A price drop for the Playstation 2? That's it? That's the "big announcement"?
To be fair, did Sony claim first that this was a big announcement, or was it just IGN and other websites hyping things up? If this announcement just got blown out of proportion, it's not really Sony's fault that it's underwhelming, but if they were the ones drumming up that hype they've made another(minor) misstep.
Most of the people who play video games more than say, five hours a week, probably already have a PS2, or may have decided to go without one. A price drop *might* make some people pick one up again to play some of their older games that don't work on their particular model of Playstation 3, or it might convince some of the people who've been saying "Screw PS2." for the last 9 years, but I don't think the spike in sales will last too long.
Sony should let people assemble their own bundles. Pick 1 or 2 titles from a selection of good games(God of War, and Ratchet and Clank for example) to go along with your new system for $10 or $20 less than what you'd pay seperately.
It couldn't hurt, could it?
What I'd really like to hear more about is the rumored 2.70 firmware update for the PS3. If and when this happens the service will at least be somewhat comparable to Xbox Live, and still free. They'd still have a long way to go and no chance of having Netflix anytime soon, but at least PSN would be taking steps in the right direction.
Ryu Ga Gotoku 3(Yakuza 3) has sold pretty well in Japan, but how is the full game? Has anyone played it? I love the demo. There are only a few fights(not a complaint, it's a demo), but they're fun. The arcade has some new games in it to mess around with. I'm sure the full game does not disappoint. If you've played it out know someone who has, please post about it.
If you have an iPhone or iPod Touch and you haven't done it already, you should really check this game out. The game is free, and there are over 150 free songs to play.
My Chun-Li Fight Pad was making cracking noises when I played, so I got another one. It's been about two weeks and now *it's* starting to make the same noises, too. MarkMan may have helped design the pad, but MadCatz mass produced it, and they screwed up. I was so happy with this product initially. Now I kind of feel like the D-Pad is just going to pop up when I'm playing one day and hit me in the face. Logitech is probably the one brand who hasn't let me down when it comes to third party products.
Multiplayer for Dead Rising 2? Sweet.
Tuesday, March 31, 2009
Sunday, March 8, 2009
Rorschach
Man...I just saw Watchmen on an IMAX screen with two friends. We got there late, missed maybe the first three minutes, had some of the crappiest seats in the house, and I still loved it.
(My neck hurts.)
I've been reading comics since I was a little kid, but somehow the magnitude of Watchmen escaped me. I'd heard about it a few times and never looked into it. I had no idea how much of an impact that 12 issue series had on comic books. No idea that one of the coolest characters ever, Rorschach, even existed.
When I first saw the trailer for the film sometime last year, I thought it was laughable. The shot of some unknown guy in a cape(Night Owl) landing reminded me of Batman too much to take seriously. Another of a cornball with a flamethrower(The Comedian, ironically), and then some random blue man floating(Doctor Manhattan). It just looked silly, and I clearly remember saying to my friend "I'll never go see that crap.".
Some of the people in that audience gasped out loud as if they were seeing something special. I was too, I just didn't know it at the time.So glad to be wrong.Over the last couple of months, the hoopla finally got to me and I decided to take a chance. I got my hands on a copy of the graphic novel, and it was, to put it lightly.....bleeping great. Easily deserving of all praise over the years.
Arguably a literary classic, Watchmen was deemed unfilmable by the writer himself. Alan Moore, who is also the brains behind other comic classics such as "The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen", "V for Vendetta" and "From Hell", refused to have his name placed in the credits. He even refuses to watch the film.
I really hope he changes his mind someday.
When you're trying to condense a 12 issue story into something workable, compromises have to be made. Even the most diehard fans have to understand that. The best thing you can do as a director(in this case Zack Snyder, 300), is be as faithful to the source material you *do* use as possible.
The picture Moore painted in Watchmen is quite clear. A dark, forboding story. Brutal violence, many times doled out by our multi-faceted "heroes". Depictions of sex. Coarse language. Smurf scrotum. The "money making" route would be to do some trimming and go for PG-13. You know....so some of the kiddies can see it. Thankfully, Zack Snyder fought hard to do just the opposite. Sacrificing content due to time constraints is one thing, but messing with the tone of the story would have ruined it.
