What I would have done differently in Star Wars: The Last Jedi

What I would have done differently in The Last Jedi (WARNING: some shameless fan theory insertion can be found within, I admit):

1.      Opening Dreadnought battle – mostly the same. Would have removed the cringe “yo momma” joke with Poe and General Hux. Also would have made the Resistance bombers have bombs reminiscent of Y-Wing bombers rather than the bombs we saw in this film. Would have avoided the “where is the gravity?” criticism in this case.

2.      Ahch-to – rather than Luke’s slaptick “throw the lightsaber over the shoulder” bit, I would have had his hand shake and he simply drops the lightsaber at his feet. Would have given the same impact of showing us Luke’s shame as a failed Jedi mentor without the annoying slapstick way of going about it that we got.

3.      Kylo Ren and Snoke Throne Room scene – First thing’s first, I’m going to come right out and say that I think Snoke should have been Darth Plagueis. There, I said it. I think it would be a good way of tying together all three trilogies without meddling with the new characters and concepts of this trilogy.

a.      In this scene, we get some hints that Snoke is Plagueis without him overtly saying it. He says something like “after decades of biding my time, I’ve finally taken my rightful place” or something along those lines. Also, after he angers Kylo Ren and Kylo nearly attacks him and is repelled by Snoke, Snoke says something like “I’ve been killed by an apprentice once before, it won’t happen again!” as a nod to Palpatine/Sidious “killing” him the first time. None of this dialogue has to be him flat out saying that he is Plagueis, but this dialogue hints it enough to us while also giving general audiences insight into Snoke’s backstory.

4.      Kylo Ren Bombing Bridge scene – I would remove the Leia floating through space bit entirely. It was silly and unnecessary, in my opinion. Instead, Leia using her brief force connection with her son to warn Admiral Ackbar to put power to forward shields. When Kylo’s wingmen fire on the bridge, the torpedoes are repelled thanks to Kylo hesitating to kill his mother, and Leia using that to her advantage. This scene also still serves to show us that Kylo is still conflicted since he could not kill his mother.

5.      Admiral Holdo/Leia – Would have removed Admiral Holdo entirely, or given her a much smaller role in the movie as just an officer of Leia’s. I found her emphasized role in the movie to be obnoxious and her character serves no purpose other than to push a misplaced and misguided “men vs women” narrative that just didn’t belong here. Sorry, that’s just the way I felt. Instead, Poe begins to quarrel with Leia herself throughout the movie and Leia is not unconscious for half the movie. She tells Poe her plan to keep retreating while broadcasting for help, and he disagrees with her, wanting to stop the First Order fleet somehow.

6.      Canto Bight – would have removed this entire storyline. It sucked and no one liked it. I’m just saying what everyone pretty much felt. Instead, Finn, Rose and BB-8 sneak aboard Snoke’s flagship much sooner in the film (using Rose’s hacking expertise rather than DJ’s). If the director wanted Benicio del Toro in the film that badly, they can just make him a Resistance or First Order officer or something. Otherwise, DJ doesn’t need to be in this. I personally didn’t care for the character that much, as with the entire Canto Bight thing.

7.      Finn/Rose – rather than Canto Bight, Finn and Rose’s storyline in this film takes place primarily on Snoke’s flagship. This makes for something of a covert, Death Star-style mission/adventure where they are in disguise, sneaking past guards, encountering various obstacles etc. I would also use this storyline as an opportunity to give us more of Captain Phasma.

8.      Captain Phasma – she encounters Finn and Rose during their hacking mission much earlier in the film. This leads to a sort of cat & mouse chase and confrontation throughout the ship, as Phasma ruthlessly stalks for Finn and Rose. We also get some more insight into her past interactions with Phasma and Finn while he was a Stormtrooper under her, through Phasma’s dialogue here. This dialogue could suggest that her harsh methods as an overseer were meant to make Stormtroopers like Finn strong and unyielding, but they just ended up pushing Finn too far. Phasma’s death can then be the same on that we got, but it would actually mean something and feel impactful this time around since we would actually get more than 30 seconds of her in the movie this time.

9.      Luke’s Jedi Temple Backstory – maybe rather than Luke contemplating killing Ben Solo when he feared that he was turning to the dark side, he confronts him. Ben Solo was growing attached to one of Luke’s other Jedi students, and Luke feared that this would be an almost identical turn to the dark side like his father’s (loving and then losing Padme etc). Luke perhaps reprimands him for this, leading to Ben beginning to mistrust him as a teacher. Meanwhile, Snoke had already reached out to Ben through the force and began to pour poison into his ear, twisting Ben’s mind and convincing him that Luke would try to destroy him. When Luke goes to try to make amends, Ben reacts defensively and collapses the hut on top of him. The female Jedi student who Ben is in love with witnesses this and tries to calm Ben down and he accidentally kills her in his rage, leaving him distraught. Blaming Luke for this, he destroys the Jedi school.

a.      Luke blames himself for this because, despite him growing wiser over the years, he comes to the realization that he made the same mistake that the original Jedi did with his father regarding his relationship with Padme. On Ahch-to, he found records of the original Jedi not detaching themselves from emotions such as love and passion etc. He concludes that rejecting these notions made things worse, making it easier for Palpatine to turn his father to the dark side and take control, just as he accidentally allowed Snoke to do with Ben Solo.

