My Preliminary Game of the Year

Since I don't really have any other place to put them here's a list of my nominations for GOTY. No explanation or detailed write up, just a list of games which I think were fantastic experiences this year.

Note: Only games that I was able to play can be nominated so if some big titles aren't mentioned, odds are that I didn't get the chance to play.

In no specific order:

God of War III PS3

Heavy Rain PS3

Battlefield: Bad Company 2 Multi

Transformers: War for Cybertron Multi

Vanquish Multi

Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker PSP

Halo Reach 360

Call of Duty: Black Ops Multi

Scott Pilgrim vs the World: The Game Multi

And that's it for now, short and sweet. I hope to add more notable titles to the list later on and will also finally pick some winners out of the pile.

The Best Video Game Movie not Based on a Video Game

Scott Pilgrim is the best video game movie ever made. Sure, it's not based on any current or past video game (the licensed PS3 title doesn't count) but rather the Brain Lee O' Malley graphic novel series of the same name. However, this is still a video game movie through and through, and like Tarantino does with grindhouse cinema, Edgar Wright does with the games near and ear to our heart. From the 8 bit Universal logo opening to the familiar Legend of Zelda jingle heard throughout the movie, to the Street Fighter Alpha 3 announcer when the main character beats his first evil ex to a pulp, the winks and nods are everywhere and like Tarantino's Kill Bill and Inglorious Basterds, the more you recognize, the more you are rewarded and allowed to immerse yourself in this retro gamer world where gravity does not apply and seemingly innocent high school girls are more lethal than Jason Bourne and Bond put together.

Scott Pilgrim takes place in the magical world of Toronto, Canada which is seemingly populated by hispster chicks and indie bands at every turn. The main character played by Michael Cera is a character who seems to be the typical template for so many teens and young adults. He's going through life on a day by day basis. Dating someone not so much for the companionship as for the replacement for a girlfriend who has moved on and in the process become a successful rock star which makes his own garage band seem lame by comparison. His life is suddenly turned upside down when he sees Ramona Flowers, and instantly falls in love with her. Getting together he isn't as easy as it seems and soon he's fighting his way through the seven evil exes of her past.

The movies starts out on pretty familiar terms. Guy meets girl. Guy meets another girl. Falls in love. After the initial set up though is when things go out the window and the craziness begins. It's then a non stop roller coaster ride of flashy fights and snappy dialog on Scott's quest to win the heart of the woman he loves, earn the respect of his friends, and most importantly face the harsh truths and realizations he doesn't want to face. Like director Edgar Wright's last two movies Shaun of the Dead and Hot Fuzz, there is much more going on underneath the initial surface of the movie and while the fight scenes are colorful and violent in a cartoonish way, they stand as bright kinetic analogies to the struggles he must over come in coming to terms with what he wants and what he really needs.

That's why I feel that Scott Pilgrim has such a resonance. Romances and relationships are not the straight forward hook up/ break up we see structured so simply in many romantic comedies and dramas. We fall in love, our world comes alive with color and light. Our breakups are grey cold, hopeless. The world really does feel against us. We all carry baggage, some of it more apparent and painful than others and we all need to overcome our baggage to move on and ultimately become happy. We hurt people along the way and we make some people happy. When looked upon in retrospect, it's a chaotic journey that you're not always sure how you made it through but glad you did. Now you're stronger and wiser. Now you're ready to move on.

Scott Pilgrim does just that. After fighting his way to the answers he wants in life, Scott becomes a better person in the end. He grows up, he fights for what he wants, he wins a small part of the game known as life.

I must go back to mentioning the fight scenes again as they really were fantastic. A colorful hybrid of Speed Racer LSD color explosions and Matrix inspired wire fu. There's little Kung Fu Hustle and a little Kill Bill Volume 1 over the top action scenes peppered in as well as demonstrated by the last fight against final boss type Gideon Graves. The scenes come alive with familiar comic book motifs of BANG and POW during the fight scenes. Even the characters's clothes are reminiscent of some golden age Marvel heroes. Digital hearts flutter during passionate kisses and life bars and health bars constantly are there to remind us that this is a video game world and anything goes.

The actors themselves all gave fantastic performances. Michael Cera someone who I normally find phoning in his performances does a great job as Scott the luckless hero. Mary Elizabeth Winstead plays the girl who stole Scott's heart Ramona Flowers who with her constantly changing air color and her mysterious and alluring look in her eyes does a great job playing "that girl". The girl in our lives that through her mysterious nature drew us in to her. Supporting characters do a great job as well playing Scott's sarcastic band mates and each of the seven evil exes being over the top as they battle Scott, a combination of both comic book villains and video game bosses who proudly proclaim how they will lead to your demise.

The ones who steal the show though are Ellen Wong, playing Scott's short lived girlfriend and Kieran Culkin who plays Scott's roommate. Wong does a fantastic job playing the girl who's heart was broken and shows a great contrast from happy go lucky in the beginning and heart broken in the end. Culkin plays Scott's roommate and steals many of the best jokes and one liners throughout the entire movie.

I have a feeling that a lot of people will be turned off by this bright and flashy, ADD type of movie. Me on the other hand ate this movie up. It was a culmination of everything I enjoy in life with a story which is both joyfully and painfully familiar. A story of love, loss, and love again in a world ruled by video games, comic books, and indie bands. An obnoxious, pretentious world for some, but a flashy wonderland for someone like myself.

Edgar Wright is four for four in my book. My opinion of him as one of the best working directors this generation has not been tarnished.

It's Called Inception...

And it's a great film, really a great film. Another example of an excellent sci fi film in a time where good quality sci fi films are increasingly rare. Nolan has been a favorite director of mine since Memento and I have enjoyed nearly all of his movies which have followed (with the exception of Insomnia) especially The Dark Knight and The Prestige. It's pure hyperbole to compare to the likes of Kubrick, Kurasawa, or even Spielberg but it's perfectly normal to place him in the ranks of one of the best modern filmmakers of this generation. Each film he has made has shown progressive improvement over his last and if Inception was to be the last film Nolan ever made then he could go to his retirement from film as his best film of his career.* Inception is that good, that suspenseful, and that engrossing that it demands to be seen by the masses and if anything, praised for being such a standout and (mostly) original film in a sea of sequels, remakes, reboots, and play-it-safe movies which take little creative risk.

