Archive for July, 2009
WiiSports Resort: Why Do I Keep Chucking Money at Nintendo’s White Brick? Oh, Ya, Here’s Why…
Had I not been intimately involved with enjoying some WiiWare titles along with being teased if not thrilled by my experience with the WiiMotion plus controller that came with Tiger Woods Assassination (see article from last month) I probably would have been extremely skeptical of the latest “big” release for the little white brick from Nintendo, WiiSports Resort. Not to short change WiiSports, but it was, after all, the game that came with the console. Even though it probably still remains one of the most popular titles on the console for that reason along with its obvious attraction as a party game, paying full price for a new WiiSports game was just a little unsettling for me.
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WiiWare Find of the Month: Swords and Soldiers Brings the RTS Genre to a 2-D Side Scroller
One of the saving graces for the Nintendo Wii in the console wars is the outstanding catalog of WiiWare titles along with the increasing catalog of classic titles in the Virtual Console world. I love the Wii, but I’ve made no bones about the fact that it has major shortcomings that it has had to overcome to attain its popularity. The innovative titles hitting the WiiWare section of the online shop are a huge plus. Of course, with every huge “plus” on the Wii comes a major “beware” factor, and this one is that the Wii’s severely limited on-board and expandable memory it doesn’t have the flexibility to allow downloadable demos of the titles, leaving it to idiots like me to gamble the money and let you know how the gamble turns out. This time, we have a phenomenally fun title that takes RTS gaming into the world of 2-D side scrollers. This combination of two genres we never thought would mix called Swords and Soldiers is a genuinely fun and addictive investment.
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Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince: No Way Weasley Shouldn’t Be All Over that Granger Chic
In the desperate rush to adapt all the Harry Potter novels before the stars of this popular film series become grandparents we’ve come to the sixth film, 
Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince. I have mixed feelings about this film series. I’ve never read one word of any of the books, but I understand the obsession of original fantasy/sci-fi works on young minds. I thought the first film, was quite good. The Chamber of Secrets was a rather bland follow up in my assessment and kind of what I expected. A good start followed by progressively less exciting followups until the money train finally dries up. I was wrong. I was actually surprised at how good Goblet of Fire was, best of the three. Progressively, every film in the series since has gotten better.
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Bruno: A Funny but Flawed Film That Reinforces Rather than Refutes Negative Stereotypes
I’ll admit that I was completely uninspired to see Borat when it hit theaters and indeed I didn’t. When I finally caught it on DVD later I was actually astounded that I liked it as well as I did. Apart from the shocking and funny moments in Borat, it really has a pretty important subtext about current U.S. cultural values, intolerance, and anti-semitism. I’m not touting Borat as an educational film, but it certainly manages to create some rather uncomfortable moments when showing real people at their worst. Bruno tries to brew some of the same cultural controversy around acceptance of homosexuality, but utterly fails.
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Asteroids: The Movie
It’s official: Hollywood is out of ideas. Word is coming out now that Universal has won the rights (outbidding three other studios) to make a film adaptation of the video game Asteroids.
Yes, the one with the spaceship and the rocks made out of lines. 
Now, my question is not even “How?” but “Why?” They’ve already said they’ll have to create a plot from scratch since the original game, you know, didn’t have one, so why dump a bunch of cash on Atari’s doorstep just for the name Asteroids? Make your own asteroid-based film and just call it something else. “Maelstrom,” maybe. “The Corridor.” Hell, even “Giant Floating Rocks of Death.” I’m just saying that “spaceship shoots rocks” is not such an original idea that you had to buy the property to make the movie.
But I suppose I shouldn’t be too surprised since two of Universal’s upcoming projects are big-screen adaptations of the board games “Battleship” and “Candyland.” Yes, “Candyland: The Movie.”
This is why I don’t go to movies anymore.
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