New Year Resolutions

I'm not really one for New Year's Resolutions, to be honest. I generally take each day as it comes, be nice to people and hope that things look up for me as a result.

That said, this year I do have one: to actually update this blog on a near-daily basis. I got a tiny little netbook thing for Christmas:


...so this will make it a lot easier for me to just post things when I feel like it. Basically, I've got no excuse now.

So expect to read a lot more on this blog over the next year. Hopefully you enjoy it. All two of you. :-)

My Retro Addction

When I was younger I went through a period where I traded a lot of my old games to get newer stuff. As you do. The most extreme moment during this period was when I traded my Mega Drive and 114 games for an N64 with Super Mario 64. Now that's dedication.

However, recently I've been going through a bit of a retro addiction, and buying a lot of old Nintendo games. I recently bought a Game Boy Advance SP, and bought the Game Boy Color classic Super Mario Bros Deluxe to play on it. I've been playing it solid for the past four days.

I bought a Virtual Boy about eight months ago and only just started buying games for it but each game holds my attention for hours at a time. It's bizarre: considering my job and everything that it makes available to me, these old games shouldn't be the ones taking over my free time.

But I think it's actually because of my job that I'm drawn to these games. When you get to play every new game for free, of course it's a fantastic thing, and when I review them I obviously bear in mind that people have to pay £29.99 or £39.99 for them so I factor its potential value for money into the review. But at the end of the day, I don't have to pay for them, so that "value for money" feeling never comes into play.

So I think this is why I've gotten into the older games again. I'm paying money for them (usually through eBay), and since they're great games (I've mostly been buying first-party Nintendo stuff like the WarioWare games and the like) I find myself getting that warm "this was money well spent" feeling that I haven't had in the past two and a half years since I moved to London.

I suppose it's pretty bizarre that at the moment I thrive more on buying old games than playing new ones for free (and that includes 360 and PS3, it's not an anti-new-Nintendo thing).

The Dark Knight - My Review

THE DARK KNIGHT

(2008, 152 mins)

Directed by Christopher Nolan

Starring Christian Bale, Heath Ledger, Aaron Eckhart, Michael Caine, Gary Oldman, Morgan Freeman, Maggie Gyllenhaal

You’d be hard-pushed to find a film that has received such positive word-of-mouth as The Dark Knight has recently. The general consensus from the countless people who helped it break box office records in the US last week is that the movie lives up to the hype, and maybe even goes so far as to exceed it. Indeed, the fact that the film currently sits pretty at the top of the IMDb’s Top 250 movies of all-time list having knocked The Godfather and The Shawshank Redemption off the top of the list should be some indication of its current popularity. Is this justified? Yes and no.

First things first: the film is impressive, both in terms of visual splendour and pacing. The movie retains the same gloomy dark atmosphere of Batman Begins and continues to skilfully walk the line between action and story development as well as its predecessor did. It shows a Gotham suffering from an uncertain future as crime continues to plague the city while the ever-looming presence of the Bat signal and district attorney Harvey Dent show promise for a crime-free future. Anyone expecting to see some sunshine or flowers would be wise to give this a miss: this is a dark movie.

This darkness isn’t confined to the cinematography, however: it could easily be attributed to some of the actors’ performances too. Heath Ledger has been the main talking point of the film among critics – unfortunately partly due to his untimely death – but there’s no denying that his deeply unsettling performance as the Joker eclipses that of anyone else in the movie. He literally steals every scene he appears in and is hypnotically compelling to watch: one would hate to be an extra in a Joker scene because the audience’s eyes would be so intently focused on Ledger’s subtle facial nuances that they’d be almost certain never to glance at anyone else in the frame.

The rest of the cast is also on top form, with many of them giving flawless performances that sum up their characters to a tee. Aaron Eckhart is effective as Harvey Dent, particularly halfway through the movie when he undergoes a rather disturbing transformation; Maggie Gyllenhaal makes the role of Rachel her own, to the extent that it’s hard to imagine Katie Holmes (who played the same character in Batman Begins) doing so well. Morgan Freeman and Michael Caine are once again given some memorable lines and provide some dryly warm comic relief, and Gary Oldman once again shows why he’s the best Commissioner Gordon.

Ironically, perhaps the only main performance that isn’t consistently outstanding is that by Christian Bale as the emotionally tormented Batman. As Bruce Wayne he’s compelling to watch, and as the film progresses and events unfold he starts to embark on a downward spiral that’s bleaker than anything even seen in a Batman film (yes, even Mr Freeze’s one-liners in Batman & Robin). However, once he dons the Batsuit he somehow develops a distractingly gruff voice which makes him sound needlessly angry, even when he’s just having a normal conversation with someone like Commissioner Gordon. This is a minor issue in an otherwise fantastic performance, though.

