SPOILER ALERT: If you've never seen The Dark Knight and don't want to know major plot points, read no further. Thank you from The Management.
Batman romance plots are hard to do, because the premise of Bruce Wayne's alter ego is that it's a secret. No one know who he is, and he likes it that way. More to the point, he sticks with it, never wavering, never taking a risk and cluing anyone in. So it's hard to imagine someone getting close enough to form a legitimate relationship with.
But as ever Hollywood couldn't resist insinuating a romance subplot into the newest Batman films. First it was Katie Holmes, portraying a mildly bi-polar Rachael Dawes, then Maggie Gyllenhaal revised the character to be more stable, but less decisive. Vacillating between Bruce and her new boss Harvey Dent throughout, we're treated to an extra helping of drama as Batman tries to give up the suit, something that's really more in Spider-man's jurisdiction, genre-wise.
Now normally, I'm okay with a little relationship drama in my action film, but after several viewings of both movies I've come to the realization that each flawed romantic boondoggle detracts from the overall story and message. It does a good job of keeping our minds off the Joker's plot in "Dark Knight", which makes each development really exciting, and it gives a sort of rationalization to Harvey when he goes be-gibbers at the end, but besides those glimmers of purpose, Bruce never makes a move, Rachael never commits to anyone (at least until she dies), and the audience is left with the vaguely unsettling idea that Batman is the proverbial dick in the latter love-triangle. At no time is the audience aware of real reasons either of them should be together. In "Begins", she's as violently emotionally unstable as someone coming off cocaine, and in "Dark Knight" she waffles like a politician in a stiff breeze. It's never explicitly stated what attracts the two, but it's generally assumed that a combination of childhood experiences, a love of Gotham, and an obsession with winged mammals is the catalyst for this 'Love of the Ages'.
I'm a big Batman enthusiast, so when characters like Zsazz show up in cameos, and Harvey Dent's double-sided coin preempted his official involvement in the films, I get a giddy feeling in my toes and lower shins. And then I get to the movie, eat half a pound of popcorn, and wait for the projector to reflect the seedy underbelly of Gotham across 20-odd feet of glorious silver screen, and I think to myself, "I hope they stay true to the characters, I hope they let Two-Face get a couple good lines, I hope the Joker doesn't come off as some super-human bumbler." Not once does Rachael Dawes, or any other female character cross my mind as an important part of the Batman Universe. Oh wait, the new movie has Catwoman...
Strike that, I'm fine.
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Next time I'll be talking about...whatever you message me with. I need some feedback, so whoever gives me the most interesting topic gets their entry featured in the next post. Lay on!
Tuesday, August 23, 2011
Saturday, August 20, 2011
The Machamp Ploy
Remember those little monsters in the red and white balls? You know, the ones with the funny names, that were in those video games when you were kids? I still have some of the original cards, the ones the video games were based on. Among them is a 1st Edition Holographic Machamp. Now I love me some four-armed smackdown goodness, but Machamp has never been a popular choice. Other fighting types have more hit points, and better accuracy. In the video games you had to trade with someone else to get them past Machoke, and let's be honest, most of us never traded with a real person.
But my point here is that although I love this particular Pokemon, I'm in a bind for some cash right now and I thought I'd at least look up what the bad boy is worth. Turns out he's worth $0.50. That's right, not even a full dollar. Because it seems a million of these were printed, one came in every one of the original release starter sets. They're some of the most common cards of the series.
Now I'm glad to have an excuse to put it back in its case and keep the little bugger, but it's with a little less enthusiasm now that I know I'm saving a near worthless card in a hard-case. It peeves me a little that they bothered to print "1st Edition" anywhere on it, let alone the holographic finish. I guess when you're marketing it to preteens, you don't expect an educated audience, but it brings back memories of playground rumors that all the cards were worthless. That there were only five Charizards ever printed, even though there were seven kids in the school who had one. I remember a time when the joy of collecting these little cards was the highlight of my existence. I remember the joy of opening a tiny packet of paper and feeling like just inside was my Golden Ticket. My very common, nearly worthless Golden Ticket is going back in its box, maybe waiting for a day when the nostalgia factor kicks in and I can buy a new car with the proceeds. Until then, I'll keep it safe, as a reminder of days when the simple joys of candy bars and trading cards made my world go round.
