100 Bullets

So the end has find come for one of the longest running Vertigo titles. I remember first reading a preview for 100 Bullets in Preacher, and I was quite unimpressed. However, I did give the series a chance once the third trade-paperback was released. I was hooked.

The characters were interesting, the art was great, lettering tight, and the colouring added to the film noir hard crime style of the story. What I didn’t realize was that the story only reads well if you take the time to read it all in one go.

There are simply too many characters that are too similar in personality and design. You have to keep track of 13 families of the Trust, 7 Minutemen, and all the extra gang characters while trying to remember who is who and what is that painting and why should I care?

Don’t get me wrong the story is great, but Brian Azzarello really painted himself into a corner with a 100 issue run. The series should have been about 70 issues. There is a lot that could have been cut out of the series that would have made the plot tighter and flow much better. While it is good the whole Counterfifth Detective bit could have been cut. I would also remove the majority of the juxtaposed gang stories (especially the one from the last story arc) and the first Jack Daw story.

I only ever bought trade-paperbacks, so that means there were breaks in-between when I last read anything about croatoa, Lono, or Mr. Graves. During this time you forget who is who and when old characters are re-introduced after 40 issues you strain to remember who they were, especially if they are drawn pretty much like everyone else.

Before writing this I read all 13 volumes over a two-week span. I remembered every character and got a lot more out of the series than I had previously, but not everyone will have the inclination to show such dedication to the craft.

If you are a fan of pulp crime as a genre you will love 100 bullets, but those of you who are not already a fan of the genre or Azzarello’s or Rizzo’s work may find the series inaccessible, tedious, and a bit of test.

Arcade Fight Stick

So I broke down and bought an arcade stick for the PS3. Don't worry, I did not buy the official $200 job from Madcatz, but I did find a nice bargain on Ebay for $35. I am sure that the quality of stick makes a difference, but not when you don't really know what you are doing. Using the stick is supposedly a must have to truly master any fighting game. We'll see. So far I can tell you that I am nowhere near as good with the stick as I am with a normal PS3 controller. So mostly I have been frustrated that I have been losing a more than usual. I'll keep you posted on how I am doing and if a fight stick is worth your cash.

Street Fighter IV

I remember the first time that I played Street Fighter II; it was the fall of 1991 at a local arcade and my friend obtained a definitive victory over my E. Honda with a fire-ball throwing, dragon-punch using Ryu. The game was so different from anything that I had ever played. There was such a variety of characters, moves, and potential outcomes, enough to keep a player busy for several dollars worth of quarters. It was, is, and ever will be the greatest fighting game of all time; the Citizen Kane of fighting games, if you will.

Needless to say I loved the game. I was even more excited when I could purchase the game for my SNES in the summer of 1992. Countless hours were spent with friends playing a SFII full of combos, cheap moves, and trash talk.

But with the infinite deluge of Super Street Fighter EX Alphas Beta Gamma Plus Final Strikes that came out after SSFII Turbo Capcom complete lost me. However, I was very excited to read reviews on Street Fighter IV. I was hearing that SFIV was just like 2, but with better graphics!

So I picked up a copy for the PS3, and let me say that I am impressed. The graphics are top notch, the play control is the tight scheme that we all know and love, and the additional moves (focus attacks) add some great depth to an already deep and complex game. If you loved Street Fighter II you will love this game.

That being said there are some issues that some fans might find difficult. The last boss, Seth, is completely impossible on any level other than very easy. The unlockables and trophies range from very easy to achieve (like unlocking all the characters) to ridiculous (I will never get the trophy for unlocking every title because I will never master every combo in challenge mode for every character). This is not the game for a platinum trophy-seeking perfectionist.

The online mode is where the game really shines. It is a lot of fun to face off against players from around the world. You might win, you might lose, but you will always be able to try new tricks or learn a new combo. You can play in a free mode (where players of all skill levels can play), or you can compete against people around your own skill level in Championship mode. I say around your own skill level because the various rankings can still have a wide range of skill abilities in them.

For example I am currently in the lowest category (G3) so I only face other people in the G3 level. You get 1 point for a loss and a range of points for a win (maybe 10-100). But the G3 level is from 0-2000 points. So if I am starting out with my 0 point and I get to face the guy that has 1999 points I will probably lose. Once you get yourself the middle of the pack (900 or so points) you will have a better sense of being able to win with some regularity. I can only imagine that it is even worse in G2 as that level runs from 2001 points to 15000 points. So if you are awful and loose 2000 times in a row you will be bumped up into the G2 level and killed over and over again (however, if you lose 2000 times in row you should just give up and sell this game anyway).

If you are a fan of fighting games buy this game now! You will not be sorry. If you only sort of like Street Fighter I would recommend waiting until the game goes greatest hits. There is also some downloadable content in the form of extra costumes, but shame on Capcom for charging for them. Some of them are great (I especially like how Zangief can wear Hagar’s costume from Final Fight), but an extra $14 on top of a $70 game is a kick in the teeth. Content like extra costumes should be unlockable in game, or at the most $5.

E3 2009

So another E3 has come and gone. Here is a list of stuff that I was pretty excited about. What did you think was noteworthy this E3?