Watchmen was never meant for kids. Every bit of violence and every act of depravity further reinforce the world in which these characters live.
Before seeing this film I took a look at several reviews. Normally I avoid doing this because some of these bastards don't know how to mark *SPOILERS*, but, having read the graphic novel, I already knew the story anyway.
65% last I checked.
Instead of looking at the positive reviews, I read some of the negatives. Alot of these "negative" reviews praised the majority of the movie(special effects, certain scenes, most of the cast's acting), but ended up giving the film a low score anyway.I came away from the reviews with the impression that most fans of the graphic novels would at least leave the theater satisfied.
Sure enough, I left the theater with slight eyestrain and neck pain, but a smile on my face.
Rorschach was every bit as badass as he was in the graphic novel. Played to perfection by Jackie Earle Haley. PERFECTION. I cannot think of one thing wrong with his portrayal of Rorschach. Not one. What they took away from Rorschach in terms of dialogue, they gave back with action scenes. I'm not ruining a thing. Go, and remember to sip your drink instead of gulping it. You don't want to go to the bathroom and miss something. He easily has some of the most memorable lines in the film.
Rorschach.
Doctor Manhattan(Billy Crudup) was another solid character. I just wish he put some pants on, or even some dark boxers. Put that away, man. Maybe Zack was throwing so many smurf cockshots up there just to annoy people in the industry? I get the fact that he didn't want to compromise, and I appreciate it, but dude just took it a little too far. Crazy.
Night-Owl(Patrick Wilson, "Hard Candy" with Ellen Page), another great portrayal. I really can't say much without ruining certain plot points for those of you who haven't read the graphic novel.
The Comedian(Jeffrey Dean Morgan), was right up there with Rorschach as well.
Basically, everyone does well, but these particular characters stuck out to me.Fan of "First Wave", a show about an alien invasion that ran for five seasons on Sci-Fi Channel, will recognize an actor from that series in his short role.
If you're interested in seeing this and live near a Best Buy, they're running a promotion where if you buy Xbox Live products(Points Cards, Gold subscription time cards, etc), you can get Watchmen movie pack for free. This movie pack gives you two tickets, each valued up to $12, and a promo code for XBL which lets you download Watchmen behind the scenes footage.
Old news, yes, but it helped me last night:-P.
The obvious question, "Is this a good film for people who have NOT read the graphic novel?".
The answer isn't as simple as you might think.
For one thing, the graphic novel is extremely rich and detailed. There is a wealth of backstory and several plotlines that in the film are either cut down drastically or removed altogether. There are references to characters and shots of characters that casual viewers just will not get. People who've read the novel and have it fresh in mind will pick up on them almost instantneously, as they are faithfully recreated from the source material.
This stuff may or may not take you out of the experience. For me, I felt it was doing it's job, which was to further reinforce the world these characters live in while providing at least "some" backstory.
Both of the friends I saw the film with loved it, one of which read up to Chapter III in the graphic novel, the other hadn't read any of it.
If I were to rate this film, I'd give it three and half out of four stars. I'm buying the Blu-Ray as soon as it drops. If there really is a director's cut, I'm sure it'll be even better.
Have you seen Watchmen? Post your thoughts.
(My neck hurts.)
I've been reading comics since I was a little kid, but somehow the magnitude of Watchmen escaped me. I'd heard about it a few times and never looked into it. I had no idea how much of an impact that 12 issue series had on comic books. No idea that one of the coolest characters ever, Rorschach, even existed.
When I first saw the trailer for the film sometime last year, I thought it was laughable. The shot of some unknown guy in a cape(Night Owl) landing reminded me of Batman too much to take seriously. Another of a cornball with a flamethrower(The Comedian, ironically), and then some random blue man floating(Doctor Manhattan). It just looked silly, and I clearly remember saying to my friend "I'll never go see that crap.".
Some of the people in that audience gasped out loud as if they were seeing something special. I was too, I just didn't know it at the time.So glad to be wrong.Over the last couple of months, the hoopla finally got to me and I decided to take a chance. I got my hands on a copy of the graphic novel, and it was, to put it lightly.....bleeping great. Easily deserving of all praise over the years.
