Wednesday, August 1, 2012
Extra Credits
On the topic of video games, I want to highlight another web series I've been following. Extra Credits is an excellent and highly intelligent series that discusses various video game and video game industry ideas. I love their sense of humor, the narrator's sped up voice, the silly images, and their ability to totally absorb me into whatever they're talking about. Some of their videos deal with serious issues, such as piracy and game addiction. Others cross the thinning border between video games and other media, and contain essential material anyone working in media should know (such as the hero's journey concept in many narratives). Click the image below to visit their home page and watch their videos!
Monday, July 30, 2012
Oh snapz, it's THE AMAZING SPIDER-MAN
I saw The Amazing Spider-Man yesterday, and I feel like writing about it! This was actually going to be a The Dark Knight Rises post, but all my friends had seen it except for me. D:
Anyway, I like the Spider-Man franchise in general, knowing some of the backstory and general cast and villains, but I have never seen any of the three original movies. Maybe that's for the better, because I thought The Amazing Spider-Man was awesomely amazing.
In contrast to the previous films (according to reviews and criticism currently over the airwaves), Peter Parker is a shyer and less confident young man. I, for one, agree with this change. He's brilliantly intelligent, but isn't given any respect for it. And having lost his parents, he's pretty much alone other than for his uncle and aunt who always stay up waiting for him to come home late at night. Parker only has confidence while donning his spandex alter ego, Spider-Man. He cracks subtle jokes at villians no less, and isn't afraid to take that leap (no pun intended). However, talking to his initial love interest (true to the comics I might add), Gwen Stacy, makes him all stammery and hestitant. Very humanizing in my opinion. This humanizing trait is carried over when he's injured, hampering his mobility. He's not immortal, he's Spider-Man! Fortunately, his karma kicks in, and citizens help him out, giving him more creditabliltiy as the city's true vigilante.
I really don't have any qualms with the film. I saw it in 3-D too, which I would usually say is a waste of money and gimmicky. Not for this movie though. I love how gripping those scenes with Spider-Man zipping through the skyscrapers or fighting; I felt really tense in my seat. They even included some first-person scenes (his point of view), and I felt my slight acrophobia kicking in, but it was AWESOME. Wish they could have included more first-person shots, but this may have been unfavorable due to causing motion sickness in some people. The 3-D effects also seemed to help with the scenes with bokeh and depth of field.
All in all, this is a great reboot of a beloved franchise. Everyone should go and see it, and keep the original trilogy out of their minds while watching. And stay for the credits, as there's an extra scene... Can't wait for the sequel!
Anyway, I like the Spider-Man franchise in general, knowing some of the backstory and general cast and villains, but I have never seen any of the three original movies. Maybe that's for the better, because I thought The Amazing Spider-Man was awesomely amazing.
In contrast to the previous films (according to reviews and criticism currently over the airwaves), Peter Parker is a shyer and less confident young man. I, for one, agree with this change. He's brilliantly intelligent, but isn't given any respect for it. And having lost his parents, he's pretty much alone other than for his uncle and aunt who always stay up waiting for him to come home late at night. Parker only has confidence while donning his spandex alter ego, Spider-Man. He cracks subtle jokes at villians no less, and isn't afraid to take that leap (no pun intended). However, talking to his initial love interest (true to the comics I might add), Gwen Stacy, makes him all stammery and hestitant. Very humanizing in my opinion. This humanizing trait is carried over when he's injured, hampering his mobility. He's not immortal, he's Spider-Man! Fortunately, his karma kicks in, and citizens help him out, giving him more creditabliltiy as the city's true vigilante.
I really don't have any qualms with the film. I saw it in 3-D too, which I would usually say is a waste of money and gimmicky. Not for this movie though. I love how gripping those scenes with Spider-Man zipping through the skyscrapers or fighting; I felt really tense in my seat. They even included some first-person scenes (his point of view), and I felt my slight acrophobia kicking in, but it was AWESOME. Wish they could have included more first-person shots, but this may have been unfavorable due to causing motion sickness in some people. The 3-D effects also seemed to help with the scenes with bokeh and depth of field.
All in all, this is a great reboot of a beloved franchise. Everyone should go and see it, and keep the original trilogy out of their minds while watching. And stay for the credits, as there's an extra scene... Can't wait for the sequel!
Thursday, July 26, 2012
Diablo 3
World of Warcraft certainly wasn't my last game addiction... I've been playing Diablo 3 a lot. With such perfect timing, the game was released on May 15th, barely a week after the summer semester started, and I've been playing way too much since. I am finally on a hiatus due to the inevitable last semester crunch time.
My "main" character, Sinpathy, a male Barbarian. 105 hours spent on him? Yikes.