Inception is a film based on rules. It's a film based on a series of rules and moments where your sense of belief is asked to be suspended. It's a film that despite being marketed on dreams, is not entirely dreamlike, but rather more cyberpunk-ish. There's no overly sexualized or stylized dreams here but rather normal looking ones which could be the backdrop for any contemporary movie. There's the rainy city, the snowy fortress complex, and the posh hotel. Only one early scene in Paris and one of the final destinations come across as crazy off the wall dream environments. There's nothing on the level of other dream movies like Paprika or even movies like the Matrix or Dark City but that's for a reason. In the world of Inception dreams are no longer the thing we do between sleep and awake states. Dreams are now open source and like computers, with the right tools can be hacked, accessed, and manipulated to where anything from a simple idea to seemingly years spent in your own personal heaven or hell can be implanted in your dream. Dominic Cobb played by Leonardo DeCaprio is a man who makes his living accessing dreams. He and his team of specialists who all have different roles to making sure dream hacking is successful, make their illegal living getting into people's minds and using their dreams against them to get information they need. This explains why the dreams seem so contemporary, they control the dreams. They need to navigate them as they would the real world, therefore explaining the reason dreams looks so familiar to our own world.

Inception is being labeled as a complicated movie, even to the point that it's to complicated or needlessly complex. I have to disagree, as I feel that the movie is very straightforward when it comes to plot. I'd go as far as to say that 90% of the movie is pure exposition. Setting up the world of Inception and the rules for entering the dreams, characters will often spend extended sequences of explaining how dreams function, how hacking dreams is done, and how time works differently in the dream world. Ellen Page's character in fact only seems to exist as the proxy to the audience. Much of her dialog is asking questions which fill in what the other characters do not. She asks the questions which the audience is most likely to ask during the course of the film. Normally this would be a horrible bore of a film but in Inception's case it works just fine. For one reason I can't go into without posing major plot spoilage and another for what many other films have done before: this isn't about the characters it's about the world the characters inhabit. It's about the dreams they enter and what those dreams unfold into.

That's not to say the characters are bad or the acting, in fact most of the acting is solid. The characters are very one dimensional and exist if only to serve a purpose for moving the dream and plot forward. The plot isn't built around them, it's vice versa. Tom Hardy plays the badass ass kicker of the team, Joseph Gorden Levitt plays Cobb's closest team member and badass in his own right. Ken Watanabe is Saito, a man who hires Cobb and his crew to complete a job and Ellen Page is the architect, the one who constructs the dreams and has the power to do anything from make new pathways to turning an entire city upside down. Other characters are Mal played by Marion Coutllard who has a very close relationship to Cobb and Cillain Murphy the man who's mind they have to hack into and who has arguably one of the most emotional scenes in the entire film.

The cinematography in this film is incredible. From sweeping snow vistas to an early scene in a teahouse/ pagoda where the elements start breaking in along with armed guards. The final world is the most breathtaking and I dearly wish I could spoil it and tell you, but all I can say is think world: apocalypse. Even the action scenes Nolan's usual weakness in films are improved here. A shootout/ car chase are done with such ferocity and quickness that I was literally completely engrossed in what was transpiring in front of me. A scene later on inspired by the Matrix which occurs alongside another scene which is seemingly inspired by On Her Majesty's Secret Service were even more engrossing. A movie about dreams suddenly breaks into a heist/ James Bond movie and does so seamlessly. Nolan is improving his action scenes and this gives me great hope for Batman 3 and future Superman projects.

Inception is a great film, it's probably one of the best summer films one could ask for and one of the better sci fi films to come out recently. Is it flawless? No. Have ideas been done before? Yes they have. However this film takes those established ideas and gives them a new twist. This is just as much a sci fi flick as it is a heist flick, a spy flick, a falling out of love flick, and a redemption flick. I wish I could go into detail even more than I did, but to that would deprive the viewer of experiencing the plot for themselves. Go watch it and go talk about it with your friends afterwards. Like it or hate it. Consider it great or pretentious, there is no doubt in my mind that this film will be talked years from now and will be looked back at as fondly as the Matrix and Blade Runner currently are. Just like the world where dreams exist, there is much more beneath the layers, just don't get too lost in them.

Or do get lost, it's a world and film worth getting lost in.

*Batman 3 is still in the plans. Nolan isn't done yet.

"This is a game reserve and we're the game"

I saw Predators a few days ago. I would be lying if I said that I went in with fairly high expectations. I would be lying if I said that I didn't walk out a little disappointed. I would be lying if I said that I didn't have a blast watching it .

Predators was always a weird project to me since it was first announced. It wasn't quite a sequel to Predator 2 and it wasn't quite a reboot of the entire franchise. It existed as Nimrod Antel's and Robert Rodriguez's need to make a sequel to the original Predator and pretend that the AvP abominations and Predator 2 which had a "too old for this shit" Danny Glover do what Arnold could not, kill a Predator. While you struggle to wrap your head around that logic know that Predators has no xenomorphs, no limp and unlikable young actors running around the movie, and no group of space marines to kick ass with their "state of the bad-ass art" weapons. Just a motley assortment of deadly men and women, who quickly realize that they are just a bunch of animals waiting to get hunted and slaughtered. They are the goat from Jurassic Park and the big bad T-Rex is just as menacing plus two. Usually one predator is enough to take on an entire well-armed platoon of special forces soldiers, on this planet there are three of them, and they want human skulls and spines, fresh from their human prey.

Predators is very much like the original Predator. A group of deadly men (and women) each specializing in a different way of delivering death with an assortment of fire arms and blades straight out of Call of Duty. They soon realize that something is awry and that they are not on their own planet. Soon they are running for their lives as predator dogs begin to attack and the predator themselves make themselves known and begin ripping spines and stabbing people from behind invisible cloaking devices. The humans keep running, someone who has their own motives makes themselves known and a mano-e-mano fight ensues near the conclusion. If all this sounds familiar to you you're not alone, the plot is very similar to the original and in this case rather as come off as a display of plagiarism, but as a homage to the original. The original worked as a sci fi variation on the classic Most Dangerous Game. That feeling of being pursued, being hunted, hiding from the hunter is present here. It was the strongest aspect of the original and it translates very well here.

