAM DEKRAKER<br />All Ages …$2.99<br />ON SALE THIS APRIL!<br /><br />MARVEL UNIVERSE: ULTIMATE SPIDER-MAN #1 (FEB120604)<br />Written by MEN OF ACTION, DAN SLOTT & TY TEMPLETON<br />Art by NUNO PLATI<br />All Ages …$2.99<br />ON SALE THIS APRIL!Ninjahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18055692238481831718noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9157761173808358097.post-13959962700046141212012-01-28T12:51:00.000-08:002012-01-28T12:53:38.746-08:00Review! 2001: A Space Odyssey!OK, I’m finding it hard to start this review... So I’m going to sum up my thoughts as I watched it. Here we go!<br /><br />“OK, so, this is interesting. Monkeys! Alright...”<br />“Going on a bit, isn’t it?”<br />“Aw, shit! A big black thing! A monolith, one might say! Now shit just got interesting!”<br />“The monkeys are learning to use clubs... Ooh and a bit of the old ultra violence!”<br />“Oooooooh space and classical music!”<br />“Nice, a lot of space and science. Obviously well researched.”<br />“A base is cut off? Wow and this guy’s into it? Not at Liberty to say? FUCK!”<br />“Alright... he’s going to the moon... It’s taking a while...”<br />“He’s at the moon! Shit, that is some creepy music. Ooh, there’s the black monolith... But why is it on the moon? Wow, a sci-fi mystery!”<br />“18 months later? Alright... Wonder what happened. Oh, a guy started jogging... OK.”<br />“He’s still going.”<br />“He gets breakfast with another guy.”<br />“Explanatory dialogue through a BBC interview. Alright...”<br />“Ooh, HAL! I know this guy from the many references in other films and TV shows!”<br />“All very interesting now, we have some paranoia! I wonder why it’s going insane. IS it on purpose? IS it linked to the monoliths? It sort of looks like one!”<br />“That was over pretty fast...”<br />“Aw, shit! Crazy colourful montage! A floating monolith in Spaaaaaaaace!”<br />“Still going.”<br />“And... still going.”<br />“...”<br />“Ooh a big white room! Wait, this isn’t going to be a big conversation with God is it? Some sort of Deus Ex Machina event?”<br />“He gets older... eats for a bit... Keeps seeing himself in the corner of his eye. Cool!”<br />“Aw, he’s dying- Wait, a monolith?!? FUCK! Shit just got crazy!”<br />“He’s... a fetus for some reason! Oh no no, is it going to turn out to be a dream?!? Oh... end credits.”<br /><br />What the fuck? There was a lot of long boring bits with classical music but I liked them for the most part. I mean, it seemed like it was building to some epic conclusion with HAL linked the monoliths or some sort of... thing behind all of it.<br /><br />It was over two hours long! And most of it was long slow shots of people walking in space!<br /><br />This has to be one of the worst films I’ve ever seen, simply because the ending was infuriating.<br /><br />I looked it up, just to see if I was really so dumb that I missed the point. But... I didn’t. Kubrick wanted people to get their own meaning from the film, to interpret in their own way.<br /><br />Seems to me there is a Deus Ex Machina event; they got lazy. Or they didn’t know how to finish it so they came up with a bullshit argument about metaphors and what have you.<br /><br />No, this movie is not clever, it is not special and it is not important. It looked pretty, I’ll give you that. And the soundtrack was fantastic. And, until the last ten minutes, I was enjoying the film but the ending ruined the whole thing.<br /><br />You could argue that there is no way to end a film like that in a satisfactory way. I could argue that you’re making excuses because you like Kubrick’s work.<br /><br />Am I missing the point? Probably but I don’t give a fuck, this film was a perfect example of bad story telling.Ninjahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18055692238481831718noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9157761173808358097.post-2281395352720121872012-01-13T02:43:00.000-08:002012-01-13T02:55:34.519-08:00High hopes!So, I love Skyrim, I do. It’s epic, there’s a lot to do and it’s great fun. But it was a letdown for me.<br /><br />But this is not because of the game! It’s me. My expectations for this game were very high. Out of the solar system, one might say! And I’m pretty sure that the only way Skyrim could have really lived up to my expectations is if it came with prostitutes and a sandwich.<br /><br />When I heard about all the new mechanics and features, my imagination ran wild. I couldn’t wait to play a game that, in reality, couldn’t exist.<br /><br />Of course, a buddy of mine ( <a href="http://mastersdegreeincrap.blogspot.com/"> Check THIS shit out!</a> ) loves the game and won’t shut the FUCK up about it, which is nice because I love talking about it. Just... not as much as I thought I would. And the reason he loves the game so much, possibly, is because he didn’t know a thing about it.<br /><br />But this year has a lot of games in store that I’m excited for and I sort of want to avoid the disappointment that I get with every game I look forward to.<br /><br />So, I have taken a few steps do avoid this problem! Check it out! A FUCKING LIST!<br /><br />1. I will not watch or read any interviews with the developers, publishers or anybody else who has a financial reason to boast about the game. It’s not like they lie all the time but shit, they sure do forget to mention the bad points.<br /><br />2. If it’s part of a franchise that I already love (for example, the next Hitman game). I will only watch one trailer to get myself pumped. I watched a shit load of Skyrim videos and, well, I told you how that turned out.<br /><br />3. I will be as cynical as possible. “This game could revolutionise space travel, you say? I do not think so, sir! I’m cynical! Good day to you!” This, hopefully, will mean that I will be pleasantly surprised when a game does indeed revolutionise space travel.<br /><br />And that’s all I could think of! But I know that keeping my distance works because I kept away from Deus Ex: Human Revolution. Not because of my expectations being too high but because I love the original Deus Ex and I was pretty sure that the new one would fall flat on its face. I was wrong, of course, which is why I’m doing the same for the games out this year.