Next time I'll talk a bit about the newest Batman movies, so be sure to follow the blog for regular geeky updates. /shameless plug
But my point here is that although I love this particular Pokemon, I'm in a bind for some cash right now and I thought I'd at least look up what the bad boy is worth. Turns out he's worth $0.50. That's right, not even a full dollar. Because it seems a million of these were printed, one came in every one of the original release starter sets. They're some of the most common cards of the series.
Now I'm glad to have an excuse to put it back in its case and keep the little bugger, but it's with a little less enthusiasm now that I know I'm saving a near worthless card in a hard-case. It peeves me a little that they bothered to print "1st Edition" anywhere on it, let alone the holographic finish. I guess when you're marketing it to preteens, you don't expect an educated audience, but it brings back memories of playground rumors that all the cards were worthless. That there were only five Charizards ever printed, even though there were seven kids in the school who had one. I remember a time when the joy of collecting these little cards was the highlight of my existence. I remember the joy of opening a tiny packet of paper and feeling like just inside was my Golden Ticket. My very common, nearly worthless Golden Ticket is going back in its box, maybe waiting for a day when the nostalgia factor kicks in and I can buy a new car with the proceeds. Until then, I'll keep it safe, as a reminder of days when the simple joys of candy bars and trading cards made my world go round.
Next time I'll talk a bit about the newest Batman movies, so be sure to follow the blog for regular geeky updates. /shameless plug
Monday, August 15, 2011
Mr. Marvel Awards - Honorable Mentions
I had a brilliant discussion with a couple of blokes recently, in which we tried to determine which Marvel Universe character epitomized the theory and theme behind the Marvel Universe itself, namely, flawed every-men gifted (or cursed depending on outlook) with powers beyond the average mortal.
The serious answers ended up with most of the heavy hitters; Wolverine, Spiderman, Iron Man, Captain America, and other similar titleholders made appearances on our lists. But I've been thinking about lesser known characters that may not be excellent contestants, but need to be recognized for their part in the overall scheme of things.
First, Luke Cage deserves an award for the simplest, most common-sense approach to a character's motivation ever. Perhaps too simplistic at times, the idea that he's simply trying to make a little money with the abilities he's acquired is elegant and clean. The moral conundrum is built into the nature of the character in his balancing act between hired muscle, and selfless hero. He may not have had flashy abilities or a stellar story, but he's a nuanced and interesting character nonetheless.
Deadpool bears mentioning for a similarly interesting ability/gimmick setup. Depending on certain interpretations of canon, some of his abilities are directly related to his ability to perceive the 4th wall, and his more mature banter rivals Spiderman himself in wit and snark. A personal favorite of mine, the mealy mouthed mercenary loses points for being distinctly unheroic, but redeems himself in always being on the right side in the end, if only for pragmatic reasons.
The third character that deserves an honorable mention is The Hulk. A front page giant, Hulk's story is often focused on choice and self-discipline. On the line between owning your powers responsibly, and them owning you. Few have ever stood toe to toe with Hulk for long, and in the end his story is about an internal battle. Just as every young adult trying to get noticed by the cute girl, do well in school, and still pay rent can associate inherently with Peter Parker, everyone who's ever been picked on can certainly empathize with a certain amount of pent-up rage.
None of these characters really competes for the top spot, but each has a narrative or personal character that insures they're at least considered, weighed objectively and given due credit.
The serious answers ended up with most of the heavy hitters; Wolverine, Spiderman, Iron Man, Captain America, and other similar titleholders made appearances on our lists. But I've been thinking about lesser known characters that may not be excellent contestants, but need to be recognized for their part in the overall scheme of things.
First, Luke Cage deserves an award for the simplest, most common-sense approach to a character's motivation ever. Perhaps too simplistic at times, the idea that he's simply trying to make a little money with the abilities he's acquired is elegant and clean. The moral conundrum is built into the nature of the character in his balancing act between hired muscle, and selfless hero. He may not have had flashy abilities or a stellar story, but he's a nuanced and interesting character nonetheless.