10.   Rey’s Mirror Vision – rather than the annoying fake-out that we got in this film, Rey instead does see her parents. As Kylo said in the film, they are nobodies, and we as the audience do not recognize them, but this will become more clear later. However, Rey does realize as she always secretly suspected, that her parents were nobodies and is distraught by this.

11.   Snoke Throne Room Scene – it is revealed here that Snoke/Plagueis “created” Rey by influencing the Force to produce the ultimate Force prodigy, just as he did with Anakin Skywalker decades earlier. So even though Rey was born to irrelevant junk trader parents on Jakku, she was created by the Force through Plagueis’ meddling. Plagueis also reveals to her that Luke initially wished to take her from Jakku years earlier, when he was looking for Force-sensitive children for his Jedi school but ended up rejecting her when he realized just how powerful she truly was. This is why Rey saw the vision of that ship flying away from her as a little girl on Jakku, during the flashback montage in TFA.

a.      Plagueis/Snoke expects Rey to join with him since he considers her his Force progeny, but he is rejected by her. She tries to turn Kylo Ren to the light side as she did in the film.

b.      Plagueis/Snoke gives Rey her lightsaber back, and forces either Rey or Kylo to kill the other, or he will kill both of them.

c.      Kylo is about to ignite his lightsaber, but he does the same trick he does in the film, with Snoke/Plagueis’ red lightsaber on the throne next to him (the same lightsaber Palpatine/Sidious used in Revenge of the Sith, as a nod to Palpatine taking it from him after he “killed” Plagueis).

d.      Plagueis/Snoke is cut in half and then Kylo Ren and Rey fight the Praetorian guards the exact same way they did in the film.

12.   Admiral Ackbar – Admiral Ackbar was initially convinced by Poe that Leia is not making the right decision. But Leia convinces them about Crait and regains their trust in her leadership. Ackbar is the one who elects to stay behind to make amends. When the shuttles are targeted by the First Order like in the film, it is Ackbar rather than Holdo who crashes his ship into the First Order flagship. This, I feel, is a fitting end to the character, with Ackbar saving lives and going down with his ship.

13.   Throne Room Aftermath – rather than Kylo becoming the new Supreme Leader, he and Rey briefly fight for control of Anakin’s lightsaber and it is cut in half. Afterward, with the flagship falling apart, Rey has escaped to the Falcon using an escape pod and Kylo regains consciousness and escapes aboard his Tie Silencer.

14.   Snoke/Plagueis is “Reborn” – General Hux and several of his officers enter the throne room and fight it empty. Snoke’s lightsaber is beside his throne, his black crystal ring and his robes are piled on the ground, as Snoke’s body has disintegrated. General Hux, distraught at the supreme leader’s death, picks up the black crystal ring. Snoke/Plagueis then speaks through Hux’s mind and possesses General Hux’s body. This hints that Plagueis is now an ethereal being who cannot become one with the Force when he dies, because the Force itself rejects him due to his evil and his frequent attempts to defile the Force. With his previous body destroyed, he inhabits Hux’s body. And when Hux speaks, Snoke/Plagueis’ voice is spoken from his mouth. The other First Order officers bear witness to this, and recognize Snoke, using Hux’s body, as their supreme leader. This also provides a bit of irony; Hux has always been a bit of a brown-noser and ass-kisser when it comes to wanting to please Snoke. It would be ironic how Snoke/Plagueis "rewards" Hux's loyalty by taking possession of his body and completely stripping him of his free will.

15.   Battle of Crait – mostly the same, but rather than getting the cringe line from Rose about “fighting for love” and having her simply push Finn’s speeder out of the way, she is the one who sacrifices herself in order to prevent Finn from doing the same. This would have given enough to shock the audience without taking away from Finn’s attempted heroism, and allows him to stay alive to do more in episode 9. This, in my view, is better than the terrible scene we got and would have made Rose’s story arc feel more satisfying and less of a joke, frankly.

16.   Luke on Crait – Luke faces off IN PERSON rather than as a Force projection against Plagueis/Snoke (using Hux’s body), and rather than against Kylo Ren. Luke is also using his green lightsaber rather than blue. Kylo is not present during this battle at all. Plagueis/Snoke gloats that he has won, and that the galaxy already belongs to him and the First Order, but Luke insists that there is still hope for the galaxy to fight back. Leia and the Resistance escapes using Rey’s help as with in the film. An epic fight reminiscent of Voldemort vs Dumbledore in the 5^th Harry Potter film ensues, with Luke and Plagueis both throwing lightsaber blows and epic force abilities at each other. Plagueis, however, is victorious and stabs Luke. But Plagueis realizes too late that Luke was just buying time for Leia and the others to escape with help from Rey. Luke ominously tells Plagueis that the Jedi will not die with him. He looks off in the distance and sees the ghosts of Anakin, Yoda and Obi-wan. Luke smiles at them and then dies.