<br /><br />But seriously... I am fucking super excited for Hitman. I’m gonna strangle folk with string!!!<br /><a href="http://www.wouldyoukindly.com/wp-content/uploads/Hitman-Absolution-Feature.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 600px; height: 300px;" src="http://www.wouldyoukindly.com/wp-content/uploads/Hitman-Absolution-Feature.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a>Ninjahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18055692238481831718noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9157761173808358097.post-91147002846483241872011-12-19T08:04:00.001-08:002011-12-20T13:14:29.072-08:00Five top games of 2011NUMBER FIVE! DEAD SPACE 2!<br /><br /><a href="http://i.telegraph.co.uk/multimedia/archive/01811/dead-space2_1811193b.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 620px; height: 388px;" src="http://i.telegraph.co.uk/multimedia/archive/01811/dead-space2_1811193b.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a><br />I liked the first one, despite it’s clunky controls. But, then again, clunky controls seem to be a theme in horror games.<br /><br />But, unlike many other horror games, I didn’t want to smash my fucking foot through the disc in a fit of rage. Something people seem to have forgotten is that horror lies within the atmosphere, not the gore or whatever! And the atmosphere is gone when you’re repeating the same scene for the 20th time because the camera controls suck monkey tits.<br /><br />But dead space 2 fixed a majority of the problems. The easier controls helped fight the monsters and enough new nasties were added to keep some sense of urgency.<br />It’s a very fun game and it has enough horror to be called a horror game (unlike the newer resident evil and silent hill games). But it wasn’t very scary. Still, good gameplay and decent story.<br /><br />NUMBER FOUR! MARVEL VS CAPCOM 3! FATE OF TWO WORLDS!!!<br /><a href="http://images1.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20110902083112/streetfighter/images/1/12/Shinkuu-hadoken_tvc1.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 640px; height: 480px;" src="http://images1.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20110902083112/streetfighter/images/1/12/Shinkuu-hadoken_tvc1.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a><br /><br /><br />I’m not big on fight games. Don’t get me wrong, I love playing a few rounds on street fighter or Tekken but I’ve never liked them enough to actually buy one.<br /><br />Until now! MVC3 is a whole lot of fun. The controls are great, it’s well paced and matches last long enough to be interesting and not so long that they get stale. Plus, you get to choose a team of three fighters, instead of sticking to one.<br /><br />Three fighters! How cool is that?!? I can play hulk for a while then Ryu when I fucking feel like throwing some fucking hadokens!<br /><br />NUMBER THREE! INFAMOUS 2!<br /><a href="http://playstationlifestyle.net/wp-content/uploads/2010/07/inFamous-2-lightning-feature.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 685px; height: 300px;" src="http://playstationlifestyle.net/wp-content/uploads/2010/07/inFamous-2-lightning-feature.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a><br /><br />Blowing shit up! Infamous was a fantastic game but, as you may know, it had problems. Too many bad guys when all you wanna do is find shards!<br /><br />But the sequel fixes all that. Well, for the most part. It’s fun, fast and lasts just long enough to get you used to ALL THE SUPER FUCKING COOL ELECTRIC POWERS! BOOM! ZZZZZZZZING!!! KRAKATHOOOOOOOOO!<br /><br />It’s one the best open world games I’ve played in a long time and it gives you a lot to do, plenty of fun! Keeps you busy!<br /><br />NUMBER TWOOO! AWWWWW IT’S SKYRIM!!!<br /><a href="http://preorderskyrim.files.wordpress.com/2011/08/skyrim-orc.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 1024px; height: 576px;" src="http://preorderskyrim.files.wordpress.com/2011/08/skyrim-orc.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a><br /><br /><br />Don’t hit me! Yes yes, I put Skyrim at second place3. Why? Well it’s not as great as it should be. I found the guild missions to easy to beat, their story lines too short and the variety lacking.<br /><br />With Oblivion I loved creating new characters with new classes and what have you but in Skyrim I find that once you’ve done it once or twice, there’s no point in doing it again.<br /><br />Don’t get me wrong, the game is great. It’s huge! There are dragons! The main story is epic! Short, though. Very short.<br /><br />And every race looks cool. Every one of them! It looks great and, despide my bitching, there is a lot to do for a while. It’s just... not as great as it could be.<br /><br />AW SHIT! HERE’S NUMBER 1! DUKE NUKEM- I’m joking, obviously. IT’ DEUS EX: HUMAN <br />REVOLUTION!<br /><a href="http://www.deusexxbox.co.uk/images/Deus-Ex-Human-Revolution-615.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 615px; height: 297px;" src="http://www.deusexxbox.co.uk/images/Deus-Ex-Human-Revolution-615.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a><br /><br /><br />Deus Ex was a freaking awesome game. And Deus Ex: HR? A worthy follow up! It’s a prequel which means we get to see how everything started and wow, it’s pretty cool.<br /><br />The gameplay is varied enough to justify replaying it and the story is very interesting and well told. It’s not as huge and varied as the original’s story but it’s good.<br /><br />There aren’t as many choices as you’d expect from this series but that’s only a minor argument. The game did what it set out to do. It added to the Deus Ex universe and entertained us. I expected less and got more!Ninjahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18055692238481831718noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9157761173808358097.post-15865740682284124312011-11-22T14:09:00.000-08:002011-11-23T05:49:35.364-08:00Can't Dodge: Swearing at a bastard<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://tiredbutwired.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/11/stealthbastard-546x260.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 546px; height: 260px;" src="http://tiredbutwired.