Deadpool bears mentioning for a similarly interesting ability/gimmick setup. Depending on certain interpretations of canon, some of his abilities are directly related to his ability to perceive the 4th wall, and his more mature banter rivals Spiderman himself in wit and snark. A personal favorite of mine, the mealy mouthed mercenary loses points for being distinctly unheroic, but redeems himself in always being on the right side in the end, if only for pragmatic reasons.
The third character that deserves an honorable mention is The Hulk. A front page giant, Hulk's story is often focused on choice and self-discipline. On the line between owning your powers responsibly, and them owning you. Few have ever stood toe to toe with Hulk for long, and in the end his story is about an internal battle. Just as every young adult trying to get noticed by the cute girl, do well in school, and still pay rent can associate inherently with Peter Parker, everyone who's ever been picked on can certainly empathize with a certain amount of pent-up rage.
None of these characters really competes for the top spot, but each has a narrative or personal character that insures they're at least considered, weighed objectively and given due credit.
Saturday, August 13, 2011
Browncoats and Other Series that are too Gorram Short
One of the great geek peeves I have is getting attached to a new TV series, or game title and finding out once I'm done that it's over, there isn't any more excellence to be had. Two sterling examples of this are Joss Whedon's Firefly series, and the criminally under-appreciated Icewind Dale titles.
Firefly was a particularly innovative sci-fi series that combined a number of interesting concepts including a Chinese-Western culture mesh in space re-imagined as the wild west during the frontier era. The tagline for it is so brilliant it got picked up almost immediately for it's entire first season. But when the time came to renew and give it more play, Fox dropped it citing "creative differences" and falsely poor ratings. The people watching loved it, but critics got hung up on the genre blending and excoriated it, artificially dropping the Nielsen index to 98th. Fox replaced the series with Fastlane, a show I had to look up on Wikipedia and still don't remember.
Icewind Dale, and Icewind Dale II were cursed with bad timing, each being released among a host of similarly themed titles. ID2 had to compete with Elder Scrolls:Morrowind which, despite the flaws I've found in it, did inconceivably well in popular reviews because the first person aspect engaged the player more than ID2's overhead camera. It made money, performed well, and in my opinion, was the best implementation of Dungeons and Dragons 3.5 edition game play into a computerized medium. But although it was solidly designed, contained a great story that was a joy to progress through, and had a beautiful soundtrack, its series was dropped due to lack of popular interest.
Now my point with all this is not that Serenity should be resurrected after all this time. My point is that even though Firefly had a rabid fan base, was produced by an well known industry name, and had a cast of brilliant actors and actresses it failed because the station it was on didn't like the show. They thought Malcolm Reynolds should be "jolly" and insisted on turning it into an action-adventure series instead of a beautiful character-driven drama. And the Icewind Dale series was cut from production after failing to achieve amidst similar titles, although it sold brilliantly, and continues to be a niche favorite, continuing to sell today.
This begs the question, "Would the series survive a reincarnation?" If you restored Serenity, un-martyred it, if you will, or brought back the D&D top-down game, would it still be as good? Could you return to Serenity's universe without the eponymous ship and its lovable crew? Could you travel through Ten Towns again, or any of the exotic locations of the Forgotten Realms? Black Isle had plans for a Baldur's Gate III, where we could discover the nation of Sembia, and the Dalelands. What if it got made now?
Overall I wish they could continue pumping out my favorite stuff, but I worry that the inevitable result is a weakening of the core content. If the son of Mal came back in a new show, I might not watch it, because maybe it wouldn't live up to the bar the original set. And maybe that's a good thing, a mixed blessing. It's a longtime fantasy trope that the dead who walk are abominations. Let it be good while it can and once its over let it go.
Firefly was a particularly innovative sci-fi series that combined a number of interesting concepts including a Chinese-Western culture mesh in space re-imagined as the wild west during the frontier era. The tagline for it is so brilliant it got picked up almost immediately for it's entire first season. But when the time came to renew and give it more play, Fox dropped it citing "creative differences" and falsely poor ratings. The people watching loved it, but critics got hung up on the genre blending and excoriated it, artificially dropping the Nielsen index to 98th. Fox replaced the series with Fastlane, a show I had to look up on Wikipedia and still don't remember.
