Let me start off by saying that I’m no game reviewer. I don’t usually have the patience or skill to formulate my thoughts into a well-crafted article that flows like a review should. I am, however, a gamer of at least 20 years and a HUGE Metroid fan. I’ll admit that with my most beloved franchises, sometimes I’ll pass judgement on a new take before I get a full idea of what it’s about. I did this with Other M and remained hugely skeptical from the moment I saw it. After some time, however, I gave it the benefit of the doubt and let myself relax a little bit and read more about it. Over time, I actually became pretty excited about it and was pretty ramped to dive into this next chapter in the Metroid timeline. Ultimately the game fell incredibly short of my expectations and I actually deem it to be one of the worst titles in the series.  Here’s why. (note: there are spoilers listed below so if you plan on playing the game and want to be surprised by it’s incredibly lame story, you’ve been warned)

Samus Aran was a pretty big shock to the gaming industry upon her arrival. For the first time, a video game starred a female character who wasn’t in need of being saved because she could do it herself. Other M takes the concept of our strong Heroine who can manage herself just fine and flushes it right down the toilet… in the cutscenes. During the actual gameplay segments, Samus is as ruthless as ever: Running hard, shooting hundreds of enemies without blinking an eye and, this time, even using her physical strength to submiss enemies to the ground before blowing their FACES off.

In total contrast, the game’s narrative portrays Samus as a whining, scared, submissive character that goes against every single thing her foundation was built upon. Yes, I understand that she’s been a silent protagonist for most of her history so we have no actual proof of what she was thinking about under that helmet but actions most definitely speak louder than words in this case.

Other M reduces Samus to a familiar female role that has been seen many times in the past; Big-breasted and helpless without her male counterparts to save her ass at every turn. Many people would say that the games title, “Other M” stands for “Other Metroid”. Because this game takes place right after Super Metroid, we know that all the Metroids have been officially eradicated from the universe. Thus, another metroid game, another M. Either that or Other M stands for “Other Mother” as in Mother Brain. This makes sense in a way and I agree with these interpretations of the title but I’m inclined to think that the real “Other Mother” is Samus herself.

The game begins with a recreation of the final scene in Super Metroid where the Metroid hatchling she found at the end of Metroid II sacrifices itself to save her from certain death by Mother Brain.  In Other M, this act causes Samus to spiral into a deep and melancholy state where she loses all track of time and has constant flashbacks of the hatchling’s sacrifice, whom she now so lovingly refers to as “The baby”. This is the same hatchling that Samus had no problem turning over to the Galactic Federation moments after they first came into contact with each other. My problem with this is that they’ve put a heavy emphasis on Samus’ maternal instincts (you know, something that ALL women have no control over) and made it a driving force for her character.

There’s also a heavy amount of inconsistencies with not only the way she behaves under your control and during the game’s cutscenes, but also in her actions from past games. During gameplay, Samus is fearless. That’s one of the many reasons why we’ve grown to love her as a female role. That’s why they made the decision to make her a female in the first place way back in the very first title.

“Look guys, she’s a woman and you had no idea until you beat the game. She acts just like all the other gruff and heroic male characters from every other video game on the planet”.

In Other M’s cutscenes, she is fearful and constantly worried over some things that she wouldn’t break a sweat over in previous titles. She is always losing her cool and remains in a panicked state for most of the game.

Here’s my favorite example: In the game, you fight Ridley. I expected it because you fight him in every single Metroid title. It’s a rule or something. When Samus sees Ridley for the first time in Other M, she literally freezes in fear at the sight of him. The cutscene actually shows her standing next to him, trembling and unable to move then, after a camera angle change, shows her as a TODDLER. Like she’s so overcome by Ridley’s massive size and power that she feels as helpless as a baby in his presence. Now, I totally understand a reaction of fright or worry because Ridley is a powerful foe. I even understand one of slight bewilderment and fear because he should, by all means, be dead as he was on Zebes when it blew up. This metaphor is entirely inexcusable. To show Samus feeling so helpless in the face of an enemy that she’s stomped at least 5 times in the past. It’s not until she is saved by one of her male comrades that she snaps the hell out of it and regains her composure.

Which brings me to my next point. Stereotypical male authority of females. So often throughout the game a man has to step in and get Samus out of a jam.