17.   End scene – Kylo Ren (who hasn’t been seen since the Throne room scene) is on Ahch-to. He is seen using the force to put his lightsaber back to together after having taken it apart. When he ignites the lightsaber, is glows white colored (similar to Ahsoka Tano’s white lightsabers from Star Wars rebels, indicating that she is neither Jedi nor Sith, but in the middle). The last shot of the film, is Kylo sitting atop the boulder that Rey was sitting on while training under Luke earlier in the film, looking at the twin suns off in the sunset.

How I think this would have been better than the version of TLJ that we got:

1.      Going into episode 9, it makes Kylo Ren a wild card, with all of us wondering what he is going to do? Will he oppose the Resistance still? Can he bring himself to join the Resistance considering how much harm he’s done to it, or will he choose to go against Snoke/Plagueis’ armies alone? Will HE come up with the secret to destroying Plagueis once and for all?

2.      It gave the original trilogy leads (Luke, Han, Leia) the sendoffs that they deserve. Han dies tragically in a pivotal character moment for Kylo Ren. Luke dies heroically, buying time for the Resistance and redeeming himself for his past failings in a way that isn’t just him doing a fancy projection trick from Ahch-to. Leia dies peacefully, surrounded by those in the Resistance who care for her (maybe have her funeral at the beginning of Ep 9, after a time jump).

3.      It gave more satisfying character background and moments to characters like Phasma, Snoke, Finn, Rose and Ackbar.

4.      It makes Rey come across as less of a Mary Sue, since there is a partial explanation as to why the Force chose her to be so powerful. It doesn’t fix all the issues that I frankly have with her character, but it fixes a few of them.

The New Deal vs Competing Capitalist Theories

Just as America has been a melting pot of many differing ideals, so too has there always been differing theories about how the economy and interrelation between the social classes should be organized. Economic capitalism, which has been a baseline economic system in the country harkening back to the deeply-rooted tradition of the Protestant Ethic. In theory, this economic system uplifts the American Dream by rewarding those who work hard to earn their wealth and their happiness. However, when systematic failures in the economy, such as the Great Depression, prevent this economic organization from working properly, it soon becomes a question of how wealth should be distributed to those who have been most impacted by a financial crisis and what the relation between the wealthy and the working classes should be and how wealth is distributed between them. Franklin Delano Roosevelt’s theories laid forth in the New Deal doctrines call for a distribution of wealth that allows for the working class and underprivileged to be provided for in times of need or crisis while maintaining the capitalistic spirit and promise of the American Dream. The New Deal theories are preferable to social Darwinist theories like those of William Graham Sumner and anti-capitalistic theories like those of Orestes Brownson, on the grounds that Sumner’s vision does not fully take into account unfair business practices within American capitalism while Brownson fails to juxtapose capitalism with an alternate economic theory that upholds the promise of the American Dream.

"The Queen's Burden" Novel Prologue

Prologue: Blueberries and Mutton

 

Plumes of smoke billowed and rose into the air, drifting and spiraling violently toward the clouds like many writhing worms emerging from nooks of dirt. The suffocating stench of death that came with the smoke permeated throughout the very air along with the smell of burning oak and wood as the forest itself was put to the torch. Above, between pillows of rising smoke, trees one by one became enveloped in orange as flames licked away at their coat of leaves, turning them into dead husks with burning twigs, before the flames spread to the adjoining tree and the process repeated itself.

Edric the miller had not seen such a horrid spectacle of flames in his fifty years of life.

The tall, burly miller stood back, watching flames scorch away a large blueberry bush where he’d gathered blueberries for his youngest daughter only the week prior. For just a brief moment, Edric pictured his daughter screaming and burning amid those leaves and berries just as the flames destroyed one of the meager things that had always brought her joy. The orange flames mirrored themselves upon the older man’s glistening grey eyes as he watched the bush die in fire, but the resilient miller willed himself not to let tears be shown.

The man who’d set the blueberry bushes on fire stepped back, pulling away his torch. The gaunt, grinning man with a stormcrow emblem upon his tabard turned to Edric, waving his torch nonchalantly while his other hand rested upon the hilt of the sword at his hip. The man’s grin showed thin, chiseled lips and highlighted his sunken-in, skeleton-like cheeks.

The armed man licked cracked lips. “Smell that, miller?”

When Science Fiction Gives Way to Science Nonfiction

Modern science and technology has allowed humankind to answer many of the questions that humans have been asking for years. While we now have a more thorough understanding of puzzling conundrums such as gravity and motion, for instance, there are certain questions that our scientific and technological prowess has not yet allowed us to answer. First and foremost, there are things that fall into the realm of supernatural and paranormal that have not yet been fully explained or answered by scientific study or academia. Since modern science is always in flux and changing, it is possible that new explanations may arise to support the existence of these supernatural or paranormal phenomena. For now, however, it is possible that certain phenomena may exist in our world or universe, even if we cannot yet see or explain them scientifically. Paranormal phenomena that science cannot yet give explanation to may be present in our world today.

