When Alistair McNally is trending on Facebook, you know something HUGE is going on. The Bioware Director said he wore a t-shirt at GDC 2016 which had the developer's new IP on it. You gotta be kidding me. It seems like nobody noticed and there is no record or picture of said shirt anywhere on the bloody Internet. Also, I can't believe his tweet only got 164 likes so far.
Now, let me tell you something that you already know: I am a crazy motherfucking Bioware fan and any news about a new IP is earth shattering. However, that is just cruel. I need to know what that shirt says, what logo it displays or what picture it shows. There will never be enough Bioware IPs on this planet and I just know it's going to be great so I really cannot wait for some real news. The thing is that I really didn't expect any sort of information on this IP for a long time so now they have me pumped up. I hope it wasn't a mistake on Alistair's side. I really hope he's not going to get a slap on the wrist for saying something because it means it wasn't on purpose and we won't hear anything about this IP for a long time, as predicted. If it was a stunt and they actually mean to reveal something in the next couple of days, brilliant. Let's do that. Let's DO THAT PEOPLE!!!!!!
If you find a picture of the shirt or happened to have been present at GDC and remember the culprit, share far and wide!!!
For starter, I should acknowledge the fact that I have a great job. Who wouldn't be happy watching videos all day? Right?
I have built my career around content and even though I started in Television, I was always a lot more interested in new media and new video technology so going the digital route made sense. (Hopefully one day I'll get to work in the video game world). However, I have no talent. I am no writer or producer. I have no imagination. I am not an engineer or a tech person either. What I do have though, is a sharp critical mind that spots what works and what doesn't. That's the reason why I am an editor.
Being a content editor in the digital space is very rewarding but at the same time frustrating and a little overwhelming. There are so many great creations out there that it is very tricky to do a perfect job. Also, there is popular content on the forefront of this business that, to an editor's eye, shouldn't be there. I live for the days I have to curate and edit content from Scott DW but I very much dread having to watch Seven Super Girls' episodes. In full. Like, the whole thing. I watch a wide breath of content every day and not only does it sometimes shocks me to know millions of people are watching this below average content, it makes me feel totally inadequate.
Here I see thousands of people who have the drive and the talent to create something out of nothing and become successful at it. Even if most might not have the PewDiePie numbers behind them, they still get great pocket money out of it and most importantly, they have fun doing it. I always found myself to be a hobbyless person but working on YouTube content totally highlighted that fact even more. And should I have any, I wouldn't know how to turn one of my passion into something lucrative. I do not have that mindset of an entrepreneur. I love video games so I am going to try and work for a developer one day but that's really all I can do. I am not going to have a successful gaming channel or write a story or crazy things like that! To me, these YouTube creators are more than just talented at what they do, they are fucking builders. They are extremely resourceful and driven and that is something I envy. Am I more boring or less charismatic than most of these people? I don't think so. But I do not have that instinct of creating something and making an idea come to life. This is extremely frustrating to me and it always was. My dad was a business owner and built a little empire. I could never do that. I am sure I have exploitable skills and knowledge to make a business successful, but I just do not have the vision.
Working on other people's vision is what I am destined to do I suppose, and I should just be happy with that. However, everybody strives to be relevant and have purpose in life. The YouTube and Digital stardom phenomenon shifted that quest in a weird, virtual, instant gratification direction and made me feel even worse about myself. I am an expert in my field and I should be proud of that but I hope one day I will be able to visualize something of my own, anything, that I can make into reality.
I compiled some funny stuff for you this week so be prepared
to laugh (you better)! Some of the below videos are from pretty established YouTubers but
some have a much smaller audience which shows the digital platform is truly
filled with amazing content in every corner.
Hope you have a good time with these!
COMEDY:F-Comedy is a small channel with comedy
sketches and other funny bits. They have less than 30,000 subs but they
recently attracted a lot of people with their new video: Make Your Face Great
Again – Trumping. I mean, who doesn't like a good beauty how-to am I right?
COMEDY:Smosh really doesn’t need
introduction. Their recent video is obviously popular and pokes fun at the HGTV
show and trend “tiny house”. I love HGTV with a passion but I am sure if they'd watch it, they'd fine it funny too.
ENTERTAINMENT:Anybody interested in table top or video games know Geek
& Sundry. However, some people might know the channel/website because
of the remarkable Felicia Day (Supernatural, Buffy The Vampire Slayer. We really should be best friends). They
create a great mix of content and recently picked up “Riftworld Chronicles”.
The below video is a sneak peak of the whole episode that can be found on their
website. This is high production value, great acting, hilarious and very
special if you like video games or just fantasy lore.
ENTERTAINMENT:Good Mythical Morning’s presenters are huge YouTube stars and present a really cool show every
week day. Their latest is about Fallout Shelters and it’s great! They probably should have released that in November with Fallout 4...
COMEDY:Nuclear Family is again one of
those smaller comedy channels with potential. Their latest sketch is called
“Your Favorite Movie Characters Gender Swapped” and is fitting with the ongoing
Hollywood sexism conversations. Also, it's very good.