Icewind Dale, and Icewind Dale II were cursed with bad timing, each being released among a host of similarly themed titles. ID2 had to compete with Elder Scrolls:Morrowind which, despite the flaws I've found in it, did inconceivably well in popular reviews because the first person aspect engaged the player more than ID2's overhead camera. It made money, performed well, and in my opinion, was the best implementation of Dungeons and Dragons 3.5 edition game play into a computerized medium. But although it was solidly designed, contained a great story that was a joy to progress through, and had a beautiful soundtrack, its series was dropped due to lack of popular interest.
Now my point with all this is not that Serenity should be resurrected after all this time. My point is that even though Firefly had a rabid fan base, was produced by an well known industry name, and had a cast of brilliant actors and actresses it failed because the station it was on didn't like the show. They thought Malcolm Reynolds should be "jolly" and insisted on turning it into an action-adventure series instead of a beautiful character-driven drama. And the Icewind Dale series was cut from production after failing to achieve amidst similar titles, although it sold brilliantly, and continues to be a niche favorite, continuing to sell today.
This begs the question, "Would the series survive a reincarnation?" If you restored Serenity, un-martyred it, if you will, or brought back the D&D top-down game, would it still be as good? Could you return to Serenity's universe without the eponymous ship and its lovable crew? Could you travel through Ten Towns again, or any of the exotic locations of the Forgotten Realms? Black Isle had plans for a Baldur's Gate III, where we could discover the nation of Sembia, and the Dalelands. What if it got made now?
Overall I wish they could continue pumping out my favorite stuff, but I worry that the inevitable result is a weakening of the core content. If the son of Mal came back in a new show, I might not watch it, because maybe it wouldn't live up to the bar the original set. And maybe that's a good thing, a mixed blessing. It's a longtime fantasy trope that the dead who walk are abominations. Let it be good while it can and once its over let it go.
Thursday, August 11, 2011
Skyrim Excitement
So I can't speak accurately on the quality of this game, but I'm definitely excited to see the advancements forthcoming in the fifth installment of the Elder Scrolls series.
I'm very pleased that the province of Skyrim, a vaguely Norse themed realm in the far north, was left until now to play with. Morrowind was not a good game by any stretch of the imagination, even in its time it was harshly criticized for being improperly lighted, clunky and obtusely designed. The characters and lore were impenetrable, and only die-hard fans of the epic fantasy genre were really pleased with it. Oblivion was a masterpiece in its time, released on the next gen systems, its expansive open world gameplay, engaging storyline, and dynamic interactions were fun to play for hours.
At least that's how I remember it. So I'm going back to play Oblivion, rack up all those Achievements I missed the first couple times, and get back into the Elder Scrolls universe in preparation for Skyrim's release.
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If you want to check out Skyrim's trailers and a couple IGN interviews with the Game Director, Todd Howard, here you go.
I'm very pleased that the province of Skyrim, a vaguely Norse themed realm in the far north, was left until now to play with. Morrowind was not a good game by any stretch of the imagination, even in its time it was harshly criticized for being improperly lighted, clunky and obtusely designed. The characters and lore were impenetrable, and only die-hard fans of the epic fantasy genre were really pleased with it. Oblivion was a masterpiece in its time, released on the next gen systems, its expansive open world gameplay, engaging storyline, and dynamic interactions were fun to play for hours.
At least that's how I remember it. So I'm going back to play Oblivion, rack up all those Achievements I missed the first couple times, and get back into the Elder Scrolls universe in preparation for Skyrim's release.
----------
If you want to check out Skyrim's trailers and a couple IGN interviews with the Game Director, Todd Howard, here you go.
The Rules of Love and Warcraft 3/3
You'd forgotten about this hadn't you? That's okay, I nearly did.
I've played all the way up to 85 on my main, leveled my guild all on my own, and run through a dozen dungeons, some more successful than others.