You know how in all the Metroid titles, Samus has to start the game without any of her upgrades from the previous titles? It’s a classic staple of the series. They used to not even bother explaining it but, as time went on, they at least found some sort of half-believable excuse. In Metroid Prime, she starts the game with awesome equipment but a shockwave sends her crashing into a wall and shorts out a bunch of chips on her power suit – in Metroid Fusion, she gets overtaken by a virus and her suit has to be surgically removed. Do you know how they explain it in Other M? She has her upgrades on her over the course of the entire game but she won’t use them unless she’s given strict authorization from her commanding officer… even in a deadly situation where the upgrade could save her life.

Let me paint the picture for you: Samus comes to part of the ship that is filled with scorching lava. Any seasoned Metroid veteran knows that her Varia suit will protect her from this extreme heat but she still powers through the areas while sustaining damage. If you don’t control her fast enough she WILL die in these areas. It’s not until right before you fight a boss in this area that you get authorization to turn on your Varia suit functionality to protect yourself from the deadly heat. She doesn’t do anything, unless the MAN tells her to. Yes, this is the same Samus who dropped out of the Galactic Federation and became a self-employed bounty hunter because she doesn’t give a crap about listening to authority… just saying.

The last area I’m going to touch on is the actual gameplay. It can basically be summed up in 3 categories: control, flow, difficulty.

Control – The movement in the 3D space really isn’t all that bad but Team Ninja’s decision to force players to use a 4 directional D-pad instead of the omni-directional analog stick was a poor one. You’re constantly making zig-zags when trying to go straight which poses a problem considering you have to maintain a straight course to engage the speed booster. I know why Team Ninja did this, too. I also hate them for it. They did it so that you can shoot missles by pointing the wii-mote at the sreen, giving you a “wouldn’t that be cool” first-person perspective through Samus’ visor. No, Team Ninja, it’s not cool. It’s not cool because now I can’t MOVE while I shoot missles. Here’s a fantastic solution: Give me control over Samus with the Nunchuck. This way, I can use the thumbstick to move. If we really must go into first person perspective, that’s fine too. Trigger it by pushing the C button on the nunchuck and now point at the sreen… now we can MOVE in first person view a-la Metroid Prime 3. Two problems solved with one decision.

Also, I’ll just say that, as seen with the Ninja Gaiden games, Team Ninja knows NOTHING about platforming and Other M is no different.

Flow – This is a really simple one to break down. Metroid titles are usually labyrinthine. I’ve played Super metroid more times than I can count and I still get slightly lost on my playthroughs. Other M holds your hand all the way through, giving you a nice little marker on your map telling you exactly where to go. The puzzles are obvious, and the story is amazingly predictable. Enough said.

Difficulty – This one isn’t as big of a deal if it didn’t conflict so much with Samus’ actions during the cutscenes. The game was super easy. Most of the time I died, it was because of some bad platforming mechanics. The game has a built-in invincible dodge that only requires you to tap in any direction right before an enemy touches you. This mechanic is cheap and way too easy to exploit. If you find yourself in a fight, all you have to do is constantly tap the direction that you want to move. Samus will still get there because of the digital control and she’ll dodge every single attack because the game registers it as a dodge. Remember the fight with Ridley that Samus trembled in fear at like a literal infant? I didn’t even lose a full energy tank. So terrifying. (I always die when I fight Ridley in Super Metroid). The game lets you restock your missle supply whenever you want and, when you get low on health, you can recharge that too. There’s also a save room that fully replenishes your health and weapons every 20 feet.

Basically, this game was one of the biggest letdowns ever.  What makes matters worse, is all of the original minds behind the Metroid series love the crap out of this game which pretty much solidifies my fear that I’ll never get a new Metroid experience that lives up to the games that made me fall in love with the series.  I tried really hard to like this game and not cast my often un-justified judgement that I usually reserve for when someone rapes one of my childhood favorites. Now I feel kind of like an idiot for letting my guard down.

I’d like to do grouping in the pictures to talk about a few things specifically but there’s just too many pictures for me to deal with and I’m lazy. So here’s a whole bunch of pictures all right here in one place. You can use the right and left arrows underneath the set of images to bring up more.

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We decided that we were going to go to PAX a long time ago. I think our tickets (both plane and event) were purchased back in February and the hotel was booked as well. It was our usual Left 4 Dead crew: JP, Tiffany, D, and myself. We had a pretty good mix of panels and the show floor peppered into our trip but the latter being where we spent most of our time.