The Dark Knight is another fantastic Batman movie from Christopher Nolan and serves as proof that Batman Begins wasn’t a fluke. The film does suffer from the odd slow moment during the middle third, but it’s never too long before the Joker turns up and captivates you all over again. This movie would be worth seeing for Heath Ledger’s performance alone, but thankfully there’s also a great movie there too.

4/5

Ten Things I Learned While Watching Indy 4

POTENTIAL SPOILERS HERE

1) If there is ever any danger of a nuclear explosion, get in a fridge. You will survive without even a scratch, even if you're thrown hundreds of feet by the blast.

2) The US Military tests nuclear explosions a mere stone's throw away from Area 51, with no regard for the possible damage said explosion could do to the stuff there.

3) When swinging on vines in a Tarzan-esque manner, it is perfectly possible to pick up enough momentum to catch up with two jeeps that are travelling at high speed.

4) Snakes are pretty flexible and don't attack even when you're pulling them really hard.

5) Floors in university libraries are greased on a daily basis, in case anyone ever needs to slide from one end of the room to the other.

6) It is perfectly possible to survive falling off three waterfalls in a small raft.

7) Gophers are annoying.

8) English people can change sides more times than a tennis match at an Alzheimer's conference.

9) Aliens aren't as awesome as they should be.

10) Russians make for boring bad guys. Nazis are where it's at.

Heroes Update

Okay, I'm about six or seven episodes in now and I'm really getting into it. Turns out my fears about Hiro were unfounded since he goes right back to America in the next episode. Oh.

I'd assume most of you who've been watching are like me in that you have your favourite character stories and your less favourite ones. Personally, I love Hiro and the cheerleader, but I have to admit I've been getting a bit bored every time Ali Later's character (Niki) appears.

I know it's still early days and I'm sure things will pick up with her eventually, but while everyone else's story is really taking off she's still just looking into mirrors a lot and getting shocked when her reflection looks all mean and moody. I don't know why she still looks shocked every time it happens, I've seen it about 15 times now. If it was me I'd be sort of expecting it by about the third time.

Loving the cheerleader though. Not only is she visually appealing (lulz) but her character allows for some really action-packed and gory scenes in the show without the writers having to worry about killing off any characters. Nice one.

So yeah, really getting into it now. I just hope something happens with Niki soon. I hope her reflection reaches out of the mirror and slaps her in the face, shouting "get over it" or something.

Save The Cheerleader etc

One of my many annoying quirks is my habit of always being late when it comes to getting into what's currently popular.

As I result I only started watching Heroes last night, having bought the HD box set in New York for £25.

So far I'm loving it. I've heard the second series is crap but that doesn't bother me too much at the moment since I'm only two episodes into the the first.

I'm loving the wee Japanese guy, Hiro, but at the end of the second episode he ends up back in Tokyo again. I hope he ends up back in New York at some point.

If you're going to comment, please don't spoil it! :-)

What do you lot think of Heroes?

"Virtual Reality"

In my spare time, I like messing about with official video game artwork and trying to do something different with it. Yes, I'm sad. Sue me.

So I've decided to do a set of pics called "Virtual Reality: Video Game Characters In Real-Life Settings". This is my first attempt:

Sesame Street = Awesomeness

It's been years and years since I last watched an episode of Sesame Street... though I suppose that's the point of it.

That said, I decided to search for it on a whim on YouTube the other night and found myself watching Sesame Street clips all night, constantly entertained at both the funny sketches and the surprising celebrity cameos.

Robert De Niro pretending he's a cabbage? James Blunt singing a parody of his one-hit wonder single (and therefore no longer being a moron in my eyes)? Cookie monster eating a book? Awesome.

Observe:

Cable Mice

I've just come to an amazing conclusion that could be considered a scientific breakthrough.

Right... my "entertainment centre" (couldn't think of a better name) consists of my HD-TV, my Wii, my 360, my PS3, my PS2, my Dreamcast, my N64, a DVD player (for American discs), my 360 HD-DVD player and my Hi-Fi. As you'd expect, that means there are a lot of plugs round the back, and a lot of wires.

So when I first set it all up, I did so with extreme care and precision, laying the wires out in such a way that if I ever need to take out a plug I would be able to do so with relative ease.