What I came away with, besides a lightened pocketbook and accomplishments that ought to embarrass me, is a sense that WoW is going to do just fine. They have a winning game world, with rich lore and fun, emotionally provocative characters. The sustainability of the title is so intense, I really cant imagine it going the way of other MMOs. The money is still coming in hand over fist for the corporate masters, the design team is engaged, passionate and most importantly, farmed out to other projects occasionally to keep them from burning out.
And thought the tenor has shifted slightly, the conversations about the game are almost always rabid, the fans are serious about the game and as long as new content keeps flowing down the mountain they'll be patiently waiting to try for the new mount, the new achievement, the guild first, or whatever award or epic loot drop is bundled in. They'll complain that the new raid gear looks hideous, as if they were the Azerothian expert on high fashion, but they'll still spend a weekend trying to get it.
It's addictive like crack, it's fun and engaging if you find the niche you like to play in, and it's accessible to the casual gamer as well. All in all, I give 4 stars to the Cataclysm expansion and subsequent Firelands patch. If you're a WoW fan, you already love it, and if you're not, this isn't likely to change your mind.
Look forward to more frequent updates and *gasp* video links in the next installments of Thunderhorn's Ultimate Gaming Guide.
I've played all the way up to 85 on my main, leveled my guild all on my own, and run through a dozen dungeons, some more successful than others.
What I came away with, besides a lightened pocketbook and accomplishments that ought to embarrass me, is a sense that WoW is going to do just fine. They have a winning game world, with rich lore and fun, emotionally provocative characters. The sustainability of the title is so intense, I really cant imagine it going the way of other MMOs. The money is still coming in hand over fist for the corporate masters, the design team is engaged, passionate and most importantly, farmed out to other projects occasionally to keep them from burning out.
And thought the tenor has shifted slightly, the conversations about the game are almost always rabid, the fans are serious about the game and as long as new content keeps flowing down the mountain they'll be patiently waiting to try for the new mount, the new achievement, the guild first, or whatever award or epic loot drop is bundled in. They'll complain that the new raid gear looks hideous, as if they were the Azerothian expert on high fashion, but they'll still spend a weekend trying to get it.
It's addictive like crack, it's fun and engaging if you find the niche you like to play in, and it's accessible to the casual gamer as well. All in all, I give 4 stars to the Cataclysm expansion and subsequent Firelands patch. If you're a WoW fan, you already love it, and if you're not, this isn't likely to change your mind.
Look forward to more frequent updates and *gasp* video links in the next installments of Thunderhorn's Ultimate Gaming Guide.
Tuesday, February 22, 2011
The Rules of Love and Warcraft: Part 2/3
Oh, goodness! Have you been waiting for me?
I certainly hope not, as I am less reliable than a '97 Chevy.
Anyway, the actual act of gaming has drawn my attention away from you and your faithful readership, which is probably why there are only two of you left. You are saints for staying, truly.
But now to get down to the meat of the subject.
Warcraft.
So I presented a rubric in my last WoW post, and I've endeavored to assess the game accurately and fairly on that scale.
1) Game Balance - Besides a few lesser annoyances, I'm relatively pleased with the new balance scheme. Paladins still heal too well in my opinion, and Death Knights are worse than useless in most cases, but overall, no one should be complaining.
2) Social Appeal - The mechanics are well-rounded and solid, and I'm pleased with the significant bonuses I can theoretically get. I say theoretically, because after several weeks of dedicated game-play, my guild is nearly to level 2. The system is simply not viable without a real guild population to fuel it. This is how it should be, but is nevertheless frustrating to a guild-master having trouble recruiting. As a completely unrelated side note: If you play, join the Green Dragon Legion on Kirin Tor. We may or may not pay you.
3)Intelligent Economics - Perhaps the most favorable change of all is the removal of ridiculous gold sinks. They still exist, but in much smaller incarnations, acceptable investments for the related benefit. I've managed to rack up some healthy gold reserves, even while spending on the flying skills, extra gear, and random useless crap I like. I feel rich and powerful, not trodden into the choking dust of poverty. I'm a hero, not a starving mercenary. Actually, I'm still a mercenary, I did a series of quests in which I took the walrus people's gold to kill off the wolverine people, and then turned around and took the wolverine's money to get rid of the bastard walrus people who paid me to kill them. It was great.