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/11/stealthbastard-546x260.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a><br /><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z1dLNLji5n0&feature=colike"></a><br /><br />For this “Can’t Dodge” I have decided to write about an indie game! One that’s free! Yes, it’s free! And I’m shit at it!<br /><br />OK, so, there are two types of games I won’t be writing about in Can’t Dodge much; RPG’s and stealth games. Only because I’m actually quite good at them. I think it’s because there’s a lot of standing around and thinking. No sudden moves, you know?<br />But I am so fucking bad at side scrolling platformers. My archenemy! I can’t stop falling off things and running into other things and being fucking shot in the face AND WHERE ARE THE FUCKING MUSHROOMS AND FUCKING RINGS WHEN YOU FUCKI-<br /><br />So, what do you get when you cross a game genre I’m awesome at and one I’m awfully bad at? The answer: A lot of shouting.<br /><br />And stealth Bastard must have heard me say every swear word in the English language, and some new ones, too.<br /><br />So you’ve got the usual elements, run, die, run, die some more, run jump and die, and so on. But you also need to stay in the shadows, making sure you’re not spotted by cameras and robots (fucking robots!). The cameras aren’t so much of a bother but the robots will shoot you on site. And these shots blow you up. Boom! Blood and guts everywhere!<br /><br />Let me tell you about one level in particular. Level four. Yeah, that’s right I’m stuck on level four. Fuck you.<br /><br />So I jump down from a ledge. Bang, robot shoots me.<br /><br />I jump down as he turns and run for the shadows. Bang, robots walks into me.<br /><br />I jump onto the ledge I couldn’t help but miss and jump down behind the ‘bot to hack the keypad. I then panic because I have no idea how I’m gonna get past the robot.<br /><br />Rinse and repeat until I figure out that you need to jump back onto the ledge. I’ve never felt so stupid. That’s a lie, I’ve acted pretty stupid in my life and I will continue to do so for many years to come.<br /><br />But, getting passed that, I got to a point where I had to hack a keypad to start an elevator. Alright! Here we go, movin’ on up!<br /><br />It crushed me because I was a little too close. That’s the point where I said “Fuck this, I’m leaving.”<br /><br />Fun game, though.<br />http://www.stealthbastard.com/Ninjahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18055692238481831718noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9157761173808358097.post-14509821632086242662011-11-09T09:46:00.000-08:002011-11-09T09:51:13.990-08:00Can't Dodge: Scarecrow TroublesI don’t play MMORPG’s. I just don’t. And I don’t trust those that do. They constantly want to level up, no matter who they have to kill to do it. I don’t want to be killed for the sake of somebody’s insane urge to have a new speed skill or whatever.<br /><br />But I do like DC. I mean, who doesn’t like Batman? I’m going to add those who don’t like Batman to my “don’t trust” list.<br /><br />I’m also a big fan of free stuff so when DC universe Online went free to play this month I downloaded.<br /><br />We’ll skip over the part where I downloaded it at 11:30pm and it didn’t finish until 4:30pm. I only got three and a half hours sleep because no MMORPG players have mentioned the download time before.<br /><br />Instead, let’s get straight to how shit I am at the game.<br /><br />At first I seemed to be alright at it. Make a cool looking hero in a trench coat, have Batman as my mentor and agonise over choosing a decent name that wasn’t taken.<br />Battle through Brainiac’s ship in the tutorial mission, blah blah blah, team up with Superman and the finally leave and go to the Gotham precinct. Not too bad so far! Batman has given me some orders and told me how cool I am!<br /><br />Then the first mission started. Go fight Scarecrow’s goons and protect hazmat guys. Simple, right? Fuck no.<br /><br />I don’t know how to protect these guys! I keep close to fight the goons coming after them but lag kicks in and the hazmat guys disappear!<br /><br />I find myself chasing ghost in yellow suits, trying to protect them. It also doesn’t help when the goals are written in itty bitty font sizes, almost impossible to read.<br />But I did eventually figure out what to do. I saved some dude, hit some dudes. All good.<br /><br />Then I had to find the scarecrow. “In the sewers,” they said. Is he? Then why can’t I go down one of the many manholes?!? Turns out I had to wait in a queue, on the “on duty” screen.<br /><br />After that I spent a lot of time getting my ass handed to me by goons. I’ve been told that I need to “grind” which means I need to level up by killing enemies for hours, gaining nothing except maybe making the next mission a little easier.<br /><br />It also looks like I chose the wrong “travel power.” I chose acrobatics because it was as close to Batman as I could get. So while I’m running slightly faster than normal, there are people running past me with super speed and flying over me with flight.<br /><br />Fuck that. No more of these games for me. RPG’s are fine but MMORPG’s are not for me.<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjMi0CJU-XayWAc3DdiZv57Sn_jesmyzAQ7nrBXvvsxc9Edf2KJvP9A9Qc8b9TSSUyrmpQIoZ4IV8VilUtiqvBKaHzZSV69YcwvwJUBc7jJASrRO886X8rXDl3VmJMzswrTOYPig1_p8zOD/s1600/DC-Universe_624.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 200px; height: 79px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjMi0CJU-XayWAc3DdiZv57Sn_jesmyzAQ7nrBXvvsxc9Edf2KJvP9A9Qc8b9TSSUyrmpQIoZ4IV8VilUtiqvBKaHzZSV69YcwvwJUBc7jJASrRO886X8rXDl3VmJMzswrTOYPig1_p8zOD/s200/DC-Universe_624.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5673054979508721314" /></a>Ninjahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18055692238481831718noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9157761173808358097.post-39512925448498042742011-10-31T12:16:00.001-07:002011-10-31T12:21:18.979-07:00Can't Dodge: Double ExperienceI’m introducing a new feature! I call it... Can’t dodge! Because, honestly, I can’t dodge for shit. At least. not in video games. I’ve been slapped enough to know how to dodge in real life.
