Construed

Growing up as a teenager in the ’80s felt exciting, especially once video became a medium to watch movies at home instead of going to the cinema. In those early days, rigid certification of video meant a number of movies being classed as a Video Nasty & some being banned at the time. There was a frill to getting to see these movies – why were they banned? Who is to say we can’t view them & make up our own minds!? This quite possibly lead to a popular surge of video piracy during the ’80s & I must admit here, I saw a few movies this way including Re-Animator & The Texas Chainsaw Massacre – Re-Animator remains one of my favorite memories of movie watching, as a teenager.

The ’80s were an exciting & fresh time for movies being released into the home viewing market which I fear, this will never again be repeated – at least not in the UK.

In its place, from the late ’80s onwards, are topics like the writer’s strikes or dramas from the studios themselves…

After the recent ruling concerning the alleged copyright infringement, by Warner Bros, in the production of the Watchmen movie – I can see that, if this case delays the March release date of the movie or even hints at such an eventuality, we will see the movie released in someway of form as an illegal download. I am not advocating this practice or hinting that I want to see movies in this way, no there’s no fun to be had in watching a poor reproduction that normally comes with an pirated copy of a videogame or a movie.

For me, the romance has gone from those days of the Video Nasties & I do sometimes feel like the movie making industry, as a whole, needs some hefty shaking to see what uncut gems drop loose.

DM∞

I hope you’re all had a great Christmas & received the goodies you were after – some of my goodies included, The Dark Knight Blu-ray(yet to see this movie) & The Orange Box(360) plus some tokens to spend on entertainment.

On a personal note, I have decided to move my 360 into the office at home & away from the bedroom where I currently have it connected to my only LCD TV. The plan is to hook it up to the PC monitor via a VGA cable & will mean a better quality of gaming time on the 360 plus I will also benefit from the Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround Sound output that is in this room.  I just need to decided on a cable – any advice?

7th generation console gaming

2008 has been a quite a year for videogaming but for me it’s been a breakthrough year – in April I picked up my first 7th generation console in the PS3 & then I surprised even myself by then followed it with the 360 in November. I now have a fantastic choice in videogaming with both these consoles at my disposal but since the introduction of the 360, my personal bias has lent towards the Microsoft experience.

Gamerpoints, Gamerscore & Achievements(I surpassed my 1st 1000 Gamerpoints playing FIFA 09 – see below) all feel very natural & correct to the whole 360 experience of things, even if they are seen by many as just an opportunity for bragging over their friends(we only need look at how Blizzard have introduced them to WoW, to realise how popular they are with gamers). To me, though, I see it slightly differently – I  enjoy how unlocking Achievements & consequently Gamerpoints, unravel as you progress through a game. This can sometimes be in the most unlikely of gaming circumstances & when built into a game title well, it can give the player a lift maybe even an impetus to keep going, even when the gaming experience has just dictated differently.

Fifa 09

The 360 version of Fifa 09 is how the game should feel when being played – no lock-ups when the action gets frantic, smooth gameplay & a good choice of Achievements that have taken notice of what makes the sport of football(US take note – it’s football not soccer) such fun to be part of – 40gp for unlocking the FIFA fair play Achievement by not receiving a card in 5 games, was a nice notable touch. But before I make any final conclusions about the FIFA 09 experience on the 360 though, I need to experience the game online via LIVE – something I’ll be writing about in the New Year.

Just enough time to round off with a Happy New Year to all my readers, thanks for sticking around – I can promise much more to come in 2009, here at Construed!

DM∞

Frank Miller directing a promising cast in a comic-book adaptation? Sounds all very summer blockbuster like? Until,that is, it gets the January 1st release date here in the UK & a Christmas Day release in the US.

This promo poster for The Spirit can be interacted with, so click through the link to hear the voices of the female cast members.

Being honest here, the first I knew about the movie was from a TV ad last night & not until today did I realise the premise of the story or the strong casting for The Spirit movie. All being said, I don’t think the movie will be as successful as Sin City or 300 &  believe that this is more to do with the current era of comic book movie adaptations rather than the timing of its release.

As a tribute to Will Eisner, The Spirit’s comic book creator, the heavy use of the same visualization seen in Sin City could distract from the importance of what Eisner was noted for in the comic book world. Personally I like a film with great visuals but I don’t like it when they are at the expense of the story & I kinda felt that when I first watched Sin City.

