The Good and the Bad: Two Films

This weekend I managed to fit in watching two films, which were in quality terms at completely opposite ends of the scale. The first was the somewhat hyped Man with the Iron Fists from Wu-Tang Clan rapper RZA. The second, Indie Game: The Movie.

Whilst I did not exactly have high hopes for the first, it still surprised me simply because it was so bad. To be fair to RZA, it was his big screen directorial and acting debut with previous experience staring in a somewhat major role in a season of Showtime's Californiacation, where he essentially played himself but entertaining and funny nonetheless. How he managed to convince the producers (Tarantino no less) to support him to make his own film though is a mystery. The story is truly awful, and in some ways, completely unnecessary. It serves merely as a tool for moving the film along from one action scene to another with bland and uninspired acting in between, not helped by a script seemingly written by a six year old. The characters are incredibly shallow and other than the motivation for stealing the gold bullion - the main object of the plot, have no real reason to be there. I would probably preferred it if the whole story had simply been RZA and a few other Chinese warriors fighting there way through hordes of enemies. Instead though we are presented with motivations of love, loyalty, greed and so on, none of which really need to be there, especially as other than greed, none of them are believable.

The action is definitely the strongest part of the film. The fighting choreography was ambitious in some cases but on the whole seemed to work, with some brutal yet awe inspiring battles. Though they tended to be the ones that didn't feature RZA, or Russell Crowe for that matter, a normally decent actor who must be going through a bit of a crisis at the moment. Either way, this is a film to miss. You can probably catch the best scenes on Youtube... The music is pretty god awful too.

Indie Game: The Movie may be one of the best films I've watched in a while. Other than End Of Watch which I caught recently which is thoroughly enjoyable, Indie Game is an interesting and emotional ride.

A documentary, it follows the lives of the independant game developers behind Super Meat Boy and the one behind Fez, with interviews with other developers and journalists.  It starts off with both developers some way into the making of their games, with all of them explaining their motivations and aspirations. Some are even quite heartfelt admissions of difficult childhoods looking for means to express themselves, and now having found that in video games. It then tracks their progress right up to the launch day of Super Meat Boy, and Fez's second unveiling at the PAX show in Boston.

It's a incredible journey where I felt really attached to the interviewees as the film progressed. The film makes did an excellent job of really getting the developers to open up - meaning I could easily relate to them despite leading completely different lives. It also made me realise the difficulty and energy that is required to go into game development as well as the constant fear of failure that the developers feel. Considering that both games came out well it the end, it made me think about the number of indie developers that put and equal amount of effort in without the same success.

The beautiful world of Fez

 
Perhaps my biggest surprise though was the amount of themselves that they invested in the game, and by that I don't mean the amount of time and energy, but parts of their personality and feelings. A part of them was in those games.

Indie Game: The Movie is well worth a watch, especially for those that have an interest in games or enjoy a well produced documentary.

Smart Glass

Last year I believe, Microsoft announced what at the time seemed to be a nifty little app for the Xbox called Smart Glass. The reasoning behind it was that a user could install the app on both their Xbox and Smartphone/tablet, and then control their Xbox with the latter device. A good and interesting idea in theory, so far in Europe at least, it's execution has left me really wondering: why bother?

Useful

They key benefits it seemed were that it gave you access to a keyboard, a useful feature should one employ it regularly (I tend to play games on my Xbox) gave you access to extra content when watching certain Xbox films or playing games, or act as a touch screen controller. The first two to me are limited as I tend not to watch films on my Xbox and the games that take advantage of this device are so far few and far between. Those that do, ie Halo, are limited. They keyboard is good on occasion but considering Smart Glass takes a while to start running on my phone, I've usually done any typing I need beforehand.

The controller aspect could prove useful on some games that don't require too many buttons, though I've yet to test it. Manipulating the dashboard with it is fun but not really a necessity.

The only app that I have found it useful for is Internet Explorer on the Xbox, which until recently, I never used. Yesterday I decided to see how intuitive it was, in order to watch videos on a bigger screen without having to connect my PC to the screen/xbox. It worked rather well, but what made it all the more exciting was that Xbox allowed me to use my phone. This is a major benefit considering the controller is rather slow and cumbersome to use on a webpage, and doesn't give the user the ability to manipulate a whole lot. Either that or I hadn't worked out the buttons. Smart Glass on the other hand offers a much more intuitive user experience that takes full advantage of having touch screen controls. In some ways it even breathed new life into my Xbox experience and showed me a whole host of other possibilities.