Basically I’m going to be regaling you with tales about my crapness in video games. This includes cock ups, mess ups, foul ups, fuck ups, accidents and plain old shittery.
Today I’d like to discuss Call of Duty: Black Ops. Specifically the online multiplayer. Specifically-er Team Deatmatch.
I’m not very good at this game, although I have been improving. Over the weekend I ruled a map, earning killstreaks all over the place, my kill death ratio was 4.something and I was top of the team. Then, on a fresh match, I realised that the opposing team in the previous match was just really shit.
But the weekend has been surprisingly good! I levelled up several times, thanks to the double experience weekend and, to my surprise, there was a lack of hackers, noob tubers and campers. They were still there but the majority of matches were good fun.
But today has been awful. It’s like everyone waited until today to be a prick. I loaded my Aug with extended clip and got ready for all out war! Only to be shot down by noob tubers.
When I tried running through buildings to get around them I found claymores everywhere and when I tried to go through alley ways, I was cut down by campers.
This was on both teams, by the way. If it wasn’t for the noob tubers, no points would have been scored because everybody would have been camping at opposite ends of the map. Well, I guess the enemy would have plenty because I was running around like an idiot...
Although, it’s great to sneak up on campers, watching them lie there in open doorways while you aim for the head. Go ahead and teabag one next time you see one! Be careful, though, they could always turn around... I’ve had that problem... more than once.Ninjahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18055692238481831718noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9157761173808358097.post-31988019978836556802011-10-31T12:14:00.001-07:002011-10-31T12:15:17.172-07:00GoreIf you’ve ever entered a comic book shop an asked for something totally violent with rape and other sexual scenes but with a good story, you need help. But you may have been sold a Garth Ennis book, a Warren Ellis book or maybe even a Mark Millar book.
But I’m hoping you wouldn’t have bought Alan Moore’s “Neonomicon.” It reads like the rape fantasies of a crazy old man.
But how is that different from Preacher or Transmetropolitan or Wanted? It’s because the authors of these books don’t sacrifice story for shock.
There’s a fine line between gore porn and a violent story. In Preacher, a man gets his face cut off. In crossed, a crazy man beats people with a horse’s penis. But in Alan Moore’s Neonomicon, two issues of a four issue story are spent focusing on a woman being raped by a sea monster.
With no plot to match, this story turned into violent porn. Why pay for that when you have the internet?
So, how do you avoid the mistakes made by Moore? It’s easier than you think.
Plan the story. Don’t Plan the gore. The story is the most important part. Sure, there might be a gore scene that you want in there but don’t make it the focus of the book. Ask yourself “is this something I can get on hardcore sites??” If it is, you need to work harder.
Preacher’s story takes a close, satirical look at religion and American culture while Transmetropolitan comments on politics and consumerism. You don’t have to send a message, though. Just focus on the story.
But, from an art point of view, fear and shock comes from what you don’t show. While Ennis likes to have his gore scenes shown in all their glory, most writers and artists like to have the shocking scenes off camera so the audience can fill in the gaps. Have you ever read or seen a movie where somebody’s screaming off camera and it eventually occurs to you that they’re doing something to their nuts? You slowly start to cover your own in an effort to protect them from the thought. If the scene’s shown to you, with nothing held back, you just cringe but get over it pretty fast.
Most of the time, what the audience thinks of is a lot worse than what’s in front of them
Sometimes the imagery used can be more powerful than the scene itself. In 28 days later, the opening scene is that of a deserted London, instead of messy bodies on the street, being mauled by zombies.
American History X. Graphic Copyright © New Line Cinema
How about the curb stomp in American history X? It’s the sound that makes you cringe as you watch Norton stomp on a guy’s head.
But that’s not to say the full on violence isn’t effective. The werewolf transformation scene in American werewolf in London was scary for a lot of people. The Chest burster in Alien is an infamous scene that still scares some.
You simply need to be sure that the violence you write doesn’t take away from the story. You also have to be mindful of your audience! You don’t want to be showing rape scenes to young brats, do you? Or... do you?
But remember that a lot of readers are put off by gore which means you may lose readers who would have loved your story!
The main point is; never use violence unless you need to.Ninjahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18055692238481831718noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9157761173808358097.post-20150205926218779772011-10-31T12:13:00.001-07:002011-10-31T12:13:04.341-07:00<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhbuOEninccR1_O9uRWN8rjUMoi3s7GR6h8noJaYP_5BcfZn_Do3AbioiI1a19Jyb2PhyphenhyphenAAmcukafd4MobRmHySU-92jInfkEmp2bzO939HdhpUbB-0TFj-lO2kj0OR8RjiFrBZG1GWUF27/s1600/Bad_luck_bunnies_Halloween_by_wrivers.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left:1em; margin-right:1em"><img border="0" height="200" width="145" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhbuOEninccR1_O9uRWN8rjUMoi3s7GR6h8noJaYP_5BcfZn_Do3AbioiI1a19Jyb2PhyphenhyphenAAmcukafd4MobRmHySU-92jInfkEmp2bzO939HdhpUbB-0TFj-lO2kj0OR8RjiFrBZG1GWUF27/s200/Bad_luck_bunnies_Halloween_by_wrivers.jpg" /></a></div>Ninjahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18055692238481831718noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9157761173808358097.post-35994819725852698522011-10-31T11:58:00.001-07:002011-10-31T11:58:56.235-07:00Oh, the Horror!October means horror. But, as I’m sure you know, there is a lot of rubbish out there. For every well crafted horror film there are ten films set in a forest with way too much nudity and gore.
Believe it or not, horror is fairly easy to write, at least the horror parts are, anyway.