I will be interested to see what reviewers make of the movie but if you are unlike me & plan a visit to the cinema this holiday season then maybe you’ll go have a peek at this one?

DM∞

It’s been a nice surprise returning to play WoW & getting an enjoyable return from the experience. On returning to my account, I paid for 1 months subscription but have no big expectations from WoW, other than to carry on playing while I’m enjoying the experience.

So I rolled the shiny new class, a Death Knight.

The instanced zone for the start area for this, the first hero class in WoW,  is well thought-out & delivers a nice back-story for the Death Knight class. Even though I have had reservations about getting to Outland, in the lead up to heading back into WoW, these I have now put aside – it could be that I have a renewed optimism for WoW as a fun MMO experience? A fun gaming experience, even? Rather than a bare-cheeked, carrot on a stick, grind?

So what positives have I had from this new instanced area of WoW, so far & the Death Knight in general?

• Strong quest-lines for the DK class, straight from the off! The quest log no longer feels stacked with quests that contain long meaningless text. Instead a more streamline quest text is the staple for this starter zone – Work through your quest log naturally & you’ll find only 2 or 3 quest-lines will be sitting in your quest log at anytime.
• Talent tree for the DK looks maybe a little confusing & sure the class will take you time to master but there’s some really nice elements to each tree (I have gone Unholy).
• Atmosphere & the phased questing work nicely towards a progressive story for the DK – citizens from Havenshire quake with fear if you approach them which is a nice touch. Things become a little haunting too, as Havenshire & ultimately New Avalon, fall to the Lich King & his posse of Death Knights(yup – that includes you!).
• As a DK you begin to feel a little over-powered around level 58 & especially if you aim your numerous talent points(additional are gained via completion of quests) towards a PvE talent build. I have read from a number of sources, that the DK does eventually balance out against other classes around the level 70 mark.

Now for the negatives:

• Players that have little patient will be frustrated in being held to this instanced starter zone for the DK but this is more a player attitude complaint than a game mechanic fault. If you want to play the DK class then expect something rather unique in the realms of WoW but don’t expect to hop from the start zone until the ultimate quest-line leads you to your severance from the Lich King.
• As readers have commented here, the WotLK is a progression of the original WoW but it doe not escape from its trappings – this is evident in the moral decisions that you are not able to make within quests & quest-lines. As a DK, you cannot escape the Lich King any earlier than the game design allows. To progress the DK class, you have to complete certain acts that may conflict with your attitude as a person. For now, WoW & it’s 2 expansions have yet to escape entirely from the kill 10 rats type of questing  but there are signs in the WotLK that a Blizzard are trying to push away from such a rigid game mechanic as this.

I have been making great use of this guide for the Death Knight & will continue to do so, until I level to 61 by which point I can aim my sights towards Outland – where I hope I can report a better experience, the second time around.

DM∞

I have 8 episodes of the 3rd season of Heroes recorded on my PVR, unwatched & it has felt like I was beginning to lose my affection for the show as a whole. Thankfully JoBildo’s recent post that, sums up his thoughts on season 3 – now that it has hit mid-season, has gone someway to relight my attention back onto the season.

It’s also good news that a Bryan Fuller has returned to Heroes, this time as a consultant, looks to already to have paid dividends to the ailing shows patchwork of story-lines, by adding some definition & vision:

AUSIELLO: Where did Heroes go wrong, in your opinion?

BRYAN FULLER: It became too dense and fell into certain sci-fi trappings. For instance, in the “Villains” arc, when you talk about formulas and catalysts, it takes the face off the drama. And I think the goal for everybody is to put a face back on the drama. You have to save something with a face; otherwise you don’t understand what you’re caring about. I thought the “Villains” arc started out very interestingly, and then became sort of muddy and dense and I couldn’t get my hooks into the characters to understand their motivations. I also started to feel confused about what people’s abilities were. One of the great things about the first season is that the metaphor for their abilities was very clear. Those metaphors seem to have gotten complicated in the past two seasons. I share that concern with everybody on the writing staff. It’s not like I’m coming in and saying, “This is what you need to do to fix it!” Everybody knows what needs to be fixed and everybody is sort of rowing in that direction. [EW.com]

I have some real catching up to do but maybe this isn’t such a bad thing & it could be that these type of TV shows(see Lost) suit this type of viewing habit better?

DM∞

*Sylar’s Dad to be..?!