Since my first foray into science-fiction pop culture, beginning with Star Wars and Ghostbusters, I’ve agonized over whether or not ghosts, witches, telepathy, aliens, and other supernatural and paranormal phenomena exist. After a long time fathoming over it, I’ve come to the conclusion that there is a high likelihood that these things do exist in our universe in some form or another. Believing in paranormal activity is not always easy since we humans want to put stock in tangible things that we can see, taste, touch, or give explanation to with science. However, just because our naked eyes may have never beheld something, does that mean that it absolutely doesn’t exist?

Is Digital Entertainment Overtaking Traditional Toys?

Movies and video games have become so widespread in recent years that they are practically becoming one of the most dominant forms of entertainment. Does this compliment the toy industry, or spell danger for it?

Hasbro, one of the largest and well-known toy companies, announced in a statement that they were to divert funding and focus onto their entertainment division of the company. With other toy-influenced films such as Battleship, Candyland and a G.I. Joe sequel set to be released, Hasbro for one seems intent on establishing an enterprise in digital entertainment, particularly after the success of such Hasbro entertainment films as the Transformers film series.

Though a general shift toward pushing digital entertainment may compliment toys themselves, it may also lead to a decline in purchasing and utilizing real, physical toys, particularly amongst children.

This reminded me of a commercial (the product of which I can’t remember) that I had seen recently in which a little girl uses her toy chest as a chair to sit at the computer and play an online video game. It made me realize that perhaps children had averted much of their creative interest from physical, tangible toys to visual stimulation in the form of movies, television and video games.

When I was a kid, my parents often tried to let me expand my creative horizon of my own accord, rather than confining me to common toys or franchises. When thinking of unique gift ideas, they did their best to balance visual entertainment with fun, creative toys that I could physically engage in. Instead of action figures, they bought me sets of assorted Lego pieces, which allowed me to build my own creations and personalize the toys according to what I enjoyed, rather than pushing mainstream, already assembled toys that didn’t expand personal creativity.

I think that although digital forms of entertainment are fun and should flourish on their own, they shouldn’t take the place of conventional toys that allow children and adults to expand their personalization and creativity. A balance should be struck in which both digital entertainment, and classic toys should be allowed to exist harmoniously, without one taking over the other.  

Siri: Is it a Threat to Search Engines?

The tech and social media world was abuzz with the release of Siri (Speech Interpretation and Recognition Interface) for Apple iOS devices last year. Siri is the app for Apple devices such as iPhones, which allows users to ask a question into the speaker of the device and Siri will interpret and answer the question.

This app has proven to be quite a useful one in the short time since its initial release in August, 2011. Apple and Siri inc. have programmed an unprecedented amount of information into this app and thus molded a personal electronic assistant that borders on super intelligent. This allows a nearly limitless range of questions to be correctly answered on the spot. If there is to be a spawning of an intelligent race of sentient machines as portrayed in Terminator or The Matrix, Siri just may well be its precursor.

Though this has become a reliable means of searching for answers, this growing app may pose a future threat to some of the largest social media search engines out there, such as Google and Bing. The ease and accessibility of merely asking a question into your phone and getting a reliable answer can arguably bode ill for the common search engines if Siri becomes more widespread.

Like Google and other search engines, Siri has the ability to adapt and be programmed with even more answers to questions. It will record questions asked and add them to its database so that it grows and becomes an even larger repository for information, questions and answers.

What may stall the rise of Siri and competition against Google and other search engines may be that Siri has only become available on the newest versions of iPhones and iOS devices. Since the app hasn’t been implemented into the older generations, it may not yet threaten the largest search engine databases.

Only time will tell if Siri will come to rival the largest search engines in years to come.

Call to Arms: Social Media Groups Can Rally People to Action

The growing phenomenon of social media, such as Facebook, has done far more than to merely entertain and connect various people. It can be observed that social media also has a way of enlightening people about controversial current events and inspiring scores of users to jump in and take a side on some of these issues and concerns.

Groups on Facebook and Twitter often serve as places for people who have a common interest to chat with each other about their shared interests. These groups can range anywhere from something mundane and satirical, to a group involving a shared interest in a particular movie or TV show.

However, as groundbreaking and ongoing events arise and circulate through social media, groups have subsequently arisen in response to these events. As a result, thousands or even millions of people will join these groups and pledge their support to different sides of these social issues.

A notable example of how Facebook groups have pulled in support from large numbers of users is with the growing support for the Stop Kony 2012 campaign that launched in March. With the release of the viral film, several Facebook groups spawned as a result, with each of them amassing thousands of new group members and “likes” from people who support the attempts to bring war criminal, Joseph Kony, to justice. 

Many people who were previously unaware of similar phenomena are not only informed and enlightened about them, but also inspired to take action and become involved. Though many people believe that there has been growing apathy when it comes to protesting social issues, these social media groups show that people may not be as apathetic as was first thought.