The shocks come from simply recreating the fear you might have felt when realising you’re about to zip up your jeans without making sure everything’s tucked in. Or when you wake up and realise somebody’s on the computer and you haven’t cleared your browsing history.
And, if that is what it was all about, the Saw franchise and The Human Centipede would be perfect horrors. But there’s more to really scaring people than guys jumping out of places and nasty violence.
And horror comics are a little more difficult. Writers can’t rely on guys jumping out of places, since we can see it coming. So why do books like 30 Days of Night and Welcome to Hoxford send a chill down your spine? Why are they able to make you afraid?
In my opinion there are hundreds of different things you need to focus on when writing horror but o three core ones really stand out. You may have a different opinion and that’s fine. You’re just wrong.
<b>Setting</b>
The setting is very important in horror. It needs to be somewhere that the protagonist can’t escape. He or she should not be in their element, at least, not until the end if you want the protagonist to live.
30 Days of Night has one of the best settings in horror, in my opinion. Snowy dark places aren’t anything new but Steve Niles came up with the idea of sticking vampires in there. It’s dark for a month and the residents of Barrow cannot escape. It’s claustrophobic, it’s dark and Templesmith’s art makes it creepy and dirty, in a goody way.
Small town horrors are often my favourite but there are plenty of other setting to use effectively. Some horrors are set in a street while some are set all across a country. All you need to do is prevent your characters from leaving alive.
<b>The Protagonist</b>
We’ve all sat and watched a horror flick where a bunch of generic, half naked teens get killed and the only one who lives was just a bit nicer than the others. But do we care about them? Short shocks work fine but to create a real sense of fear and urgency, you need to create a character that your audience cares about. Great characters like Mac from The Thing, Eben from 30 Days of Night and so on are great examples of characters that make us care. We want them to survive so our hearts beat in our throats and our hair stands up on end when they’re in trouble.
The Thing Copyright © Universal Pictures
<b>The Antagonist</b>
The big nasty! I’m sure you’ve heard that the less you see, the scarier the bad guy is, right? That’s due to man’s basic fear of the unknown. But let’s not hide everything; it’s nice to see big monsters tearing people apart. As long as the very idea and design of the monster preys on basic human fears.
The Thing preys on our paranoia while Alien is supposed to represent a penis or something. But it looks freaky and cool. The cloverfield monsters were a letdown, remember? It was hyped all over the internet and we expected something incredible and when we saw them in all their “glory” it wasn’t so scary. So be creative.
So, there we have it! Horror isn’t all about the mess and jumping. There are lots of ways to make people fill their pants.Ninjahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18055692238481831718noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9157761173808358097.post-91706390277782416702011-04-13T12:52:00.001-07:002011-04-13T12:52:41.545-07:00FF issue 1I know I’m a bit late to the party here but I haven’t read many comics over the last couple of weeks since I’ve had my head stuck in “Game of Thrones” but here it goes.<br />FF issue one was, over all, very disappointing. The death of Storm was very interesting, especially the aftermath issue, but this follow up just doesn’t live up to that.<br />I can’t fault the writing much. Hickman’s a talented writer whi8le Epting ‘s art is decent, as always but the book just didn’t live up to the hype.<br />One scene that irks me is the tour that Sue Storm gives to Spider-Man. She takes him around the recently redecorated Baxter building while we the reader, get a look at the future foundation characters.<br />But the tour just seems so lazy and rushed. The only good thing about it is that it is consistent with the rest of the issue.<br />Also, very little is mentioned of grief and that I’m both thankful for and annoyed at. Johnny’s death is the perfect opportunity to change the characters. The closest we to get to seeing this is Ben moping for a while.<br />As I’ve mentioned, the art is decent but nothing special. It is not the best work Epting has ever done but it’s still better than some.<br />Really, the only flaw is with the pacing. I am confident that the writing will improve during the following issues.Ninjahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18055692238481831718noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9157761173808358097.post-80965451483336485282011-03-25T13:47:00.000-07:002011-03-25T14:28:16.402-07:00NeonomiconNeonomicon is a four issue mini series from Alano Moore. It centers around a young female FBI agent who has an addiction to sex. We meet the character as part of a team looking for a serial killer, which eventually leads them to a Lovecraft cult.<br /><br />Interesting, no? No. No, it's not.<br /><br />While it is intriguing to start with, the book quickly turns into something that seems to be written by a crazy old man who feels the need to share rape fantasies with his ridiculously loyal fan base.<br /><br />I have plenty of respect for Alan Moore, simply for creating my favorite comic book character (John Constantine) and I respect his contribution to modern comics but his modern work just seems to be his way of testing the censors; trying to see how much he can get away with.<br /><br />But is working with Avatar really testing the censors? They publish books like crossed! Crossed is known for being incredibly violent, filled with rape, torture and weirdness but the difference between crossed and neonomicon is that Crossed stays interesting and has a plot that isn't simply "a woman gets raped by a sea monster."<br /><br />But let's step away from the rape for a minute. Let's take a closer look at the writing.<br /><br />The characters are painfully generic. They all seem to be copies of every generic FBI agent in the action movie genre. The protagonist is so shallow and 2-D that it's almost impossible to feel any sympathy for her. Her dialogue is painful to read, making her even more annoying. Most of it seems to either recap the previous events or state the obvious.<br /><br />But I read the whole series so it can't be as bad as I make it out to be. Although, I was planning on dropping it before I found out that I'd be dropping the last issue. I guess there's enough interest there to make you hope that it gets better.<br /><br />The basic plot is interesting enough but the execution of the story is so awful and slightly offensive that any interest created by the basic plot is lost. I am fine with violence (I'm a big fan of Ennis and Ellis) but when the writing is awful it becomes something worse than just a bad story; it's becomes rape fan fiction.