HYPE alert! The Avengers film

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Original Marvel Studios artwork for the upcoming film

Since S.H.I.E.L.D.'s appearance in "Iron Man" along with Nick Fury's, it was known: "The Avengers" film would be done for sure. Later the same year (2008), Tony Stark's scene in "The Incredible Hulk" confirmed it. "The Avengers" have always lived criticized as an answer to DC's "Justice League of America". Despite of this fact, they consisted on an ever-changing, but still strong and solid team, as well as a platform to launch some, more or less, unknown heroes.

During the last decades, Marvel's had the upper hand with more superhero movies than DC. Launching "The Avengers" film, is a huge step to place themselves even higher. This attempt comes together with huge risks that put in great peril both the overall reception along with the fan community's opinion. Although The Avengers have had many members since 1963, some members confirmed for the film might be a weak slink in the chain in popularity matters.

There are two major risks that will define the upcoming film as either an acclaimed or a harshly criticized one. First of all, fans like when new released media is canonical. Either adding new content or just recreating already stories to fit a universe so large is surely a challenge, but it pays off when fans like it. As of today there are four things that causes Marvel movies' canon to start falling off: Chris Evans already portrayed Johny Storm (the human torch) in the Fantastic Four movies. Now he will be taking the role of Captain America in his upcoming film. This means that either the Fantastic Four movies are just spin-offs or The Avengers will be. Also, Edward Norton won't be returning as Bruce Banner. This wouldn't be a problem if Robert Downey Jr. haven't appeared as Tony Stark at the very end, but he did, and now a new face for Bruce Banner will be a minor problem, but still a problem.

Adding up to this problems, two of Marvel's most popular and known to non-fanatics heroes won't show up along with the rest of the Avenger's team: Wolverine and Spiderman. Marvel decisions regarding the reboot of Spiderman are wasting which already has become a fully built hero that is fresh on people's minds. Together with the arachnid, Wolverine's franchise has been simply straying away from the official plot, wasting yet another strong figure within Marvel's all-star group. One more problem and challenge for the writers is trying to put more than seven major characters together along with a deep plot. 

Finally, the movie may succeed, it is known such projects are developed after considering every matter evaluating "pros" against "cons", but still there is another in-universe final problem: credibility. Regarding to superhero movies, the most successful ones in the last years have been both the Iron Man and Batman franchises due to their believability: multi-millionaires trying to do some good and developing expensive gadgets. As Downey Jr. said: it will be strange to put Iron Man along with the Thor's mythology for example.

What do you think: will The Avengers be the hero film of the decade, or yet another Marvel fail like "Hulk"?

9 things that can ruin FFvXIII

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So, as you could see in my last post about the upcoming Final Fantasy versus XIII (FFvXIII), I'm pretty excited about it, but I also have some worries concerning this game. As we know, FFvXIII is being made by the same team that makes the Kingdom Hearts (KH) series (except for Disney-related influences) and I must say I'm a big fan of KH. Even though it has a lot of child-oriented Disney stuff, the story is nicely constructed and pretty deep overall. About the main games in the series (KH & KH2) it can be said that graphics are nicely presented, although textures are cartoonish-flat ones (they seem sometimes even like Mario 64) in most of cases. Character design is stylish and revamps Disney's franchises in an interesting way, clearly aimed for those who grew up with their classic movies.

Gameplay is pretty simple and neat. The way action and RPG genres are fused in here, helps simplifying RPG's customizing nature without making it unnecessary (great for young kids and people who are not keen on spending more time on the menus than actually playing) and gives the average RPG gamer a more realistic way (yeah I said "real" within a fantasy-themed game commentary) to fight and explore. Let's face it, FF XII and they still couldn't make heroes jump or swim outside of a battle... COME ON!!! Turn-based gameplay is getting old, and if they don't come up with something actually new, and keep adding factors to each turn that instead of making them faster, makes turns more complex and slow, that will be aweful.

Given that Tetsuya Nomura's most recent video game involvement (as director, character designer and much more) has been in the KH franchise, those are the games which I'll take as an example as Nomura's team most recent tendencies. It is precisely some gameplay related issues I'm worried about considering the following:

1.-Summons.