Each of the actors plays their part well. Adrian Brody doesn't attempt to channel Arnold or out bad-ass anyone, but rather takes a familiar trope from action movies and makes it his own. He is a man of few words, but from his weathered looks and small tidbits he reveals about his past shows that he can hold his own in a fight. he's the silent bad-ass and he plays it well. This is a movie filled with many silent-but-deadly bad-asses from a Yakuza enforcer to a Russian special ops soldier and nearly none of them are a wasted opportunity. They may get taken down, but they won't go down like a horror movie trope, they cause some damage along the way and don't make it easy for the predators to do their job. The most vocal ones are played by Alice Braga and Topher Grace. Braga playing a black ops sniper who proves to be just as tough and perceptive as the guys, without relying on sex appeal or being a helpless female who is little more than eye candy. Grace plays a sniveling, conniving disgraced psychologist who comes across as pitiful as he is scrawny compared to the rest of the cast.

This movie isn't perfect. There are lots of little things which kept this from being a perfect follow up to the original Predator. The Predators, as deadly and as familiar as they are, are kind of tame compared to past Predators. Even though I didn't particularly enjoy Predator 2, one of the best things about the movies was the inventive kills and tools used to take down human prey. You see none of that in here, besides one moment of gory Predator 1-esque kill, the methods to hunt down the humans are weak and each of their deaths are even weaker. Most often a stab to the abdomen or a shot to the back brings down their prey. I'm not saying that they should be elaborate "Saw" kills but they're the Predators damn it! Killing is their specialty! They should put a little more pizazz into it. Second, Laurence Fishburn's role in Predators is out of place and over as abruptly as it began. He exists in this movie for little more than 10 minutes and his role he plays to the plot has no effect on the movie and instead serves to slow down the pacing and just make an awkward point in the movie. His character tried to come across as Colonel Kutz from Apocalypse Now but in the end failed to accomplish anything.

Predators was a fun movie to watch and a worthy follow up to the original. It wasn't as good as the original and had some issues but overall it was everything I wanted it to be. Thrilling, action-packed, and filled with bad-asses running and fighting alien creatures in the jungle. Predators delivered this in spades and I hope to see more like this in the future.

I hope Ridley Scott's Alien prequel is this good as well. He's a good director but did you see Robin Hood? Yeesh!

The Summer of Awesome: Why a Select Few can Possibly Save my Summer Movies

The last post was a rant of my I think this summer for movies is horrible. However, this post is positive. It's happy, it's upbeat, and it's optimistic. It's the movies which will save the summer. The movies which will make the previous bad taste of movies to go away and save this summer from being the worst summer movie summer since 1997 (Batman and Robin and Water World came out that year).

This week marks the release of Predator a movie called well, Predators. If the title sounds familiar you wouldn't be wrong. it sounds similar to the first movie in the series Predator and similar to James Cameron's film Aliens. The plot sounds simple enough, some of the best soldiers and killers in the world are transported to a plane that the Predators (alien head hunters) use to hunt. Humans team up to kill Predators, get picked off one by one, and much action and gore ensures. A simple sounding plot, but really, does something in the Predator series need anything else? This is something that the Aliens vs Predators movie really dropped the ball on, making it seem more about the humans than the creatures themselves. Which is why I can't wait to see this. It seems to channel equal parts Aliens and original Predator, two action movies which I still hold high in regards. If this can come anywhere near the greatness of those two movies then I'll be very happy indeed.

July 16 marks the return of Christopher Nolan to the big screen with his latest film Inception. As much as I really don't like to say it, this man gets a free pass from me. Very few directors ever get this advantage from me but Nolan has more than proven himself time and time again. While most people will know him for his film The Dark Knight, his other films have proven themselves fantastic as well. It won't be until 2012 until we see Nolan's final Batman film in his trilogy but until then we get another original sci fi heist movie with some excellent actors (notice how I said actors, not stars. There is a difference) and a plot a tick above your normal summer movie. Color me excited, very excited.

Finally August 13th brings the last two movies I am anticipating, Scott Pilgrim vs. the World and The Expendables. Pilgrim is being directed by Edgar Wright, reason enough to go see it as the man has not only put out two excellent movies Shaun of the Dead and Hot Fuzz, but arguably one of the best television shows off all time as well. I could write an entire essay on how much I adored Spaced but that's for another time. Pilgrim looks like a love letter to comic geeks and video game fanboys everywhere. The attention to detail and variety of in jokes just in the preview already bodes well for this movie. From the fight announcer from the Street Fighter Alpha Series, to the Mary Marvel T Shirt one of the main characters wears, to the crazy and kinetic fight scenes it's a super hero/video game movie that only Wright could make. Love story meets indie rock flick meets Speed Racer meets The King of Kong. It's a movie for the gaming generation, and I'll be there ticket in hand and hopefully smile on my face.

The Expendables is a movie which is always talked about but never realized until now. Come one, you know you've asked the questions before. Who can beat who in a fight, and wouldn't it be awesome if (blank) and (blank) teamed up? Once the result of speculation and wishful thinking is now a reality. The Expendables has every major action star worth mentioning* in one movie together blowing stuff up, kicking ass and taking names. Plot? Who cares? They could be going to bingo night as much as I care. You don't go to see this movie for plot, you go to see bad guys get hurt and tough guys save the day. This is the dumb summer flick on steroids. action which is gritty, violent, and just as chaotic. With real stunts and choreographed fight scenes it's a refreshing breath of air from the often CGI laden blockbusters and a return to the no holds bared action flicks of the 80's. Its almost kind of funny Scott Pilgrim and this come out on the same day. Two different action flicks come out at the same time. I will see both, and probably suffer a heart attack or testosterone overload as a result.

This is you mission movies: save the summer from creative bankruptcy and witless banality. You have until the end of August. Good luck. God speed.

*everyone except as Jean Claude Van-Damm

The Summer of Suck: Why I hate 2010 Movies

I make no hyperbole when I say that this summer has been one of the worst summers in recent memories for movies. I've been seeing movies for years and while the summer never matched up the serious more Oscar bait movies of the fall, I always had a good time in the theater during the hot summer months. I don't expect much from the summer popcorn flicks but to be throughly entertained and to have a quality movie presented to me in exchange for my $10. This summer has brought none of that. Instead giving me creatively bankrupt movies with all flash and little substance. I like the "turn you brain off" flick as much as the next person but when even Iron Man 2 turns out to be a boring, plodding movie you know somethings wrong. You know something's wrong when in my desperation for a good summer movie, I've retreated to re-watching older summer flicks and still enjoy myself more than seeing new material which in may cases feels like old material. Even the video games which usually are boring, cliche, and just plain bad are more entertaining and exciting than even the most exciting summer movie. The amount of movies I enjoyed this summer are nearly non existent and the number of movies I found decent at best can be counted on one hand.