Whilst the app is certainly not revolutionary, it has a lot of potential to make the Xbox experience that much better and give users a whole lot more to do. Unfortunately, with the latest Xbox announcement, I can envisage this potential all getting put to one side and forgotten about, if that hasn't already happened. Having said that, I'm sure it will be part of the Next-Gen Xbox's features. It's a genius idea to give users the ability to use a table or smartphone to control a game they're playing on their Xbox, or watch a film, or whatever...
The next Xbox is supposedly branded as the entertainment hub of the living room - Smart Glass seems like a good feature to have alongside, especially when so many people seem to use their tablets and phones to game on. It's a good tool to use against Nintendo's WiiU, which in my mind is essentially a gaming tablet, with seemingly fewer features.

It will be interesting to see how much Microsoft uses Smart Glass in its future products. When it was launched it seemed like quite a big feature. Though not unlike Kinect, it hasn't had a huge amount of support for the Software giant.

Apps on Windows Phone

Recently at their conference in Australia, Nokia head Stephen Elop boasted Windows market place had an already large and growing number of apps for their mobiles. Whilst I can't disagree, I'm still yet to find a truly amazing app that I feel I can't live without.

From what I have discovered though, here are some of my favourites, as well the ones I use on a more regular basis:

1. Nokia Drive:

This app is the one I would claim is indispensable for all Windows Phone users. Fortunately, it comes pre-installed on the phone and is free. It's essentially your very own Sat Nav. Whilst it's by no means perfect, it is incredibly useful and accurate.

For me, the key advantage of it is Drive does not require a data connection. It can use a GPS to find address and guide you to the desired location, a feature that won't cost you a dime. It's also incredibly accurate, in some cases more so that the TomTom in my car (though that be because it requires an update...). On the whole it's clear and easy to use. Furthermore, for me who travels a fair bit in France and the continent, you also have free access to any map you require, a benefit you have to pay for on some competitor devices.

The only downside is that whilst you are driving along it gives no indication as to the timing of your journey or arrival, only the distance remaining. Whilst it's not a complete hindrance, any updates would do well to incorporate such a feature.

2. Purple Cherry:

 Purple Cherry is a GameBoy colour emulator for your windows phone. When I first started playing games on the device, I immidiatly noticed a shortage of good games available on the Xbox market place, other than the obvious. Purple Cherry is a cheap solution to such an issue. 

It provides you with the whole of the GBC catalouge of games which it then plays on your Windows phone. The controls aren't perfect for games like Mario where a physical controller would be better, but for games like Pokemon, it is more than suitable. I have already sunk several hours into replaying Pokemon Gold and it still doesn't get old. 

In recent months, there is also rumoured to be a free update that will add GB Advanced repertoire. What more could you want?

For some, the only downside is that it does cost £0.99. It's not a huge asking price for what is essentially crap ton of free games.

3. Lomogram:

Instagram is apparently great and all but unfortunately it doesn't exist on WP. Lomogram is the solution, supposedly providing the same or similar tools to enhance your camera pictures and pretend you're a trendy hipster. 

I've tried a couple of the camera apps and so far this seems to be the best one. Although you can't do everything on it, the app still provides considerable content to keep you busy fiddling with images.

4. Sky Sports:

It does actually seem to be the best and only way to keep up with Sport in the UK. Though I believe ESPN also has an app, I've found this pre-installed one to be more than adequate. Whilst it does suffer from the occasional glitch, on the whole it works well and is a useful way to keep track of all the latest news in the world of sport. It could do with an update though to make it run slightly faster.

5. BT Wifi: 

This app is along with Nokia Drive perhaps one of my favourites, the reason being is that it is bloody useful and on the whole works really well. This app essentially allows you to connect to any BT Wifi hotspot in the UK for free, without any of the hassle of constantly having to log in. To work it, simply input your details on the app, then next time you connect to a hotspot, click the app and it will do the rest for you. Free internet! (if you use BT that is).

Considering there are so many hotspots across the UK as I believe BT uses its customers Wifi, this is a must have for any BT customer. 

So that's a brief round up of some of the best apps that I've found on the market place and use on a regular basis. I'm still yet to find a good free Youtube app, something I know Microsoft is having trouble developing because of issues with Google. Though many good ones are free, the ones I have used are just trials that force you to buy the paid for ones.. 

Violence in Games: In defense of the Gamer!

I recently wrote an article where I essentially attacked those who view video games as harmful to the people of today, most notably the youth. Cases have arisen where video games have been partly blamed for violence and even murder. Perhaps the most high profile one was Andres Breivik who supposedly trained for his attack by playing Call of Duty. In light of recent comments by a US senator who is claiming violent video games induce violent behaviour in individuals, (they are supposedly more dangerous than guns), I question his logic behind such assertions without going into the blatantly obvious (you can't kill another human by directly playing a game...).