EXTRA VIDEO (Not Funny) -
COOKING: Tastemade has created a very cool cooking docu type
series called HERITAGE. The 10min show focus on chefs’ personal stories and
inspirations. It’s really beautifully made and this episode follows a cool chef
who boxes on the side! I mean, he's not a vegetarian but I guess he's still a catch.
I have pretty much made my mind about The Division and I was very much set on not buying it and not playing it. I still won't buy it, but I might be more open to playing it now.
When I first heard about The Division and saw the beautiful and intriguing teaser, I was very excited about it. However, after learning that this was basically a Destiny look-alike, I bailed. There are only a few things that I will outright reject when it comes to video games but one of them is definitely "being anything remotely similar to Destiny". MMOs have their qualities but I have only found a few that really managed to keep me interested. So while I was being myself trying to ignore all The Division related news or information, I think I have missed on some crucial details that would have changed my mind a while ago should have I given it a chance. For some reason, I was a lot more open minded today than I usually am and brought myself to watching an IGN Plays Live session featuring The Division. After all, I am supposed to know what I am talking about so I thought I would at least confirm my disdain. Well, I kinda wanna play it now. Shame on me for having prejudices! Of course, the game looks stunning. There's just no denying that. It's a pleasure to look at. I was more surprised by what the game actually felt like. It seems to me like the RPG features are very prominent and it is not at all, like I thought, a true shooter game. It is an RPG and they stayed true to the genre. This means a lot more customization, story driven quests and mechanics. It also looks pretty simple to meet players and team up for missions, which comes in handy when you're not a 15 year old boy.
Of course, I wasn't able to assess the narrative complexity or the supposed controversial leveling system but this game looks fun. A lot more fun that I thought it would be and a lot more fun than I had with Destiny. I am not sure it will break the curse of me being interested in an MMO for no more than 7 days, but I sure hope it will. I am actually looking at buying a gaming PC to enjoy more of those types of games because I believe they have a lot to offer once you give it a try. I am going to stop being a little intolerant and prejudiced brat and do exactly that with the Division: Give it a try.
Are you guys going to buy it? Rent it? Do you think it has potential? If not, what's your favorite MMO? Let me know!
I was not familiar with the Neptunia series before picking up Megadimension Neptunia VII so I really didn't know what to expect. The game came out in February in the US (in 2015 in Japan) and I thought I would give it a try. As everybody knows, I love a good RPG and I am a sucker for female protagonists so when I saw that this game was basically a female fest, I went for it whole heartedly. I am usually not a fan of Japanese games but it did look good in the trailer so I had to try it. (I have been a long time fan of Final Fantasy though, until Final Fantasy XIII).
The whole thing is pretty straightforward and simple. This is a turn base combat RPG with some degree of crafting, customization and strategy. The levels are very linear and there is close to no cinematic or animation. The whole thing is told through drawings. Mind you, they are very pretty and appealing drawings. I actually loved the concept art A LOT.
The style is very anime and recognizable but they did it really well, with popping colors and distinctive designs for each characters. The latter are very cool. Some of them are whiny and slightly annoying but that is part of the tone of the game. They were never Final Fantasy XIII Vanille annoying though. Their voices were just super high pitched and they talked like they were Valley girls (however, I very much appreciated the dubbing quality). Apart from that, they had great personalities, cute outfits and very neat combat animations. There are two things that really surprised me in Neptunia VII. 1) The story is amazing. Granted, it has a Power Rangers feel to it with mega monsters destroying cities and the girls morphing into "superheroes" but the meta aspect of this game is refreshing. I am not sure if the series always broke through the 4th wall but I thoroughly enjoyed that. The world is called "Gameindustri" and the girls are "CPUs". They also often talk about the fact that they cannot die because they are the protagonists and the fact that they need to talk to the writers about things they don't like. I really enjoyed that. 2) I got some hints of cheekiness in the first lines of dialogue but I just thought it was my filthy mind. Well, it was not. It was all real. This game is definitely cheeky. The dialogue totally uses double meanings and the girls sometimes shower together, because, tits. The drawings for that part were still amazing, if unnecessary. I just thought it was very funny and unexpected. I am looking forward to more girls showers and pillow fights!
Below is my playthrough of the 1st hour and 1st mission. Unfortunately, the shower scene only came later!! Did you play it? If so, what did you think? I personally give it a 5/5, partly because I was pleasantly surprised by the quality of this game and I really didn't expect it to be that entertaining. Some people who played the previous games in the series might have a different opinion, but having a fresh look at this title, I really didn't want anything more out of it. I had fun, I was intrigued and sucked in Gameindustri, loved the characters and the gameplay. I am off to play some more.
So this trailer has been out since yesterday morning and I have watched it a couple of times just to make sure I was getting it right. Also, I looked at some of my favorite reviewers too to see what they had to say and I have to agree with them: that trailer is not promising.