As far back as the summers of 2007 and 2008 seem to accomplish this, in fact they almost seemed too good especially compared to now. 2007 had big titles such as Pirates of the Caribbean 2: Dead Man's Chest and Mission Impossible III with Transformers later on in the summer. While some people did not enjoy these as much as I did, they were still arguably more fun and exciting to watch then this summer's tepid selection. 2008 was even better. Iron Man, The Incredible Hulk, The Dark Knight, Wall-E, Hellboy II, Tropic Thunder, and Speed Racer made it the best summer in a long while. Again, while the opinion on some of these movies varied, overall I had a blast watching them and in some cases re-watching them.

2009 was a let down compared to the explosive summer 2008 was and at first I was disappointed, but in retrospect the summer really wasn't all that bad. Whether it's because this summer is just so blatantly bad or I was expecting too much after the 2008 summer I'm not sure. Looking back there were a lot of movies which came out during the summer I enjoyed. Star Trek, District 9, Up, Public Enemies, Inglorious Basterds, Moon and The Hurt Locker were all movies I enjoyed very much and many of which were either nominated or rewarded for a variety of rewards at the end of the year. If anything could be taken away it's the amount of sci fi movies which came out, including Avatar later on in the year. For a sci fi fan such as myself it was great to see so many new movies pop up, especially since the last entertaining sci fi movie before 2009 was probably Sunshine. I think Transformers 2 didn't help matters and overshadowed the solid releases and destroyed my perception. Something similar almost happened with Indiana Jones 4 a year earlier. It's amazing how one monumentally bad movie can screw up your whole summer.

I've already cut my loses so far for the summer and after reading the future plans of many big film franchises ie: no more Bond films until further notice, a new Conan (did we really need one?), and Spider Man going back to high school doesn't exactly fill me with much hope either. Maybe I'm expecting too much, and maybe I'm being a little unfair to the movie industry, but I can't help but get more and more disappointed with the current state of movies as I get older. I don't want to hate them either. Movies are one of my main hobbies and I love watching them, dearly. Their power to move you, compel emotions, and entertain is one of greatest joys I had as a younger child and I still manage to maintain this feeling as and older adult. I don't want to hate Hollywood and I don't want to be so cynical on my favorite hobby but Hollywood is really pushing my buttons lately, and I don't mean it in a good way either.

Wait, they're splitting the last Twilight movie into two parts? Goodbye Hollywood. It's been nice knowing you. Maybe I'll see you again one day, when you're cleaned up. When you're a better person.

For now I have books and video games to keep me happy.

And now for something different

Found this quote from an old (and final) issue of XBN: X-Box Nation. It's a short quote but pretty much sums up how I feel about about the age old controller/mouse and keyboard argument.

"Clicking a mouse is not pulling a trigger. Gripping a controller with both hands is not like tapping a couple of keys with one hand and rolling a rubber ball around with another. It plays itself out in the same room, on the same screen that you watch your Aliens, Blade Runner, and Lord of the Rings DVDs- and not at your Ikea desk where you surf the internet and look at your digital holiday snaps. Screw the PC version. "

Well said, I miss XBN. Hope to see a magazine of it's caliber return one day.

E3 2010: The Aftermath

E3 ended and the dust has settled. Time has been given to let the initial judgement of each company's presentation to settle and see if what they were shilling has been worth it.

Overall this year's E3 was pretty great. I was very impressed with the overall quality of new games and devices being presented this year. It seemed that this was a year less reliant on sequels and more on new games and new concepts. As predicted the big focus was on motion controls and 3D presentations being pushed towards the consumer during the show. Nintendo had their 3DS, Sony had their move and list of games supporting 3D, and Microsoft had their Kinetc. even the games which were sequels were arguably strong sequels with big names such as Killzone 3, Halo Reach, and Fable 3.

If anything Nintendo proved to be the strongest of the big three who presented at E3. Their game selection was the most impressive mining a ton of older games which the SNES/N64 generation could identify with. On the technology front their 3DS showcased a handheld system which did not require a additional items to utilize the 3D and a very strong selection of games planned for the handheld.

Sony came in a close second with their strong showing for the Playstation Move and number announcements involving the PS3. A premium service of PSN, a variety of games which will support the Playstation Move which go beyond mere collection of mini games and some strong sequels such as Infamous 2 and a new Twisted Metal. The big surprise was the announcement of Steam services for PS3 and that PS3 will have the strongest console platform for Valve's newest title Portal 2. Big and shocking news for a man who has said some pretty hateful things about the platform in the past.

The biggest disappointment to me was Microsoft. From their lack of surprise titles to their weak selection of exclusive titles available this year, to their aggressive push of their new Kinect product which at this point appears to be nothing more than a collection of mini game like games with motion controls which either a. don't work or b. are sloppy and would benefit from any kind of button or controller input. Time will tell but seriously, where was Milo from last year? That was the Kinect project which got me interested in the first place. Outside of a newly designed X-Box 360 sku there was little excitement for me for Microsoft this year.

On a final note the Konami conference will go down as one of my favorite conferences ever for all of the wrong reasons. The spokesman was incoherent and his sales pitch consisted of babbling on for about 20 minutes about features in a game which have been around since the beginning of this gaming generation and telling the audience that he loved them. There are countless jokes running around the internet about drug use being involved, I'm willing to believe them.

Great job this year guys. I enjoyed watching the madness as it developed through websites and twitter updates. Maybe one day I'll be there in person.

I can only hope anyway.

E3 2010 Day 2: Awesome! Totally Awesome!

Yesterday's E3 was probably one of the best showings I have seen in years. Not only did it involve Nintendo doing a stellar job with their future lineup but even Sony's presentation while a little short on surprises had a lot of entertaining moments and the further reveal of their 3D and motion controls along with a few surprises.

Nintendo for the past few E3's has been a disappointing to me. Not only have they shown a trend in pushing their core gaming audience aside for a stronger focus on their more casual audience. Their third part support has also been week with impressive third party games being few and far between, a trend which has been occurring since their N64 days. Their first party support has always been strong and this year was no exception. A new Zelda, which after a glitchy stage showing proved to control much better without other technological interference, new Kirby, new Donkey Kong, a Mario sports title, and a remake of Goldeneye. For the core gamer this was an extremely strong showing of support for the upcoming gaming season. Third party support still looked a little week but in all honesty this was something I did not expect to change. Their first party was fantastic, even more so than usual. With titles from nearly every major franchise including the surprise announcement of Goldeneye. Where Microsoft stumbled with their showing of games Nintendo soared.