4) Hunter Skillz - My main got nerfed on his melee and crowd control abilities, but the trade-offs were more than acceptable. I'm doing a high-end DPS, I can solo even better than before, and I'm not excluded from instances or BG's for my class or spec any more. I do wish Blizzard would change it so I can sign up for instances as a tank though, because my pet is more than capable of keeping a whole mess of mobs, and a boss stun-locked and aggro'ed for as long as it takes me to kill 'em. Just saying.
5) Four words: I met Malfurion Stormrage. No, no, no, I've got one better: I met Ysera, the Emerald Dragon Aspect! Okay, so that was more than four, but the point is my little happy lore spot is still twitching orgasmicly from the cool shit I've got to do in Cata-land. They have done really, really well on the lore here, it makes sense, it's dramatic, and the world changes as you wander through it. Two thumbs up here as well.
In short, I approve of the expansion, and will continue to waste hours of my time living a life other than my own. I can recommend the game to anyone who's interested, it's fun and moderately addictive.
For part three, in about a week, I'll talk about the things I've learned, and share some bits about the guild system, and random instancing.
Next time, I'll talk about another online game, League of Legends. That'll probably happen Thursday or Friday. Feel free to request a topic, or send me info on something gaming related I ought to be mentioning.
I certainly hope not, as I am less reliable than a '97 Chevy.
Anyway, the actual act of gaming has drawn my attention away from you and your faithful readership, which is probably why there are only two of you left. You are saints for staying, truly.
But now to get down to the meat of the subject.
Warcraft.
So I presented a rubric in my last WoW post, and I've endeavored to assess the game accurately and fairly on that scale.
1) Game Balance - Besides a few lesser annoyances, I'm relatively pleased with the new balance scheme. Paladins still heal too well in my opinion, and Death Knights are worse than useless in most cases, but overall, no one should be complaining.
2) Social Appeal - The mechanics are well-rounded and solid, and I'm pleased with the significant bonuses I can theoretically get. I say theoretically, because after several weeks of dedicated game-play, my guild is nearly to level 2. The system is simply not viable without a real guild population to fuel it. This is how it should be, but is nevertheless frustrating to a guild-master having trouble recruiting. As a completely unrelated side note: If you play, join the Green Dragon Legion on Kirin Tor. We may or may not pay you.
3)Intelligent Economics - Perhaps the most favorable change of all is the removal of ridiculous gold sinks. They still exist, but in much smaller incarnations, acceptable investments for the related benefit. I've managed to rack up some healthy gold reserves, even while spending on the flying skills, extra gear, and random useless crap I like. I feel rich and powerful, not trodden into the choking dust of poverty. I'm a hero, not a starving mercenary. Actually, I'm still a mercenary, I did a series of quests in which I took the walrus people's gold to kill off the wolverine people, and then turned around and took the wolverine's money to get rid of the bastard walrus people who paid me to kill them. It was great.
4) Hunter Skillz - My main got nerfed on his melee and crowd control abilities, but the trade-offs were more than acceptable. I'm doing a high-end DPS, I can solo even better than before, and I'm not excluded from instances or BG's for my class or spec any more. I do wish Blizzard would change it so I can sign up for instances as a tank though, because my pet is more than capable of keeping a whole mess of mobs, and a boss stun-locked and aggro'ed for as long as it takes me to kill 'em. Just saying.
5) Four words: I met Malfurion Stormrage. No, no, no, I've got one better: I met Ysera, the Emerald Dragon Aspect! Okay, so that was more than four, but the point is my little happy lore spot is still twitching orgasmicly from the cool shit I've got to do in Cata-land. They have done really, really well on the lore here, it makes sense, it's dramatic, and the world changes as you wander through it. Two thumbs up here as well.
In short, I approve of the expansion, and will continue to waste hours of my time living a life other than my own. I can recommend the game to anyone who's interested, it's fun and moderately addictive.
For part three, in about a week, I'll talk about the things I've learned, and share some bits about the guild system, and random instancing.
Next time, I'll talk about another online game, League of Legends. That'll probably happen Thursday or Friday. Feel free to request a topic, or send me info on something gaming related I ought to be mentioning.
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