From what I have read over the years, a number of articles and studies have been written discussing whether violent video games can in fact cause humans to be more violent. The views are generally mixed. Whilst your average Republican candidate would claim that video games cause dangerous behaviour, others say quite the opposite, going as far to say that video games can be used as a good outlet for frustration and anger, which otherwise might be directed at innocent people. Unfortunately though in either case, hard facts are not entirely easy to come by. The debate will rage on until some actual evidence is found but in my opinion, playing a violent game like say GTA, Call of Duty, Gears of War and so on, where violence towards other humans is common place, doesn't make the player a violent person. In my view, should the gamer have violent tendencies, games cannot take the blame as it is more than likely that there is a a more specific reason, possibly even a medical one. If not, then judging by the number of people who play Call of Duty, several million people would now suddenly become gun wielding maniacs with a desire to kill as many people as possible, or at least in Call of Duty's case anyone who isn't American (more to come on COD's potentially racist views....)

These two girls went on to become... normal women

Thankfully that hasn't happened. Because if we had a sudden desire to emulate what we see on television, I think we'd be much worse off. See what I don't understand is why Republican politicians in the US in particular are so quick to blame a game, but disregard everything else. For one thing, parts of the US seems to have a strong 'gun culture' which many of these politicians seem to value and uphold. Yet surely such a culture generates more violence than say a video game? A gun is a tool for murder, whether you like it or not. Not necessarily the murder of a fellow human, but a gun's primary function is to kill. There's no way around it. Now obviously when you play a video game, in many cases you kill as well. The difference is, the world of the video game is entirely fictional. The characters, creatures, things you see are not real. It has all been dreamed up by a group of creative individuals. A normal human should be able to separate this from firing a real gun at a real thing. Though I have never shot anything, the effect of killing something in the real world is a lot more lasting than in a fictional one. Why? Because it's you firing. Not some character on a screen, or even in a book or a painting, you. There is nothing or no one to hide behind when you shoot something in the real world. Now if an individual can't separate between what's real and what's not, then there is another issue.

This brings me onto my next point as to why games get stick but other entertainment platforms don't, or at least don't anymore. Certain films, tv shows, books, and even paintings to some degree depict violence. Yet for now, they don't seem receive any blame. Why is that?

What I will now do is compare two games with two films, all of which depict violence as well as other 'sins' (drugs, sex...). If we were to look at say Call of Duty with Rambo, the differences between the two are minimal. But are essentially the story of soldiers fighting for their lives in a variety of locations across the world. One might go so far as to say they glorify violence if it for the right reasons - the good of many. As a soldier in COD you are fighting to save the predominantly Western world, Rambo... well fights for what he believes in. In both a significant number of individuals are shot, and in Rambo's case in quite brutal ways... Now why hasn't mister Senator picked at the latter for inducing gun crime? Is it because it's one of his personal favourites? Does he enjoy watching Vietnamese soldiers getting brutally murdered all for the good of the American people? I don't know but one reason is because it's a film where the viewer has no control over what's happening on screen. In COD you control the soldier and what takes place. Having said that, Rambo is supposedly a hero. He fought in Vietnam to defend them from the spread of communism, to uphold traditional US values and so on... yet here he is killing people.. How's he allowed to get away with it yet Captain Price from COD is hounded for it?

If we look at say Scarface and GTA, the situation is similar. Here though both protagonists are anti-heroes. They kill for crime, fortune, drugs, women, cars....  Yet Nico Bellic supposedly encourages young people to be violent whereas Tony Montana may as well be encouraging kids to stay in school. It just doesn't make sense. In both cases we are well aware that both characters are inherently bad, whether we like them or not.

Rambo 4: He's got his heart in the right place

It seems to me then that games are simply a victim of their time, like films and books were before them - a scapegoat for the problems that exist today. How long it will last is another question. Games won't disappear and nor will the desire for politicians and officials to find a reason for today's problems. But as more and more people adopt games into their lives (a clear trend), the less of an issue it will become... other than maybe consuming too much of their time.

Borderlands 2 Impressions

Whilst this is in no way a full written review as I sincerely doubt I am near to completing my latest game purchase, Borderlands 2, these are some of my impressions with it thus far.

On the whole, the sequel to the much loved Borderlands is... good. It's by no means the greatest thing to come out in recent months but neither is it poor in any way. Whilst there are a few things I dislike about the game, on the whole, I have found the experience enjoyable and compelling, if a little repetitive.