It got even better with their unveiling of their new portable 3DS, the first 3D handheld system to enter the market. My current DS is a first generation one where I have a sizable collection of DS games for it. I enjoyed it quite a bit but was always disappointed with their lack of touch screen usage and general disappointing selection of third party titles with the exception of JRPG's. The 3DS was different. It was the exact opposite of the business creed of Nintendo with their handhelds. A technological powerhouse with revolutionary 3D and gyroscope technology and a very strong selection of games including strong third party support.

Along with the revival of a new Kid Icarus title, big Nintendo titles were also shown in either demo or video form. Star Fox 64 3D, Mario Kart, Pilotwings, Paper Mario, and an Ocarina of Tine remake headlined Nintendo's offerings. As for third party Resident Evil, Ninja Gaiden, Dead or Alive, Metal Gear Solid, Splinter Cell, and Kingdom Hearts were also shown. As for the 3D aspect from what I saw worked well, and without glasses or other features. Combine this with a strong showing of support from first and third parties, and you got the attention of all kinds of gamers. Nothing else like this has ever been produced before and with some of the strongest support seen for a handheld since the Game Boy, the only flaw of the 3DS presentation was an absence of release date and price. Either way I was blown away, Nintendo was back inf prime form and I cannot wait to reap the results.

Sony's conference while not as exciting as Nintendo's or filled with as big of surprises as Nintendo's I was still very impressed with what they had to offer. Most of the games shown were titles that we were previously aware of. A few new surprises were the announcement of a new Twisted Metal game, a Sly Cooper collection, and the biggest surprise of all: Steam coming to PS3. Gabe Newell himself took the stage and made this surprising announcement his claim of Portal 2 being the best on the PS3 was certainly a surprise to the gaming community since Newell's alleged dispute with Sony in the past during the release of the Orange Box. It seemed that surely if Valve were to release a Steam application for consoles that the more favored 360 would be the candidate. Color me surprised. As for the rest of Sony's lineup the Move was heavily promoted however while they had a collection of casual games for the Move the amount of games waiting to be supported with new Move controls through patches was exciting to see. Sony seems to want to use the Move for more than casual games and with the Move working fantastically with SOCOM 4 and Gran Turismo 5 it just might be enough to get the core gamer interested. The price was admittedly steep but for a collection of Move, the "nun-chuck" like attachment, and Eyetoy but a single Move remote can be used with a normal Duelshock 3. A nifty idea and proof that Sony really is pushing this to a much broader audience beyond the casual one. A premium Playstation Online service was announced. The features seem very similar to what 360 offers and while my initial fears was that the free service would be striped to allow more of the features for paying customers I was happy to hear it was not the case. The premium service offered great incentives like game trials and free content, while keeping the same features for free members. As of right now it sounds like a win, win situation. Hope it stays that way.

Oh and Kevin Butler, I officially love that guy. Sure he's an actor but he is charismatic and entertaining and just the spokesman a video game company needs to get the customers excited for their product. His speech was arguably one of the highlight of Sony's conference.

Strong showings from two gaming juggernauts. The future of gaming still appears to be in good hands.

E3 2010 Day 1: From mediocrity to excitement

If there is one thing I always look forward to the entire summer it's the E3 Electronic Entertainment Expo. I've been following E3 every year since a child and have always looked forward to exciting new game announcements and new innovations in the gaming industry. The coverage here isn't all of the news. it's only the stuff which caught my attention since it's my blog after all.

This year E3 began last night with Microsoft's Project Natal presentation and from what I saw it was ridiculously over the top decadent. Circus Solei performers MTV performers and young celebrity hosts were part of the over the top eye candy. I can't honestly remember the last time there was such an over the top presentation for a new gaming accessory. Wait, scratch that, the X-Box 360 reveal. That was Microsoft too.

On to the games. 15 titles confirmed for launch and a name change, from Natal to Kinect. I can't say I'm a huge fan of the name. Natal was a weird name but Kinect seems weird as well. I guess it's supposed to connect to gamers, but you move so it's kinetic as well? Anyway a weird name, but then again a console named Wii sold millions of copies. As for the titles, they seem to be mild distractions rather than full featured games. Many of the games seem to be copies of Wii titles which really cannot be blamed since they did very well. I guess it just goes to show that the Kinect is not for me.

Microsoft also unveiled a new X-Box 360 model. This has been done before but the new model does look at least a little interesting. Not only is it a little sleeker but at the same time sports a built wi fi adapter. I won't be picking one up anytime soon but it did grab my attention.

Games wise there were really no surprises on 360. All of the big announcements were games we already knew existed. Although they did show a little more game play behind their big titles Halo: Rising, Metal Gear Solid: Rising, and Fable 3. All of them look interesting and have grabbed my attention. I enjoyed the Reach beta, enjoyed Fable II, and am a fan of the Metal Gear franchise so these bode well with me, I'll be watching these titles closely.

Ubi Soft really struck a chord with me. Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood was given a release date. What really grabbed my attention was the announcement of previously unannounced games. Children of Eden the spiritual successor to Rez, Project Dust, and a new 2D Rayman game were great announcement as each game looks fantastic, especially Children of Eden which will be controlled with Kinect and Playstation Move. This is what I want to see with motion controls, giving me an experience which cannot be done on the Wii. I hope to see more of this.

As for what has me most excited was the announcement of a possible Goldeneye remake for the Wii. I know it's an older game and a lot of nostalgia is powering my love for this game but damn it, any excuse for me to revisit one of my favorite games of all time is a good one to me. It worked with Perfect Dark on XBL and Metal Gear Solid: The Twin Snakes.

Nintendo's is tomorrow. If the rumors are true then I can't wait to what they bring to the conference. Hopefully it's more entertaining than Microsoft. Sans Circus Solei.

The fine wine: Nintendo

I don't know what is is about Nintendo. How they can take a decades old concept and keep it fresh years later. How they can refuse to include modern features such as voice acting and a functioning online system and still be as fun and as fresh as most competing games and in some cases even better than the competition. I don't know another company in the video game industry that has created a lifelong fanbase and a group of internet dwelling fanboys who will defend their beloved lord and savior Nintendo at the slightest sign of a threat. Nintendo has got it made despite the flaws, but what makes them so good? What brings them the the fans and loyalty that every console generation?