Remember how amazing summons have been throughout the whole FF series?. Nice. Now, look back at how summons were simple, but nice in KH (perfect for an action/RPG game. Finally, they de-evolved just to become crappy and lame in KH2? What were they thinking (yeah, AVGN reference) when they chose a freaking ukulele as Stitch's brilliant (!) weapon and tried to turn Chicken Little into Master Chief. On the other side Mr. Nomura's statement of trying to recreate the battle style and feeling of FF AC makes me hope that to get summons, we may have to defeat them first which might be great.

SUMMARY: Please include well thought summons, gargantuan size and DO NOT turn them into lame minigames.

2.-Freaking "x" button.

Yeah I know every video game is about pushing buttons, specially "x" in the PS ones, but COME ON! KH was a challenge in various points even in a "normal" difficulty. Remember Kurt Ziza for example. Abilities on their own were an RPG element that could give us the edge on battle without taking out the challenge. The problem is that the abilities they made in KH2 were something awful. You can actually beat the entire game in a "hard" difficulty without touching the analog when there are enemies on the screen and just pressing "x" until your thumb explodes. It would have been more difficult if there was an ability called "Turn off" which turned off enemies' A.I. I know that KH is more childish and Nomura said he wants to create a "more serious KH" with FFvXII.

SUMMARY: Make it difficult, challenging and make it so we need to be skilled and not just press "x" like retards.

3.-Freaking "▲" button.

You thought I was over with talking 'bout buttons?... well I'm not. If a game may get boring by just keep on pressing "x", believe me, Quick Time Events (QTE) are not the solution. Yes, they look nice and are surprising, but after watching them eleventy zillion times it get boring, not to say  that they are like using fatalities in MK when the enemy still has a full HP bar.  It made the game  even easier game and turned the coolest moves into QTE's which gamers only sat through. Almost every boss from the first KH was harder than Xehanort which was defeated almost entirely through QTE's. They did make the battles look stylish, but in Nomura's attempt to bring "Advent Children's" battle style on to FFvXIII I hope they stay clear from QTE's. If their idea of Advent Children-ish fighting is "action commands", they'll release the game and I will cry.

SUMMARY: Keep the style without the QTE's, we DO NOT like them, we actually want the "darkest FF ever" and not the "darkest FF interactive movie ever".

4.-Magic.

Do I have to say more on this one? Not just KH2 crapped over magic, but in general, spells MUST be renewed. I don't mind the common, -ra, -raga, -raja system, I mean in the way they can be used. Maybe some way to mix spells or a more complex, yet not confusing element relation system.

SUMMARY: Think out of the box, we don't want crappy magic, but the same old thing is also crappy by now. Oh yeah, and no drawing please, not in a fast-paced action/RPG seamless-intended awesome game.

5.-Roxas.

Good plot device, hid correctly the mess they did because it is clear KH wasn't intended to be a franchise, BUT I hoe they do not make us spend 2 or 3 hours in a tutorial that is boring. Sure, the first time it is new and great, but it takes out replay value. I actually get bored just of thinking of starting a new KH2 game because I do not want to spend 2 hours with Roxas in a tutorial that is no fun anymore.

SUMMARY: Maybe no tutorials this time, if it is seamless, learning to play in some other ways  than being told what to do might be interesting.

6.Job system.

I'm not very sure on this one. I'm not pro nor against it, but I want them just to do it right. Here is what I mean: Final Fantasy VII, IX, X, etc. (just some examples) = good, job predefined characters. FFT is an example of a multi job system that works. FF XII's first version, is an attempt to let you customize characters that end up in everyone being able to do everything without really giving any character-specific strengths. This got nicely fixed in the International Zodiac System version that was sold some time after the first FFXII release.

SUMMARY: Whatever it is, we need it to be 

The next three things are not gameplay related, but are still as important for a good experience.

7.-Final mix versions & DLC's.

What's up with that! One could say they want to make more money, but if that was actually the case Square Enix should remember that some of us gamers actually don't live in Japan. I'd rather have a FFvXIII that is whole on itself: no Final mixes, +'s and whatever else. BUT if they do that again, PLEASE, @Nomura_Tetsuya (XD) sell it on this side of the Pacific too!. The same thing about DLC's, I hate it when they do things like in Assassin's Creed 2 and make you buy DLC's to fill up some not-even-that-good plot holes.

SUMMARY: Guys at Square Enix have had more than 7 years, and it might get to 8 years before its release, I hope they at least sell a COMPLETE game.

8.-Locked files.

This really pisses players off. Don't you my beloved geek brothers get pissed of by locked files that you cannot copy? I'll get mad if I keep writing about this, so I just hope they do not lock the save files.