Social media groups are easy ways for people to get involved in pivotal current events without having to physically risk their physical well-being in actual protests. They have become popular motivators for a generation of people previously believed to be apathetic in social phenomena.

Lost in Translation: Digital Conversations Can Give Wrong Impressions

In this day and age, it is commonplace for us to link to and have conversations with friends and acquaintances through texting and social media on a daily basis. Of course, with our rigorous work schedules and fluxing lives, it can be difficult for people to meet with their friends for face-to-face conversations over coffee and breakfast every day. Social media conversations interspersed throughout the day can often be our only means of conversation with our friends.

But, what potential grudges can stem from these digital conversations?

For me, there have been some scenarios in which I was having casual, harmless conversations over Facebook with some of my friends, but this friendly banter somehow escalated into one step short of a blood-feud seemingly out of nowhere.

In one such instance, I was having a Facebook conversation with a friend of mine who had recently broken up with her boyfriend and wanted to talk to me about it. It started off innocent, with both of us talking casually about our personal lives (since we hadn’t seen each other in a couple months). But, once the conversation led into the breakup itself, things started to downwardly spiral.

The Queen's Burden - Opening Scene

This is the opening scene of a fantasy screenplay that I wrote. I still have some editing and revising to do before I'm fully finished. This may not be reproduced without the author's permission.

EXT. CENTER OF AMELIA’S CAMP – DAY

 

Two swords clash together as sparks fly upon first impact. Zoom out as two armored figures sidestep each other and trade another series of blows at each other. The first fighter is slightly thinner than the other but the fighter’s overall physical appearance is otherwise obscured by chainmail armor and a helm. The other figure has more bulk and is taller by a scant couple inches. This figure wears heavier armor and no helm but is clearly a young man as evidenced by the short brown hair and burly build.

 

The two trade more blows. The thinner, helmed opponent throws its sword down onto the male figure in a flurry of blows. The male fighter remains steady and deflects each blow without losing his footing.

 

The larger male opponent is now on the offensive. He pushes forward, thrusting and swinging his sword forward repeatedly with less speed but more power and focused force than his thinner opponent. The opponent parries the blows repeatedly and the two end up grappling with their swords pressing against each other.

 

The male fighter grits his teeth with exertion while attempting to break the grapple. He smiles through his teeth at his opponent.

JASUN

Must you always wear the helm while training, Amelia?

 

The other fighter shoves him back with a grunt. The fighter removes the helm and tosses it to the side. Underneath is a stern-faced, muscular, yet fairly attractive young woman in her early twenties, about equal age to the male opponent. Her blond hair is somewhat short save for the pony tail that her hair is tied back into. Her face is moderately dirty and sweaty from the recent training bouts. Her striking blue eyes glare back at the male opponent.

 

She makes a motion to her pony tail with the tip of her sword.

 

AMELIA

I don’t want you having something to grab onto during the fight, Jasun.

Reviving the Real-time Strategy Game in 2013

To be quite frank, my outlook on console gaming has been steadily declining over the past couple years. What was once a revolutionary form of digital recreation has now become something of a bore and a frustration in many cases. What I associate with console gaming on the Xbox 360 and PS3 nowadays is repetitive, run-of-the-mill modern war shooters and money-grabbing game developers trying to hoard every last penny through overpriced DLC’s (downloadable content).

Lately, I’ve wanted nothing more than to return to my PC gaming roots for a little while. In particular, I’ve been looking to delve back into a fun and currently underappreciated genre of video games: real-time strategy (RTS) games.

I remember spending countless hours of my time on Starcraft, Age of Empires, Warcraft III, and Command & Conquer. There was some real satisfaction to be had from commanding an entire swarm of Zerg bugs to wipe out a base full of Terran soldiers, or having a full-scale showdown online with my friend playing as the orcs and me playing as the humans.

With RTS, the style of gameplay forced you to really stay vigilant and on your toes at all times. You had to take calculated risks and make smart strategic decisions in order to destroy the enemy army. The generic Call of Duty first person shooter method of recklessly going lone wolf, taking out the entire enemy team on your own did not exist in this realm of gaming.

Over the past few years, with all the hype focused solely on first person shooters and RPG’s on the console, PC gaming – and thus RTS games – have largely disappeared. In fact, the last time I went into a local Gamestop, they only had a single shelf of PC games while the bulk of the store was comprised of Xbox 360, PS3 and Wii games.

Music Review: Into Your Own - "That Mask You Call Yourself"

Music review written for EMURG.com.

 

 

When I listen to new music for the first time, a lasting factor for me is when a band’s gritty and powerful sound and lyrics are personal and from the heart. Into Your Own is no exception to this. Many of the songs concocted by these Niagara Falls, NY hard rockers on the album That Mask You Call Yourself reflect the town that the band grew up in and the conditions they faced along the way. The town that they hail from has a high crime rate that overshadows the idyllic beauty that the Falls themselves are known for having.  This truth resonates strongly with the band and makes the heavy and upbeat power of their music even more relevant and thought-provoking to us as listeners.