I think it has to do with that the basic formula behind a majority of Nintendo's games. When you get down to the basics they are simple game play formulas but being simple is what actually makes them so appealing. Mario is getting from point A to point B with a munch of obstacles in your way. Zelda is going through a series of dungeons with puzzles, traps, and bosses at the end. Metroid is the same only focusing on one huge world to explore and secrets to find hidden in the world to make you stronger. These basic game play elements have been around since the beginning of time every modern game has some of these styles of game play in them. Nintendo keeps it simple and focuses on game play over all else. Just take a look at their latest console the Wii and you can immediately see their design philosophy reflected through their creation. Nintendo spent their resources on new ways to play and control games instead of HD graphics and online play like their competitors. Nintendo made games have always been about game play over all else and that is why they last, because at the end of the day no matter how they look compared to their HD counterparts they are still fun and still engaging to play. Even though a majority of their modern games do look fantastic, but that's a completely different argument.

Characters are also what makes Nintendo memorable. Everyone knows who Mario is whether you play games or not. His face, his voice, and just his colors have become character trademarks and made him know around the world. Link and Samus while not as famous as Mario are still well know by many people and if you play games or have played games at all during the last 15 years you probably are aware of who these characters are. Once again these characters are minimalistic. They don't have amazingly deep back stories and layers of human nuance but it's minimalistic approach to character actually helps the gamer identify. In Zelda, the main character has been established as Link but at the same time you can name him any name you want. Samus is a mute and rarely ever speaks. This like Claude Speed from GTA III and Gordan Freeman from Half Life 1 and 2 allows the player become the protagonist and lets them live the game from their own perspective.

Finally it's the charm and lightheartedness in their games which makes them enjoyable. Zelda and Mario is about saving the princess and saving the world. However, they never delve into the realm of being too dark, too depressing, and too serious to be unfun. Even Nintendo's "darkest" games like Majora's Mask and Twilight Princess still had light hearted characters and in jokes to take a break from the bleakness. The games do a great job balancing serious fare and a level of casual light heartedness to make you keep in mind the important task at hand and still feel comfortable in the world in which the game takes place.

Nintendo keeps it simple and in doing that keeps it's fanbase happy and the rest of the gaming population having fun. Their philosophy still stays the same today and in a generation of graphics, online gaming, and FPS fare, still makes them fresh and stand out from the crowd.

I Love it When a Plan comes together

The A Team should not be still in my mind right now. I should be thinking about other things, more important things than some 2 hour action movie, scratch that, new age action movie or what I call nearly every CGI laden special effect extravaganza but I can't help it, I probably had the the closest to a perfect movie experience I have ever been a part of and reminded me in this age of flash and little substance why I still go to the movies.

To have a really good time.

I started the night with meeting my friend and chatting about random things in our life. The conversation eventually went to movies and all of our favorite action flicks of the past. Titles such as Predator, Aliens, Terminator 2, Hard Boiled, and The Matrix came up and the conversation then veered of into moder territory. "I wonder how Stanley Tucci will be in Captain America?" "I cannot wait for Predators!" "Yeah, let's go see Scott Pilgrim, it's Edgar Wright how can it go wrong?" We had a few drinks, and had a few laughs. It was a movie discussion that you can only have with that one person who understands you, the person who watches just as many movies as you do. The one you can name drop acronyms like TINO (Transformers in Name Only) and KOTCS (Kingdom of the Crystal Skull) and they will immediately know what you are talking about.

We then made our short journey to the theater, we joked about having a plan come together and how we should have showed up to the theater in a black van and jumped out. Once there, we bought our ticket, took our seat and watched the crowd file in.

The movie started and as the characters were introduced in a way only modern Hollywood could do, with spray painted esque titles next to each new character, I started to enjoy myself. The characters were goofy and fun to see them interact with each other. It was like watching a bunch of guys playing a video game together, joking around with each other and having a good time except these guys were actually in the action. I was laughing along with them. Between the over the top (and I mean really, really over the top) action scenes and the dialog between each character it was fun to watch how everything unfolded. It felt like a big budget action cartoon and I loved it for that. It felt more like GI Joe than it's own big screen counterpart did and more fun than Iron Man 2 which decided to suddenly take itself seriously.

Towards the end something which has only happened once to me before, the movie suddenly stopped. An usher comes in to tell everyone that they are aware of the problem and it is being fixed. Surprisingly there were no angry outbursts, just people laughing and talking to one another. They were having a good time and the festive mood seemed to rub off on everyone in the theater.

The movie came back on and the action packed ending came up and left our heroes right where the TV series picks up.

I walked out of the theater with my friend and remembered why we go to the movies in the first place. We go to be challenged, moved, stimulated, shocked, saddened, and amazed. We also go to have fun too, something that when watching so many movies I forget to do sometimes and end up taking my hobby a little too seriously. This night took me back to a time when movies were at their purest for me and having fun was my main objective when going into a movie.

I'll still bash bad movies until the sun sets, but I'll still remember to have a little fun now and then too.

I'm in Love with the Wrong Format

I don't know what it is or why it is but I always seem to have a weird love affair for obsolete media formats, especially when it comes to movies. Sure DVD's were a big innovation for home entertainment but I remember still watching VHS's long after DVD's were released and liking them too. When the next generation movie media format war started I went with with HD DVD over Blu Ray where only a few months later I was eating my words as HD DVD was declared dead and Blu Rays ended up becoming the number on high def format.

I don't really mind though. I still have my VCR and I still have my X-Box 360 HD DVD player. In fact last night was spent watching the Bourne Ultimatum on HD DVD with the awkward HD DVD player attached to my 360 like some kind of tumor grown out of control. It looked fantastic on the tv screen and sounded just as great as any Blu Ray. I didn't care the format was dead. I didn't care that they no longer are being made. I was watching high def movies on my X-Box 360 and I was happy, fate be damned.

The same thing happened to me with Laserdisk. I never owned a laser disk and I never watched one but I want to own one. There is no logical explanation me wanting one and even less of an explanation for me needing one when clearly better options exist. I just have this weird fascination of video formats long gone. Maybe it's the tech indie cred that is subconsciously lying in the back of my brain where I can prove how cool I am by watching an older more obscure format, I don't know but I am constantly fascinated by these failed and dead formats. I hope one day I can figure out why but for the time being the reason is escaping my mind.