I’m going to rattle off my list of the best things I saw while I was there and why they are awesome so here goes:

Donkey Kong Country Returns

I’m really excited and impressed with what Retro Studios has done with this IP. I’m a very nostalgic gamer and, self-admittedly, a big naysayer when it comes to companies revamping my beloved franchises. My worries were laid to rest, however and I can definitely say that this game is going to be a blast. Retro did a fantastic job at capturing the feel and fun of the original DKC series but throwing enough new stuff in there to make it feel both awesomely old school and new at the same time. The jumping mechanics work a little differently so it’ll take just a short while to get used to but overall it has a great feeling control. Donkey Kong and Diddy Kong’s abilities are now quite varied instead of just the difference in strength and speed. This time around, Donkey has all the muscle and oompf that you’d expect and Diddy uses that to his advantage. There are new tag team moves such as Diddy riding on Donkey Kong’s back while blasting peanut pistols or grabbing onto DK and using his jetpack to give the heavier Kong a leg-up. I love Donkey Kong Country and I’m totally stoked to play this new entry into the series.

Kirby’s Epic Yarn

I know everyone is excited for a new actual entry into Kirby’s adventures for a console system (no, I don’t count air-ride…at all). The DS games are all great and fans have been waiting for a great Kirby game to play on the big screen. I’ve seen plenty of gameplay videos of Epic Yarn and I knew the visuals were neat but seeing it while playing it really brings it alive. There were plenty of moments in the demo where I saw things that either made me laugh or smile simply because of it’s presentation or cleverness. It was made by the same team that made Wario Land: Shake It! so I know it’s going to be a blast. My only fear about this game is that it might be too easy but there are lots of hidden things in each stage to keep things challenging.

NBA Jam

Oh my god, I can’t say enough good things about this game. I don’t like or even remotely care about basketball but I’ve always loved the NBA Jam series. There’s something about ridiculous dunking that just gets me every time. This is another series I would normally be wary about a revamp or reboot (they’ve already tried…and it wasn’t pretty, but it looks like EA Vancouver has done their homework. Absolutely EVERYTHING about this game reminds me of why I loved the originals so much to begin with. It’s the only game on the show floor that I played more than once, if that says anything!

Little Big Planet 2

How could I say anything but great things about LBP2? It’s just like the first game, with even better control, more customization, a more robust editor, all the levels (user-made included) from the first game, and all the charm and style of the first. I played a level that was basically set up to be a race between 4 players. It was a tower climbing game where the objective was basically to get to the top first. It made use of a grappling hook, a teleporter, electrified walls, and a narrow tunnel where the walls were made up of spring-pads. Yeah, this game is going to be awesome.

Patapon 3

I’ll admit it, I never finished the first Patapon (but I wanted to really bad) so therefore, I never got to play the second one either but that doesn’t stop me from wanting to play the crap out of Patapon 3. The game is the same as it ever was in terms of gameplay but the presentation has been ramped up by a metric crap-load. The music, which is the core of the game, sound so much richer and has multiple levels of rhythms and melodies (as showcased here . One of the greatest things about Patapon 3 is that, despite their increasing fan base and production value, this entry is still priced at $20! whooo!

Duke Nukem Forever

Yeah, you read that correctly Duke Nukem Forever.
There were plenty of rumors that Gearbox was the new developer and also plenty of rumors that there would be some huge inducement at PAX but when a game like this is involved rumors are just that. So imagine our surprise when we first get onto the show floor and are greeted, right up front, by a HUGE Duke Nukem Forever booth that is closed off and already had a line forming. We knew we had to see what this was all about. Unfortunately, I went to the Nintendo booth first so by the time we all regrouped, the line way way too long to consider standing in so we made our plan for the next day: Get in line early enough for the show floor so that we’d be right up front when the doors opened and would have a better shot at being near the front of the line at the Duke Nukem Forever booth. Turns out everyone else had that idea too. Despite being in the first group of people let into the expo hall, by the time we reached the Gearbox booth, the Duke Nukem line already stretched way around the booth itself and was bleeding into the Rock Band 3 booth. We decided that we had to see if we could always bet on Duke like we’ve been told. 2.5 hours later and we made our way into the booth. We were greeted by Randy Pitchford to tell us a little bit of history about how DNF came to be in the state it’s in now. After a lot of excited talk from him plus a new trailer, he let us all into another room where we could play the demo. The main thing I can say about the demo is that this game is going to be quintessentially Duke. It’s classic with the one-liners by Jon St. John, the humor and even the action is all just as we remember it from Duke 3D. Should we be worried that this game is too old school to be fun? No. Not if you like Duke Nukem for what it is and appreciate the fact that this game has evolved into more than just the next Duke Nukem game, but an homage and a service to all of the fans who waited it out and dreamed of the day when Duke would, once again, be pissed at more alien bastards for shooting up his ride.