Arguably a literary classic, Watchmen was deemed unfilmable by the writer himself. Alan Moore, who is also the brains behind other comic classics such as "The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen", "V for Vendetta" and "From Hell", refused to have his name placed in the credits. He even refuses to watch the film.
I really hope he changes his mind someday.
When you're trying to condense a 12 issue story into something workable, compromises have to be made. Even the most diehard fans have to understand that. The best thing you can do as a director(in this case Zack Snyder, 300), is be as faithful to the source material you *do* use as possible.
The picture Moore painted in Watchmen is quite clear. A dark, forboding story. Brutal violence, many times doled out by our multi-faceted "heroes". Depictions of sex. Coarse language. Smurf scrotum. The "money making" route would be to do some trimming and go for PG-13. You know....so some of the kiddies can see it. Thankfully, Zack Snyder fought hard to do just the opposite. Sacrificing content due to time constraints is one thing, but messing with the tone of the story would have ruined it.
Watchmen was never meant for kids. Every bit of violence and every act of depravity further reinforce the world in which these characters live.
Before seeing this film I took a look at several reviews. Normally I avoid doing this because some of these bastards don't know how to mark *SPOILERS*, but, having read the graphic novel, I already knew the story anyway.
65% last I checked.
Instead of looking at the positive reviews, I read some of the negatives. Alot of these "negative" reviews praised the majority of the movie(special effects, certain scenes, most of the cast's acting), but ended up giving the film a low score anyway.I came away from the reviews with the impression that most fans of the graphic novels would at least leave the theater satisfied.
Sure enough, I left the theater with slight eyestrain and neck pain, but a smile on my face.
Rorschach was every bit as badass as he was in the graphic novel. Played to perfection by Jackie Earle Haley. PERFECTION. I cannot think of one thing wrong with his portrayal of Rorschach. Not one. What they took away from Rorschach in terms of dialogue, they gave back with action scenes. I'm not ruining a thing. Go, and remember to sip your drink instead of gulping it. You don't want to go to the bathroom and miss something. He easily has some of the most memorable lines in the film.
Rorschach.
Doctor Manhattan(Billy Crudup) was another solid character. I just wish he put some pants on, or even some dark boxers. Put that away, man. Maybe Zack was throwing so many smurf cockshots up there just to annoy people in the industry? I get the fact that he didn't want to compromise, and I appreciate it, but dude just took it a little too far. Crazy.
Night-Owl(Patrick Wilson, "Hard Candy" with Ellen Page), another great portrayal. I really can't say much without ruining certain plot points for those of you who haven't read the graphic novel.
The Comedian(Jeffrey Dean Morgan), was right up there with Rorschach as well.
Basically, everyone does well, but these particular characters stuck out to me.Fan of "First Wave", a show about an alien invasion that ran for five seasons on Sci-Fi Channel, will recognize an actor from that series in his short role.
If you're interested in seeing this and live near a Best Buy, they're running a promotion where if you buy Xbox Live products(Points Cards, Gold subscription time cards, etc), you can get Watchmen movie pack for free. This movie pack gives you two tickets, each valued up to $12, and a promo code for XBL which lets you download Watchmen behind the scenes footage.
Old news, yes, but it helped me last night:-P.
The obvious question, "Is this a good film for people who have NOT read the graphic novel?".
The answer isn't as simple as you might think.
For one thing, the graphic novel is extremely rich and detailed. There is a wealth of backstory and several plotlines that in the film are either cut down drastically or removed altogether. There are references to characters and shots of characters that casual viewers just will not get. People who've read the novel and have it fresh in mind will pick up on them almost instantneously, as they are faithfully recreated from the source material.
This stuff may or may not take you out of the experience. For me, I felt it was doing it's job, which was to further reinforce the world these characters live in while providing at least "some" backstory.
Both of the friends I saw the film with loved it, one of which read up to Chapter III in the graphic novel, the other hadn't read any of it.
If I were to rate this film, I'd give it three and half out of four stars. I'm buying the Blu-Ray as soon as it drops. If there really is a director's cut, I'm sure it'll be even better.
Have you seen Watchmen? Post your thoughts.
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