Either that or when we get into the future and we're uploading movies in our brain ala the Matrix I'll be the crazy old guy who still watches movies on the ancient formats of DVD and Blu Ray.

Ain't no machine jacking into my brain!

The generation's worst

I once heard a comment by some cynical old gamer that this generation of gaming has been the worst generation gaming he has ever experienced. He then proceeded to point out this generation's flaws including over priced DLC, a focus on online gaming over single player gaming, and an oversaturation of FPS games on the market. This is a statement I hear more and more from gamers, particularly older gamers who have seemingly become cynical towards their once favorite past time. The older more cynical crowd has also developed a resentment towards the younger generation of gaming as well. Often called the casuals, new gamers have been blamed for game designers making games easier or in their words "dumbing down" games to the point of being mind numbingly easy. They also blame them for being over privileged, ill mannered youth who pollute the digital airwaves of multiplayer services such as X-Box Live and Playstation Network with their homophobic, racist, and sexist remarks. Is the older generation correct? Has gaming begun it's slow, steady decline into oblivion?

There are somethings I absolutely hate about this generation. I hate the fact that DLC is often overpriced for arguably not a lot of content or even worse, what was already on the game disk to begin with. I hate the way that most companies are starting to turn single play campaigns into mere afterthoughts and focus on a more intimidating, more complex multiplayer game. I also hate how Japanese games re starting to become generic, almost parodies of themselves rather than the story and gameplay innovators they were last few console generations.

However despite these minor annoyances and the fact that more may be soon on the way (3D and unnecessary motion controls) I still do not mind, nor am I ready to declare this generation the worst out of all of them because it's not, in fact it's far from being the worse.

It's just a different generation, things are done differently and once looked at a little closer, things don't seem all that bad. Sure DLC has done some things wrong but it has also done a lot of things correctly. Burnout Paradise and Fallout 3 are excellent examples of DLC done right. Not only are the additions substantial and bring an entirely new playable are to the game, they were also reasonably priced and in some cases offered for free. Valve frequently updates their PC titles such as Team Fortress for free and adds numerous amounts of content to the game.

The emphasis on multiplayer over single player is disappointing but at the same time while single play campaigns may be shorter, they are also usually more intense and diverse than many of the other single player focused games of the past. Sure Modern Warfare 2 may have a shorter campaign than Goldeneye's but it also has more interesting set pieces, more intense levels, and more diverse combat situations than all of Goldeneye together. For the multiplayer argument, well it has been a part of gaming since the beginning of online and foul mouth racist homophobes have been here even longer, online gaming just gave them a new outlet.

Sure there is a lot I don't like about this generation, I am a more jaded adult who expects more from my games for the price I pay for them but as much as I have been disappointed I have been wowed even more. Some of my most favorite gaming experiences have come from this generation and hopefully even more await.

PS: For all of you retro fans, you have nothing to fear either, retro is making a comeback in a big way. More next post

Sequelitits: Sometimes it's a good thing

Usually when I hear about a sequel to a movie I liked I usually am excited but cautious at the same time. On one hand I enjoyed the original a lot, why wouldn't I want to see more of the same characters in new situations? On the other hand sometimes directors and script writers try to do too much with a sequel and add more of what made the original great to begin with. The end result is a over bloated mess of a movie trying to fit everything in a two hour time frame. Too may plots, too many situations, and too many characters lead to many unresolved conflicts and an ultimately unsatisfying ending.

Video games are usually different. Designers often will listen to what made the original so great, what the players liked the best about it, what worked and didn't work and try to compile that into one giant improved sequel. Most of the time it works and in many cases video game sequels (at least in my experience) have been better playing and better looking games. Metal Gear Solid 2 played much better than Metal Gear 1 and Half Life 2 took the open world physics based one of the original and ran with it. No longer were confined to a single base but a huge alien infested world to explore.

Just like movies though, not all sequels get it right. Developers, like directors have a knack for "overcooking" the formula which makes their prequels great. "You liked fighting that enemy? Well how about you fight him three more times in this game."

Metal Gear Solid 2, while having a great game play suffered in the story department where a convulted, overly complicated story line made nearly everyone loose interest in the story and characters. The story in 1 was relatively simple with a few twists, but overall it had a clear villain, clear goal, and made you follow along as the characters worked towards their goal. 2 had none of this, instead opting for twists and philosophical banter from the characters instead. Good idea for a book or movie, but not for a video game (at least not in this context).

Finally you can get a sequel that really isn't all that different from it's predecessor. Bioshock 2 had a new playable character and story but it still felt very similar to the original, almost more of an expansion rather than a sequel. Despite the differences and tweaks the game still played largely the same and the same tactics and techniques could be used in the sequel. Even the story while different, was similar to the original and did not contain as many unique plot elements as the first. Developers usually stick to this similarity formula for two reasons: Their development cycle is shorter than other studios, which is why the Call of Duty series is so similar to each other with each of the development studios both Treyarch and Infinity Ward having little over a year to get their games up and running. The second is the fans. Fans like what the studios keep making, which is justified through the sales and hours of playtime online. Games which have a very large fanbase have to be careful not to alienate this audience. Radical changes to the game play or even story and characters can have the potential to turn of long time fans and potentially loose a large chunk of money.

I for the most part enjoy video game sequels, especially if I enjoyed the originals so much. I cant help but wonder though how easy it is for me to analyze and critique what developers did wrong and right in their sequels and a development team spends countless hours and sleepless nights to make sure their game ends up hitting that magic spot and pleasing everyone, when in most cases it won't.

Meh, I try not to think to much about that. Back to Moder Warfare 2 for me.

Three Episodes In

This is probably the first time in memory I have watched the Star Wars movies in order. Usually I watch them in order per trilogy. Episodes 1 through 3 and 4 through 6 separately. It's been a real treat to watch them consecutively every night in order. There's a lot of things I never noticed before and it really changes my appreciation of the trilogy as a whole.

If there is one thing the prequel trilogy has going for it by going overboard with CGI is the look. It looks nearly nothing like the original trilogy. This always bothered me as I felt that after awhile the different looking prequels separated themselves from the original. The originals felt real and felt like they had weight, and a impact on the world they inhabited. In Empire the AT-ATs felt real. Even though they were models they felt real, they felt like large mechanical monstrosities which shook the very ground the walked on. In the prequel trilogy they were and felt like CGI creations. The planets and cgi aliens and vehicles which inhabited the world had no realism to them, you know they were cgi and shiny and had no presence on the screen.

