Archive

News

Teenage Mutant Ninja ALIENS!?

March 31, 2012
Castle Co-Op, Film, News
Leave a Comment

A review article written for Castle Co-Op, a website dedicated to Film, TV, Music and Culture – Published  30-03-2012

No exact details can be elicited from the groggy haze that obscures my childhood memories; however most can be pieced together thanks to a few distinct artefacts that have collated as the remnants of the good ol’ toy box. Amongst these relics of a lost generation full of 90’s pop culture nostalgia, three distinct franchises are immediately bought to the foray – Transformers (and the spin-off series Beast Wars), The Mighty Morphin’ Power Rangers and the lean, mean, and green heroes in a half-shell, the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.

Over the past week, there has been quite a discussion amongst the online community commenting on the stream of information regarding Michael Bay’s live-action venture to reboot the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle (TMNT) franchise for a contemporary audience.

In a statement made by Bay, he claims when they’re done with this movie (slated for 2013 release), kids will find the turtles to be tough, edgy, funny, and completely loveable. This isn’t necessarily news until Bay drops the bomb – “these turtles are from an alien race” – that causes the surging uproar from fans. And to cap it all off, the turtles may not even be teenagers.

I don’t know about you, but a little part me just died.

For the pedantic fans among us, this concept actually doesn’t stray too far from the original creators’ vision (seeing as Bay has enlisted one of the co-creators Kevin Eastman to develop the script), as the infamous TCRI retromutagen ooze that mutated our reptilian quartet was alien technology manufactured by the Utroms – an interesting revelation for the ignorant masses clamouring to burn Bay at the stake for his heinous crimes.

Criticism has spread wide as Robbie Rist, the voice of Michelangelo in the original trilogy, posted a letter to Bay claiming the filmmakers was “sodomizing” the much beloved franchise with his alien approach. On the other hand, Rist’s co-star Brian Tochi who voiced Leonardo is outspokenly supportive of Bay taking creative reign on the turtles’ origins.

Personally, this axiomatic indifference has not changed my opinion about altering the very foundations of the turtles’ source material deemed sacrosanct by devout fans (the same opinion on the Mass Effect 3’s ending furore). The same fans who’d cry blasphemy at any alteration to turtles’ origins, pure and simple.

Perhaps this criticism is a bit unwarranted as nothing palpable has emerged from this project, so who knows. I’m now very much invested in this new project and eager to see what becomes of the franchise. Michael Bay has already tackled one of my cherished childhood memories with a live-action screen adaptation to some degree of success – perhaps he can do it again.

Personally from a development standpoint, I’m fond of the idea to transition back to live-action turtles like in the original trilogy. Enough of this stylised CGI nonsense and revert back to the old school costume design from Jim Henson’s Creature Shop.  If not for my own selfish nostalgic previsions of reliving the second live-action TMNT film, The Secret of the Ooze – to wit I still have major logistical gripes about the ending to lament.

However if we are to take internet rumour as gospel, development is poised to take the live-action as cue for turtle-suits with post-production digital faces ala Where the Wild Things Are. However with the somewhat overused CGI dominating feature films, I’d find it refreshing to see more practical costume design and consideration at play, similar to the likes of the Iron Man, Pan’s Labyrinth, Hellboy and the previous live-action TMNT films.

With all the script alterations aggravating devout fans, this redux has been meagrely dubbed Ninja Turtles, immediately loosing half of its iconicity in the title alone. Considering the current climate of our film culture – for the purpose of updating for a contemporary audience – is this deviation from established fiction acceptable practice or are we merely victim of Bay’s creative vanity as a vice?

Diablo III Has A Release Date … Without PvP

March 16, 2012
PC, News
Leave a Comment

In breaking news; Blizzard, a developer notorious for playing with their release schedule close to the vest has now come out with an official release date for the next anticipated Diablo instalment.

Finally, fans of the action RPG dungeon crawler can now pre-purchase a digital copy from Battle.Net right now in preparation for when the servers go live on May 15. Or you can purchase the physical copy from your favourite purveyor of gaming paraphernalia. For die-hard fans of the series, the Collector’s Edition is crammed full of desirable loot.

