(Thu 06/26/2008 12:29am)
I just got back from Universal's screening of H2:TGA.
Great Fun! I enjoyed it much much than the first one. Another terrific movie in what is perhaps the summer to end all summers.
As always, stay tuned for the full-in-depth-mania story on Hellboy II: The Golden Army coming next week!
(Wed 06/18/2008 11:19am)
I just got back from the “Wanted” press junket. I saw the movie last Sunday night and am as pleased as punch to tell you that WANTED is the blow-you-through-the-back-of-the-theatre, surprise smash of the summer. This is one of the best times I’ve had at the movies this year!
Here’s just a taste of what some of the actors and director of “Wanted” had to say at the junket:
Actor James McAvoy (Wesley) regarding internet rumors on his role in the upcoming “The Hobbit”: “I’ve received no calls from The Hobbit…It’s just internet rumors”
Director Timur Bekmambetov on a sequel to Night Watch and Day Watch: “Wanted IS my Twilight Watch”
Actor Thomas Kretschmann’s (Cross) favorite sci-fi film: “Blade Runner”
Actor -Rapper Common (The Gunsmith) on his role in the new Terminator Movie:
“I play a character named Barnes who fights along John Conner in the resistance against the machines”
Be sure to come back for our "WANTED" full feature story on MANIA this week!
(Mon 02/04/2008 07:35pm)
Backwards compatibility for a console is a cool thing and the fact that my 360 can play almost any original Xbox title is great. But as far as the three systems go, just the idea of being able to play virtually every Nintendo, Sega, N64, Neo Geo, TG-16 and SNES game throughout recorded time makes me drool like an alien about to chomp Ripley. That’s why I think it goes without saying that Nintendo wins the downloadable back catalog competition without even having to put up a fight.
With Xbox Live’s fall update, original Xbox games started making their way onto the 360 for download. Sounds great right? Not for what Microsoft is charging for them on XBL, $15.00 per title is way north of fair. You can go into most any major electronics store and find many of the titles you’d want to play for $9.99 new. You can find ‘em on eBay for even less. The question is this: Why would I pay $15.00 for a download that takes up more than a gig of space on my console’s hard drive when I can buy the game for 10 bucks or less and leave that hard drive space for other uses. Most of the Wii Virtual Console games go for between five and ten bucks. That essentially means that I can get Super Mario Bros. 3 for five to ten on the VC but I’ll spend $15.00 for Fusion Frenzy on the 360? That makes no sense to me. I think a varying price model like the Virtual Console’s makes sense. On principle alone I can’t buy any of the Xbox Originals. I would just feel like I downloaded an idiot bomb into my brain. If I want to play Halo or Burnout 3 I’ll get them online or in a store. Hopefully this foolish price scheme is just a “let’s take advantage of the first in line” ploy and is only a temporary misstep by Microsoft.
(Wed 01/30/2008 04:17pm)
Game: Mutant Storm Reloaded
Developer: PomPom
Format: Xbox Live Arcade (This review does not apply to other versions)
Release Date: 11/22/2005
Fuzzy Voltage Grade: A
I bought my Xbox 360 in late November of ’07 so I discovered Mutant Storm Reloaded quite a while after its original launch with the 360 in 2005. It has since become my XBLA fetish and with the 360 doing so well over the holidays I thought there might be a number of new Xbox owners unfamiliar with MSR.
Gameplay:
MSR hones 25 year old game play to razor sharp perfection. The "kill everything on screen before it touches or shoots you" style found in games like Robotron, Geometry Wars, and Smash TV has been distilled to a pure elegance, a sublime fluidity, a haunting beauty if you will that has both a plastic and organic aesthetic.
MSR approaches impossible difficulty but manages, like any great game, to always seem within reach and achieves an addiction level that’s highly sought yet rarely found. I’ve only been able to reach the 50th level so far (there are 89 in all). The interesting thing is that it’s not that the levels necessarily get harder the higher up you go (though there are some very obstructive and interesting challenges that arise) but the whole game requires a kind of relaxed, intense focus in order to progress without being hit.
Graphics:
MSR's graphics are both ultra retro in inspiration and hyper modern in execution; super clean, precise, biological and mechanical. Are we caught in some kind of 1970's microscopic, dystopian gene warfare zone? Each time I sit down to play I feel like I'm entering into a nightmarish Lucite dream world with enemies ranging from itty bitty cell structures to strange tailed nano-creatures. This game is a graphical masterpiece, yes masterpiece. I said it and I stand by it. This is Hi-Def grace and beauty for the new millennium.
Sound and Music:
The music is impeccably “Escape from New York” era John Carpenter. Frankly it’s one of my favorite soundtracks ever for a game. While game music usually tries to manipulate the user into feeling tension and urgency, the music here creates a soft sense of approaching menace that lets the game play itself be the force that stirs the anxiety soup. The music never draws attention to itself but like any truly great soundtrack it is an essential component to the atmosphere and piques the user’s imagination as to what kind of world this game environment sreside in.
The sound design is anti-over-the-top; tastefully muted explosions that excellently capture the moment without ever clobbering you over the head. The sound-scape of MSR is one of the components that allows for its extremely addictive gameplay. You’re ears never get fatigued as a result of playing. You’re never annoyed by what you hear.
Tips:
A) Sometimes plowing through a throng of enemies with guns blazing is the only way to get out of a seemingly impossible situation.
B) Don’t forget to use your smart bombs! Probably my #1 reason for dying is forgetting to use the darn smart bomb.
C) Skirt along the perimeter staying against the wall while firing towards the center can often keep you in good shape.
Why I like it more than Geometry Wars:
The truth is that they both provide something different from each other. There’s more than enough room on any shooters fan’s hard drive for both but if I could only choose one…
Geometry Wars is a great game but its style is pure overkill, which is what makes it what it is.
There’s a subtler aspect to MSR while still providing all the twitch and tumble that make a great shooter.
Check out the full-on FUZZY VOLTAGE blog at www.fuzzyvoltage.blogspot.com!