This used to bother me but as I started watching a New Hope right after Revenge of the Sith, I noticed the stark contrast between the two and it finally hit me. The look of the original trilogy, typically after the prequels looked real but it also looked gritty. It looked post-apocalyptic, it looked run down, dirty, and dangerous. It looked like a galaxy ravaged by a power hungry empire after a golden aged republic. Even the camera angles and shots were smaller, more focused and less grandiose and sweeping. The original trilogy despite the magnitude of the battles is a smaller and more closed galaxy.

This was probably unintentional but when watching in order I love the way this look works. It really brings the universe alive even more and brings the oppressed atmosphere alive. It really does make it look like dark times and the desperation for the Rebel Alliance all the more important.

I never thought I would use apocalyptic and Star Wars in the same sentence, but two separate tastes which taste great together.

Darkplace and British comedies

I am a sucker for British comedies lately. I don't know what's come over me lately to suddenly have a desire to watch quirky British comedies but it's hit me hard, and I am having a blast watching them in my spare time.

If memory serves me right, Monty Python was probably the first British comedy I can remember watching. I remember it was a typical boring summer day, with me as a young boy having nothing to randomly turned the channel to PBS to see what will never leave my brain. An old disheveled man stumbling out of the ocean and speaking in some random gibberish. Afterwards a weird animated montage of weird sights of naked Victorian women being smashed by giant feet.

That was my introduction to British humor, and I loved it. A few years later I watched another comedy with my father called "Keeping Up Appearances" a show about a ordinary woman go to great lengths to try and fit into high society. It wasn't as wacky and over the top as Monty Python, but it still was witty and a fun way to wast away a half hour on a Sunday evening.

After that show, there was a long hiatus in my viewing of anything British related in humor. It wasn't until the theatrical release of Edgar Wright's Shaun of the Dead that I started to take notice again. The quirkiness and the snappy dialog combined with a ton of horror and movie references made me fall in love all over again. My love for the movie did not diminish one iota unit the release of Hot Fuzz what turned my love of 80's action movies into a hilarious and respectful parody. After this I searched for more Edgar Wright and stumbled upon his earlier tv show Spaced. Three days later I marathon-ed the entire first and second series and was watching a few episodes over. I told all of my friends and anyone I knew to check out this show. British comedy was back in my life again.

Now I watch the Mighty Boosh, another out there show that seems to channel equal parts Monty Python and the buddy stylings of Simon Pegg and Nick Frost. Darkplace is a parody of cheesy 80's sci fi and horror in the mockumentary style similar to Spinal Tap where each of the "actors" are self aware that they created this show that we are watching and also blissfully unaware of how horrible it is. So horrible it's impossible not to laugh. Look Around You is another parody show, this time parodying those educational films watched by students in middle and high school. A cheerful narrator and happy looking students all learn lessons which are purposely wrong and comically filled with very wrong answers. What is the answer to 6 minus 2? You're on Easter Island. Weird and out there stuff, but I love it.

I'm not even including the British sci fi that I watch. Dr. Who and Primevil are two of my current favorites I go to for my wacky sci fi fix, but that's for another day.

I don't know what it is about the British and quirk, but they have it nailed down to an art form.

Starting the Saga Over

Every year at least once, I pop in the original Star Wars trilogy dvd's. I know people moan and complain that the DVD's aren't the "original" original trilogy, Greedo still shoots first and Mos Eisley is still filled with long legged creatures and droids slapping other droids to the ground but that's not the point, I still enjoy the original trilogy even with the additions, although I would like to one day a proper transfer of the unaltered original three. Maybe blu ray can solve that problem for me.

I pop the dvd's in because in all honesty they never get old to me. The characters are likable and identifiable and the story is simple yet engaging and entertaining. Han Solo represents the cool guy we all want to be. Luke represents the individual in us yearning to break out and explore our world and make our own destiny. Star Wars is the hero's journey told and retold since the dawn of time so it's a story that everyone is familiar with. That's what makes Star Wars so likable and the characters, planets, and stories immortal.

My youngest brother had never seen the original trilogy. Sure he's familiar with Darth Vader. He's heard the "I am your father" line dozens of time, knows who Chewbacca is and recognizes some of the other minor characters, but he has never seen the original trilogy nor has he seen the complete prequel trilogy. He's seen some minor clips from them but beyond that my brother became a fan of Star Wars through the Clone Wars animated series.

My brother loves the Clone Wars. He loves the duo of Anakin Skywalker and Asoka Tanno. He loves how the clones are actual individual soldiers with personality rather than the blaster fodder they were in Episode 2 and 3. He has experienced Star Wars in an entirely different way than I did and I'm not sure how I felt about that. Sure, the Clone Wars isn't a bad series, but there were so many rich stories and characters integral to the saga he wasn't even aware of. I had to change that.

Combined with the recent 30th anniversary of The Empire Strikes Back and my urge to watch the original trilogy again, I decided to do something I haven't done in four years, marathon the saga. Start from Phantom Menace and end at Return of the Jedi. I told him my idea and he reluctantly agreed, he didn't seem too thrilled. I told him he'd have a blast.

We pop in Episode I and I sit back and watch as his eyes slowly open wide to things he's never seen in the cartoon. After the movies was over he couldn't stop talking about how cool the ships were, how he couldn't wait to see how Obi Wan and Anakin became closer friends and partners, and how the clones became to be.

I was pleased. If he was this excited for the opening chapter I couldn't imagine how his mind will be blown when he watches Anakin become Darth Vader, Obi Wan become an old hermit, and Anakin's son Luke enters the scene for the first time. I literally cannot wait to see his reaction.

My brother is experiencing the saga in a way I never did and never could. From the beginning, able to watch the characters grow from their beginning to the climatic ending.

For once I envy him. He's in for one crazy ride.

What is it's purpose?

Hi everyone. I decided that the 90 in 90 wanted to keep me writing, so I decided to start a new blog talking about my two favorite past times: movies and video games.

I am a big fan of both and anyone who knows me knows that I usually end up talking about the two every chance I get so know I get to write about them. I'll be writing about anything I have on my mind when it comes to the two so it keeps my topics fresh and me writing for the rest of the summer so I can also become a better writer in the process.

I'll have my first post tomorrow, I am excited to get started.

The writing never ends, but I don't mind at all.