<br /><br />But the art's nice enough. that's something.Ninjahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18055692238481831718noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9157761173808358097.post-22107739627072891582010-12-17T12:59:00.001-08:002010-12-17T12:59:43.822-08:00FaceboookI hate Facebook but I'm addicted to it. I know many people say that the worse part is when people you don't like add you as a friend, or the stupid "farmville" or "Mafia" updates from people you don't like who have added you recently. While I do hate these things, one of the worst aspects of Facebook is the chat bar.<br /><br />Now, I like talking to people I like. Even if I only like two people but I hate it when somebody notices you're online and that dreaded box comes up with "elo" shortly followed by "how are you?"<br /><br />And then you're stuck, aren't you? You HAVE to reply. Even I know that. You can't just ignore them because they keep trying and then they see you some other time and they just have to bring it up. But you still think about ignoring them. Logging off, maybe. But you have to reply.<br /><br />But, thank goodness, Facebook is playing up for me right now so the conversation has been cut short.Ninjahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18055692238481831718noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9157761173808358097.post-64653320757607369932010-12-17T12:57:00.000-08:002010-12-17T12:58:54.079-08:00The Holidays...It's the time for joy, for being with faimly... for giving!<br /><br />A time for giving? Wel,, give me some fucking room.<br /><br />Shopping centres are horrible places at the best of times. There are too many people, slowing down in the middle of the place. There are clothes shops littered everywhere and you have to go out of your way to find a game shop or a book shop. But this time of year, it's worse... A lot worse.<br /><br />I decided to heck out the mentioned book shops and games shops at my local shopping centre but I somehow forgot that everybody leaves their shopping until the last two week before christmas. I had half an hour before my bus arrived and it takes about that long to have a very thorough look around. But I only managed to get to one book shop, near the entrance. It being a very expensive book shop made me decide to brave the crowd and head towards the next one, on the other side of the centre.<br /><br />Cue the brave, rchestral rock music! Cue the shouts against the loud crashng of waves and screams! "come on, men! We''l make it yet!"<br /><br />Yeah, it's pretty obvious by now that I did not get to that book shop. I would have made it easily with a good ten minutes to look around in November but now it's like a bloody Romero movie. Slow old people everywhere I look! People with screaming meat bags in pushchairs!<br /><br />On my Xmas list now is a rocket launcher and some salt for the survivors.Ninjahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18055692238481831718noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9157761173808358097.post-67797955202058971432010-12-13T05:49:00.000-08:002010-12-13T05:50:04.309-08:00addictedJesus... Video game addiction? I know this is an old subject but since BBC aired an episode of Panorama recently, addressing the issue, I feel that it's worth talking about. I will be writing this as I watch the show.<br /><br />Let's deal with the show itself. within the first five minutes it's giving us skewed facts, over the top music, etc. A couple of minutes in it says that the UK "spends more than 3 billion a year on gaming. More than we spend on film or music." They, of course, give a source for this statistic. I'm not arguing with their accuracy. But they didn't mention that games are a bucket load more expensive than films and music? To spend the same on CD's as I do on games I would have to buy four CD's (more or less). With films, I'd have to buy three DVD's or go to the cinema around eight times.<br /><br />We all have that moment when we're playing a game and we realise we've got stuff to do. But we carry on playing for a bit. It happens. Let's look at it a different way; We all have that moment when we're reading/watching/talking to/listening/masturbating to a book/a film/TV/a friend/family member/music/porn when we realise we've got stuff to do. But we carry on. It happens.<br /><br />But the interviewer manages to find a guy who defines this as an addiction. It's not. the guy is just lazy and stupid. Isn't he? He says that he plays games all day, he doesn't eat sometimes (still over weight, though, but whatever) and has abandoned his friends. Sounds to me like he hasn't been taught how to enjoy things in moderation, right?<br /><br />Next, after a couple more addicts and a very brief argument from Eidos, we're taken to Korea. They have boot camps there to deal with addiction to games! Seriously! But more importantly, one of the members, when asked why he loves game so much, says "They're just fun" and "there's nothing else to do." Maybe we should be looking at the fact that young people are ignored by a lot of the time? Youth centres are closed down because of cut backs, university fees are rising, some parents haven't done a great job- You know what? yeah, there's nothing else to do. Maybe if there was... people wouldn't play so many video games. Video games that allow people to escape the boredom and sometimes abuse in their real lives, sometimes giving them a place where they can interact with other people from around the world.<br /><br />"Instead of going out for a drink or to a nightclub..." The interviewer says that. He really does. While standing in a huge room filled with gamers who are behaving themselves, interacting with each other and other from around the world. He says this with a serious tone! Jesus, I think I'd prefer them there rather than falling over into roads drunk, fighting each other, puking on my shoes and trying to hump a bloody lamppost.<br /><br />In Korea, gaming is national sport. Darn you Korea for giving shy, weak people the chance to shine and have fun!<br /><br />In an effort to make us scared, a news story is discussed. a Korean couple let their baby starve t death while playing games. Tragic, I know, but then he interviews a psychiatrist. she says "They were mentally not that stable to begin with." And this brings me to all the other addicts. Are they maybe suffering from a mental illness like Depression? hey obviously have a reason for their "addiction" and maybe you should look into that instead. One of the parents says "I used to hit him a lot but you need to talk and communicate." Yeah, because nobody wants to escape into a virtual world when their mother is hitting them.<br /><br />The boy says "I think it's much more fun to be playing outside..." Yeah, it probably is. But he had the help of this group. a boot camp. they helped him through his problems, he had the chance to play with others his own age- this goes back to the whole lack of things for youths to do thing, doest it?