Swarm

This is a new game by Hothead game studios and it looks like way too much fun. They didn’t have it playable but a rep from Hothead was there giving a walkthrough demo every hour of the current build. Think of it like a combination of Lemmings and Overlord but with it’s own distinct flavor. This game really rides on it’s humor and, from what I saw, it does a really good job. It’s pretty amusing just how hopeless those little swarmites are.

Ok, now to switch gears, I want to talk about a couple of things that didn’t impress me much. Of the things I tried, I can only think of 2 off the top of my head so here they are:

Infamous 2

I enjoyed the first one (despite my constant whining that the game carried on for way too long AND the really dumb ending) so I was pretty excited to play the next one in the series. Unfortunately, this one felt pretty different from the first one unless I’m just remembering differently. This time, Cole is equipped with a blunt weapon that produces an electric current for shocking and beating his enemies all at once. Gone is regular hand-to-hand combat unless it just wasn’t included in the demo. This weapon feels really awkward to me and the animations they used make it looks like Cole is swinging it wildly without a clue as to what he’s actually doing. In the combat, every strike has slow-down effect right before the point of impact to try and make each hit feel more visceral. I don’t enjoy the effect at all and I find it to actually be pretty disruptive to the gameplay. This even happens when you shoot a foe with a generic lightning blast. In addition to the combat issues I had with the demo, some of the presentation elements are a little wonky. At one point in her run through it, Tiffany said she saw parts of Cole’s body being stretched out as other parts moved. The engine looked really choppy and it hung /froze fairly often. I noticed on every single screen while I was waiting that the demo froze for a significant amount of time during a cutscene. Perhaps this is just one of the engines that don’t hold up too well to the gaming industry standards or perhaps they’re revamping it and they’re still working out the kinks. Either way, the game isn’t due until 2011 so hopefully Sucker Punch will be able to address some of these issues before it’s launch.

Kinect

I already had very low hopes for this device but since the line for it was (laughably) short, I figured I’d give it a fair chance. The software that I demoed was the cleverly titled “Deca Sports Freedom”. I’m wondering if maybe the software wasn’t the best showcase of the device but it was absolutely atrocious. D and I played fencing together and even navigating through the menu controller-free was a giant hassle. We were standing a good 3-4 feet apart and it kept confusing his left hand with my right, our cursors kept flickering in and out, and the movement lag made it quite the task to select any options. I also really hate having to hover over a button for 5 seconds to select it. It’s cumbersome and annoying.
When we finally got into the game itself, things didn’t get much better. I kept trying to do a sideways slice to D’s torso but by avatar would only keep attacking vertically which was pretty good indication that the Kinect wasn’t recognizing my instructions.
I’m not about to blame it on all the commotion that was happening on the show floor either as they had a nice, walled off section for the demo to prevent any background activity from confusing the device. The whole experience was eye-rolling and a total joke. The idea is cool but the technology just isn’t there yet, I think. I also think that Maybe the programmers for Deca Sports freedom aren’t the best out there so maybe I’ll be proven wrong with a better piece of software.

All in all, PAX was tremendous fun. It’s great to be surrounded by like-minded people, all enjoying the things that they do the most. You get to meet and talk with a few industry professionals too as it’s usually the developers manning the booths. Seattle is awesome, and PAX is awesome. I’m going to do everything I can to go again next year!

Previously, on Alan Wake…

I was able to finally play this game over the weekend, despite having since it came out in May.   I have been looking forward to this game ever since I first heard about it way back during E3 of 2005.  Back then, the game was slightly different and it was also supposed to be a PC game as well (which was later canned for reasons I totally don’t agree with).  Eventually, it was restricted solely to the Xbox 360 and took quite a long time to complete.

The game is developed by Remedy Entertainment who is mostly (a.k.a. “only”) popular for the Max Payne series.  They also developed a Carmageddon style game before Max Payne but not too many people have actually heard of it.  If you ask me, if my company was only know for one game series, I’d be glad to know that the series was as solid as Max Payne.

Part of what made those games so amazing was the contribution of Sam Lake, a Swedish writer and employee at Remedy who lent his writing talent to both games.  Coincidentally, most of what makes Alan Wake such an incredible experience is that it was also written by Lake.  The game is split up into 6 chapters that play very much like either chapters in a novel or episodes in a Twilight Zone styled TV series (with a little less cheese).

From the very beginning, The story pulls you in and keeps you there with an intense sequence that instantly lets you know how the game will be played and how the element of light will be used throughout the game.