New Super Mario Brothers Wii

Kingdom Hearts 358/2

Tales of Monkey Island

Mario and Luigi: Bowser’s Inside Story

Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker

Mario VS Donkey Kong: Minis March Again

God of War III

Boy and his Blob

Final Fantasy XIII

Resident Evil PSP

Metroid: The Other M

Soul Calibur: Broken Destiny

Professor Layton and the Diabolical Box

Castlevania: Lords of Shadow

Dissidia

Legend of Zelda: Spirit Tracks

The Last Guardian

Super Mario Galaxy 2

Time Travel and The Terminator

I know that you must suspend your disbelief during any type of time travel story, but the Terminator movies make it really hard by throwing paradoxes right in your face. I abhor a paradox, and therefore have tried to explain time travel in the Terminator movies in this way:

1. At some point Sarah Conner meets someone else and has a baby, John Conner. The father is not Kyle Reese. This John Conner still becomes the leader of the resistance and as he is about to deliver the final blow to Skynet in 2029, discovers the plan to send a T-800 back in time to kill his mother, he sends Kyle Reese back to protect her.

2. Reese going back changes the timeline in 2 ways: first, he is now the father of John Conner, and, second, Cyberdyne now has the hand from the original T-800 to speed up its work.

3. Now there is a different John Conner who is trained by his mother to lead the resistance, but, as Terminator technology has advanced significantly, Skynet has built a T-1000 by the time John Conner is about to win, again in 2029, and sends it back in time to kill John as a teenager. John sends a reprogrammed T-800 back to protect himself. Miles Dyson helps them destroy his work, this slows down Judgement Day, but does not stop it, as Cyberdyne would have some info backed up offsite and the Airforce takes over. But this does alter the timeline enough that John does not win in 2029 but later in 2032.

4. After John has defeated the robots and he is killed by a T-800, his wife finds out that, though defeated, Skynet tries one last effort by sending the T-X back in time to kill as many of the Resistance leaders as possible. The T-X fails because Conner's wife reprograms the T-800 that kills John and send it back to protect John and the leaders in the past. The T-X is defeated, but Judgement Day cannot be averted as Skynet is satellite software and cannot be shut down.

5. Terminator Salvation takes place in 2018 before John Conner (son of Sarah and Kyle) manages to get the upper hand on the robots; however, we must assume that John Conner is a significant enough thorn is the side of the robots that they feel the need to kill him now. In another 9 years John will be about to win, send a Kyle back, send the T-800 back and then 3 years later he will win, die, and his wife will send the T-800 back.

6. The Terminator timeline ends with the machines defeated but John Conner as a martyr.

So the events would look something like this:

1984 - John Conner born

1991 - Cyberdyne building blown up, Air Force takes over research

2004 - Judgement day (pushed back from 1997)

2018 - events of Terminator Salvation

2029 - Kyle Reese sent back, 2 T-800s and T-1000 sent back

2032 - Machines defeated, T-800 sent back after killing John Conner, T-X sent back

It is not a perfect explanation but it is the best one I could come up with.

Nosferatu - Black Sabbath Style

The Web can be a funny place; one day you are surfing for the newest in pop culture phenomena, the next day you discover a fascinating labour of love. 

Much respect goes out to a bloke named Neil Swint; he has painstakingly given the 1922 silent horror classic Nosferatu a score using Black Sabbath music. 

I encourage you all to check it out here.  You will be amazed at how well the song selection complements each scene choice and you can see the care taken on this project. 

Punch Out (Wii)

We all have a favourite something that can instantly take us back to childhood. Maybe it is a smell, or a movie, or a favourite food that reminder you of when you were ten. For me it is the thought of Mike Tyson’s Punch-Out. Punch-Out was one of the first games I had for the Nintendo Entertainment System (the other being the Mario/Duck-Hunt combo) and it still is one of my favourites. The character design was great, the controls perfect, and the challenge could go from pathetically easy (Glass Joe) to impossibly difficult (Tyson himself).

So it was with great enthusiasm that I purchased the new Punch-Out for the Nintendo Wii. Being a huge fan of the series, I was cautiously optimistic when approaching this “remake”. The game features 14 different fighters: 12 from Punch-Out and Super Punch-Out, 1 new character (Disco Kid), and one unlockable character. I was surprised at the inclusion of only 1 new character. If you are going to bother with new blood in a game series why would you only create 1 new face? It may have been better to use all known faces or add 2 or 3 more new ones.

The control scheme is either motion controlled (nunchuck and remote) or the normal way of playing video game (remote held sideways. The motion control method is good for a laugh; it is clunky, tiring, and apparently a prerequisite for any first-party Wii game, but you can’t actually play the game properly using these controls. Try it out once or twice and then switch to the way that most people play videogames.

The normal controls are great with a tight scheme and quick response, drawing from both Mike Tyson’s Punch-Out and Super Punch-Out and taking the best of both games. Stars are much harder to come by and require a trick to acquire them. They can be saved up so you can do a 1, 2, or 3 star punch with incremental levels of strength. This adds some variation on speed knockdowns and trick TKOs which fans of the series will appreciate.

There are 3 game modes: career, title defence, and last stand. In career mode you face 13 other fighters to gain all the belts. In defence mode you must defend your championships against the 13 fighters again. This is a great addition as every fighter is much harder than their championship mode counter-part (even Glass Joe is tricky at first). The final mode is a sudden death type mode where after 3 losses you quick. It is only notable for helping you unlock the hidden character.

If you are a veteran of the series you will have no problem with career mode (I actually finished it in within the first day of playing), but you will find they real game begins in title defence mode. Those who have never played a Punch-Out game before and have no sense of the timing required to stop the Bull Charge will find the career mode enough of a challenge.

At a $60 CAN price-tag they aren’t giving the game away, but Punch-Out fans will get $60 worth of fun out of this one. For those of you who have never played a Punch-Out game before I would suggest renting or waiting until it hits the $30 mark.