The other week my 360 died, and I got an Elite to replace it. When I went to remove the plug though the wires were a completely tangled mess of spaghetti. This has always happened to me throughout my life, and it doesn't make sense to me. When I leave my Guitar Hero guitar lying againt my wall for a few days, when I next pick it up to play the strap has twisted round a couple of times and I need to readjust it. I don't understand it.

Well, I didn't understand it... until now.

There are clearly a group of mice that wait until I leave for work, then run into my room, grab the wires with their mousey little teeth, and dance about as if they were round some sort of electronic maypole.

Meanwhile, a stripper mouse (who has been hired by the mouse government to provide entertainment during the maypole dancing) climbs on top of my Guitar Hero controller and does some sexy dancing, using the guitar strap as a makeshift stripper pole. So when she turns round it the strap is twisted.

This is the only explanation I can give for my wires being tangled.

A Request...

If you play Mario Kart Wii online, when it comes to voting for a track PLEASE don't vote for Rainbow Road.

Nobody likes Rainbow Road. It's always rubbish because it has no edges and is really annoying.

The only people who pick Rainbow Road are just smart alecs who are trying to show off: they think people will say "wow, they've unlocked Rainbow ROad, they must be pretty awesome".

Guess what - they don't say that. Unlocking Rainbow Road isn't a big deal. You can unlock Rainbow Road in 50cc mode. Certain species of hamster can complete 50cc mode.

So next time you're playing Mario Kart Wii online and you want to act smart and choose Rainbow Road, please don't bother. Show you have good gaming taste by choosing Maple Treeway or something instead. :-D

Subscribe!

If you take a wee glance at the bottom of this blog you'll see the ability to subscribe to an RSS feed. This means if you have some sort of crazy RSS reader thingy (I don't bother with them myself, personally) then every time I post something new on here you'll know about it almost right away. None too shabby eh?

That's much better than checking every day to see if I've updated only to find that I haven't bothered because I'm too busy playing Sam & Max on the PC.

McLibel

I just watched a documentary called McLibel. Basically, it's a true story about a couple of activists in London who were sued by McDonalds for distributing leaflets that claimed their food was unhealthy, they manipulated children through advertising, they were inhumane to animals, they paid low wages, they denied trade unions and were generally prats. Here's the trailer:



In all, it's a pretty interesting documentary, as are the extras provided with the DVD. One such extra is a secret recording the woman took when a big McDonalds exec flew over from America to try to reach a settlement, where the guy comes across as a right scumbag.

Here's the first ten minutes of the film: if you want to see the rest I recommend you buy it. You can get it really cheap now from some online shops.



Here's the thing though. Generally, I don't like activists. I don't know why: obviously they're trying to make the world a better place, and obviously they're effective at times. But there's something about people trying to force their opinion on you that I don't like, no matter how right they may be. It's a strange thing: I have no reason to dislike these people, and they're well within their rights to hand out leaflets. Yet when I see such people in the street I still try my best to avoid them. I don't understand it, it's like a mental block.

Anyway, if you're one of the 10 people who have seemingly accessed this blog since it went online, let me know what you think.

It Starts (Again)

Alright troops?

This is my personal blog: it's about as random as it gets but what the hell, that's the point of these things I suppose.

For those of you who saw this blog before I wiped it (that's both of you), the problem was this: I attended a course on Intellectual Property and Copyright law, which pretty much told me that since I'm a video game journalist working for a publisher, any personal blogs I write are the property of the publisher and I could get into trouble for writing them. Naturally, I didn't fancy losing my job for the sake of posting the odd YouTube clip of a monkey walking some dogs.

Luckily, my lovely company recently sent an email to every staff member telling them that as long as the blog didn't compromise the company's interests then we could do whatever we wanted. So, since I work for a Nintendo magazine, my blog's fine as long as I don't write about stuff that could (and should) appear in the magazine. That means no Wii/DS/Virtual Console reviews, no Nintendo news, no press releases and no commentaries on the condition of Nintendo in the gaming market.

But hey, why would you want that from me anyway? There's already a great site online that covers all that already (www.officialnintendomagazine.co.uk) and it's got loads of articles written by me. [/cheap plug]

"So then Chris", I hear you probably ask, "what's the point of this blog?"

Well, it's to talk about everything else. Films I've seen, DVDs I've bought, retro games I've been playing, funny stuff I've found online, just general musings on life... basically, if it's nothing to do with current Nintendo stuff and I want to talk about it, you'll find it here.

This also means that, yes, I can link to a YouTube clip of a monkey walking some dogs.