That Mask You Call Yourself opens up with the song “Now Or Never”. This is a good choice to open such a poignant and reverberating album because of how fluid yet thrashing it is instrumentally. The addition of turntables by DJ Six helps to give this song another dimension of awesome and I liked it because it stood out rather than getting lost in the background as some DJs in other bands seem to do. Paul’s vocals also reminded me somewhat of Hellyeah’s Chad Gray, being both rough around the edges at times yet clear and polished as well.
 

Missing in Action: Video Game Movies

For those of you who pay attention to news within the gaming industry and social media, do you ever notice how often developers seem to squeal with excitement when they announce that they’ve attained the rights to turn their video game into a film adaption. And while that’s all well and good to hear that some of our favorite games are supposedly going to make it to the big screen, we usually end up going a few years wondering…uh, ok, what’s the status on these movies?!

I can think of a few recent examples of how films were announced for some of the most popular video games out there and how years later, we haven’t heard an ounce of news about how far along into production these movies are. Gears of War was slated to begin production of a film through New Line Cinema back in 2007 but, to the best of my knowledge, we haven’t heard much else. Well, other than the fact that the director supposedly fronting the movie dropped out to focus on other things.

Blizzard Entertainment announced a Warcraft film (also in 2007…go figure) and initially established that the film would be set for a 2009 release date. Here we are three years after that supposed arrival time and Legendary Pictures hasn’t given us much to hope for quite yet, other than the fact that Sam Raimi (Spider-Man director) would be directing the film and that the movie had supposedly begun production. WoW fans can only hope that Raimi can shift gears toward the project now that Spider-Man 4 was flushed down the toilet in place of a recently-released reboot.

Part of me also can’t help but wonder if we all really want to see these wayward movies released eventually. Video game movies have an infamous reputation for sucking after all. I don’t think a single video game movie released in the last two decades passed a 50% rating on Rotten Tomatoes.

Music Review: Throwing Gravity - "It's Not The End

Music review written for EMURG.com.

Throwing Gravity is:

Nick James - Lead Vocals / Rhythm Guitar

Jesse Triplett - Lead Guitar / Background Vocals

Sam Hindmarsh - Bass Guitar / Background Vocals

Chris Scott - Keys / Programming

Tom DuPree III – Drums

 

Rock quintet Throwing Gravity is a band based out of Nashville that undoubtedly will end up taking the mainstream rock scene by storm. As a band that has already begun to rack up and stellar stage presence by sharing stages with bands such as Second Hand Serenade, Parachute, Chevelle and Evans Blue. It seems only fitting that these Tennessee rockers would ultimately achieve the same level of acclaim as these other major players that they’ve jammed with live.

After a tenuous first few years with a fair share of ups and downs, (including a name change and several album recording obstacles) Throwing Gravity has finally released the new album, It’s Not The End. Though I’ve drawn similarities to other favorite bands of mine, including Theory of a Deadman, Adelitas Way, and Shinedown.  I also have noted that the band has a fresh and unique sound all its own, with an album that is equal parts emotional ballads combined with energetic rock anthems.

Are Mass Effect Fans 'Greedy' and 'Entitled'?

Blog posted on Deadlymint.com.

Fans of the popular sci-fi and rpg trilogy were abuzz with excitement over the release of Mass Effect 3 in March. The third entry into the franchise concluded Commander Shepard’s space-faring story and brought multiplayer into the fray for the first time in the series. Since its release, the game has garnered universal praise from critics and social media and had sold nearly 4 million copies in March alone.

But, although the game has received critical acclaim and mostly good reviews, the majority of recent controversy primarily lies with the game’s endings. It would be an understatement to say that most fans were disappointed by how the game ended, despite the stellar performance of the overall game.

Mass Effect has always been a largely decision-based type of game. From the very beginning of the trilogy, you customize your Commander Shepard character and go through the game making pivotal choices as you interact with the main characters and move the plot forward. Concepts like morality come into play in this game in ways that I’ve scarcely seen before in other video games. For example, a choice that you make could save one character but get another character killed, or spare an entire species but completely annihilate another species.

Developers Bioware had promised and assured fans many times prior to the game’s release that the huge decisions that you made in previous games would come into play and effect how the ending plays out. In some ways, those decisions do affect some of the game, but they play almost no role in the ending as the developers promised.

Many fans banded together on the Bioware forums and through various social media outlets to protest the ending, demanding the developers to change or expand it. I would suspect that Bioware received a great deal of hate mail interlaced with the occasional death threat due to the endings of Mass Effect 3.

Finally, after weeks of Bioware producers seeing such positive response to the overall game and such negative response to the game’s endings, they announced that they would be releasing a free DLC (downloadable content) sometime over the Summer which would expand on the endings and provide players more closure to the storyline.

Because of this, others within the gaming community have retaliated against Mass Effects fans, saying that the fans are “greedy” and “feel entitled” because of them demanding that the ending be changed. Bioware was also partially criticized for spoonfeeding and catering to their fans by releasing expanded endings.