I can’t really say much about particular events that happen without spoiling anything.  I’m also not claiming to be any kind of game reviewer– But I can say that this game will keep you guessing and guessing until the very end.  It’s filled with awesome plot-twists, moments of extreme suspense, and just an overall engaging story.  You won’t want to put it down until you’ve finished it.

That brings me to my next point regarding the length of the game.  I just have to get this out there.  A lot of game sites and publications have noted that this game is pretty short… but the spin they put on it was that it was a bad thing.  First of all, let me say that the game is exactly as long as it needs to be, it never felt like it was dragging on in any way or cut short in any way.  Secondly, this game is not short.  My definition of a short game would be something like Call of Duty Modern Warfare 2 where you can blast through the campaign in about 4 hours or any other game in similar length where it wouldn’t be at all far-fetched for even a more casual gamer to beat it in one (or one and a half) sittings.  Alan Wake probably took me about 10-12 hours to beat.  I’m not exactly sure because there is no gameplay counter or anything.  But each of the 6 chapters can easily take 2 hours each, or more to beat.  Some are shorter than others, but even the short ones are quite lengthy.

I enjoyed Alan Wake 100% through and I’m very excited to play both of the planned DLC episodes (The Signal is already out and The Writer is planned for release).  This game is easily on my “play multiple times” list.

If you have a 360 and are any kind of fan of thrillers, action games, or just a fantastic story, you owe it to yourself to pick this one up.>

Absolute best album of 2009

Hands down, this award goes to The Gossip’s “Music For Men”.

I’ve been a huge fan of the Gossip for quite some time. Ever since I first heard “Standing in the Way of Control” while watching Subterranean back in 2005. After I became obsessed with the album of the same name, I went back and got all of their previous albums as well. I like them all as they’ve always had a certain energy that I love.

Even with all of this knowledge of and experience with the band’s music, Music for Men blew me away.

The band seems like they’ve found a little nook in their genre crossing that works amazingly well for them. It’s tucked snugly somewhere in between hard hitting dance rock and soulful disco of yesteryear.

The album opens with a rhythmic and slightly mysterious “Dime Store Diamond” and follows right into the incredibly energetic “Heavy Cross”. The album continues to be a solid disco dance trip all the way through to the very last track.

Beth Ditto’s vocals are primarily responsible for the soulful disco I mentioned earlier. She has got a set of pipes on her like you wouldn’t believe and her singing really mirrors that of most disco queens. Another amazing addition to the band is the drummer, Hannah Billie. She is pretty much the best drummer I’ve ever heard, based on her understanding of how to form a killer beat that sounds fresh. She is responsible for blending Beth’s disco influence vocals into the dance rock monster that it is. Combine these with awesome synth, keytar, keyboards, and guitar and you’ve got a delicious recipe for success.

Here’s a few of my favorite tracks from the album (I have to use grooveshark’s direct url because my server is being annoying right now. Sorry for this)

- Heavy Cross
- Love Long Distance
- Men in Love

This album continues to get me to groove every single time I listen to it. I can’t remember an album that’s this heavy an impact on my eardrums since Sufjan Stevens’ “Illinois”.

and for added bonus, here’s the promo that they put together for the album:

Most disappointing album of 2009

I hate to say this but this one goes to Calvin Harris’ “Ready For the Weekend”.

I was looking forward to this album like nobody’s business. Every since 2007′s “I created Disco”, I was drooling for more dancetastic fun from Mr. Harris. When I heard his new album was going to be released, I impatiently waited until it’s debut. Unfortunately (and trust me, it pains me to say this), it just wasn’t up to par with what I expected. It didn’t feel like the same Calvin. Some could argue that he further refined and matured his sound but I actually think he took a step backwards.

If I could say one thing about why I really don’t like the album as much as I thought I was going to it would be that the whole thing sounds way too “trancey“… as in the genre of so-called “techno” music. Sure, i created disco has a heavy trance influence but he took the sound and melted in his own flairs and sounds from other influences as well. It was incredibly fun with it’s lyrics and content and also had a heavy disco influence with a strong emphasis on heavy danceable beats. Gone is this formula for “Ready For the Weekend” and, in my opinion, the album falls just outside the realm of any other trance song you’d hear in a generic club. Sure it’s got things that separate it and it’s still a decent album…it just didn’t wow me like his debut did.

I won’t say much more but I will provide examples of what I’m talking about.

Here’s two tracks from his debut “I created Disco”. Notice the fun lyrics and danceable beats.