Of course, most people are just against the concept altogether and are going to hate on it no matter what is shown. I am not one of those people. I actually do not even remember the original Ghostbusters, I was way too young. The only thing I vaguely recall is a baby flying in a green aura of some sort? Is that even from Ghostbusters? I also love the cast with a passion. Kate McKinnon is my favorite comic/actress since Kristen Wiig and they are both in this movie so I was very excited. I suppose I am also missing the nostalgic element that some people will ultimately tag on to that movie. For my part, this just seemed like a cool comedy with ghosts and my favorite actresses.
After watching the trailer though, I am less than convinced that this movie will be any good. For some reason, it made me think about Pixels. Or at least Pixels' trailer. The jokes were flat and cringe worthy, the comedy loud, the characters hollow and the plot seemingly under-baked. The trailer actually starts out great with a good pace and interesting "sequel" vibe. However, as the trailer progresses, you notice that the exposition is over the top and scarily obvious. The characters are unfortunately cliche and the actresses seem restricted to their usual bits. The standout here was obviously Kate McKinnon, because, DUH. She's beautiful, she's funny, she can do pretty much anything and her character seemed to be interesting enough. Obviously, this is just a trailer and the movie might turn out to be more fleshed out and original than what the trailer showcased. Unfortunately for them though, trailers are playing a major role in today's moving goers choice to purchase tickets for a movie or not. With the quality of some of the trailers out there and coming out of the marketing feat that was Deadpool, I feel like they have already lost half of their potential audience just by releasing this. I feel like people want to be intrigued by a trailer, they want to see quality, not quantity. I didn't feel like Ghostbusters achieved that and I hope they have something else in their back pocket to get people interested enough to pay money for this.
What did you guys think? Did you like it? Are you going to see in theater?
For a person reviewing game and random content with cats, I should have been aware of this little Japanese beauty. Apparently it's been extremely popular in Japan since 2015 but I feel like a lot of people are still to discover this mobile game.
Neko Atsume was introduced to me by a colleague who, like me, is very much into cats. I rarely listen to people and I am kind of reluctant whenever someone gives me tips or recommendations so I was prepared to try this game and forget about it instantly. I really thought that's what I would do, even after the first day playing with it. However, I never deleted it and am now opening the app several times a day. There is really no wrong way to play Neko Atsume and that's what I love about it. No matter if you want to spend 2 minutes a day on it, you will still enjoy having it on your phone. I am sure you can climb the levels and get rewards and advance well in this game, but I currently really do not care. The appeal of this game for me is just opening the app and seeing a cat or two playing or lazing in my yard. Oftentimes, I will open the app and not see any cats at all. This makes the discovery of new cats a great treat.
There's not a lot to do in Neko Atsume at first. You get a little yard and some money (fish) to buy some items to furnish your cat trap. Your goal is to attract as many cat to your yard as possible so you can receive rewards to purchase MORE goodies and yard extensions etc. The only other feature available is to take pictures of the cats that decide to visit you. Of course, you need to catch them while they're around! That's the fun! Ok, it doesn't sound that great, but the game is free, extremely easy to pick up and play whenever you want. You do not need to spend hours and hours playing it to get instant gratification and fun. To me, that's what a great mobile game is. To be honest, I'd rather spend hours on a story driven console game. I want my mobile game to just be handy when I stop at a red light (oops, sorry!). Here is my video review for Neko Atsume but spoiler alert, I give it 4/5 cats! Mainly because I was disappointed at first that I couldn't do anything with the cats once they were in my yard. However, I quickly understood that this was not the game's point. Have you guys played this already? Have you even heard of this before? Let me know!
First of all, let me start by stating the obvious: I am beyond excited for this 2017 reboot of the Power Rangers. I have loved them throughout my childhood and I was a huge fan of the 1993 movie. I dragged my dad to the theater to see it dubbed in French. I am telling you, it doesn't make it any better.
Now we get to have a look at the Rangers themselves. And what do I think? I think they're bloody amazing. They look so tough!! DAMN! The first thing they talked about when releasing the photo was diversity. I don't think they had to mention it, Yay, you did a good job, do you want a parade? To me this group just looks like an obvious representation of today's youth. Not just because they are diverse but because they seem to be from different backgrounds, culture and seem to have very different and distinct personalities. Also, they look like they can kick ass with style and that is really what matters most. The girls look like strong heroines that could potentially be awesome role models and the guys are freaking hot so this works on every level for a woman like me! I can't wait to watch this. Also, Elizabeth Banks is in this movie and it totally satisfies the more mature side of me.
What did you guys think of the reveal? Are you excited??
It’s that time of the week again and I believe I have
gathered the most random collection of DiFi content to date. No theme this week
but a lot of quirky videos that I wanted to share with you:
Week of 2/29 DiFi Videos
ENTERTAINMENT:The Oscars might be over but they are still very much
trending online. Casey Neistat’s video is right in that soft spot. He
got an invite to the big event and was even able to go backstage so this video
is very much “YouTube goes to the Oscars” and it’s better than the actual show.
TRAVEL: The
BuzzFeedBlue channel describes its content as “bite-size knowledge for a
big world” and their videos are really interesting and creative, much like the
original BuzzFeed content. Here, we learn about Japanese Maid Cafes! Neat!