Developed by Blizzard, the same people who also created WoW, Diablo 3 has players create characters to venture in the realm of Sanctuary, battling hordes of demons, and the Prime Evil, Diablo, itself. There's a whole metagame around this game: what items are best, overpowered skills, class quirks, and general hate or love of the game. See the appropriate sub-Reddit for much more...
The game was a load of fun for the first few weeks. However, once reaching the max level on one character, and reaching Inferno, the hardest difficulty, the game slows to a crawl. The game becomes a game of playing the Auction House and lottery. You have to buy better gear on the player driven auction house or continuously "farm" good items, by killing lots of monsters and hoping you strike gold with a near perfectly rolled item with awesome stats.
My secondary character, 忠忍者, which roughly translates to "loyal ninja". As you can see, I named some of my characters with Chinese and Korean characters. Because I'm cool like that. "Only" 65 hours on him so far, but he's my gold and item "farmer", due to his demon killing efficiency.
In that regards, the game is very broken. There are so many complaints about how Blizzard is running the game. Within weeks of release, people were able to create automated scripts and "bots" to watch the auction house and buy and resell items for higher profits. Bots have also been made to farm gold and items. Blizzard addresses this by banning these accounts, but they always return in droves, decreasing the value of gold and ruining the game economy. This description is a little exaggerated, but many players would agree.
Difficulty is another thing. Why do you make a game so difficult, your testers couldn't even get through it - and then DOUBLE the difficulty and release it to the public? Well, people have certainly beat it, and Blizzard has addressed some difficulty issues with patches, but the game can be a masochist's game for those who don't play enough to improve their characters and gear.
Nonetheless, I suppose I can't complain. This game was well worth the $60 (and I can still attempt to sell some items using the Real Money Auction House for some real money and earn it all back...). I do regret that it has wasted over 170 hours of my precious time over the last two months. Time that could have been spent working on my senior project and other class assignments. :(
Developed by Blizzard, the same people who also created WoW, Diablo 3 has players create characters to venture in the realm of Sanctuary, battling hordes of demons, and the Prime Evil, Diablo, itself. There's a whole metagame around this game: what items are best, overpowered skills, class quirks, and general hate or love of the game. See the appropriate sub-Reddit for much more...
The game was a load of fun for the first few weeks. However, once reaching the max level on one character, and reaching Inferno, the hardest difficulty, the game slows to a crawl. The game becomes a game of playing the Auction House and lottery. You have to buy better gear on the player driven auction house or continuously "farm" good items, by killing lots of monsters and hoping you strike gold with a near perfectly rolled item with awesome stats.
In that regards, the game is very broken. There are so many complaints about how Blizzard is running the game. Within weeks of release, people were able to create automated scripts and "bots" to watch the auction house and buy and resell items for higher profits. Bots have also been made to farm gold and items. Blizzard addresses this by banning these accounts, but they always return in droves, decreasing the value of gold and ruining the game economy. This description is a little exaggerated, but many players would agree.
Difficulty is another thing. Why do you make a game so difficult, your testers couldn't even get through it - and then DOUBLE the difficulty and release it to the public? Well, people have certainly beat it, and Blizzard has addressed some difficulty issues with patches, but the game can be a masochist's game for those who don't play enough to improve their characters and gear.
Well, at least the pre-rendered cutscenes are undoubtedly amazing. Granted, this trailer makes the game seem much better than it actually is.
The video above touches upon even more things people have been complaining about. The "customization" apparently praised by the trailer is more of a myth. For most players, it means copying builds that are guaranteed to be the "best" or most "useful", making most skills at this time, useless. PvP, a core part of many MMO games, still isn't even released yet, and it's been 2+ months since the game came out. And hilariously enough, during the "end game", there is no incentive with playing with others. It is much more efficient playing by yourself. And unless you have many friends that haven't yet given up on the game, you'll be stuck with undergeared idiots in public games.
Nonetheless, I suppose I can't complain. This game was well worth the $60 (and I can still attempt to sell some items using the Real Money Auction House for some real money and earn it all back...). I do regret that it has wasted over 170 hours of my precious time over the last two months. Time that could have been spent working on my senior project and other class assignments. :(
Tuesday, July 24, 2012
Genki Sudo
They did the above routine in New York City too!
This one contains my favorite choreography. THOSE ARMS AND HANDS AT THE END.
They even put a video together soon after the Sendai tsunami and earthquake in March 2011 to give hope to those who lost so much.
Glad to see he's staying productive after retiring! I hope to see more of his works. And I really hope he performs (or films!) in America again!
Thursday, July 19, 2012
World of Warcraft
Despite my harsh criticisms of Second Life, I admit, there was a game I was addicted to a while back. However, I treated it all as a game, and a very engaging game at that, and not at all as a escape or replacement for real life. Click the "read more" or post title to continue reading and see screenshots!