9.-New game+

Finally, I hope that this game is like 10008000 hours long, I hope we get to play at least 85% of those hours, not like Kojima's MGS4 which was made more like a big movie with playable segments. I loved it, but whoever is not a fan, simply won't But Over all those things I hope it has great replay value. Since last generation of video games, replay value is a MUST and a FF without it may lose great possibilities.

If you survived after all of my statements, tell me if you agree or not? I trust that Nomura is not a dumbass and FFvXIII will not be KH3, but still, they might include some of the things I just mentioned. I do not claim to be right, I just hope it is a good game because it promises so much, it is returning to the old school (FF VIII-like sprites, open world, vehicles and so on). But who knows, in a few months I may find myself writing that Nomura shut my mouth xD.

See ya!

Old school: Independence day

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Let us waste spend a minute of silence... or two.

So with all the 4th-of-July fuzz just starting to fade off I felt an urge to talk about Independence Day. I want to express the joy it causes me to remember all those brave men and women who fought for it. I feel sorry every time I remember those who died, both soldiers and civilians. Every life is sacred and fighting for freedom is one noble cause that won't be regretted.

Last Sunday was the day meant to remember all that we earned through that war. Last Sunday we united to remember what freedom is all about. We joined the celebration in which fireworks were promised and delivered on time because a little child wanted them and we won our right to live and survive. Three days ago we celebrated the 14th anniversary of our independence in which great men fought for freedom: Captain and badass pilot (AND Karate/Kung fu Kid's father)  Will Smith Steven Hiller; ecologist programmer and harcore geek Jeff Goldblum David Levison along with old-fashioned-garbage-talker and politician/pilot Bill Pullman Mr. President saw the enemy aliens right in the eye and kicked them in the ass because they couldn't find balls to kick them at.

Also, none shall forget nor erase from IMDB history books Russell Casse's last drunk words which make a great quote for humans to remember: "hello boys... I'm baaaaack!" Yeah, unbelievable right?, someone before Sheldon Cooper Ph.D. said he was back in that tone. An Casse said it right before showing humankind what every video gamer, geek and freak strategist on Earth figured out wanted to know since the beginning of the film historical document (except that geeks are a hoax made up by Cuba) which was: where the shiny, obvious and huge weak spot of the alien ships was.

Although not the greatest movie historical document ever, it has its nice emotional moments, some cheap but laughable comedy and for its time, some nice dogfight scenes contains completely accurate information. I really think the alien exoskeleton is a nice add to the classic greys and the fact of showing that Earth was almost lost by the end of the movie historical document  was a risky plot device great piece of footage not seen since Macross the beginning of mankind.

The production is not that good, but has its "thumbs up" moments. Certainly, the interior of the "mother ship" (or whatever it was called) scenes are not one of those moments. It conains awful illogical interior design and everything was as greenish as in the matrix.

We may always have in our memories the noble people at Area 51 the no longer existent desert base which only had about 3 guards at their only entrance and allowed a bunch of civilians military personnel to pass right trough in their moment of need and thus saved a lot of human lives with the decisions made by some of those who entered the Area 51 no longer existent desert base. For those who said classified related areas' workers were mean. Maybe the best of it all was the moment in which Mr. President gave his awesome speech and how the USA orchestrated the entire world actions to bring down the aliens in one final blow. Isn't that kind of world control just great? It is a real shame that it never happens outside of fiction, our world would be much better.

For that and much more (like Russel Casse's crappy alien tales Intel, Julius always knowing the truth and the very original welcome Smith Hiller gives to the alien enemy) we shall forever celebrate our Independence Day on th e 4th of July (or 5th for those earthling who like to travel in time. I never get it, if they can go to the future, why do they keep going just one day ahead. Not that anyone cares, as Mr. President of the world will always be a white guy form the USA which celebrates on the 4th). PEACE! (no nuke this time).

NOTE: Sarcasm was not used at all some parts in this entry historical document commentary.

SPOILERS ahead: geek drama

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So I just came across this website called youtube... NOT!




Now into the serious stuff. While looking for some fun videos in youtube I came across this fake trailer that most geeks will understand. Even if you don't know the specifics about programming (like me), you will laugh for sure, just watch it all.



So what do you think about it? Anyway, the REAL discovery is the user: gboy0, come check his videos (which are indeed hilarious) at: http://www.youtube.com/user/gboy0

And now, for the random fact about myself: I never go to sleep before 1am.