COMEDY: I have
already shared an awesome travel video from Above Average (I call it
“online SNL”) but here is an even better comedy skit focusing on the
presidential race news.
COOKING: Rosanna
Pansino (Kin Community) is the crème de la crème of YouTube cooking
stars. I honestly cannot stand her voice but she's cute! She shares a
cute Emoji Waffles “recipe” this week that might appeal to people with smaller
persons at home.
COMEDY:I had to share a Jenna Marbles video at
some point. I love this lady. She’s hilarious and makes pretty random videos
that hit more than 1M views every week. She embodies what YT content is at its
core.
Today, as we know, was a pretty tough day for all of us obsessive gamers. When I say "obsessive gamer" I do not mean obsessed with video games in general. I mean obsessed by one or very few specific titles. It's very easy to cope with delays if you are interested in all of the games released every year. This is more of an issue when your yearly happiness quota relies entirely on one or two games. The delay becomes more than just an additional waiting period, it brings a dreadful feeling of loss and emptiness and disorientation. The obsessive personality will understand when I say that I had planned my emotional schedule leading to the release of my favorite IP very specifically. Now the year is all messed up and I basically need to reschedule my happiness.
Of course, people will say that a delay is for the best. Indeed, it allows developers to fully finalize and polish their creation. And that is completely true. However, do not give an obsessive personality a goal to reach if that goal is going to be moved over and over. This is very disconcerting.
So if you are like me and do not cope well with change in your emotional gaming schedule and need help, here is a video that gives you steps to deal with the disappointment, pain and confusion that a video game delay brings. Stay strong my friends, stay strong!
I woke up this morning to this terrible news and felt like making a shit iPhone video about it. Because today is the worst day of 2016, the year that was supposed to be beautiful in every way, now is just kind of ok. I know I am getting married and going on a honeymoon this year but what is that compared to a new Mass Effect? It's crap, that's what it is.
Starting Nitroplus Blasterz: Heroines Infinite Duel, I thought I was in a video game inspired by Jem and the Holograms. Who wouldn't be excited about that?
However, Nitroplus Blasterz is a fighting game that has absolutely nothing to do with its musical opening credits. It was released in Japan last year and came to the US consoles only this month. I was hoping for some cool dubbing but unfortunately, it was not meant to be. The only thing you get are sparse subtitles that don't even cover the fighting banter. I suppose people who are used to playing Japanese games won't mind this, but as a pure close minded Westerner, it did place a barrier between me and the game.
Apart from that fact, I had a blast playing this title. The premise is very simple and the execution straight forward. You get to play either a story mode or individual matches. Either way, it is just basically fighting with no cut scenes, not much dialogue or any superfluous options you might find in a Mortal Kombat or Dead or Alive type game. This can be a good thing or a bad thing. What I loved about Dead or Alive and Mortal Kombat's story modes is that they had specific, beautiful cut scenes that helped the story along and gave fights meaning. However, do you really need meaning when playing a fighting game? Nitroplus Blasterz has the fighting without the fuss. This means that the game is easy to pick up to have some good old fun. And I did.
The gameplay is straight forward and even though some of the adversaries are challenging, you can quickly get better and perform really cool stylish attacks. The latter were very specific depending on your chosen character, which was neat. The characters' choice is varied but not overwhelming. You have to know that all the characters are female though, which obviously appealed to me! GIRL POWER! I only ever pick girls in fighting games so I was really happy with all the different choices I had here. I would easily play every single one of them. I am sure the characters will also appeal to boys, indeed, they are all very anime pretty! They will have great significance to fans of the genre since the girls are from various novels, manga and anime. I was happy to be able to choose between loads of different colors for my characters' costumes. This is a minor detail but I always felt frustrated when I had to win I don't know how many matches to be able to unlock Kasumi's new outfit. That's how shallow I AM!
This fighting game will very much appeal to people familiar with the genre but I wasn't and I still had a good time with it. It's easy to pick up, fast, pretty and entertaining, pretty much everything I want from a fighting title. Have you tried it? what did you think?
I give it a 4/5 cats (ignore the dude in the back)
Was there something missing from my grown ass woman's house walls? You bet there was: a Dragon Age Tapestry!
Bioware just came out with this new #amazing feature for the Dragon Age Keep: printing your own tapestry. I realize, as I am typing this sentence, that it is not OK for a 28 year old to write this. It wouldn't make any sort of sense to any normal person out there. However, it does to us Bioware crazies and addicts and super fans.
I have already voiced my love for Dragon Age's distinct aesthetic and beautiful recognizable drawings and they have made these available in the past through their store. Today though, they make it possible for fans to print their very own story and very own art. I mean #mindblown.