- Merry Making at My Place
- Acceptable in the 80′s

And here’s one from “Ready For the Weekend”

- I’m Not Alone

All of the tracks on this album have a similar feel. it’s got a few gems on it like the titular track “Ready For the Weekend” and “Stars Come Out” but overall I was pretty let down. Now, don’t get me wrong, this album is still a good one that’s definitely worth a listen, I was just disappointed in the direction that Calvin Harris decided to take his music for this venture.

Bonus Category: Most anticipated of 2010

Definitely either Cake or Scissor Sisters. Seriously…where are they?

Cake last put out their B-Sides and Rarities album that was supposed to hold us over until their next studio album but that was way back in 2007!

And Scissor Sister’s last album “Ta-Dah” dates back to 2006! Let’s get on it!

So tell me, what were your best as most disappointing albums of 2009? If you’re going to take the time, why don’t you tell me which one you’re anticipating the most for release in 2010?

It’s called “Metroid: Shadow Complex” and the whole game takes place in an underground facility that is just as cavernous and labyrinthine as it’s Zebesian and SR388 predecessors.

The game works just like any other game in the Metroid series. It’s all about exploration and finding ways to get into previously unreachable areas using items found throughout your spelunking. It’s got the classics like Missiles, grappling beam, bombs, ice beam and speed booster. This time around, you get a totally sweet new item. It’s a helmet that slowly collects energy and, once it reaches capacity, makes you invulnerable to enemy fire as long as you’re standing still or walking slowly.

Badass, I know.

It’s a bit different than previous installations, though, and I’m going to tell you guys some of the differences.

Story

First of all, no space pirates. I know, I know… what’s a Metroid game with it’s space pirates? But you quickly forget all about it. You’re actually fighting humans who are part of a large underground army who are amassing their forces to control the planet. Yeah, the game takes place on earth (WHOAH)!.

The story is actually pretty weak, to be honest but that’s never what these games were really about. Don’t get me wrong, the Metroid series has some awesome plots and lore, and the stories of the previous games are good, they’re just not the central point so it’s pretty forgivable for one to be bad now and then.

Gameplay

This game is a classic, return to roots, Metroid game with side-scrolling gameplay. This time around, however, you have the ability to shoot into the background as well as your middle ground to take out enemies. This adds a new element to the classic action aspect of the older titles. It’s a bit wonky at times but I really appreciate the effort and, overall, the inclusion was great.

You upgrade your weapons just like before but now you have the ability to use ballistic weapons as opposed to the energy beams of before. Starting sound a little strange? read on…

Presentation

This game is presented in what is now called “2.5D”. It’s a sidescrolling game but done with 3D models and environments. This is nothing new to the industry and has been done countless time before. It’s using Epic’s Unreal Engine 3 so there are some great effects in there to go along with the weapons and the graphics are nice (not amazing but that’s not really important).

The environments are varied enough and I’m pretty impressed with all the different locales that they included in one underground complex.

One of the biggest changes is quite the atom bomb: you don’t play as Samus! Thats, what I said, no Samus. Instead you play as some guy named Jason. But remember what I said before: The gameplay is so solid that you really will forget all about it after about an hour into the game.

The biggest difference in Metroid: Shadow complex is that it wasn’t made by Nintendo. Nope.

Not Nintendo.

Why was it made by someone other than Nintendo? Probably because they won’t man up and do it themselves, that’s why. For the past 6 or so years, Nintendo has been auctioning off their Metroid titles to other studios like Retro studios for the Prime series and now Team Ninja (gross) for Metroid: Other M. Are you really surprised? the difference is that this third party metroid game is a true homage to the series we all know and love but only have memories of. Games like that only get released on smaller platforms like Xbox Live Arcade, PSN, and WiiWare because, apparently, they don’t “stack up” to the “quality” of games nowadays.

I’m not saying that all games today suck, far from it… What I’m saying is this: recent games like Megaman 9, Bionic Commando: Rearmed, and Shadow Complex has showed us that games with nods to the old way of playing are still wildly popular.

So it’s really 2009 already, huh? It’s kind of hard to believe that a whole year has already gone by. Then again, it feels like that every year when you think about it. “whoa, I can’t believe it’s been a year!”…but really take the time to just think about 2008. A lot happened, didn’t it?

In a way, I’m really glad to see 2008 go. I’ve had some amazing things come out of 2008 and I’ve learned an immense amount of things. I wouldn’t go back and do it any differently but my overall feeling on the year is “meh“. 2008 feels like one of my least favorite years…if you could even begin to have some sort of rating system.

Good Riddance? Not quite but I can’t say that I was content or happy more than I was busy or stressed or depressed, etc. That all comes with growing and learning things about yourself, though.