As far as this issue goes, I’m a bit conflicted. Part of me feels that it was a bit ridiculous and that fans did go a bit overboard by “demanding” that Bioware change the endings. But the “Mass Effect fanboy” part of me can’t help but agree that, yeah, the endings were pretty freakin crappy and that Bioware didn’t exactly tie up the trilogy the way they promised they were going to. As far as I’m concerned, the fans had every right to be angry over the endings because the company made certain claims about player decisions but then didn’t integrate them the way they said they would.

Personally, although I am a huge fan of the game and although I too hated the ending, I’m not among those people on the warpath demanding that Bioware release new content. I do think that those select few were a bit obsessed and that their demands did get a bit out of hand in some cases.

However, I also don’t necessarily agree that the fans are “greedy” or “entitled” merely because they were irritated about the ending.

I feel that critics are only calling Mass Effect fans greedy because Bioware is actually following through and doing something about it. Nobody literally held a gun to their head and forced them to add new content to the game. They chose to do that of their own accord. Bioware could have just done nothing and sat back to reap the rewards of their millions of game sales. Eventually, the fans that were fired up over the ending would have simmered down and gotten over it in time. Instead, Bioware chose to heed devoted fan response and add more to the game to make it more enjoyable. If Bioware hadn’t done anything about it, the fans would just be angry fans. But instead, because of Bioware’s decision to release expanded endings, they are considered “greedy” fans.

What do you all think? Are Mass Effect fans’ demands justified, or do these fans come off as winey and greedy?

Sell Your Digital “Loot” For Real Cash in Diablo 3

The game industry and gamers alike are abuzz over the recent launch of Blizzard Entertainment’s highly anticipated new game, Diablo 3. This third entry into the classic best-selling dark fantasy RPG has brought about a huge gathering of loyal fans and endless midnight launch lines. These avid gamers have long been awaiting the sequel’s release since the launch of Diablo 2 eleven years ago.

A very controversial new feature for the role-playing juggernaut is the addition of the online Auction House. This feature (not yet implemented into the game) allows players to collect digital armor, weapons and other “loot” that they in the game and buy, sell, and trade them with real players online. What sets this apart from other online games? The consolation prize for these transactions is real life money, not digital gold coins.

What does this say about the growing economic legitimacy of online video games? It certainly shows that social media enterprise has extended to the point that even incorporeal, digital products (in-game items) can now be bought and sold for value online just as much as real products and services.

This phenomenon can be related to the growing concern over many video game producers trying to exploit players for more money through online service fees and expensive DLC (downloadable content). Furthermore, there are a number of fans who are irked at the idea of spending their hard earned real money to purchase digital items that hold no actual value. In the past, there had been illegitimate websites known for scamming video gamers out of their money by promising to sell them rare in game items or video game currency. The only difference now is that this Auction House system is sponsored and maintained by Blizzard Entertainment.

The Auction House system is due to be released via Diablo 3 beginning May 29. It should be interesting to see how effective this method of online digital commerce will be or how players will react to a growing emphasis of marketization within their beloved video games. 

Music Review: Our Waking Hour - "Seconds to Save Her"

Music review written for EMURG.com.

Our Waking Hour is:

Vocals – Blaine Beckman

Drums – Aaron Harvey

Guitars/vocals – Erik Seime

Bass – Joey Villefranca

Too often, many modern hard rock and metal bands just use sheer, pointless anger and screaming as their main focal point through their music. It’s good that there are still new rock bands that preserve real moral fiber and emotion balanced with a sound brimming with adrenaline and energy.

San Antonio rockers, Our Waking Hour, is one such example of an alternative/hard rock band that doesn’t need to conform to a “scream blindly and angrily at the world” kind of mentality with their music. Their message, as portrayed in many songs on Seconds to Save Her, is one of inspiration and hope. Furthermore, it is delivered in a way that is pulse-pounding, cutting edge, and thought provoking.

The album starts off with a short “Intro” that begins with eerie chimes before gradually picking up pace to segway into the first actual song of the album, “Seconds to Save Her”. This song got me hooked on the dazzling and emotional sound that Our Waking Hour weaves throughout the rest of the album. They achieve this sound by blending energetic drumming and guitar vibes, sprinkled on with just the right amount of dramatic emotion and rich vocals. From this track, I found that Our Waking Hour’s overall sound was most reminiscent of the band Red. However, they do have their own original sound that, in some ways, has a more soul-searching aura about it.

Music Review: Edisun - "Edisun"

Edisun is:

Ethan Isaac – vocals

Jonathan Svec – guitar

Joel Kelley – guitar

Todd Budich – drums

James Cruz – bass

Going into this review I had already heard Edisun’s single, “Wide Awake”. It quickly became a song that I listened to on my IPod repeatedly. I was eager to explore the rest of Edisun’s debut album more thoroughly, and found that it still exceeded my expectations. One of the things that blew me away about this quintet from Connecticut was that they are able to blend together classic and modern rock and make it sound amazing. Their jazzy sound stems from blues rock and classic rock bands such as Led Zeppelin, Soundgarden, and U2, while adding in an energy and modern flare found in recent hard rock and alternative rock bands like Stone Sour. It is this clever blending of the old and new that gives Edisun an original sound to be appreciated and craved.