To me, Bioware already signified engagement, individual and personal stories and visceral attachment to my customized world, but today, they took it to the next level. Most people will not see the appeal or the significance I do in this small feature. But to me, this is Bioware staying Bioware, and it means a lot in the wake of Mass Effect Andromeda's release later this year. Dragon Age Inquisition has come and gone but they keep bringing these little tokens to us, immersing us consistently in the universe and bringing the universe into our real (sucky compared to DA) life. This is constant, sweet and welcomed fan servicing at its best. I could go on and on about this but all there is to say is thank you Bioware for being the most awesome game developer of our time and keep being you forever and ever.
There was a nice amount of strong content this week. I had a
very hard time cutting it down! Fortunately for you, I am Editor
extraordinaire and also a genius so I managed to do it. I went the seasonal
route: Oscars, Presidential Race, UFC (there’s more than just the Oscars on
this weekend), Skiing. Done. Hopefully you haven’t seen all of them yet!
Week of 2/22 DiFi Videos
ENTERTAINMENT: A small channel got a lot of attention this
week as Huw Parkison released his video called “Winter
is Trumping”. His timing was pretty spot on, with all the Game of Thrones tease
and Trump’s wins, a lot of trades picked it up and this small little Australian
channel reached more than 1M views for the very first time. Awwwwwwww.
SPORTS: Most of us might be passionate about movies and TV and video games but it
doesn’t mean nothing else matters. There’s an important fight happening on
Saturday in London and the UFC YouTube channel is gearing up for it. I
love what they are doing with their original programming and this “UFC Fight
Night Embedded: Vlog Series” is the perfect format for both fans and casual
viewers:
SPORTS: Another seasonal sports’ video is taking over the Internet and
you can thank Candide Thovex for that. If you do not know who he is,
he’s one of the best freestyle skier in the world, sponsored by Quiksilver and
he is, of course, French! He has released the previous episodes in 2014 and
2015, with the second episode gathering more than 18M views. This is awesome,
exciting, fun YouTube content at its best.
ENTERTAINMENT: Finally, the main event! The
Oscars. There was no shortage of digital videos poking fun at the Oscars or
simply talking about the award ceremony this week. I have picked the two that
were the most popular, and in my opinion, the funniest. The first one is
obviously from John Oliver and the second one from Screen Junkies!
Here’s a little extra video only relevant to us animal lovers. The
others, I am not sure what’s bloody wrong with you you heartless shits…
NEWS:Quasi The Hunchback Hound has become a social media sensation over
the past few weeks and it was only a matter of time before his cute little head
popped up on YouTube.
My boyfriend of 7 years asked me to marry him last October and I was the happiest person on earth. I was so excited to finally get to plan my very own perfect day. Over the 7 years I have been with him, I have collected multiple idea boards and inspirations. And even though I knew I didn't want anything too cheesy and over the top, I knew I had to add personality to this special event.
The only two things my fiance and I share are our love for cats and video games. However, adding a touch of either these themes in a wedding can very quickly turn into a HUGE disaster. I first had to choose between the two and even though video games consume my soul and have such an important place in my life, I cannot deny my visceral and physical attachment to my cats. First of all, they're living beings. I appreciate the fact that Iron Bull and Shepard are basically part of me but I would throw away my console and all my games forever in a heartbeat if it meant having one minute with my cats. So the latter was chosen as the thread for our big day.
The theme is obviously not "cats". That would frankly be a little sad. The theme is basically country Americana: there's a lot of burlap and lace, mason jars, galvanized buckets, chalkboard, pies, grilled cheese sandwiches, all that stuff. However, little things were personalized to accommodate our passion for our furry babies. First, the ring pillows. We have custom made pillows with the drawing of our cats' faces on them. They're huge, they're definitely NOT ring pillows. But who cares. There so personal and funny. This is one item you can really go crazy on because it can really be anything. When the video game theme was still a possibility, I was looking at a controller pillow, that would have been cool too.
Another small item that doesn't look corny if you make it your own is the cake topper. You can do whatever you want with that. I saw an awesome topper that had two little people playing on a console, that was super cute. I went for wooden cats! There are four of them, two big and two small ones. They basically represent my fiance and I as well as our two kitties. This is perfect. Guest books are also another item couples can have fun with. It can and should be anything that you will keep in your home forever. We chose a cat shaped chalkboard. This is great because we'll be able to display it in our house and actually look at it for a long time. You can really get any shape you want so it's easy to match it to any theme or personal passion. The last item we used cats for are our favors. It was really really hard to find a cat themed favor. This would have been much easier to go with video games on this one! I ended up finding a small cat soap that is perfect. It also has an apple pie scent, which makes it the ideal gift for our wedding.
I wanted to share this with you because I love wedding planning but it sometimes gets very overwhelming and it makes me feel better to talk about it to someone other than my fiance. There's only so much wedding planning a man can handle!
This week, the Internet was ruled by Valentine's Day and Grammy feuds. Thankfully, only one of my videos feature the holiday and only one features an award show (this time the Oscars). Hope you have some time to watch these beauties!
Week of 2/15 Videos to Watch
COMEDY:CollegeHumor, no need to introduced those cheeky monkeys, published a new video calling out people who say they care about food waste (aka Angelinos).