When starting the game, after choosing your character class, you then get a brief introduction to the story: you are a vault hunter on the violent and barely hospitable planet of Pandora, a planet not long colonised by humans, and since then has been abandoned by those that have any sense, to leave only crooks, criminals and the desperate. Most of it seems to be under the control of the head of one of the arms companies, Handsome Jack. With an army of killer robots, he is hoping to take control of this god forsaken planet.

The story is interesting enough and offers several laughs along the way with a witty script that takes inspiration from modern pop-culture. The characters, for the most part are also intriguing, all have detailed back stories and seem to have some substance to them. Whilst the interactions with them all revolve around completing various missions for them which all seem pretty similar, each one did feel different because of the premise behind it.

It's cartoony art style is not unlikable 

Indeed the gameplay itself is pretty repetitive. A mission is usually go to check point A, kill a number of individuals with the large and varied amount of weaponry at your disposal; return to collect reward. However, because the gameplay is so well designed, and the story normally entertaining enough, one can put the repetitiveness to one side and get on with it. Put it simply, its thoroughly entertaining to blast your way through a room of enemies. There is enough variation in the types of target to make it feel different on each occasion and the weapons are so plentiful that you can approach a situation in a number of different ways. Having said this, how long that will last is another matter. At the end of the day it is simply shooting. There do seem to be a number of environments, each with different characteristics; some open expanses whilst others are dark compact corridors, but again there's only so much that can change.

What I haven't appreciated that much so far and what Borderlands 2 is really renowned for is the online play.  You can have up to 4 players working together to fight the hordes of Pandora and help each other complete missions. The catch is that it does make the game harder. Whilst in theory this is a good idea, one which in a game like Left 4 Dead works well, I never feel like its that beneficial to have coop allies. The reason being is that at times they can be more of a hindrance than a benefit. Because individual mission objectives to change every now and then, you have to rely on your allies to know what you are supposed to be doing. If they go off and try and do their own thing, it can just be a pain. They may also try and take the good weapon drops, leaving you with their crappy seconds...

Played with friends though this could work much better, however with randomers, lack of communication can hinder gameplay. That said you have control over whether you want people to join or not. If you play at it alone though, there are no AI companions to keep you company, which I found to be a shame.

To resume though, whilst I will persevere
 with Borderlands 2 as I do find it entertaining, it is certainly not the greatest game out there at the moment. I've regularly found myself return to Gears 3's Horde mode for some more rewarding online coop play.

The Walking Dead

For those that missed it, a few weeks back the third season of the successful zombie show came to a violent end, with plenty of fights, deaths and undead action.

The season as a whole has been, in my view a season of three parts. The first half before the holiday break started incredibly strongly, with plenty of action, a fast moving but compelling plot as well as some new intriguing characters. It ended on a bit of a cliffhanger as the group escaped the clutches of the Governor and headed back to the safety of the prison. A storm was coming though as the inhabitants of Woodbury under the leadership of the now crazed Governor prepared for retaliation. The second half started with the battle and the went on from there at a much slower pace. Indecision from the characters about what to do, a Governor character who was starting to becoming a little unbelievable and a sudden lack of pace within the series became more of a frustration. It picked up again slightly after a rather interesting episode featuring Rick, Carl and Michonne as well as an old character.

Each episode put elements for a climactic finale together. However much of it did seem like it was simply following a predetermined path from which it could not stray, well at least the Governor did. Despite being one of the better characters at the start, he was now simply a tool for moving the plot forward, and by the end I was glad to see the back of him. His story had been dragged out too long and was not entirely plausible. He'd essentially become an angry obsessive despot, determined to be an obstructive force to the group in the prison, for reasons I did not entirely understand. Yes they were in a post apocalyptic world, where humanity focused more on survival than being a good neighbour, but I could not see how Rick and co living in a prison, that wasn't exactly next door, was an issue for him. The road between the two sites had probably never been used as much.

Moving on from my ramblings  the finale was on the whole a success. Whilst not giving too much away, there were a few surprises and some extremely tense moments, and even some grieving, depending on how much you like the character. Though it was not the best closure to what had been a decent season, it was on the whole a good send off and left the door open wide enough to make me want to come back to season 4 for more. What will happen next could determine the success of the show to come. Whilst the prison has been an adequate location for the group to hold up in for the time being, there needs to be some more variation in season 4, perhaps they should even go back on the road? The last thing I want to see is the group staying put for another 12 episodes, essentially like what happened in season 2.