2009 is going to be a really big year for me. I’m graduating and I have no idea what’s going to happen after that. I don’t know what I want to do or where I’m going to end up but I can say right now that I know I don’t want to leave what I have here in Savannah.

In addition to graduation I’m going to continue to expand my skills in graphic design. I’m doing another independent study this semester and I’m also going to do my best to give myself more motion graphics projects to keep myself learning new techniques.

I also bought and electronic drum kit a little less than a week ago.

We’ve been having our LAN party so I haven’t been able to really sit down with it for more than 10 minutes at a time but I really plan on learning how to use it proper. I really want to commit to it and I’ve downloaded a heap of lesson sets that go from absolute beginner to advanced techniques in all styles. Hopefully this time next year I’ll have something to show for it.

So, to all of you, I hope your 2009 is a really good one filled with things and experiences you’ll remember forever. Don’t ever be quick to dismiss memories…

Here’s to 2009

So, on to the movie. It opened with the classic Pixar short. When it came on, I even heard on mal-informed kid shout out “Hey! This isn’t Wall•E!” I thought to myself, “In due time, kid, you’ll learn the ways of Pixar”. I won’t give any of it away, not even say what it’s about but I will say that it’s easily my favorite short and that means a lot coming from me because I Love all the Pixar shorts. I have the DVD of the first volume and I watch them quite regularly (as far as DVD viewing goes). I was laughing pretty much the entire time.

Now for the actual movie. Again, I don’t really want to say anything about it because it will take away from some of the magic that comes from seeing it all for the first time.

The opening shot is breathtaking and does a really good job at setting everything up without saying anything. The Characters are insanely lovable. Despite the Wall•E and Eve having 4-5 word vocabularies, the animators were able to bring to a whole slew of emotions and expressions to life so you know exactly what they are feeling at all times.

Just like all Pixar movies, this one held an array of emotions with highs, lows, ups, and downs. You’re truly entwined with every thing going on in the film.

The movie had a whole lot to say. It packs a few pretty heavy messages but presents them in very accessible ways.

I could talk forever about this movie but I’m afraid I might say something that will detract from seeing it all yourself so I’m only going to say this: It’s my new favorite Pixar movie (if I absolutely have to pick one…I love them all for their different qualities), a title that was formerly held strong by Monsters Inc.. I loved absolutely everything about this movie and if you haven’t seen it yet, do yourself a favor and get out there and go watch it.

Posters

Also, I had to share these. These are some posters that they were showcasing at this year’s Comic-Con. I think they’re amazing and, seeing as how I love both poster design and this movie, I couldn’t pass up the opportunity to pass these on.

Now, it might seem kind of silly, but I’m a purist at heart. I’ve blurred out the thumbnails just in case anyone is like me and wants to go into this movie with absolutely no hints except for what they’ve gathered in the trailers.

These posters in no way spoil any of the plot, they just show a couple of things that I, in my radically purist mindset, was glad I didn’t know about until I saw it in the movie. I mean, Pixar themselves showcased these before the movie came out and you know they certainly wouldn’t want anything spoiled. At any rate, like I said, no spoilers, and the posters are beautiful so click away (especially if you’ve seen the movie)

Oh, if the trip and the plan come apart in your hand,
you look contorted on yourself your ridiculous prop.
You forgot what you meant when you read what you said,
and you always knew you were tired, but then,
where are your friends tonight?
If I could see all my friends tonight.

So “Sound of Silver”, LCD’s 2nd album, has been out for quite a while now and I’ve thoroughly enjoyed it since it’s debut but recently I’ve regained much interest in it. I really like “All My Friends” in particular but the entire album is so killer. Every song is a hit. If you haven’t listened to it yet please do . And if you’ve never heard of LCD Soundsystem, shame on you . I really enjoy this music video, it’s really odd for a music video but for some reason I love watching it. I didn’t realize that they cut some of the lyrics for length so if you followed along, I’m sure you caught that.

Other LCD Soundsytem songs:

Finals

Finals are approaching next week. In fact, the last day of classes in April 30th which also happens to be My 22nd Birthday .

Broken Camera

So, my little blue Casio Exilim got hurt sometime while we were at Six Flags. I suspect it knocked against the walls of a coaster cart a little too hard cause the LCD screen is cracked. I sent it away to get fixed…hopefully it’s not too expensive as well as not taking a long time to get back to me. Until then, I’m borrowing Alex’s camera. He’s got it on a widescreen format, something I’m not too fond of but I’m not going to go through and change his setting or anything cause I know I’d forget to put them back.