CollegeHumor also produced a video for the Code/Media conference. It is both awesome and extremely relevant
GAMING: A small online video game went viral this week, even my co-workers played it. But most importantly PewDiePie rode the wave and did a video about it.
COMEDY: Unclaimed Youtube royality, Nigahiga, created a sweet Valentine’s day video about romantic gifts. In my opinion, these ideas can be used year around for birthdays and Christmas so it is still relevant a week after the holiday!
GAMING:Part of Collective Digital Studio, AndrewMFilms is an awesome channel for fans of both gaming and cool, quality videos. You might not know who the characters from Portal and Half Life are but you can still enjoy the film’s quality. If you like this video, browse their channel and don’t miss Fallout vs Skyrim or Mario vs Minecraft (45M views). AndewMFilms videos are often featured on Digital Spy and every single gaming site ever. Since everybody is now looking at the gamers as a desirable audience (see Hulu original, CW eSports etc.), you should pay attention J
Because this is what you do in LEGO Marvel Avengers, you build bridges. The first missions I played were basically one Avenger after the other having to build a bloody bridge for the other, more useless Avenger to use. I am going to read a very deep message of world peace and the meaning of cooperation and teamwork into these repetitive and painful missions.
Well, I suppose I did at least get to know what each of the characters could do and which one I needed to use for certain tasks. I did find this slightly unbelievable however, since everybody knows Iron Man can basically do EVERYTHING. I do not know why he would need the Hulk to bust a electric panel. This little LEGO trick to make you use all characters aside, I loved being able to play with all the Avengers and use their different attacks and skills. I believe my favorite special skill was Cap's ability to put out fires like a boss. This distracted me from every other quest and I just put out fires one after the other. 'Twas magical. If you are a fan of the franchise, this will truly be a treat - not the fires, the characters' specificity. You need to have loved Age of Ultron though, otherwise you will be doomed to relive every single scene of that movie again. Another trick LEGO reused from previous installment was the remix of original movies' voices to create the game's VOs. I didn't remember that they used the same artifice in the Lord of the Rings version but apparently they have been doing it for years. It was pretty neat anyway to hear the Avengers' real voices. However, I was able to recognize the scenes these sound bites were taken from, which made it slightly weird.
Regarding mechanics and gameplay, I did love the change in pace when flying Avengers took center stage. There was a sweet Iron Man sequence where I had to fly around shooting baddies and it was a lot of fun. The latter is sort of what I am expecting from a LEGO game. Unfortunately, I was pretty disappointed because somehow, the fun was limited and I always had to go through some annoying puzzles to get to the next fun bit. They were very unintuitive even for the serious gamer. Fighting my way through enemies and destroying everything as the Hulk was just freaking amazing. There is no denying that. However, having to find what I am supposed to do for 30 minutes and where to go and which character to use was just painful. I felt like I was in a Tomb Raider game without sexy Lara or a cool story. I do not want to invest time and/or brain power in a LEGO game, I just want it to be pure entertainment (unless it has some amazing original story and character development, somehow). I am not going to see a Marvel movie for a complicated plot I have to decipher. No. I am going to see a Marvel movie to be entertained. I am sure this game fares well with kids who have time to spare for puzzles but I personally will only find a puzzle worth my while if it is pushing the story forward or if I get a badass loot out of it. You get neither here. I am also very picky with my stories and I feel like rehashing something and using the same plot and visual is just plain lazy now. It's an easy cash grab for sure but the admiration I had for the business acumen is dwindling. Also, they just pop these out every 6 months, I am not sure how many LEGO games people are going to be able to keep on their shelves at this point. Apparently people were excited for LEGO Avengers since Superheroes was good but I feel like this one doesn't live up to the hype.
Have you guys ever played a LEGO game? Do you or kids like them? Did you like this Avengers version? Let me know!
I give the LEGO Marvel Avengers a 2/5 cats. (I am aware this is DC. Try and find two cats in a Marvel costume in the same picture, it's tricky AF)
I love fighting games. I cannot count how many hours I spent on Dead or Alive when I was 12. I loved the crotch to throat grab and the stairs kicks (made up names by me), those were the good days. I more recently had a blast with MKX, even though everybody kept killing me. I still came 3rd at my company's tournament but I have played online, I am not delusional. However, MKX totally got me back in that "fighting game" mindset that I sort of lost along the way and I was excited to see Street Fighter V at E3 last year. I got to play the Beta about 6 months ago too and based on that, I am never buying this game. I have to say, I don't think I have ever played a Street Fighter game, apart from maybe once at an Arcade when I was 9 and was bored of hitting the walls playing the racing games. Either car or bike, I am shit at both. I am, by no means, a fighting game connoisseur but I have played my fair share and I have strong opinions so I am going to say what I need about Street Fighter. No matter if they introduced new mechanics, they are still freaking useless. I cannot play this game for the life of me and even though they apparently wanted to make it easier to pick up for casual gamers, I am not sure they achieved it. At least, even if you were a complete novice at MKX, you could throw things like kicks and simple punches. Yeah, I tried that, didn't work so well in Street Fighter. The dude did NOTHING. Granted, I played the Beta, so perhaps I shouldn't even be writing this but when I saw that the game was out on Gamefly, I wanted to rant about it. And this is my blog, so I do what I want!