Tuesday, July 17, 2012
Moyashimon
I recently marathoned the anime series, Moyashimon, in anticipation for its, sequel, Moyashimon Returns, which started airing in Japan on the 5th. The first Moyashimon is an 11 episode series based on the manga by Masayuki Ishikawa. The story is about a first year college student at the Tokyo University of Agriculture who has been able to see and communicate with microbes since he was a child. The microbes are presented in an almost absurdly cute fashion, something only Japan is remotely capable of. And they are adorable!
The series follows the protagonist, Sawaki Tadayasu, as he makes his way through freshmen year with friends and colleagues, and encounters bizarre situations involving fermentation, alcohol, microbes, and more. The series can be classified as comedy, but there is some edutainment within, as there are scenes and other segments where the viewer learns about how microbes interact with the world and us. Below is a special short included with the DVDs that explains the microbes living in our intenstines. Unfortunately, I could only find it with Spanish subtitles. :(
This isn't necessarily a kid's show either. There are themes which are slightly adult (including the emphasis on alcohol and characters getting drunk and what not). There's also a live action drama version, for those that prefer live action. And it's freely and legally available on YouTube thanks to FUNimation.
Overall, I find it hilarious that the Japanese could take such a mundane scientific subject and turn it into an artform and profitable franchise. If the science doesn't get to you, the cute representations of the microbes and their antics surely will!
The series follows the protagonist, Sawaki Tadayasu, as he makes his way through freshmen year with friends and colleagues, and encounters bizarre situations involving fermentation, alcohol, microbes, and more. The series can be classified as comedy, but there is some edutainment within, as there are scenes and other segments where the viewer learns about how microbes interact with the world and us. Below is a special short included with the DVDs that explains the microbes living in our intenstines. Unfortunately, I could only find it with Spanish subtitles. :(
This isn't necessarily a kid's show either. There are themes which are slightly adult (including the emphasis on alcohol and characters getting drunk and what not). There's also a live action drama version, for those that prefer live action. And it's freely and legally available on YouTube thanks to FUNimation.
Overall, I find it hilarious that the Japanese could take such a mundane scientific subject and turn it into an artform and profitable franchise. If the science doesn't get to you, the cute representations of the microbes and their antics surely will!
Saturday, July 14, 2012
Jurassic Park
I loved dinosaurs when I was a kid. Still do, but the interest has definitely waned. Throughout the '90s, the Jurassic Park franchise was pretty popular, spawning 3 films total from 1993 to 2001. Seems like the fourth movie has been in "development hell", but maybe it'll see the light of day soon.
I think the concept of resurrecting dinosaurs and other prehistoric creatures using preserved DNA is plausible. However, it would take generations in order to breed a "pure blood" dinosaur, because there would have to be a surrogate mother (unless better technology comes out that circumvents that). But obviously, the point of the films is the "what if" and the consequences. Again, danger of knowledge is present. Just because we have the power to bring back the dinosaurs, is it worth it? The films seemed to express a yes and no (although admittedly, it's been a while since I've seen the films, so I could be wrong). The weatlh of knowledge acquired from these prehistoric creatures, their lifestyles, and the methods to bring them back is a huge step in technological and biological advancement. But you better have huge fortified and electricified fences... or else, the Tyannosaurus and othe carnivores will just break out and enjoy an all-you-can-eat buffet. I think the films also demonstrated that business and money (ie using the dinosaurs as attractions in the titular theme park, Jurassic Park) drove the characters and the theme park itself to tragedy and in some cases, extinction (excuse the pun). With great power comes great responsiblity, and if money comes into play, it could and usually will become a disaster...
OR, we could go searching for prehistoric creatures rumored to be alive today!
I think the concept of resurrecting dinosaurs and other prehistoric creatures using preserved DNA is plausible. However, it would take generations in order to breed a "pure blood" dinosaur, because there would have to be a surrogate mother (unless better technology comes out that circumvents that). But obviously, the point of the films is the "what if" and the consequences. Again, danger of knowledge is present. Just because we have the power to bring back the dinosaurs, is it worth it? The films seemed to express a yes and no (although admittedly, it's been a while since I've seen the films, so I could be wrong). The weatlh of knowledge acquired from these prehistoric creatures, their lifestyles, and the methods to bring them back is a huge step in technological and biological advancement. But you better have huge fortified and electricified fences... or else, the Tyannosaurus and othe carnivores will just break out and enjoy an all-you-can-eat buffet. I think the films also demonstrated that business and money (ie using the dinosaurs as attractions in the titular theme park, Jurassic Park) drove the characters and the theme park itself to tragedy and in some cases, extinction (excuse the pun). With great power comes great responsiblity, and if money comes into play, it could and usually will become a disaster...
OR, we could go searching for prehistoric creatures rumored to be alive today!
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