The self-titled album opens up with the song, “Wide Awake”, which starts the album off on an energetic note. This song is not only the one that is most familiar to me, but is also the one that I still find the most addicting. From the opening guitar line, this song gives off the vibe of a lively party song that kicks the door down with its signature chorus and vocals “Riot in this Town!” The guitar riffs, stylish drum beats, and Isaac’s versatile vocals work well in this single and highlight Edisun’s unique sound in this opening track. Regardless of how good the rest of the album and the band’s future work may be, this will likely be one of the songs that define Edisun later on.

Music Review: Concordia - "Clarity of Perception"

Concordia is a fresh, new five-piece hard/alternative rock band that originated in Cleveland, Ohio in late 2011. Concordia is a testament to just how varied and innovative bands in the hard rock spectrum can be. In one sense, this band is a pure driving force of melodic sounds and instrumentals, but they do so in a way that is powerful and adrenaline pumping all the same. I consider them to be a soft, melodic band with the energy and vigor of a metal band. It can be so rare nowadays to find a band with that uplifting “feel good” melodic sound, but with backing edginess and adrenaline that gets your blood flowing in the process.

Concordia’s debut release, Clarity of Perception, opens up with the track “Spoon-fed Sheep.” This was rightly chosen to be the opening track because it is easily one of the best if not the best on the album and it will likely be one of the defining landmarks for the band. This is my favorite track due not only to its harmonious vocals and a sound not all that dissimilar to Linkin Park (particularly vocalist Eric Emery’s striking similarity to Linkin Park’s Chester Bennington), but also because of the lyrics and the song’s overall pronouncing message.

The song, as evidenced by the lyrics, is largely political. The song deals with the idea of our government’s controlling, manipulating and lying to us while covering up their own vices. After a good keyboard opening, the song soon delves into the first set of lyrics that had my hooked on the song from the start. “Details of the crimes are never found. Secrets, all the lies are disavowed. Photos burned to hide the protected. While our freedom’s rejected.” I can really level with and understand these lyrics and this, along with the fluid instrumentals, really get me fired up and ready to rally behind the band’s beliefs. This opening song did an exemplary job at showing listeners what the band is capable of and how they use their melody blended with raw power to express impacting topics and emotions through their lyrics.

Sci-fi Excerpt: "Incognito"

This is a stand-alone chapter for my sci-fi novel and, again, from the POV of Areya.

Areya watched the various people of the neighborhood go about their business, frowning and muttering words of condemnation for each of their seemingly trivial actions and behaviors as she crossed her arms and meekly observed. None of what these human beings were doing seemed to make sense to her.

She thought back to such occurrences that she’d witnessed since she’d landed here forty-eight lunar rotations earlier…

“Why throw the orange ball into the hoop? Why park the wheeled vehicle between the white lines? Why settle down in huddled groups to watch such preposterous images play across a televised screen? Why gather around the table to eat meals as a family unit rather than doing so of one’s own accord?” she pondered to herself.

It all seemed so utterly pointless. Why did such actions encompass their entire lives when these humans could potentially be invaded by enemies at any given moment?!

Many years ago, as a youngling, Areya had asked her mother and father –two of Clan Varsoloth’s finest military dignitaries- why her own species chose to reject intimate family gatherings. At the time, they had scolded her for spouting such blasphemous notions and showed her the error of her thinking by giving her ten lashes across her olive-skinned face. Afterward, they had then sternly explained to her that their species prided themselves on strength. Family togetherness only increased a youngling’s dependency for its parents; it was a sign of weakness and personal instability.  

Ralph the Central Park Unicorn

“Taxi! Hey, taxi!”

Richard Samson stepped out precariously into the road, waving his hand over his head in an attempt to hail the flashing yellow forms of the cabs zooming by him. He suddenly stepped out precariously close to one of the passing taxi cabs. The cabbie blared his horn and shouted an obscenity out his window as the hurried businessman clipped his right mirror with his briefcase.

Richard cursed and jumped back onto the sidewalk as his black briefcase rebounded off the side of the taxi like rubber, flinging into a nearby puddle of water. His flustered, mustached face looked back in the direction of the fleeing taxi cab. At the last second before it rounded the corner, the cabbie’s hairy arm rose from the window, pronouncing his unceremonious farewell with a middle finger pointed in Richard’s direction.

He rubbed his veiny temples, muttering disdainful words about his job, New York City traffic, the colorful and wonderful cabby that had nearly taken his arm off, and other things that annoyed him in that moment. He gave a grimace as his nimble fingers grasped the handle of his fallen briefcase. He spastically shook the excess mucky water from its leather surface like a dog shaking water out of its fur.

Richard took a deep breath and saw ever more taxis passing by him like a yellow bull rush, obviously oblivious to this working man’s need to hitch a ride home. Across from him, on the other side of the street, something else caught his eye amid the rushing traffic and various street vendors boisterously soliciting their wares.