<br /><br />But let's wrap this up. I'm not going to deny that some folk have troubles! But that isn't the games fault! It's clear that people use these games as a means of escape from a troubled life. They could be suffering abuse, mental illness or even a lack of things to do. And not once did this show address this issue fully. It was mentioned here and there but, like the argument from Eidos, it was brief and useless.<br /><br />But it's down to the parents and the individl to realise that there is a problem and to do something about it. Running to the media and blaming games is not a solution, by the way. Addressing the underlying problems that make you want to use games as an escape is a good start.Ninjahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18055692238481831718noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9157761173808358097.post-89321282304252496852010-11-26T12:48:00.000-08:002010-11-26T13:39:53.427-08:00AncestorThis book has been out for quite a while but I have only recently read it and I felt the urge to review it.<br /><br />I spotted this book while searching for something new to read. It was cheap and had a great premise: "Scientists on an island try to clone an ancient monster so they can use its organs in transplants. Everything goes wrong." Sounds good, right? A simple action horror. Something easy to read. Fun.<br /><br />no no. Fun is not what this book offers. You could honestly get more fun out of raping a cactus.<br /><br />One of the worst aspects of this book is the characters. Everybody is a stereotype. not even that, they're all a parody. The main character seems to be a parody of every action hero in fiction!<br /><br />But that's not as bad as the bad guys. A German scientist who's obsessed with getting the Nobel prize is not the major bad guy, more of a dick who doesn't help things. But the major bad guy, beside the flesh eating monsters, is a European, money hungry psycho with lots of guns. His brother sends him to the island to make sure things don't go wrong. They're so generic that it's almost offensive. If this psycho had a curly mustache and an English accent, I would have had to put it down and forget about it.<br /><br />They're not even slightly fleshed out. Do you remember Gremlins? Do you remember when Phoebe Cates' character would try to talk about a traumatic incident but she'd be interupted? Well, every character has a whole bunch of those moments but nobody interupts them.<br /><br />for a while, I thought that maybe this was a sequel and that the characters were already fleshed out in an other book and that all of the explanatory dialogue and flashbacks were there to reminder the reader of the previous book. But, it turns out that there is no previous book.<br /><br />I know, I know "it's just a bit of fun." If the plot was as fast paced and fun as promised, I would have forgiven Scott Sigler for his awful characters but three quarters of the book is dedicated to the details of cloning. I know too much about cloning now. What's worse is, it reads like wikipedia. This makes the book so slow and boring that the last few chapters, where the ancestors start killing, is sort of silly and out of place.<br /><br />and by the time the plot actually kicks in, I have already guessed who survives and how they get away. I had to imagine the "rat creatures" from "Bone" as the ancestors just to keep myself amused.<br /><br />Quotes on the book and on Sigler's website say that this book is fast paced, well written, original, scary etc. These quotes say that the writer is the next Steven King. I'm guessing that the quotes were cut off before the speaker could say "only fucking with you, it's awful."<br /><br />So, to summarise: This book is a slow, boring pile of horse cum with horrible 2-D characters. If you want something easy to read, read the bus schedule.<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://pics.livejournal.com/sidhedreams/pic/000taef4"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 370px; height: 400px;" src="http://pics.livejournal.com/sidhedreams/pic/000taef4" border="0" alt="" /></a>Ninjahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18055692238481831718noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9157761173808358097.post-8370221724006544372010-06-05T13:44:00.000-07:002010-06-05T14:11:30.147-07:00The Losers<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://www.slashfilm.com/wp/wp-content/images/losers_1sheet_dom.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 550px; height: 847px;" src="http://www.slashfilm.com/wp/wp-content/images/losers_1sheet_dom.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://chud.com/articles/content_images/5/losersmovie.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 600px; height: 399px;" src="http://chud.com/articles/content_images/5/losersmovie.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a><br />The Losers was good. I'll just get that out of the way for now. But it was good for one reason and one reason only; it didn't pretend to be anything special.<br /><br />The film was really just the A team and I did spend most of the film waiting for Zoe Saldana to say "I pity the fool!" But it wasn't so much a bad thing that she didn't say that. After all, she was rather attractive and saying things like that would make me picture her with a Mohawk which would be a little bit weird... yet interesting.<br /><br />But the plot wasn't the most important bit of this film so it's odd that I, a plot favouring man, enjoyed such a simple film. But the soundtrack worked with the action scenes which seems to be a rare thing in modern action films. I have to admit,I've had enough of classical music during explosions. After so much of it it now sounds to me like several dogs farting, causing said explosions. It's just pure annoying.<br /><br />So it was fun to see an action scene with "Don't stop Believing" being played over it. also, I can't believe that they managed to make "Black Betty" not cheesy when it was played during the first fifteen minutes of the film. But then again, maybe that's because most of the film was pure cheese.<br /><br />Another thing I liked was the dialogue. the characters interacted with each other pretty well, even if those interactions were pissy arguments most of the time.<br /><br />And now the bad points.<br /><br />While the characters were fun and fairly well acted, some of the characters just seemed like extras. For example, most of the time I forgot that Óscar Jaenada was even in the film and I couldn't help but shout "who the fuck is he?" Every time he appeared on screen. This is actually quite a let down since some plot points relied on the audiences opinions of a character to succeed.<br /><br />But I did mention I don't give a fuck about the plot in this movie.<br /><br />Over all the movie was fun if a little bit short, considering the amount of characters in the movie. But it didn't make me want to go out and buy the comic book so I guess it was a bit of a failure in that respect.Ninjahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18055692238481831718noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9157761173808358097.post-48258906239748413402010-04-11T15:52:00.000-07:002010-04-20T08:00:29.084-07:00The Weekly Reread!