Savannah Sidewalk Arts Festival

This weekend Alicia and I tried to go to the annual SCAD sponsored sidewalk arts festival. We got there a bit early so we were only able to see a few of the drawings just getting started but it began pouring pretty hard and, as you may or may not know, sidewalk chalk and rain do not mix . It was pretty cool, though. We at least got to run around in the rain for a little bit, something that I haven’t done in a long while.

We also got to have a picnic which is something that I love doing. Marcus actually asked if we’d like to join him and Nikki which was nice. It was pretty funny because the second we finished our picnic and stood up is when it started to rain…so, good timing on our part. In classic Chris fashion, I’ve taken a lot of pictures of just stuff instead of people but, there’s a couple people in there. At least I got a picture of Alicia(‘s earring).

It was good times.

New Old Camera

In anticipation for next semester’s Photography class (finally) I snagged an old Canon AE-1 off eBay for $80. It came with a flash, a 50mm lens and a 200mm zoom lens with macro setting. It also came with a nice carrying bag and the whole thing is in really nice condition. I’ve asked Alicia if she can show me how to use it over the summer so I can get some practice in before class.

I have a fascination with things that are older than me but still function well.

Kinetic Type

Last update I talked about Kinetic type and learning how to do it. Well that day, actually, Ispent a good few hours learning how and made a short clip to practice. It looks really nice and everything but every single time I try to render it (which has been about 15 now each time using different settings) the audio and video are not in synch. I might go ahead and upload it to youtube anyways to let you guys see it…maybe.

MarioKart Wii

I picked up MarioKart Wii today and played for a good bit. I’m going to play it again later but I’ve got to try and get a few things done first because I’ve been really bad at focusing lately.

First Impressions : Using the wheel is pretty cool though a little tricky at first. There is really no difference, to me, in using the wheel and just holding the wiimote in your hands. The game is fun just like all Mariokarts and it looks like they’ve really worked on the online component so I’m looking forward to giving that a try. It can be a bit frustrating at times because of the insane comeback AI. Comeback AI is basically the game making it easier for people in or near last place to catch up in order to make the races more tense and the game more enjoyable for everyone but only at times does it severely get on my nerves. I’m kind of upset about the omission of the challenges from the single player like Mariokart DS had

Anyways, you might hear more about it later

Anyways, I’m going to try something new ► an Album Review .

The album I’m talking about today is titled “Brain Thrust Mastery” by one of my most enjoyed “out of nowhere” bands, We Are Scientists.

We Are Scientists broke out in 2005 with a sweet little record, “With Love and Squalor” that took many people by surprise. It was very well received and even went platinum in the UK. Unfortunately, their follow up album falls short…very short in comparison. Don’t get me wrong, it’s an ok album to listen to but when placed next to their awesome debut, it really feels like they’ve lost something.

This “something” I speak of was an incredibly unique way of song writing and composing. With Love and Squalor [WLaS] was loaded with tracks that featured this skewed style that sported breaks at odd segments, drop beats, and just an overall “dance punk” sound.

To put this into perspective I’ll show you the videos from their 3 singles off WLaS. I could just make a playlist in seeqpod but I’ve always felt that the music videos really help portray their quirkyness.

The Great Escape

Inaction

It’s a Hit

These are all excellent examples of the things I mentioned above and really help showcase the album as a whole. All the tracks feature this kind of style but are varied enough to never get old.

Unfortunately, this didn’t carry over to Brain Thrust Mastery. As I was listening to it, each track left me hoping to hear that signature sound I came to love so much but after each passing track I became disappointed — a feeling I rarely feel when listening to a new album for the first time. This time around, the songs have become much more low-key and really lose the punch that WLaS had. Even the ones that feel like they’re almost up to par, like “Chick Lit”, still don’t quite hit the target.

sadly, I could only find these two tracks to show you from Brain Thrust Mastery but the whole album really does sound pretty much like this.

It feels like they’ve become, dare I say, generic with hardly anything to distinguish them from any third-rate band. It makes me sad, really it does because I still give WLaS a regular listen as it always delivers what I love(ed) about We Are Scientists.

* on a much more awesome note: While compiling this post, I came across something that I never knew about before. In 2006, We Are Scientists toured with another awesome band from 2005, Art Brut. Well, they became good friends while on tour and both agreed to cover one of each other’s songs for a split EP. We Are Scientists covered the apropriately named “Bang Bang Rock and Roll” a song that really defines Art Brut as a whole. Art Brut covered one of my favorite songs: “The Great Escape”

I’ll provide both the originals and their respective covers, I think they’re both awesome.