Also, what kind of graphics are those. Again, nostalgia, staying true to the franchise, blablabla. Sure. However, I feel like fighting games that look like cartoons have no appeal whatsoever. It's fair to say that realism is not all that matters to create a good fighting experience, otherwise I would be playing WWE every single day, but I like my badass fighters to be believable people. I would have been totally fine with the design if the mechanics and fluidity of the game were good. But they're not. It's ugly and clunky and slow and non fun. Apparently, the core of the game is not very exciting either and is mainly geared towards knowledgeable Street Fighter players who want to compete. Well, if they keep the franchise this way, it might die with those old Street Fighter players from 1987. How old are they now anyway?
Suffice it to say that I am not buying this game, I hate it, and as a lover of fighting games, I will go back to playing MKX tonight. I am not giving it cats because I don't really deserve to rate it as I have not played it but I had to rant. Have any of you already played the final version of the game? Is it less slow as fuck?
The Walking Dead lost me about 2 years ago. I still watched it because it is my sworn duty but I have to admit I fast-forwarded through most of the last few seasons. Why? Because I thought it was boring and had a case of the "Game of Thrones" disease. What is the Game of Thrones disease you ask? It is an ailment that plagues shows that should and could be extraordinary, but instead, are crowd pleasers without focus. Perhaps I am narrow minded, and if this blog ever proved anything, it's that I surely am, but I do not appreciate shows that follow a myriad of characters in twenty different locations. In my opinion, good shows have a character core and a home. That's it. I feel like The Walking Dead has been losing its focus in the past years and that's why I was fast-forwarding through the many side plot arcs. In the end, whole episodes totally seemed beside the point to me. My fault. I made a point of keeping away from the fast forward button for this mid season return. I lied, I fast forwarded the credits.
I think I made a point several posts ago that kids were the worst in apocalyptic situations and I think writers and directors alike love to taunt us with this. They find a sort of vicious pleasure in torturing us with stupid bloody kids all the time. They even ended a mid season finale with a kid being a mother fucking dumbass. That's how much they love it. This episode was basically an ode to the stupidness of children. Is it me or are kids the worst thing in this show? It's not just Sam and his moron brother, it's also Enid and Carl (back in the day). They're all such a liability, they always need a pep talk or they need to be protected or they become psychopaths. I guess this is super accurate to what teenagers and kids are in real life but I have to believe that in this screwed up world, there is at least one badass kid out there who can cope with this shit. A kid who said, fuck being a moody bastard, I am stepping up, taking karate lessons and I am going to survive this shit. I can't wait to meet this kid! When you see Rick and the group with the most children, you know. You know it is just a disaster waiting to happen. And it is! Sam, the most annoying kid on the planet is remembering what Carole said to him when she was trying to scare him. Of course. I am wondering at this point if it wouldn't be smarter to knock these kids out and carry them like little piggies. Sam clearly argued that he could keep going but of course he couldn't, he's a pussy. Talking about kids, when the priest puts Judith under his tarp, the most random thought crossed my mind - can you imagine having to do this with a cat or kitten under your poncho? This would be a nightmare, much like doing this with a baby. I would be dead in the apocalypse, dead trying to save all the animals and miserably failing.
So what happened with the adults in this episode? Well, they showed they rock! This episode was adults vs kids and we all know who won. They started this episode with Daryl kicking ass right left and center. There was so much tension and there were so many twists in the first scene, it was very well done. In that very short amount of time I was frustrated, amused, excited, scared and shocked. That was a great opening scene. I also very much enjoyed that bit of spirituality talk in the church where Glenn says "they're still here, because you're still here". I feel like apart from Daryl, Glenn is the character that grew the most in this show. At least in the right direction. He's such an awesome role model, I love him. I really hope he'll stick around for a little longer otherwise I will be super upset. Just like I was during that "Sam screws up - 10th Edition" scene. To me it's like watching a sports game and seeing my team lose. I just can't take it. It makes me so angry. That's why I have made the conscious decision of never being a fan of any team again. I guess that's why I have given up on The Walking Dead too. It's just too frustrating and I hate when things go sideways for characters that I like. I am a coward.
I loved that scene for so many other reasons too though. It was somewhat funny, if you have no empathy for kids whatsoever, like me. I also loved how it was very quick and surgical and you have to watch these people who are still standing and shocked and freaked out remain stoic and understanding that in this world, you cannot show emotion anymore. Survival depends on it and this scene is a great concrete representation of what this means. The pacing was great in this episode, obviously it is a mid season premiere so there's a lot of things going on and no time to slow down. However, something happened towards the end of this episode that made me go "YES! This is what I have been waiting for!". Everybody knows I am a fan of superhero movies, of people kicking ass and being powerful. I feel like The Walking Dead has been lacking this for a very long time. The group we are following are just letting the world happen to them and they're not really taking charge. In this episode, they did, in a massive and very uplifting way. Obviously, they were led there by badass motherfucking Rick. This is what I need from The Walking Dead, more badassery. More uplifting, powerful moments. "No one gets to clock out today". Hell yeah!