  • Diablo 3 PC/Mac Game
  • Behind the scenes DVD and Blu-Ray Two Disc Set
  • Collectors Edition Soundtrack
  • The Art of Diablo 3
  • Diablo Skull and 4GB USB Soulstone
  • Diablo 3 Aesthetic Artifacts (in-game)
  • World of Warcraft pet (in-game)
  • StarCraft 2 Battle.net Portraits (in-game)

Overall I’m excited by this news, and am going to re-think my opinion about the gaming release schedule in the month of May. However this joyous news is somewhat marred by the omission of PvP. Whilst not a game changer for myself – I personally enjoy partied dungeon crawling – but I can see this as a turn-off for some gamers who delight in slaying another players.

Also, this release for the PC/Mac does raise questions about a possible console release. It’s no secret that Blizzard have been tinkering with the idea to release the game on home consoles, hence this announcement has surreptitiously side-stepped the issue. Throughout 2011, Blizzard was actively trying to recruit specialist for their respective home-consoles. At Gamescom, Blizzard’s lead designer Josh Mosqueira said the company was “very, very serious about bringing the Diablo 3 experience to the console” and was “trying to build the best console team.” Even going so far at BlizzCon to say Diablo III ”actually feels better on the controller.”

Blizzard’s mantra with release dates have always been: ‘we won’t release a game until we think it’s ready’ – so announcing a release date with such fervor can only elate the hearts of many waiting fans, myself very much included.

The Internet Wins – SOPA and PIPA Postponed Indefinitely

January 25, 2012
Castle Co-Op, Internet, News
Leave a Comment

The first article of 2012 for Castle Co-Op, a website dedicated to Film, TV, Music and Culture – Published 24-01-2012

With the current state of SOPA and PIPA all but dead – or postponed indefinitely – this is a good chance to close out this controversial topic ignited by the internet illiterate and the technologically challenged members of the current U.S Congress. By no means do I take authoritative license to detail the very long and poorly drafted proposed legislation – but as with everybody who writes for a blog or website, I feel emphatically obligated to inflict my opinion on the web as a concerned citizen who doesn’t want Americans fucking around with the internet.

 “To promote prosperity, creativity, entrepreneurship, and innovation by combating the theft of U.S property, and for other purposes”- Bullshit!

SOPA and its lesser form PIPA was the cancerous vein poised to disperse a malodorous miasma under a guise that protects the copyrights of American corporations. The ambiguous definition of rouge and foreign sites, the lack of any due process and the terrifying DNS blacklisting was the detrimental issues to freedom of speech and undermines online innovation. This bill isn’t a surgical procedure to eliminate the pirated content but a blatant nuclear strike on the very foundations of the internet.

Thanks to the support of numerous websites and individuals signing online petitions, calling their local congressman and generally raising awareness of this heinous act, the bill (that was to be voted today 24/01/2012) has been postponed indefinitely. The real decisive blow was the January 18th blackout to imitate the DNS blocking provisions of SOPA. The blackout of Reddit, Wikipedia and an additional 7000+ websites resulted in many former supporters in Congress now opposing the legislation. This tracking image says it all.

Inundated with other priority topics concerning budgetary quandary, high unemployment, questionable health care, unease in the Middle East and the ubiquitous environmental issues to address, why is the U.S Congress concerning themselves with a slew of 14 year old girls posting copyrighted music videos of Justin Beiber on YouTube?

What amazes me is the hypocrisy and sheer deluded sense of grandeur the U.S lobbyists have to claim rightful jurisdiction over the internet despite violating the cornerstone of the American Constitution; the First Amendment’s right to Freedom of Speech.

The only ones unaware of SOPA are the ones unaffected by it, however the overreaching nature of this legislation potentially kills off any future innovations of the next technological marvel; an enigma fostering in the minds of the next generation.

In truth online piracy is not the biggest threat to American corporations and their copyrighted intellectual properties. Even so, it is proven that censorship similar to the Great Firewall of China is not the solution. By providing consumers with a superior method of obtaining products through searching, downloading and streaming services is a far better alternative to combat online piracy – it’s the reason iTunes, Hulu, Netflix and Amazon Instant Stream aren’t huge American failures.

SOPA and or PIPA is not the current iteration of this idea to censor copyrighted material, nor will it be the last as RIAA, MPAA, ESA and the fossils in Congress (with the average age of members encroaching 70 years of age) prepare another stupid acronym that will threaten a free and open internet. With the battle over and the war continuing, it’s a pleasure to congratulate everyone who raised awareness and protested en mass as SOPA and PIPA take a decisive arrow to the knee.