Either way the future of the series seems bright, as does to some extent the near future of the characters. Though the Walking Dead has yet to capture the initial excitement that the first season held, it is still as compelling as ever.

Next Gen thoughts

There has been some buzz recently about the latest generation of consoles and their supposed up coming launches. Playstation 4 has already officially been announced, though we are yet to see the actual console itself and despite getting glimpses of some of its games and the new but rather familiar looking controller. Rumours of the latest Xbox have also been rife, though so far nothing entirely positive. The key issue is that it will always have to be online, something that many games are moaning about, not entirely unjustifiably, especially after the failed launch of the most recent interation of Sim City, which requires users to constantly be connected. Microsoft's Xbox director has apparently told the potential consumers to just 'Deal with it'.

My thoughts? Well it depends what the catches are. Constantly being online is not necessarily a problem if you have a good, fast and reliable internet connection. For some though, this could be an issue. If you don't have the option to connect or simply don't want to, then the next gen Xbox is already off limits. For those who have slow internet it's also a problem as the speeds required may not be supported everywhere. Day to day issues I come up against with my internet connection may also lead me to be tempted by the competition. After moving into a new student house two years ago, the internet wasn't up and running for at least a few months. That's a good few months of not being able to play. Now whilst it isn't the end of the world, I'd be annoyed at the very least that I could not play my console when I wanted to.

The second problem I can see is Microsoft's potential desire to do away with second hand games completely. If the always online model requires games to download games rather than insert a CD, it makes it impossible to get a second-hand copy, which is also a pain as they are more often or not a cheaper alternative for the gamer on a budget. Now one could argue that for game developers such a move is beneficial as they only money from new sales, however many high street retailers make more off the second hand than the new, which imminently puts them in a tricky position. One they would probably rather avoid considering their current financial issues.

The next gen Xbox does seemed to be aimed at a certain demographic, one which is not necessarily the best bet for the future.

Either way, I'm going to be extremely cautious in my next choice. Whilst I've only really discussed the pitfalls of the Xbox (as that's all we know), very little on the PS4 and not even covered the cheaper alternatives like the OUYA or GameStick, which I will try and post about later on, being an Xbox owner it's the next one that interests me most.

The Wii U doesn't really merit much mention... though more to come on the next gen later on.

Tech/Games/TV Update

A variety of updates to start off the working week.

In terms of tech, its seems Windows Phones are currently topping Blackberry in the smartphone charts. Though still far behind their android and iOS rivals, from my point of view, Windows improving is certainly not a bad thing. Whilst Windows 7.8 is possibly not on Microsoft's priority list at the moment, Apps and updates do seem to be more plentiful in recent weeks, and hopefully some interesting ones on the way soon too. For the half arsed photographers out there who rely more on phones than actual cameras for pictures (myself included), some new updates for the camera tool are available for download, including an integrated panorama mode, and a tool that easily creates gifs... though nothing revolutionary, they are fun to play around with.

Apparently HTC is also working on a Facebook phone. Despite Facebook's ginourmous amount of users, why someone would want to buy a phone where Facebook is the main tool is besides me, though I'm sure if done well it could potentially find a consumer base. 

With games, some interesting releases caught my eye, particularly the new BIOSHOCK, which does look enticing for its compelling and somewhat original story (though apparently similar to the original) as well as solid gameplay. Having said that it's not on the priority list. 

I have just purchased Borderlands 2, which should have been on my wishlist because I... really wanted it. So far so good, though I've only played it for about an hour, which isn't a huge amount considering there is a fair amount to get to grips with. Shooter RPGs are not a formula I'm all too familiar with. And whilst it boasts a huge amount of weapons, so far many of them seem rather similar... It's definitely fun though and I'm keen to continue, especially one I work out how to get online and play with other characters. It is a shame that you can't use AI controlled allies.

I also booted up Zoo Tycoon this weekend as well as Gears 3, having wanted to play the latter's sequel, Judgement. Zoo Tycoon was simply because I could not access the Xbox and wanted a gaming fix. I'd forgotten how much fun this game was despite not being that highly rated, though it is still surprisingly difficult, well to make money at least. Either that or I'm still shit at it. 

Old Skool but still incredibly fun... for a while

Gear's Horde mode though is still excellent and I can see myself coming back to it properly in the next few weeks. Having said that I want to continue my progress in Rocksmith and get more time on Red Dead Redemption, which I bought recently and haven't played a huge amount of...

Finally for TV, Game of Thrones started this weekend and Walking Dead finished. And I watched neither. Both are two of the best shows on TV so I'll let you know my impressions once I find the time to watch them!