I haven't been disappointed in a movie I have dragged my ass to theaters for in a long time! The hype behind Star Wars: The Force Awakens was a lot bigger than it was for Deadpool, but still, you had expectations. They built the movie up so much with their incredible marketing and the plethora of short, very funny, clips they released. I knew I was in for a treat: Ryan Reynolds, superhero action, over the top, quirky comedy. This is everything I love.
However, after the first 5 minutes, I got slightly anxious as I couldn't quite adapt to the rhythm of the comedy and the flow of dialogue vs action. This is a very original, quirky movie and to be thrown in it was a little overwhelming for me at first. Thankfully, I got the hang of it after the first action sequence and I was hooked. There are many things that are just beautifully done in this film. The first is simply the writing. As they announced in the credits, the writers are the fucking superheroes of this movie. And that is very true. The dialogues were written to make you laugh, shock you, push boundaries and break codes of cinema. However, the performance by Ryan Reynolds was beyond brilliant too. He spends most of the movie behind a mask and manages to transmit emotions better than 80% of dramatic actors out there. The best thing about his performance was that those emotions were raw and truthful. He reacted just like any normal person would with very simple and primal expressions. I loved that about Deadpool. The random appearance and mention of Hugh Jackman/Wolverine was a treat. So was the reference to the studio not being able to afford more X-men.
Of course, all of these make for a super fun, extremely hilarious and exciting ride, but would have I enjoyed it as much should the movie had no substance? Perhaps it didn't have any. I mean, the premise was pretty basic and the story was quite cliche. However, two things, no three things 'saved' the narrative core of Deadpool. 1. the movie was not stretched out to be 3 hours long. It was the right amount of time to tell this story. 2. the flashbacks and original timeline made the story more interesting and complex. 3. the characters were all very interesting and fleshed out. I even cared whether the cab driver got the girl or not. In the end, it didn't really matter whether the story was complex or deep enough. We all paid to see a superhero movie and it might make it worse to try and convey a message with that sort of genre. Everything about Deadpool was beautifully violent and gory, hilarious and completely inappropriate, intimate and in your face. Please, do not take your kids to see this. Not because it's over the top violent or sexual, but because you will spend the whole movie trying to explain to them what "it's the only thing pulling out tonight" means. I had the best time watching this film and I actually was wrong about the message. There's a deep message in Deadpool: don't leave your trash in the theater, it's a dick move. Also I didn't know unicorns were a thing, I am buying one tomorrow.
This is totally a 5/5 cats!
So most of the viral and digital videos this week were Super
Bowl commercials. URGH. I had to dig deep to find you these nuggets of gold.
You’re welcome.
Week of 2/8 DiFi Videos to Watch
ENTERTAINMENT:Trying to put their React World debacle
behind them, the Fine Bros (Fullscreen) released a new episode of
Kids React. They have a sub category of react videos that are for toys only and
this one is about Furbies!
This is why I love animals and hate kids (apart from the
little girl in the green shirt below, she’s going to rule the world someday,
she kind of looks like me from far away so she’s fine)
ENTERTAINMENT:As you all know, Youtube has launched an SVOD
service back in October and released the first batch of original programming
this week (among them is Scare PewDiePie: not good, believe you me). This is a
clip for their original feature film (by Rooster
Teeth - Fullscreen) called Lazer Team. Interestingly, the comments,
likes/dislikes and view count have been disabled on every Youtube Red
promotional videos. This was a very good idea.
NEWS/EDUCATION:Premium
Publishers and News sites are doing extremely well on Youtube these days. This
week, VOX had a very popular and relevant video out on the platform
about the NFL Yellow Line. Perfect timing and great reception for their most
viewed video since November.
ENTERTAINMENT:ScreenJunkies (DefyMedia) are obviously famous for their Honest
Trailers series but there are many other great videos produced by their team that
are less mainstream, or shall I say nerdier. Here is one for whoever is going
to see Deadpool this weekend and wants to know a little more about this
(awesome) character. I am going to the movies this weekend. I am dressing up as
Deadpoolette, it’s an actual thing.
TRAVEL: The French Embassy
would have scolded me should have I not shared this with you. This is an
episode of Laughs in Translation, a travel show hosted by comedian Brooks
Wheelan on the Above Average channel
(Premium Publisher). The latter has a lot of views but not many subscribers
even though the production quality is a lot higher than many of its competitors.
GAMING NEWS:You guys need to watch Mortal Kombat X: Machinima’s
Chasing the Cup on the CW Seed. This is such a great example of what TV and
MCNs can accomplish together. It also shows that gaming and eSports are
becoming a lot more mainstream and people are interested in the community a lot
more.There are clips
available on the CW Seed and extra content on each competitor. I am rooting for
BioHazard, he’s cute and sensitive, but he plays Ferra Tor so that shows a
grittier and manly personality. Who will be your favorite?