VGA’s announce ‘The Last of Us’

December 20, 2011
News, PlayStation
1 Comment

The 2011 Spike TV VGA (Video Game Awards) has provided gamers with quite a few surprising and memorable moments to cap off the year. No, the results of the VGA’s were anything but surprising with Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 taking out the best FPS (first-person shooter) title, The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim earning its place as the best RPG (role-playing game) and Uncharted 3 revered as the best PlayStation 3 title by veteran developers Naughty Dog.

What did come as a surprise were the rumoured announcement for upcoming title The Last Of Us, developed by none other than the recent award winning studio Naughty Dog.


Image Source: Naughty Dog

This reveal was hinted a week prior with some teased screenshot of an incredibly realistic image of lush foliage and a desecrated newspaper dispenser with the print heading ‘The Last Of Us.’ Coupled with some viral videos we see humanity at the crossroads of anarchy hinting at some post-apocalyptic game and a strange video of ants, sending the community abuzz with vivid speculation.

Speculation mounted as to which first party developer would be making The Last of Us, but Naughty Dog was the by far the best contender with fans discovering a hidden Easter Egg in the opening chapter of Uncharted 3. After the London bar brawl, tucked away in the corner was a newspaper with the heading ‘Scientists are Still Struggling to Understand Deadly Fungus.’ Being a PlayStation exclusive, it was highly expected, yet equally surprising that PlayStation first-party developer Naughty Dog has had this game in production for two years with the websites domain name up for about five years.

The official Sony press release touts the game as a genre-defining experience that blends survival and action elements to tell a character driven story about a population decimated by a modern plague. In the debut trailer we are introduced to the story’s protagonists Ellie, a young teenage girl who is ‘wise beyond her years’ and Joel, the middle-aged man described as a ruthless survivor on a journey across the remnants of the United States. Both characters seem combat capable with Joel brawling with another survivor and Ellie casually whipping out a switchblade with uncomforting ease. With the current cast of clichéd characters – similar to the ‘brains and brawn’ combination of Trip and Monkey seen in Enslaved: Odyssey to the West – it will be interesting to see how Naughty Dog aims to provide a compelling story to have players invest in the lives of the protagonists, a skill in which this developer is already well versed.

With information scarce on the actual gameplay elements, the teasers and debut trailer instead opts to provide gamers with the back-story of the game. Very much in the spirit of ‘I am Legend,’ the debut trailer reveals the hollow husk of humanity slowly yielding as Mother Nature aims to reclaim its dominance over the world. The exposition as narrated by Ellie at the end of the trailer reveals enough information to assume this modern-day plague is in full effect – with the fallout of the epidemic clearly evident – so most likely the narrative of these two survivors will pick up well after the global catastrophe has taken hold.

“This is our routine, day and night, all we do is survive, it never lets up, he tells me how these streets were filled with people going about their daily lives”

Savvy internet and nature documentary enthusiasts have already established the original ant teaser footage was appropriated from a BBC documentary looking at the fungus known as Cordyceps that infects the brains of ants with spores visibly growing from the brains of the infected. Juxtaposing this information with the enemies revealed in the trailer dubbed ‘the infected’ reveal anthropomorphic creatures with protrusions emanating from their heads (or brains), as their supposed humanity has been taken over with savage animalistic tendencies.  Kudos to Naughty Dog for revealing the enemies in their debut trailer and it begs the question what other permutations will players encounter, especially if the plague is not limited to humans.

Analysing the footage of the debut trailer, we can see that it was all rendered within the game engine (not a pre-rendered FMV) and is most likely the same one used for Uncharted 3. The characters were definitely a product of Motion Capture animation of the actors supplying the voice of Ellie and Joel based on Naughty Dog now in possession of an in-house Mo-Cap stage and a team of writers and developers dedicated to providing rich character driven stories with cinematic flair, the same strategy used in the Uncharted series to resounding success.

Image Source: Naughty Dog

My predictions of the franchise will most likely be third person – evident by looking back at all of Naughty Dog’s releases titles from the original PlayStation era – with co-op and online multiplayer definitely an option. With no release schedule or information about the genre of the game, it’s somewhat difficult to convince myself entirely to invest in the series but I have imbued full trust in Naughty Dog to provide players with not just another stock-standard zombie-esque survival game with anticipation insatiably high for more news about this upcoming title.