<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://media.ideaanddesignworks.com/idw/covers/night_mary/original_series/trade/Night_Mary_TPBcvr_medium.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 264px; height: 400px;" src="http://media.ideaanddesignworks.com/idw/covers/night_mary/original_series/trade/Night_Mary_TPBcvr_medium.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">Night Mary</span><br /><br />Night Mary is about a teenage girl working with her father in a dream analysis centre. It's Mary's job to enter the dreams of patients to help them solve their problems.<br /><br />Everything is turned upside down when one patient commits murder, leading to other patients committing murder. This coincides with the arrival of a strange figure in the dreams that seems to be focusing on Mary.<br /><br />Night Mary was an enjoyable short story written by Rick Remender and Kieron Dwyer. It was only a short story (5 issues) but it's best in the graphic novel format. <br /><br />As a graphic novel, it can be read in one sitting but Remender makes that sitting feel so much linger. In a good way, obviously. Remender manages to pace the story in a way that makes you think you're reading a full novel or even watching a film.<br /><br />The art is also pretty amazing. The contrast of colours is something to take notice of. Whenever the main character is in a dream, the colours are often bright but any other time the colours are bleak with a lot of greys and shading. Dammit, I want a sequel!<br /><br />If you don't own this book, go out and get it.Ninjahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18055692238481831718noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9157761173808358097.post-27686809131198656752010-04-09T08:07:00.000-07:002010-04-09T08:35:02.068-07:00Frankie Boyle...If you're here in Britain or if you know your comedians, you know Frankie Boyle isn't a nice guy. At least, he's not nice when he's on stage.<br /><br />If you don't know who Frankie Boyle is, he's a nasty, sarcastic and insulting Scottish comedian who makes jokes that are supposed to offend people. And yeah, he's pretty fucking funny.<br /><br />A woman has recently criticised him for making jokes about people with down's syndrome. She heard these jokes while sitting in the front row of his show. The front row. Of his show. That kind of means that they know who he is, right? Hell, this woman and her husband even said that they knew he has a "dry, cutting sense of humour." But then she goes on to say that she had know idea that he made jokes about disabled people. Really? As a fan of Boyle I can tell you that he will make a joke about anything. If you haven't heard him make fun of something, chances are it's just that he doesn't think it's funny.<br /><br />But this woman has a daughter with down's syndrome and I can understand why she's upset. But maybe she shouldn't have gone to see the show.<br /><br />But I admit, I cringe a little when people make jokes about comic book geeks, the English and so on but this idea is to not let it get to you. I know, it's not the same, but if you know you're going to be offended, you shouldn't blame the offender when you buy front row seats!<br /><br />In my opinion, comedians should be allowed to make all of the jokes they want. That's what they're there for and that's why we put up with them. They remind us how human we are! If you ban one type of joke because it offends one type of person, you might as well ban them all. I want all fat jokes banned. I want all ugly jokes banned. I want all old people and young people and celebrity and hair jokes banned! You just can't do that. Dammit, do we really want a generation of comedians who can only do knock knock jokes?!?<br /><br /><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KY_57Q8WDBc">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KY_57Q8WDBc</a>Ninjahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18055692238481831718noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9157761173808358097.post-25003985200170995362010-04-04T16:01:00.000-07:002010-04-04T16:17:12.927-07:00The Weekly Reread!<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://www.sofos.com/blog/goonchinatown.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 623px;" src="http://www.sofos.com/blog/goonchinatown.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a><br />OK, so every week I'm going to reread something. It may be a comic book or it might be a novel or some poetry. Alright, it's most likely going to be a comic book.<br /><br />This week I reread The Goon: Chinatown.<br /><br />I forgot how good this book really is. It was among the first Goon books I ever read. I immediately loved the moody style of the art. It has lovely water colours as well as cartoony penciling. The mixture of the two makes for a very unique and interesting style.<br /><br />The writing itself is also very awesome. It's a serious story about characters who are usually featured in comical stories. It was nice to see how Eric Powell could write such a serious story without losing the comical edge that these characters have.<br /><br />This time around, I really noticed how sad it is. The Goon is betrayed by his true love for reasons unclear. The pages towards the end with Goon staring at himself in the mirror were very effective. It's just a few pages showing only the Goons face. With each page, he gets even more upset. Add to that Powell's amazing art and it's quite effective.<br /><br />But the point is! If you've never read this before, you have to read it! Especially if you're a fan of the Goon and all things Powell.Ninjahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18055692238481831718noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9157761173808358097.post-8149527734382438282010-04-04T15:23:00.000-07:002010-04-04T15:37:23.707-07:00Happy Zombie re spawn day!OK, so today we celebrate the day Jesus discovered that he has infinite re spawns. Also, he came back as a zombie. Dammit, that is what I believe!<br /><br />Well, actually, Easter goes further back than Jesus and his infinite re spawns. Nobody really knows where from but some say it was derived from "Eostre," a Teutonic goddess of spring and fertility. Among other theories, such as a mistranslation from "hebdomada alba," Otherwise known as white week, which had something to do with white clothes and baptism. It was mistranslated as "esostarum" in Old High German which soon became Easter in English.<br /><br />Wow, education, eh? God bless the History Channel!Ninjahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18055692238481831718noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9157761173808358097.post-27478489257964386492010-03-24T19:46:00.000-07:002010-03-24T20:08:28.601-07:00Yet Another Comics Blog: Monkey Covers<a href="http://yetanothercomicsblog.blogspot.com/2010/03/monkey-covers_21.html#links">Yet Another Comics Blog: Monkey Covers</a><br /><br />Monkey+comic book cover=awesome sauce.Ninjahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18055692238481831718noreply@blogger.com0